Emirati students at government universities are welcoming an Arabic test meant to ensure they do not lose proficiency in the mother tongue.
Trials for a new Arabic Common Educational Proficiency Examination are planned by the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research and are likely to begin in the 2009-10 academic year.
The tests for students at government higher education institutions – Zayed University, UAE University and the Higher Colleges of Technology – may be followed up with extra training in Arabic for those who perform poorly.
Abdullah al Khatheeri, 18, a student at Abu Dhabi Men’s College, which is part of the Higher Colleges of Technology, said introducing the test was “a good idea”.
“Arabic is important because it is our mother tongue. Students should not forget Arabic,” he said.
A fellow Abu Dhabi Men’s College student, Haitham Kayari, 18, said having good Arabic language skills was useful for students when applying for jobs.
“English is very important, but you need to be able to write good Arabic,” he said.
Although students had to use English “all the time” for studying, Mohammed al Musallami said they should not be allowed to lose proficiency in Arabic.
“English is important for jobs nowadays, but I cannot forget my language.”
Sulaiman Mazroui, a spokesman for Emirates NBD, the banking group, observed that while English tended to be the language of the business world, initiatives were being produced to promote the mother tongue, such as rules ensuring that some contracts were written in Arabic.
For this reason, as well as the need to communicate with customers in Arabic, he said it was very useful to have new staff fluent in both Arabic and English.
He said he was pleased to hear of renewed efforts to protect his native language.
“It is very important to keep your Arabic,” said Mr Mazroui, an Emirati. “We’re a proud nation. We are proud of our language and heritage. We should keep our students and youngsters in contact with their mother language. They should test students to a certain level.”
Mr Mazroui said there were several reasons that could put Emiratis at risk of losing fluency in Arabic, or failing to develop fluency in the first place, starting in the home.
“Emirati families have drivers and maids and cooks who do not speak Arabic, and the family will have to interact with them. If children have a non-Arab nanny, that will have an influence on them,” he said.
“If you’re in a private school, you’re likely to have a lot of non-Arabic speakers from Europe or Asia teaching you, so the kids will definitely find it difficult to protect Arabic in that environment.”
Dr Annie Brown, who heads the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research’s Common Educational Proficiency Assessment section, said the exam would be useful for identifying students who need extra Arabic tuition, such as non-native Arabic speakers and people who did not use Arabic at home.
“There are some women [for example] who have married Emiratis who may not be native Arabic speakers. They will have a different teaching programme,” she said.
Daniel Bardsley