This is in response to the column “Students need better English instruction” by Alaa Alghamdi. These days there are clear signs of a growing awareness within Arabic-speaking communities of the need to break away from the traditional monolingual bias. Language attitudes are changing and learners are discovering, to their great delight, that they are not at all bad at picking up a foreign language.

It is worth reflecting, at this point, on the notion that children are born ready for bilingualism. Some two-thirds of the children on earth grow up in a bilingual environment and develop competence in it. It is an ability that seems to die down as children reach their teens.

There is, however, a widespread agreement that if we want to take the task of foreign language learning seriously, one of the key principles is “the earlier the better.”

Since the 1960s, English has become the normal medium of instruction in higher education in many countries and is increasingly used in several other countries where the language has no official status.

Some advanced courses in The Netherlands, for example, are widely taught in English.

An argument which is particularly logical in relation to KAUST as well to other science colleges and it makes sense to teach advanced courses in that language to better prepare the students for challenges ahead. — Israrul Haque, Jeddah