2007年VOA标准英语-College Enrollment in Arabic Courses Growing Fa

By Mohamed Elshinnawi
Washington
16 August 2007
 

A survey by the Modern Languages Association shows that since September 11th, 2001 student enrollment¹ in Arabic courses at American colleges has grown faster than any other foreign language. With the help of the National Security Education Program several universities started the Language Flagship Initiative to develop advanced programs in languages that are important to the future of the U.S.

VOA'S Mohamed Elshinnawi spent a day with American students learning Arabic at the Flagship Program of the University of Maryland to explore how and why they are learning Arabic.

Most Americans once knew little about Arabs and Muslims, their perceptions based mostly on Hollywood movies and TV news. Few seemed interested in the Arabic language.

Alaa Elgibali

But that changed after the terrorist attacks in 2001, says Alaa Elgebali, director of the National Flagship Language Program for Arabic teaching at the University of Maryland. "There was more curiosity about what the Arab world is, what the Muslim world is, what do they think, who are they. Pursuing the language, of course, is a very good way to get to know the culture and how people think, so that is the main reason. Another reason, of course, is the geopolitical interest in the area, but some of the American students are studying Arabic because of their interest in jobs that are related to U.S. national security."

The Modern Language Association of America says the number of Arabic language students at U.S universities rose from 5,000 before 9/11 to 12,000 now. Tyler Golson is enrolled² in the two-year Arabic Flagship Program at the University of Maryland. "9/11 was kind of very hard for me and my family and I just was curious about why it happened. I knew nothing about the Arab world, I knew nothing about Islam, so I just took my first class out of curiosity in college, and then I fell in love with every thing about it."

Tyler plans to use his proficiency³ in Arabic to become a political analyst⁴. He says the Flagship Program has used Arab satellite TV to expose him to the different Arab cultures around the world.

Jihan Mansour instructs students

Arabic language instructor⁵ Jihan Mansour explains how the program uses Arab media as a tool for teaching. "It is really new in any Arabic flagship program, because it is from the Arabic media. It is not like two native speakers are talking about anything. It is from the media, news bulletins and interviews, and we also have here guest speakers every week speaking with the students, giving them lectures and using sometimes Egyptian, Iraqi, Syrian (dialects), whatever."

The Arabic teaching program provides students with a dedicated⁶ library of dictionaries, textbooks and a variety of Arabic publications and movies.

"You really cannot understand Arabic very well unless you know a lot about the Arabic culture to comprehend words and usage, because Arabic words have a lot of cultural and historic influences," says Golson. He adds, there is no substitute for actually going and living in the Arab world.

Noah Bonsey

His classmate, Noah Bonsey, attests⁷ to that. "I lived for a semester last spring in Syria, in Damascus, and that was an incredible experience and I kept in touch with some people from there and I will go back to visit at the end of the summer."

The Flagship Program includes trips to Syria, Egypt and Jordan to practice different dialects and deepen students' understanding of the region.

1 enrollment   

n.注册或登记的人数；登记

参考例句：

• You will be given a reading list at enrollment.注册时你会收到一份阅读书目。
• I just got the enrollment notice from Fudan University.我刚刚接到复旦大学的入学通知书。

2 enrolled   

adj.入学登记了的v.[亦作enrol]( enroll的过去式和过去分词 )；登记，招收，使入伍（或入会、入学等），参加，成为成员；记入名册；卷起，包起

参考例句：

• They have been studying hard from the moment they enrolled. 从入学时起，他们就一直努力学习。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He enrolled with an employment agency for a teaching position. 他在职业介绍所登了记以谋求一个教师的职位。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 proficiency   

n.精通，熟练，精练

参考例句：

• He plied his trade and gained proficiency in it.他勤习手艺，技术渐渐达到了十分娴熟的地步。
• How do you think of your proficiency in written and spoken English?你认为你的书面英语和口语熟练程度如何？

4 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

5 instructor   

n.指导者，教员，教练

参考例句：

• The college jumped him from instructor to full professor.大学突然把他从讲师提升为正教授。
• The skiing instructor was a tall,sunburnt man.滑雪教练是一个高高个子晒得黑黑的男子。

6 dedicated   

adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的

参考例句：

• He dedicated his life to the cause of education.他献身于教育事业。
• His whole energies are dedicated to improve the design.他的全部精力都放在改进这项设计上了。

7 attests   

v.证明( attest的第三人称单数 )；证实；声称…属实；使宣誓

参考例句：

• The child's good health attests his mother's care. 这孩子健康的身体证实他母亲照料周到。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• The boy's good health attests to his mother's care. 这个男孩的良好健康就是他母亲细心照顾的明证。 来自辞典例句