Abstract
The study investigated college students’ views of the status of English and Arabic in Saudi Arabia in the 21st century, and their attitudes towards using English and Arabic as a medium of instruction at the university level. Findings showed that 96% of the participants consider English a superior language, being an international language, and the language of science and technology, research, electronic databases and technical terminology. Eighty two percent believe that Arabic is more appropriate for teaching religion, history, Arabic literature and education majors, whereas English is more appropriate for teaching medicine, pharmacy, engineering, science, nursing, and computer science. They gave many educational, technological, social and labor market reasons for favoring the English language. The study concluded that Arabic is facing a serious threat from the dominance of English language in higher education, because of the lack of language planning and linguistic policies that protect, develop and promote the Arabic language, because of the slow Arabicization processes in the Arab world, and inadequacy of technical material translated and published in Arabic.
1.1 English and Arabic in the 1980’s and 1990’s
The competition between English and Arabic as a medium of instruction at Arab universities has been going on for decades. Many Arab universities have adopted English as a medium of instruction at colleges of medicine and engineering since the early 20th century, due to British colonization. The feasibility of using Arabic as a medium of instruction at colleges of medicine and engineering was the subject of several studies in the 1980’s and 1990’s. For example, Al-Jarallah & Al-Ansari (1998) found that 60% of medical students at King Saud University in Saudi Arabia supported using Arabic as a medium of instruction in medical schools, and 8.7% did not see any difference in using either language. Al-Mohaideb (1998) also found that 49% of the engineering faculty and 62.7% of the engineering students at King Saud University thought that it was possible to teach engineering in Arabic. However, 85.7% of the faculty and 81.1% of the students believed that use of Arabic as a medium of instruction in engineering would be possible when more Arabic engineering textbooks are available. In a similar study by Al-Mohandes and Baker (1998), 66% of the students at King Saud University preferred to use both Arabic and English in delivering class lectures, 57% preferred to use Arabic textbooks, 53% preferred to write their projects in Arabic, 39% preferred to answer test questions in Arabic. Only 22% preferred to use English in delivering class lectures, 32% preferred to use English engineering textbooks, 33% preferred to write their engineering projects in English, and 44% preferred to answer test questions in English.
About 45% of the students preferred to answer exam questions in Arabic, 36.9% preferred English, 15.1% preferred to answer in Arabic and write technical terms in English, and 3% preferred to use both English and Arabic (Al-Jarallah & Al-Ansari, 1998). In another study, Assuhaimi and Al-Barr (1992) found that 77% of medical students at King Faisal University in Saudi Arabia preferred to answer test questions in Arabic as opposed to 23% who preferred to answer test questions in English. Seventy five percent feel that they are better able to answer oral questions and carry on medical discussions in Arabic than English.
Results of a survey by Abu-Arafah, Attuhami and Hassein (1998) showed that 52% of the Production Technology and Industrial Electronics faculty at the College of Technology in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia believed that using Arabic as a medium of instruction at their departments was successful and worthy of support. Almost 52% believed Arabic should be used as a medium of instruction at their departments. However, 71% preferred to use English as a medium of instruction as it helps them find a job in other countries.
The availability of Arabic publications in medicine, engineering and technology was investigated by some researchers. Abu-Arafah, Attuhami and Hassein (1998) reported that 25% of the faculty at the Departments of the Production Technology and Industrial Electronics at the College of Technology in Riyadh had publications in their fields in Arabic, 70% of the faculty and 71% of the students believed that Arabic references in Production Technology and Industrial Electronics were sufficient. In medicine and engineering, 8% of the faculty and 22% of the students indicated that Arabic engineering textbooks were sufficiently available. About 5% of the faculty and 13% of the students felt that it would better to switch to Arabic as a medium of instruction gradually. About 48% of the faculty would prefer to switch to Arabic as a medium of instruction when more Arabic engineering textbooks and references are available, and 20% of the faculty and 11% of the students preferred switching to Arabic after faculty are trained in how to teach in Arabic (Al-Mohaideb, 1998). Al-Hajj Eissa and Al-Mutawa (1988) found that 92% of the faculty at the College of Science at Kuwait University indicated that the Arabic Science books were lacking.
