Foreign Language Education in Lebanon: A Context of Cultural and Curricular Complexities

Abstract

Abstract-Knowing more than one or two languages has always been a natural consequence of cultural exchange. Thus educational institutions the world over have placed teaching/learning of languages high on their agendas as they find the need for their students to be competitive in the global career arena. The communication among different cultures and the efforts of education have added to the multi lingual/culture of many countries. However, the growth of this multilingualism/multiculturalism is not without its questions concerning complexities involved in what attitudes do the learners hold towards learning languages, which languages should be taught and whether these languages would 'complex' the learners in finding their own native language 'inferior'. This study examines these complexities in Lebanon, a country long known for its multi lingual/cultural makeup, Specifically, the paper gives an overview of the cultural influences in the country over the past century and how this was responsible for the adoption of the foreign languages, mainly French and English, that coexist in the country today along with Arabic, the native language. The paper focus on the consequent educational trends in teaching/learning languages in noting the new National Curriculum changes in the 1990's after the civil war and how the policies were implemented at both the pre and tertiary sectors. Cultural, attitudinal, motivational and language acquisition factors are discussed in how the French medium and English medium schools accounted for them in their language curricula and how they impact learners' language development. The researchers debate whether the teaching/learning of foreign languages may eventually lead to the 'decline' of the national language, the latter being a 'complex' for the many, which is a concern that most countries are facing these days.

Medical education in a foreign language and history-taking in the native language in Lebanon – a nationwide survey

“…The official and most widely spoken language in Lebanon is Arabic, and the majority of patients in academic and community healthcare centers speak it. Lebanon is also unique in having a high proportion of bilingual and trilingual medical students [12]. Both these factors create a unique population of medical students for evaluating the influence of medical education in a foreign language on patient communication in the native language.…”

The Effect of an Intensive English Program on the Vocabulary Size of Lebanese English Foreign Learners

“…Not only is English in Lebanon a third language but for most students, even at the university level, exposure to English outside the classroom is limited and thus so are the opportunities to use English, which is a major barrier inhibiting learners' ability and opportunity to develop the required proficiency (Al-Khatib, 2013). Even if students attend an English-medium university, Arabic is the language they resort to for interaction outside the classroom (Bacha & Bahous, 2011). Nicolas and Annous' (2013) study at a private English-medium university Lebanon describe the context as one in which students "by and large resort to Arabic rather than English in their social interactions on campus and in their dealings with family and community.…”

Abstracts 20th International Science of Aphasia Conference, Rome, September 2019

“…Multiple languages coexist in Lebanon due to historical, cultural and educational circumstances (Bacha & Bahous, 2011;Bahous & al., 2014). Lebanese people are able to speak at least two languages from early childhood.…”