Emirati students entering government universities may soon have to take an Arabic examination as part of a campaign to encourage them to retain fluency in the language that defines their heritage.
The initiative follows widespread unease in the Middle East that proficiency in Arabic is in decline as English takes over in some workplaces and schools.
Students who perform poorly may have to take extra Arabic lessons as a part of a foundation programme to ensure they reach the required standard.
Trials for the new Arabic Common Educational Proficiency Examination are likely to begin in the 2009-2010 academic year. No decision has been made as to how the test results will be used.
The potential loss of Arabic skills is a real concern for the Government, particularly as many Emiratis are taught in English in private schools and so risk losing fluency in their native language. The main government higher education institutions, Zayed University, UAE University and the Higher Colleges of Technology, also teach most subjects in English, increasing that risk.
Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, said at a cabinet meeting earlier this year, in his role as UAE Prime Minister, that he wanted more done to ensure that Emiratis spoke and wrote Arabic well.
“The concern is not so much for students coming through Arabic-medium schools, but for students coming through English-medium schools,” said Dr Annie Brown, from the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research.
“Some students may not have used [Arabic] as their first language and are, therefore, not very proficient.”
The test is being devised by officials at the three major government tertiary institutions and staff from the ministry’s Common Educational Proficiency Assessment (Cepa) section.
Pupils at government schools already sit Cepa tests for English and maths. Students may need to sit the Arabic Cepa exam when they start university or college, or when they are part of the way through their higher education courses.
Dr Brown, who heads Cepa, said government universities and colleges had their own Arabic tests, but there was a need to bring in a common exam to ensure the same standards were maintained everywhere.
“Even though the [government] institutions are English-medium, they’re aware their clientele are Arabic speakers, so they see it as important that they’re literate in their mother tongue,” she said.
The renowned Emirati author Mohammad al Murr is among those to express concern that Arabs are losing their language skills.
Speaking to students and faculty at the American University of Sharjah earlier this year, he said that while he “loved” his mother tongue, the language was more complicated than it should be and this was forcing schools and universities to teach more subjects in English.
“Arabic through the years has reached a stage where it’s burdened by history,” he said.
“People created so many grammars and laws that it became such a difficult language.
“Why do we prefer to take some subjects in English? It is because we don’t have textbooks and curricula in Arabic that are as good. We need to simplify the language.”
In addition to the Arabic exam, there also are plans to introduce a Cepa Information Technology test. This would probably be taken by all pupils at government schools, or at private schools that follow the government curriculum, who want to continue their education at one of the government-run higher education institutions.
Trials for the Cepa IT exam are likely to begin in the 2008-09 academic year, one year earlier than the Arabic test.
Daniel Bardsley