In the 1980’s and 1990’s, advantages of using Arabic as a medium of instruction at colleges of medicine and engineering were highlighted by several research surveys of faculty and students’ views. In Al-Jarallah & Al-Ansari’s study, 49% of medical students at King Saud University reported that they comprehended 75% of the lectures and 45% comprehended 25%-75% when they were delivered in English. However 90% of the students reported that they comprehended more when lectures were delivered in both English and Arabic, and 60% comprehended more of the class lectures when they were delivered in Arabic only. When lectures are in English, 50.7% indicated they would have fewer opportunities to interact and participate in the class discussion. Students’ reading speed of medical material in Arabic was found to be higher than that when reading medical material in English. It was found that residents and interns read 109.8 words per minute in Arabic as opposed to 76.7 words per minute in English, i.e. their reading speed in Arabic was 43% faster than their reading speed in English. Their reading comprehension medical material in Arabic was found to be 15% better than that in English. Students’ achievement level increased 66.4% when Arabic was used as a medium of instruction (Al-Sebaee, 1995). When studying in Arabic, 46% of subjects reported that they would spend half the studying time, 30% would need one third of the studying time, and 17.7% would need the same amount of time when they read medical material in Arabic as opposed to English (Al-Jarallah & Al-Ansari, 1998). At King Faisal University, 80% saved one third of the time when they read medical material in Arabic compared to English (Assuhaimi and Al-Barr, 1992). In Al-Sebaee’s study (1995), medical students saved 50% of their time when they read Arabic medical textbooks. In doing assignments in Arabic, 27.6% of the students would need one third of the time only, 35.9% would need half the time, and 27% would need the same amount of time to do their assignments if they were given in Arabic. At King Faisal University, 70% of the subjects saved one third of the time or more when they did assignments in Arabic compared to English (Al-Jarallah & Al-Ansari, 1998).
In the 1990’s, the academic level, success rates, mastery of material studied of students who studied medicine and technology in Arabic was investigated as well. A report published by the Curriculum Development Unit at the Technical and Vocational Training Corporation indicated that 48.3% of the administrators asserted that the academic level of the graduates of the College of Technology who studied in Arabic was very good and 44.74% asserted that it was satisfactory (Abu-Arafah, Attuhami and Hassein, 1998). Experiments comparing the use of English and Arabic as a medium of instruction in medicine and engineering were conducted by the Arabic Language Academy in Jordan. In those experiments, 30% of the students failed when English was used as a medium of instruction as opposed to 3% failures when Arabic was used as a medium of instruction. The students covered more material, their medical knowledge was wider and more accurate, and the students saved more time and effort in studying the material at home when Arabic was used as a medium of instruction (Abu-Hiloo & Lutfiyya, 1984). In two other experimental studies with two groups of Arab medical students at the American University of Beirut and Jordan University in Amman, the experimental group studied the material in Arabic and the control groups studied the same material in English. Comparisons of the achievement scores of the experimental and control groups in both experiments showed that the comprehension ability of the experimental group, i.e., Arabic-medium instruction, was higher than that of the control group i.e., English-medium instruction (Al-Sebaee, 1995).
By contrast, findings of prior studies highlighted the disadvantages of using English as a medium of instruction with science students. At Kuwait University, Al-Hajj Eissa and Al-Mutawa (1988) asserted that use of English as a medium of instruction posed many problems for students at the College of Science such as: 64% of the faculty surveyed reported that the students’ English proficiency level was low; 66% reported that the students’ comprehension of scientific concepts was poor; 76% reported that the students were de-motivated; 48% indicated that students had difficulty comprehending their English textbooks and 54% indicated that students had difficulty comprehending lectures delivered in English, in addition to the students poor writing, spelling and speaking skills. Moreover, science students found instructors’ explanations in English difficult to understand, they could not follow lectures, could not take notes and had poor knowledge of English scientific terms. Studying in English required more effort and more time than studying in Arabic. For those reasons, 54% of the students preferred to study in Arabic, as they would understand the subject matter better. When correcting medical students’ exam papers written in English at the College of Medicine, Zaqazeeq University in Egypt, it was found that only 10% of the students were able to express themselves clearly, 65% gave the required information but failed to write correctly and 25% had difficulty understanding the type of information required by the questions (Al-Sebaee, 1995).
