Teaching English to Arab Students - Assignment Example

?Teaching English to Arab Module Module ID: The present paper aims to identify the problems the teachers experience while teaching the Arab students English language skills. The main objective behind exploring the topic under examination includes the popularity of English language in the Arab speaking nations on the one side, and the fast proceeding of the Arab students to the developed English speaking countries for obtaining higher education as well as professional degrees in various modern disciplines, which are either not being taught in their native countries or lack proper system necessary for teaching the same. The research will identify the challenges the Arab students undergo while learning the foreign language quite different from their native one, representing their social values, culture norms and traditions as well. The study will also produce the references of previous studies have been conducted on the same or similar topics by reviewing the literature related to the present research topic. Introduction: The contemporary era is pertinently viewed to be the age of globalisation, where the activities being conducted in one region of the globe have their significant influence on even the remotest zones existing on the face of the earth. Technological advancements have played their decisive role in bringing the individuals and societies closer to each other in the wake of the inventions made in the field of science and technology including airplane, computer, the Internet and others, which have turned communication between the individuals very fast, simple and easy. In addition, the revolutionary developments in the means of travelling and navigation have also accelerated the trends of proceeding to the pole apart regions of the world. Globalisation has, according to Peric, opened a whole new world of development opportunities. 715 million people travelled abroad in the year 2002, by the year 2020 this number is expected to increase to 1.6 billion (2004, p.34). It is therefore the trend of the Asian, African and Arab traders, students and immigrants with regards to proceeding to the USA, Europe, Canada and Australia has witnessed tremendous boost during the last two decades. Background of the Problem: It has frequently been observed that the Arab students, arriving in the modern countries, are seldom familiar with the English language altogether. It is partly due to the very fact that they have obtained their primary and elementary levels education in the native Arabic language, the patterns including sentence structure, grammar, composition and syntax etc are entirely different from English in all regards. Consequently, they have to undergo serious difficulties while learning English language skills (McCardle & Hoff, 2006, p.43). Not only this that the students find it very problematic and challenging one, but also the teachers also witness grave problems while making attempts to coach the Arabs how to read, write and speak English in order to complete their studies and obtain higher degrees as well (Ansari, 2012, p.2). Since the English speaking nations, particularly the USA and UK have made marvellous inventions in all fields of life, which have forced the entire world to learn their language in order to survive and cope up with the latest challenges modern life offers to man. Consequently, technological superiority and economic stabilities of some of the most developed English speaking nations serve as the major reasons that have urged the non-English speaking nations to learn English language skills, so that they could be in a position of taking advantages of the latest developments being made all around them. English is, Graddol submits, closely associated with the leading edge of global scientific, technological, economic and cultural developments, where it has been unrivalled in its influence in the late 20th century (2000, p.4). Thus, the achievements made by the English speaking nations in the fields of science and technology, trade and commerce, art and literature, and strategic growth and economic stabilities, have earned an international status for their language in modern era. As a result, English has been being taught in Chinese, Arabic, Hindi, Russian and Latin speaking nations, along with the rest of the world, as a secondary language. However, learning English language and having proficiency in it is not an easy task for the nations, the primary language of which is other than English. Ansari argues that teaching a second language is not an easy job, though it can be taught effectively with patience and hard labour with the help of self-invented methodologies suitable for one's students (2012, p.1). It is predominantly the case with the Arab speaking nations belonging to the Middle East and North Africa. One of the most initial difficulty the English teachers have to cope with while coaching the Arab students includes significant divergence in respect of the cultural differences between Arabic and English, which portray two entirely different styles of writing in the background of their respective teaching methodologies. For instance, sentences in Arabic language are written from right to left, while English words and sentences are started from left to right; the same problem appears while coaching the students with their primary languages Hebrew, Persian, Urdu and others. The most important step to be taken while teaching the Arabs the English language is developing a culturally-aware curriculum that addresses the needs of the students is to find out basic background information that will help a teacher tailor the class to their specific needs and goals (Spangenberg-Urbschat et al., 1994, p.2). If the Arab students have some acquaintance with cultural and literary background of the English civilisation, it will become easier for them to adopt the language skills attributed to English. Secondly, there is no concept of the phonics like d, t, g and p in Arabic, which make it very difficult to teach the Arab students the pronunciation of these alphabets. Moreover, understanding of the definite article i.e. the looks really a hard nut to crack for the Arab students. Though the Arabs apply the term “al” in order to specify the proper noun or something maintaining importance in its nature and scope, yet using the definite article and placing it in the sentences is always an arduous job as well as a difficult task for the Arab students to perform. Moreover, contrary to English language, Arabic does not maintain any concept of capital or small letters altogether; as a result, applying capital alphabets for proper nouns, and writing common nouns in small ones look quite weird to the Arab students, which appear to be in a fix regarding why distinction is being made while creating different words. In addition, another serious problem that appears while teaching English to the Arab students that Arabic language has various names for one and the same thing; on the contrary, same words specify quite are different things in English. For instance, the word minute not only represents the sixty seconds, but also pronounce quite differently while depicting the miniature. Moreover, there are no specific rules of pronunciation in English, as the words but and put are frequently suggested. However, the Arabic words, with the use of phonetics including zer, zeber and pesh etc are applied for the determination of pronunciation of every word, though there are no such rules in English to define the same. Thus, the Arab students have to rely upon dictionaries for the