Education experts agree that Arabic is a difficult language to learn, more so than French or Spanish, the traditional alternatives. Not surprisingly, the student dropout rate is high. In an attempt to fix the problem, programs are sprouting to provide Arabic lessons to younger students. Whether creative and younger classrooms are the solutions is yet to be determined. The dropout rate at the K-12 level is 75 percent, says Dora Johnson of the Center for Applied Linguistics, an organization based in Washington, D.C., that researches and promotes the teaching and learning of languages. But despite these numbers, academics say that there is potential for improvement. “I don’t think they’re frustrated,” University of Texas Arabic professor Mahmoud al-Batal says of his “self-selected” Arabic students. “This is a national challenge for us. The most important thing is to provide teacher training for all those involved and (create) more programs (overseas) and intensive programs in the U.S.”
USA Today
Surge in Students Studying Arabic Outstrips Supply of Teachers
(Sept. 6)