1.2 English and Arabic in the 21st Century
Due to latest developments in information and communications technology that have taken place in the past decade (early 21st century), English has become more dominant in all walks of life than ever before. It is used everywhere. One out of four people around the world can communicate in English. English is the official language of major political and economic alliances such as the Commonwealth countries, the EU, the NATO, OPEC, and the ASEAN. It is the language of 85% of international organizations and the main language of technology, business, finance and tourism. Most research, references, technical terms, international conferences, electronic databases are in English. World-famous newspapers, T.V. stations, movies, airlines, multi-national companies, and 90% of the material published on the Internet use English as a primary language.
Due to the increasing dominance of the English language, the number of people seeking to learn English is increasing. About one billion students are learning English worldwide (Crystal, 2003). English is taught as a foreign or second language at schools and universities in almost every country. Since 2001, English college requirements were increased to four levels or a total of 300 hours per semester for level I, and a total of 204 hours per semester for levels II, III & IV. In addition, 12 3-hour ESP courses or a total of 48 hours per semester are offered to all the United Arab University (UAE) University students depending on their major area of study. At the same time, the Arabic language core courses offered to students at UAE University were reduced to two credit hours per week or a total of 32 hours per semester (See UAE University Website). In many Arab countries, the number of English language institutes has considerably increased. In addition to private schools that offer intensive English courses starting from Kindergarten, private schools with international programs use English as a medium of instruction in the content areas such as math, science, geography and history starting from first grade, as opposed to only one Arabic language course (five hours per week) and one Islamic studies course (1-2 hours per week). In Egypt, there are currently 557 language schools as opposed to 195 language schools 10 years ago. In 2003, the Saudi Ministry of Education passed a law that mandates the teaching of English in the public schools starting from Grade 6. A year later, the teaching of English started in Grade 5. The new Ministry mandate stressed that English be well taught along the same lines as Arabic. To ensure the effective teaching of English, specialists from the Ministry of Education and individuals who are highly proficient in English would be following up and supervising the teaching of English in Saudi public schools (Al-Riyadh Newspaper, No. 12849, August 26, 2003). To ensure that English is effectively taught to students in the public schools, the development of effective English textbooks, enhancing the teaching performance of English teachers, and utilization of technology in English language teaching have become a priority.
In a globalized world where English has become a global language, many people –including Arabs - currently feel that English is superior to all other languages – including Arabic. Many young people have become keener on learning English than Arabic as they feel that English is superior. Hence, the aims of the present study is to investigate the following: (i) How college students view the status of English and Arabic in Saudi Arabia in the early 21st century; (ii) In which colleges and majors students think English should be used; (iii) In which colleges and majors students think Arabic should be used; (iv) The scientific, technological, educational, social and labor market factors for preferring English/Arabic as a medium of instruction at the university level, as perceived by the subjects; and (v) How students view their role in developing/maintaining the status of the Arabic language in the 21st century.
2. Participants
Participants of the present study consisted of 470 female students majoring in medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, computer science, English, education, arts and languages and translation at King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The participants consisted of students in their freshman, sophomore, junior and senior years.
3. Instrument
An interview-questionnaire with open-ended questions was used (See Appendix). The questions included the following: (i) How do you view the status of English and Arabic in Saudi Arabia? (ii)Which is more appropriate as a medium of instruction at the university level English or Arabic? (iii) In which colleges and majors should English be used? (iv) In which colleges and majors should Arabic be used? (v) What is your role in developing the Arabic language?
4. Data collection and analysis
Students were interviewed individually and their responses were recorded on their questionnaires. Answers were sorted out, and the percentage of students giving the same answer was computed. Results are reported quantitatively and qualitatively. Where possible, percentages of students giving the same response were computed.
5. Results
Findings of the present study have shown that 96% of the participants consider English a superior language to Arabic because they think that the world has become a small village and English is the dominant language and the language of communication in this global village. English is used all over the world, whereas Arabic is used in limited geographical areas.
Findings of the present study also revealed that 82% of the participants believe that Arabic is more appropriate for teaching Islamic studies, history, Arabic literature and education, whereas English is more appropriate for teaching medicine, pharmacy, engineering, science, nursing, and computer science. The participants gave many reasons for favoring the English language. These reasons are summarized below.
