The growing appreciation of the importance of preserving Arabic as a language in the UAE has not yet manifested itself in the education system. As The National reported yesterday, a new study by Majeed Abdulhakim, a student at Ajman University of Science and Technology, showed that curricula and teaching methods have not changed in Ajman public and private high schools for years. In her survey, 82 per cent of teachers said that they had not applied new teaching techniques introduced by the government to strengthen students' Arabic language skills in 2012.
The result of the study is not very surprising. Teaching Arabic in UAE schools has been based on rote-learning methods for decades – including the way in which future teachers were taught and the way they went on to teach. Breaking this cycle is a difficult process that cannot be accomplished either quickly or easily.
Ms Abdulhakim’s research is important because it highlights the gap between the policymakers’ vision and the situation in average classrooms. Apart from being based on rote learning, teaching methods have been criticised by experts and parents alike for failing to engage students’ interest. This needs to change and that requires teachers to not just learn new interactive teaching methods but to apply them.
Another factor in the declining use of Arabic in the UAE's multicultural society is the competition from English sources. But across the region, Arabic-language literature remains healthy, with Arab writers being prolific in their output. That was demonstrated this week with the announcement of the winner of the Sheikh Zayed Book Awards for Literature, drawn from 344 submissions.
Other projects seek to entice young children to develop a love of reading through illustrated books, such as Made in UAE, a joint project by Goethe-Institut Gulf Region and the UAE Board on Books for Young People. The initiative has brought many children to books that are written and illustrated by Emiratis. It has also organised a variety of workshops for aspiring writers, fostering the next generation of content that will introduce children to Arabic and draw them into the world of the written word.
The next steps include getting children to read these books at school by using programmes that make reading fun and having more public libraries as a source of books. Bolstering Arabic language skills all starts with reading.
