7 Sept 2003, Issue 2

In Today's Email:

• David Blunkett's Linguistic Crusade
• TESOL and Islam (An Australian Perspective) - Dr Fiona Hill, Al Manar Consultancy
• Newswatch:
  - 2,500 English Language Teachers to Be Replaced With Saudis Soon (Arab News, 4 September, 2003)
  - A Nation without a Tongue (HiPakistan.com, 29 August 2003)
  - The Eastern Influence in Harry Potter (Middle East Online, 26 August, 2003)
• Jobs - UAE, Higher Colleges of Technology, English Faculty
• ESL Material Resources
  - Dos and Don'ts in ESL Material Design
  - Talking about Hijab

David Blunkett's Linguistic Crusade

According to guidelines unveiled last week, David Blunkett (the UK Home Secretary) is proposing that immigrants seeking a British passport will need to take a 'Britishness test' and demonstrate that their English language skills are improving by at least one band on the ESOL scale. The news has been widely reported in the British media. What is particularly curious about the guidelines is that applicants will also be given the opportunity to choose between Welsh and Scottish Gaelic in what obviously looks like a half-hearted attempt at appeasing Welsh and Scottish sensitivities.

The exact numbers of Welsh and Gaelic speakers in Britain are unclear but there is no doubt that the combined number is considerably less than the number who speak Punjabi, which according to various estimates is spoken by around 1.3 million people in Britain. Absurd as it might seem to many, a fair and just policy should ideally allow applicants the opportunity of learning Punjabi along with Welsh and Scottish Gaelic. There is of course a very remote chance of that happening; David Blunkett, after all, is on record as saying that ethnic minority groups in Britain should stop speaking their own ethnic languages in the privacy of their homes and begin adopting English in order to prevent what he calls 'schizophrenic rifts between generations of their families'.

The racist undertones in these latest government proposals are unmistakable. Some of the Home Secretary's recent statements are revealing:

'Many white Britons have ill feelings towards people from other countries, because the immigrants are seen to be different,' 'They do not speak English and they know nothing about the culture, the past or the present of the country they have decided to live in.' 'I also welcome the emphasis on English - acquiring English is a prerequisite to social integration, to further education and employment and to the well-being of succeeding generations'

[David Blunkett, UK Home Secretary quoted in Straits Times, Singapore]

It is also worth recalling that the majority of applicants tend to be mostly from Muslim countries like Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia and Iran. David Blunkett firmly believes that in order to function efficiently immigrants from these countries need to integrate into British society by understanding "our" values, language and customs. One wonders what Blunkett would make of the vast numbers of 'fully-integrated' British 'expats' (immigrants?) living in the Arabian Gulf, in Tuscany or in the South of France or of the alarming rise in the loutish behaviour of British youths holidaying this summer in Greece.

It just goes to show you how ludicrous the whole thing is!

Related Articles:

Immigrant Citizenship Classes Planned
The Guardian
3 September, 2003

Citizenship Classes for New Britons
BBC News
3 September, 2003

Britain Wants Only Migrants Who Know the Culture
Straits Times, Singapore
6 September, 2003

Would you Pass a Britishness Test?
The Daily Mirror
4 September, 2003

Immigrants Will Have to Pass Test on Britishness
The Independent
4 September, 2003

A Welcome Arrival
The Telegraph
4 September, 2003

TESOL and Islam (An Australian Perspective):

By Dr Fiona Hill, Almanar Consultancy, Victoria, Australia

All TESOL educators want their students to comprehend and reproduce the English language in the most effective way. But how many English language teachers are committed to safeguarding Islamic values in the classroom? How many are committed to assisting Muslim learners to use the English language confidently in line with the conventions of the Muslim worldview?

In the Australian classroom, the answer is probably very few. But these are real and vexed questions amongst Muslims, socio-linguists and TESOL educators worldwide.

In Australia, many migrant Muslim men and women refuse to attend English language classes and many Muslim students at school and university feel conflicted in their learning in all subjects. They worry that their acquisition of knowledge in the Australian classroom may compromise their Islamic values. This badly impacts on their academic achievement and is lamented by teachers and Muslim community leaders alike.

In most of the Muslim world, the English language is equated with a Western culture that is non-Islamic. Many Muslims even see English as anti-Islamic - a stance that causes lively debate among Muslims across the world. After all, in Australia alone there are up to 200,000 Australian born Muslims who have English as their native tongue.

We hear stories about religious teachers in Malaysian schools instructing students not to cross their "t's" when writing English, in order to avoid representing the crucifix. Such extreme notions not only cause conflict in the student, they are also un-Islamic.

Prophet Muhammad told Muslims that they should “Seek knowledge from the cradle to the grave”, and that they should seek it, “even if it be in China” (i.e. well out of one’s way). Islamic scholars advise that a teacher who tells his students that English is haram (forbidden under Islam) is reflecting only his own insecurities, not the injunctions of Islam. They also note that Muslims who vehemently oppose English rarely are proficient in it themselves.

Extreme and misguided views aside, there remains a valid argument for teaching English in a way that acknowledges and respects a Muslim learner’s beliefs and daily practice. Every English language teacher has seen the radiant satisfaction on a student’s face when that teacher is conversant with and mindful of the student’s native language and cultural norms. A student whose identity is acknowledged feels respected and in turn pays respect to the teacher. A respected student is a receptive student.

Consideration of cross-cultural issues has long since been a hallmark of TESOL. But to engage fully with Muslim students, teachers need to appreciate the religion, and they need to discover if their assumptions about Islam are true.

Apart from learning more about the basics of Islam, teachers might discover the contribution of Muslim civilisation to European culture, and subsequently to the English language.

There is an Islamically correct way to use language. Native English speaking Muslims defer to traditional Islamic modes in their greeting rituals, relationship building, speculative thought, and so on. Rather than creating an English dialect thereby, they give English a ‘mood’ that is more inclusive, more relaxed, and even more joyful than the norm.

English has borrowed heavily from Arabic. The words admiral, algebra, alcohol, alfalfa, almanac, camel, checkmate, coffee, cotton, guitar, lemon, jar, jasmine, massage, muslin, pyjama, saffron, sofa, sugar, and tariff are but a small sample of the vocabulary adapted from Arab Muslim origin.

The importance of Arabic to all Muslims cannot be overstated. The Qur’an (the Holy Scripture of Islam) was revealed in Arabic and Muslims may only read it, and pray, in Arabic, no matter what is their native tongue. The use of any other language in the performance of a Muslim’s devotions is impossible and unthinkable. Whether your Muslim student is Fijian, Albanian, Turkish, or Ethiopian, some Arab behavioural norms are inextricable from his/her own cultural norms and attitudes.

Fiona Hill is a private consultant in the trade of educational expertise between Australia and the Arab region. She has a PhD in Anthropology and is RSA/UCLES accredited in TEFL. Almanar Consultancy’s web page can be viewed through the Australia Arab Chamber of Commerce & Industry Internet site www.austarab.com.au

Among her publications is Islam: A Guide for Australian Teachers, Vol.1
Dr Fiona E. Hill discusses the historical context of Islam, its basic tenets, the more controversial social aspects of the religion, and some interesting points about Islam in Australia. It also includes an annotated list of multimedia resources (Internet, text, video and CD) and contact details of Muslim organizations across Australia. The guide is designed specifically for teachers. It is available through VATME or by application directly to the author fionaehill@netspace.net.au at a cost of $45 plus postage.


Newswatch:

Jobs:

ESL Material Resources: The Dos and Don'ts of ESL Material Design