Ninety six percent of the participants believe that learning English has become a necessity as it is the language of modernity. They think that Colleges of Medicine in other countries use English as medium of instruction. They also think that everything they would like to know is written in English. Sophisticated scientific websites are in English. All computer majors, programming languages, catalogs, medications, technical terms, conferences, research and references require English. They believe that it is impossible to teach information technology (IT) in Arabic. They cannot work with the computer in Arabic. They need to master the basics of English in engineering and medicine in order to be able to communicate with foreign doctors and engineers in other countries and exchange knowledge, experiences and skills with them, through direct contact or through the Internet, to continue to learn and keep up with the latest developments in their areas of specialization and in fields where English is used.
5.2 Educational Reasons
Eighty one percent of the participants indicated that in school, students study math and science in Arabic for twelve years and when they enter the university, they study math and science in English. When they graduate from high school, their knowledge of English is limited and as a result of that they face many problems in college. Graduate colleges in Saudi Arabia require students to write their theses in English and do not allow students to write them in Arabic. Higher education policies do not mandate Arabic as a medium of instruction. In addition, they need English to pursue their studies abroad. When students study in English, they will acquire a new language, but when they study in Arabic, which they have acquired at a young age, and have learnt throughout their school years, there is nothing new to acquire at the university level. They think that studying in English is better than studying in Arabic, as it gives them a more solid knowledge base. They preferred to learn from primary sources. They believe that those who do not know English cannot advance in their education.
Ninety six percent of the participants feel that Arabic cannot be used as a medium of instruction in medicine, pharmacy, engineering and computer science due to the inadequacy of resources (references) which doctors and engineers need to consult and use as textbooks for teaching and learning. For example, no math textbooks and research articles are available in Arabic. There are no books about autism in Arabic. Many research results first appear in English. This makes it easy for them to get the most recent information and will help them to communicate with the rest of the world. All primary resources in medicine, pharmacy, and engineering are in English. The research articles that they read on the Internet are in English. It is easier to study and read textbooks in English, English technical terms are clearer, the writing style is better and exposition of ideas is clearer. High school science and math books are not easy to understand, because they are translated literally.
Ninety three percent of the participants believe that books and articles in medicine, engineering, science and technology are not translated into Arabic. They feel that it is impossible to translate all of the available medical, engineering and scientific literature into Arabic. Translation is costly and time consuming. By the time specialized books and articles are translated into Arabic, the information they contain would be obsolete, because science advances too fast.
About 93% of the subjects think that many English technical terms have no Arabic equivalents and can only be transliterated. Arabic translation equivalents will make technical terms more difficult to understand. They added that they are not familiar with Arabic technical terms such as "كعبرة، والعمر الحيوي، وخزعة، والحمض النووي" . They believe that Arabizing technical terms is ineffective because many technical concepts cannot be translated and explained in Arabic. Knowing technical terms in English would make knowledge transfer easier. Advances in science and technology are more related to English than Arabic. It is better to study in English because English connects all languages.
5.4 Job opportunities
Ninety one percent of the participants indicated that mastery of English is required for success in life. Students who know English have a better future than those who do not. It will be easier for them to find a job. Those who know Arabic only have limited job opportunities. Job opportunities at hospitals and corporations require oral fluency and ability to write business reports and to correspond with companies abroad in English. They need to use English to communicate with their non-Arabic speaking colleagues at work. When they graduate from college and work, they will be sent abroad for training, which requires knowledge of English as training is conducted in English. The participants indicated that the Saudi labor market does not recognize Arabic. It prefers those who know English. Studying in English will prepare them for their career.
Eighty nine percent of the participants believe that people who study in English are more qualified and have a better social status than those who study in Arabic. Society respects those who can communicate in English and those who have graduated from an English-medium college or university. Some pass and graduate with poor grades and a poor achievement level because of their poor English. A person who can communicate in English has a better self-esteem and more self-confidence.
When asked about their role in protecting and developing Arabic as the language of scientific innovations, research and publications, 91% of the participants indicated that there is nothing they could do, because that requires a political resolution not individual efforts. They added that the current situation in Arab countries is not opportune for innovations, research and publication. Arab countries have no research and development centers similar to those in the West. Unlike Japan, Europe and USA, universities and research centers in the Arab World are not well funded and do not encourage research and publications in Arabic. They also believe that no incentives, no motivation for researchers and authors who write in Arabic are provided.
