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The story is different in Arkansas, where the American Councils of International Education-led study estimated that fewer than 10 percent of students are studying world languages in school. The state also is among more than half of states that offer the seal of biliteracy-special recognition on high school diplomas for graduates who demonstrate fluency in two or more languages. More than half of the state’s public school students-including those in elementary and middle schools-are enrolled in world language courses. New Jersey is one of 11 states where foreign language study is required for students to graduate from high school. Students packed into Russian courses in the 1960s at the height of the Cold War and Space Race between the United States and Soviet Union. That’s despite the fact that having employees who can speak the language is increasingly useful and necessary for multinational corporations and industries looking to make business connections and inroads in the Arab world.Įxperts point out that language-learning trends can be fickle. The Qatar Foundation International has set a goal of doubling the number of students learning Arabic in the next five years, but Allaf said she’s aware that the language is still “not seen as a mainstream option for learning.” The best way to do that is to use language learning as a window into other cultures.”
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“Our main mission is cross-cultural understanding. “We never actually go to a school and say, ‘Here’s money, do this,’ ” said Carine Allaf, a senior program adviser for the foundation.
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The foundation’s money helps fund Arabic classes that reach about 2,400 students in eight states and the District of Columbia. One protester’s sign read: “Qatar out of our school,” in reference to Qatar Foundation International, a charity that plans to spends $2.5 million this year to support Arabic language instruction in 25 K-12 schools in the United States, including the Houston-based magnet school. In August 2015, residents protested at the new Arabic Immersion Magnet School in Houston, denouncing Arabic, Islam, and drawing ties to the Sept. President Donald Trump’s anti-Muslim rhetoric has re-ignited and perpetuated fears about the language and culture, and some of that angst has played out on school grounds. But that number represents less than 0.25 percent of students studying a foreign language.Īrabic language teachers trained with post-9/11 government funding are finding jobs in schools around the country, but their lessons aren’t always embraced or welcome.
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To be clear, a growing number of students-an estimated 26,000-are studying Arabic in the nation’s K-12 schools. But even now, more than 15 years later, the nation has only a small pool of students who have dived in. government has desperately sought to hire fluent speakers of Arabic. Since terrorists from Arab countries attacked the United States on Sept. That disconnect between national demand and local supply is apparent in the number of students studying Arabic. Things are going to get better, but it’s going to take time.” Cultural Connections “There are some hindrances there, but I am not sure what ,” said Aman Attieh, the executive director of the American Association of Teachers of Arabic. That adds up to nearly 110,000 students in the nation’s classrooms who report Arabic as their home language.ĭespite that, almost eight times as many students are enrolled in courses in Latin, a so-called “dead language,” than Arabic, one that is very much in demand in the 21st century. Census data indicate that it’s the nation’s fastest-growing language.Īrabic is also the second-most spoken home language for English-language learners in the nation’s K-12 public schools, trailing only Spanish, according to 2013-14 federal data. residents speak Arabic than Spanish, Chinese, French, and Vietnamese, U.S. Researchers say the shortcomings are most glaring in so-called critical-need languages, such as Arabic, that are considered crucial to national security, but are among the least commonly taught and also considered the most difficult to learn.