determination of pronunciations of English words, as they do not have any other choice for making corrections in their secondary language pronunciations. In addition, one of the most important difference between both Arabic and English languages includes the diction of phrasal verbs and idioms used in both these languages. It is partly due to the very reality that English language is more explicit in giving meanings to the statement regarding one particular issue or the other. Somehow, Arabic language conveys different messages, through idiomatic phrases, by citing the example of animals and birds etc (Arabic Language Organisation), in order to explain whether an act or notion is right or wrong in its nature and scope (Naylor, 2004, p.597). Such a great difference between Arabic and English turns ESL to be a difficult task for the teachers involved in teaching the language to the Arab students. Literature Review: Drucker (2003) has conducted her research on ESL teaching with the title “What Reading Teachers should know about ESL Learners”, where the author has elucidated the most imperative aspects associated with teaching a language to the students that is not their first or primary language actually. The author has provided a detailed teaching guideline scenario including previewing, choral reading, physical response of the students and others, which must be adopted by the teacher in the classroom while delivering lecture related to English learning to the non-English speaking students (2003, p.23). It sometimes happens so that the students demonstrate being able of comprehending with the lecture, though they have not learnt anything related to the secondary language they are being taught in the classroom. However, if the teacher prompts them individually to participate in the discussion, they could show better understanding of the language skills they are learning in classroom (Drucker, 2003; p.24). Hence, the researcher has elaborated that complete concentration of the teacher and students is most important thing for the ESL teaching and learning process. Al-Khatib et al. (2011) have discussed the problems of the Arabs while learning English in their research project under the title “Difficulties that Arab Students Face in Learning English”, where they have thrown light on various aspects of teaching-learning phenomenon with special reference to SL for the students enrolled at the Arab Open University Lebanon. The researchers observed the students learning English, and interviewed them personally in order to extract their viewpoints in respect of learning the language. Most of the students, according to Al-Khatib et al., identified difficulties in using English in interpersonal communication skills during the tutorial sessions, which included problems in pronouncing the words, and observing sociolinguistic conventions appropriately, e.g. formality in language expressions (2011, p.2). These learning problems appear partly because of the cultural differences, which take time to make the students to comprehend with the style, syntax, pronunciation, grammar and composition. Moreover, an overwhelming majority of the Arab students consider the beginning level far higher than their expectations, because of the lack of knowledge about the English diction and style. Consequently, the learning procedure looks boring, dreary and incomprehensible to them. Ansari (2012) has pointed out the challenges faced by the Arabs during the course of seeking education in the field of foreign language and their solution in his research with topic “Teaching of English to Arab Students: Problems and Remedies. The writer has portrayed a broad canvas of the issues arise in the educational institutions situated in the Arab countries offering English language learning programmes by depicting the disposition and aptitude of the students towards learning. Since ESL is administered mostly under the supervision of the foreigner teachers, the communication gap serves as the first challenge while getting education related to English. The author also laments over offering education to the Arab students in English medium schools at the time when they do not have even least information about the existence of some language other than Arabic. It is therefore, they display their displeasure in respect of learning such a new and strange language that does not have any connection to their society and culture altogether. Such an unpleasant state of affairs increases the responsibilities of the teachers to a great extent. Ansari lays stress upon the Arab students regarding learning about English teaching patterns, cultural values, the way of the living of the people, and the linguistic nature and style of the second language, before embarking upon the learning procedure (2012, p.520). Since the classroom environment of English medium schools is also different from that of the native schools, the teacher must get the students familiar with the environment and subject through the class-room practice. Hence, teacher’s complete involvement, pleasant classroom environment, knowledge of English culture, civilisation and social patterns of behaviour are essential for learning the language for the Arab students. Conclusion: To conclude, it becomes evident that the present study has been conducted in a limited scenario, which concentrates upon the differences between the style, diction, syntax and pronunciation of Arabic and English languages on the one side, and the cultural variation between both the civilisations on the other. In addition, the present study has also confined its canvas to the initial hurdles that appear on the way to the Arab students while seeking education in English language. However, some other research could also be conducted on the same or similar topic that could make more elaboration of the grammatical and technical differences between the languages under examination for drawing out conclusions regarding the problems of the Arab students while ESL learning procedure, as well as the difficulties of the teachers to cope with the issue. Bibliography Al-Khatib, Hayat., Malak, Mirna Abdel., Sleiman, Ralph., & Zadorian, Helen. 2011 Difficulties that Arab Students Face in Learning English Arab Open University-Lebanon pp. 1-21 Ansari, Ali Asghar. 2012 Teaching of English to Arab Students: Problems and Remedies International Research Journals June Edition Vol. 3(6) pp. 519-524. Retrieved from http://interesjournals.org/ER/pdf/2012/June/Ansari.pdf Drucker, Mary J. 2003 What Reading Teachers should know about ESL Learners International Reading Association J. Vol. 57, No. 1 Sep., pp. 22-29 Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/20205312 Accessed: 08/10/2009 Graddol, David. 2000 The Future of English? The British Council pp. 2-9 Retrieved from http://www.officiallanguages.gc.ca/docs/f/Future_of_English.pdf McCardle, P. & Hoff, E. 2006 Childhood bilingualism: research on infancy through school age. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters Naylor, Gloria. 2004 The Meanings of a Word Compiled by Jane E. Aaron 40 Model Essays A Portable Anthology, Bedford, St. Martin’s Publishers p. 597 Peric, Vesna. 2004 Tourism and Globalisation University of Primorska, Turistica- College of Tourism, Portoroz, Slovenia Retrieved from http://www.fm-kp.si/zalozba/ISBN/961-6573-03-9/peric.pdf Spangenberg-Urbschat, Karen. & Pritchard, Robert. 1994 Kids Come in All Languages: Reading Instruction for ESL Students. Newark: International Reading Association. Arabic Language Arabic Grammar Retrieved from http://www.arabic-language.org/arabic/grammar.asp Read More