Findings of the present study show that the participants are overwhelmed by the dominance of the English language in the 21st century. They feel that Arabic is inferior to English, and feel a big gap between the status of English and Arabic in research, publications and technical terminology. They gave many educational, scientific, technological, vocational and social reasons for preferring to learn English.
The percentage of participants in the present study who preferred to use English as a medium of instruction at the university level is much higher than that in other prior studies conducted ten years ago. Many changes have taken place in the past ten years. The spread of satellite television and the Internet have made participants in the present study more aware of the dominance of the English language than participants in prior studies. For example, Al-Muhandes and Al-Hajj Bakri (1998) found that 66% of the students at King Saud University preferred Arabic to English as a medium of instruction in lectures, 57% preferred to use Arabic textbooks, 53% preferred to write their projects in Arabic, and 39% preferred to take exams in Arabic. In another study conducted by Al-Muhaideb (1998), 75% of the engineering faculty and 73.7% of the engineering students surveyed preferred to use Arabic as a medium of instruction. About 49.4% of the faculty and 62.7% of the students believed that use of Arabic as a language of instruction was feasible. About 85.7% of the faculty and 81.1% of the students believed that it is possible to use Arabic as medium of instruction in engineering once Arabic textbooks in engineering are available. Abu-Arafa, Attuhami and Hassein (1998) also conducted a study at the Colleges of Technology in Saudi Arabia. They surveyed faculty and students’ opinions at the department of Industrial Electronics and Production Technology where Arabic was used as a medium of instruction, and found that 52% of the faculty indicated that use of Arabic as a medium of instruction was a successful experience and was worth support and implementation. Fifty two percent believed that Arabic should be used as a medium of instruction. Twenty five percent had several contributions in Arabization and translation of technical books into Arabic.
Prior studies in the Arabic literature found that faculty and students were more aware of the advantages of using Arabic as a medium of instruction in medicine and engineering. Assuhaimi and Al-Barr (1992) conducted a study with medical students at King Faisal University in Saudi Arabia. When they compared their reading and writing time in English and Arabic, 80% of the students indicated that they save one third of the reading time or more when they read in Arabic, and 72% save one third of the writing time or more when they write in Arabic. Seventy seven percent preferred to take medical exams in Arabic as opposed to 23% only who preferred to take medical exams in Arabic. Seventy five percent reported that their ability to answer oral questions and discuss medical issues is much better in Arabic than English.
Prior studies in the Arabic literature found that use of English as a medium of instruction has several negative consequences. For instance, Al-Hajj Eissa & Al-Mutawa (1988) found that using English as medium of instruction poses major problems for many Kuwaiti students majoring in science. Sixty four percent of the faculty at the College of Science at Kuwait University indicated that the students’ achievement level in English is low. 66% also indicated that the students’ low proficiency level in English negatively affects their comprehension of scientific concepts. Seventy six percent indicated that the students’ low proficiency level in English affects their motivation for learning. Forty eight percent of the science students surveyed indicated that they have difficulty understanding English textbooks and 54% have difficulty understanding English lectures, in addition to their difficulty in writing, spelling, note-taking and oral communication, and inadequate knowledge of scientific technical terms in English. Eighty four percent of freshman students have difficulty understanding scientific concepts presented in English and 80% of students studying science in English exert more effort than those studying science in Arabic. Fifty percent do not understand English science textbooks and 54% preferred using Arabic as a medium of instruction at the College of Science because this would lead to better understanding. Examination of the students’ English test papers at Zaqazeeq University in Egypt showed that only 10% of the students were able to express themselves clearly, 65% gave the information asked for by the questions but could not use correct English, and 25% did not show an understanding of the material at all (Al-Sibaee, 1995).
Participants of the present study believe that English is more important, easier and more useful than Arabic, and that Arabic technical terms are difficult to study, because medicine, technology and engineering are Western, not Arabic sciences. They believe that when Arabs become leaders in medicine, engineering, science and technology, we can teach such disciplines in Arabic. The author believes that using and studying Arabic, rather than English technical terms, is a matter of habit. When words like ‘هاتف، جوال، حاسب، حاسوب، حواسيب، مطوية ’ first appeared in the Arabic language, they were not accepted and used by Arabs. But now they have become very common and are widely used. Once new technical terms appear in the media, especially Satellite T.V. such as ‘الخصخصة، رتل عسكري، مجوقلة، محور الشر، خارطة الطريق، التوحد، غسيل الأموال، تعويم الجنيه، والعولمة ’, they will become common within a short period of time.
