JEDDAH, 15 December 2004 — An Egyptian friend visited us on Eid day. We offered him traditional food from Kerala which included “pappads”. He was quite curious to taste the delicate “Indian bread” and asked what its name was. “It’s pappad,” we told him. He tried to pronounce the word, but the best he could manage was “babbad”. “The taste is good but the name is difficult,” he said.
My friend’s experience illustrates the plight of many Arabs when it comes to speaking English. “Pappad” is not English but words starting with “p” twist Arab tongues. This is just one of the many problems of English language learning and teaching in Saudi Arabia.
Understanding English is a problem too. A person who teaches English in a teachers’ college described it in an interview. When a native speaker says, “I came today,” it might be misunderstood as “I-came-to-die.” The problem comes from the failure to understand pronunciation.
The article, “Why Not a Middle East Variant of English?” (Arab News, Dec. 3), brought these problems to my mind. As a matter of fact, there is no need to evolve a Middle Eastern variety of English; it is already there. We just have to nurture it.
The article highlights some of the problems of English language learning in Arab countries. Other non-English speaking countries face more or less the same ones.
The situation here, however, has some peculiar dimensions. Should we feel inferior because of our inability to speak English like an American or a Briton? Not at all. Even the Americans and the British speak the language quite differently.
Here comes the most important question. Are native speakers better equipped to teach English? The prevalent notion is that they are. People prefer them. First and foremost, learning a foreign language is an artificial process unlike the natural way we learned our mother tongue. Secondly, the mother tongue always interferes with learning the foreign language and finally, mastery of a foreign language calls for continuous practice.
Every language has three constituents — sound, structure and vocabulary. The first (and the most difficult) nut to crack is getting to know the sound system of a foreign language. The vocabulary and structure of a language can be mastered through continuous practice. Language learning is habit-forming and intense practice is the key to habit formation.
When we learn our mother tongue there are no language obstacles in our way. We of course have no trouble thinking in our own language. “When we first learn a language, we face the universe directly and learn to clothe it with speech; when we learn a foreign language we filter the universe through a language already known,” says one expert.
The peculiar pronunciation of a foreign language poses a big hurdle for the learner who carries the linguistic habits of his mother tongue. The result is that his way of speaking the foreign language is miles from that of the native speakers. Constant practice and training can make one come closer to the speech of the educated native speaker. The foreign English language teacher has a crucial role to play here. Studies have shown that English can be taught equally well, or even more efficiently, by trained, competent foreign teachers. Understandably, the teacher, whose mother tongue is not English, may have faced the problems of foreign language learning as a student and so may be able to guide his students better. He can also empathize with them unlike a native speaker who comes from a different cultural background.
The foreign teacher already knows the different techniques and procedures he used to learn the foreign language. He can teach the same to his students. Such examples will be more efficient in producing real-life situations for the students. A foreign teacher of English can foresee the difficulties of his students and find effective solutions unlike a native speaker. Special importance should be attached to sounds peculiar to English. A foreign teacher can arouse learner excitement by making the lessons lively to acquire a new language. The teacher would also treat the students with a sympathetic attitude. I believe a foreign language teacher of English is better equipped than a native speaker is.
(Seenath Sajith teaches English at International Indian School, Jeddah.)