As to the status of Arabic, the participants seem to be unfamiliar with the status of Arabic among world languages. Many languages such as English, French, Spanish, Turkish, have many loan words from Arabic. About 60% of the Persian words, and 25% of the words in Bahasa are of Arabic origin. Turkish, Urdu, Hindi, and even Ukrainian languages have Arabic loan words.
The participants think that Colleges of Medicine in other countries use English as medium of instruction. The participants do not seem to know that most non-Arabic speaking countries use their native language as a medium of instruction at Colleges of Medicine and Engineering. For example in Armenia, a country with 3 million inhabitants, Armenian is the language of instruction in its higher education institutions. This is also the case in Greece, South Korea, Japan, China, Turkey, Indonesia, Iran, Russia and many others. This does not mean that such countries do not teach other foreign languages such as English to their students.
As to the plethora of specialized references, textbooks and articles in medicine, pharmacy, engineering and computer science in English, and inadequacy of references, textbooks and articles in medicine, pharmacy, engineering and computer science in Arabic, this is supported by the Arab Development Report published in 2002, which reported that only 330 books were translated into Arabic in the whole Arab World.
Another report of the Federal Coordinating Committee on Science, Engineering and Technology Policy (1993) indicated that 50% of the scientific and technological research and books are published in English and Arabic constitutes a small percentage of the other 50%. This means that Arab students or specialists who do not know English will not access and benefit from 50% of the reference material in science and technology and will not be able to participate in international research projects.
As to the inadequacy of research funds provided by Arab governments, the Arab Human Development Report (2003) indicated that the research budget constitutes 2% of national budget as opposed to 22% in Japan. An Arab spends US$3 only on research as opposed to US$409 spent by a German, US$601 by a Japanese and US$681 by an American.
As to the availability of Arabic specialized references in certain participant areas, Al-Muhaideb (1998) reported that 8% of the faculty and 22% of the students at King Saud University indicated that engineering reference books are plentiful. In Abu-Arafa and Attauhami’s study (1998), 76% of the faculty and 71% of the students surveyed indicated that Arabic references in their production technology and industrial electronics are readily available.
Participants think that the main obstacle for using Arabic as a medium of instruction is the Arabization of English technical terms. The participants are placing more emphasis on technical terms than necessary, because the percentages of technical terms in specialized books is very small, compared to common language. Al-Sebaee (1995) reported that the frequency of technical terms in English medical books is only 3.3%, the other 96.7% are from common language.
The participants do not seem to be well aware of the availability of specialized English-Arabic dictionaries and terminology databanks. For example, the Saudi Terminology Databank housed by King Abdul-Aziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, contains about 400,000 technical terms in all participant areas (http://gdis.kacst.edu.sa/BASM.html). The Arabic Language Academy in Egypt, and the Center for the Coordination of Arabization in Morocco. have their own specialized terminology databanks and dictionaries and continually work on Arabizing technical terms. The problem is that many students, faculty and researchers do not know that such terminology databanks and specialized English-Arabic dictionaries exist.
Many participants believe that transliteration is the only way for translating English technical terms into Arabic. Here again the participants do not seem to be aware of Arabization processes, some of which are: (i) primary derivation; (ii) secondary derivation by root modification and metathesis; (iii) simple derivation by using patterns for deriving agents, patients, action and state nouns, abstract nouns of quality, nouns of frequency, nouns of manner, nouns of place and times, tool names, occupations, disease names, diminutives, onomatopoeia and many others; (iv) back formation where verbs are derived from nouns; (v) expanding derived forms (vi) metaphorical use of words; (vii) adding new meanings to commonly used words such as تيار سياسي، جناح سياسي، يسار، سرب طائرات، رتل عسكري ; (viii) reviving old words; (ix) using explanatory phrases rather than single word equivalents; (x) loan words from other languages; (xi) loan words with partial Arabization; (xii) loan words with phonetic Arabization; and (xiii) derivation from loan words.
Many participants believe that it is impossible to translate specialized references and journal articles published in English. This is another misconception. If countries like Armenia, Ukraine, Turkey, Korea and Japan can keep up with the latest developments and can publish and translate specialized material into their native languages, why cannot Arab countries, that have 300 million inhabitants, do the same thing? In the early 20th century, Ataturk Romanized the Turkish alphabet and since then, the Turks have been writing books using the new alphabet.
Throughout the 20th century, there have been many individual Arabization and translation efforts, but in the latest decade, new collective efforts have appeared that seek the revival of translation in the Arab World such as The Arab Organization for Translation (AOT), Arabization of Health Sciences Network (AHSN), World Arab Translators’ Association (WATA) and others.
It can be concluded from the findings of the present study that Arabic is facing a serious threat by the dominance of English at higher education institutions in Saudi Arabia. The inferior role of Arabic as a medium of instruction in higher institutions in Saudi Arabia is heightened by the lack of language planning and linguistic policies that protect, develop and promote the Arabic language, by the inadequate Arabicization efforts, and by the inadequacy of technical books translated and published in Arabic.
To alleviate the dominance of the English language in higher education institutions in Saudi Arabia, the Saudi government needs to establish a new Arabic language policy and establish new strategies for protecting and developing the Arabic language. College students need to be informed of the status of Arabic among other world languages. Arabic language courses need to be updated and students’ ability to translate and coin Arabic technical terms, to enable authors to write books and research papers in Arabic need to be developed.
Saudi higher educational policies need to be geared towards supporting Arabic. All students in all colleges should take a required course in Arabization as part of the university requirements. Students need to be taught English prefixes, suffixes and roots and their Arabic equivalents. They should be required to learn Arabic technical terms together with their English equivalents as it is the case in other countries such as Greece. In college Arabic language courses, students need to study the Arabic derivational patterns and need to be introduced to terminology databanks and online specialized dictionaries. Allowing graduate students to write their projects and theses in Arabic and requiring them to append An English-Arabic glossary to theses.
Arabic publications in science, technology, medicine can be promoted by requiring that as part of faculty promotion requirements. A consortium of translation centers and organizations in Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries can be established and made available on the Internet. Arabization and translation journals can be publicized. Translation of technical English books into Arabic can be promoted, and finished higher if a team of specialist works on a single book, each translating one chapter only, rather than a single translator of the whole book.
Specialized English-Arabic dictionaries and terminology databanks need to be continually updated by a team of lexicographers or publishers. Electronic versions of Arabic specialized dictionaries need to mad available online. Emphasizing use of the Arabic language by organizations, and at conferences. The media can play a major role in promoting the Arabization and translation industries.
Specialized electronic databases for Arabic research similar to Medline, ERIC, AGRICOLA and ECONOLIT can be established. Forming a consortium of university libraries, research centers to enable students and researchers to access Arabic specialized material and publications. Arab scholars can make use of other countries’ experience in translating English references and article (such as Japan, Korea, China, Russia, Greece and others).
Finally, the protection, development and promotion of the Arabic language needs a directive to be issued and activated by the Saudi government. Such a directive for enabling and protecting the Arabic language was issued by the Syrian government in 2007. A similar directive was issued by the UAE government for combating the dominance of the English language and mandating use of Arabic in correspondence, reports, communication in ministries, companies, and higher education institutions.
Surveying college students’ attitudes towards using English and Arabic at higher education institutions in Arab countries in general and Saudi Arabia in particular every 10 years or so is highly recommended to observe new trends and changes in views and factors affecting those views and watch for any threats that may affect the status of Arabic in its birth place, Saudi Arabia.
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Appendix
Name: ------------------------------------ Major: ----------------------- Level: -------------
1. How do you view the status of English and Arabic in Saudi Arabia? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2. Which is more appropriate as a medium of instruction at the university level English or Arabic? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3. In which colleges and majors should English be used? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4. In which colleges and majors should Arabic be used? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5. Give at least 3 scientific & technological reasons for favoring English as a medium of instruction at the university level? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
6. Give at least 3 educational reasons for favoring English as a medium of instruction at the university level? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
7. Give at least 3 social reasons for favoring English as a medium of instruction at the university level? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
8. Give at least 3 reasons related to the labor market for favoring English as a medium of instruction at the university level? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
9. What is your role in developing/retaining the status of the Arabic language?
