Arabic-L:PEDA:Limiting jobs to native speakers

[Dilworth Parkinson]

Arabic-L: Thu 31 Jan 2008
Moderator: Dilworth Parkinson <dilworth_parkinson at byu.edu>
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-------------------------Directory------------------------------------

1) Subject:Limiting jobs to native speakers
2) Subject:Limiting jobs to native speakers: Other side of the coin

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1)
Date: 31 Jan 2008
From:"Shoaib Memon" <majnoonx at gmail.com>
Subject:Limiting jobs to native speakers

Hi,
Related to this current discussion, I would like to know if University
Departments hiring people to teach Arabic courses give any weight to
proficiency exams(assuming the candidate meets other reqs such as Ph.d
in relevant matter etc).  If so, which proficiency tests are
considered "good."  I'm thinking of taking the ACTFL test for Arabic
and would like to know if it will help me out in the distant future if
I'm applying for such posts.  Any thoughts on this matter, plus arabic
proficiency tests will be appreciated.

Long time Arabic student- first-time caller,
Shoaib

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2)
Date: 31 Jan 2008
From:"Muhamed Al Khalil" <oryxius at gmail.com>
Subject:Limiting jobs to native speakers: Other side of the coin

It is certainly unfair, let alone unproductive, not to grant non-native
teachers of Arabic the same opportunity as their native colleagues. As
several posts made it clear, non-native professionals of Arabic bring so
much knowledge and experience to language instruction. But in this  
post, I
would like to highlight the flip side of this: the unfair and biased
attitudes towards native professionals of Arabic in certain countries  
in the
Arab world.

Like many on the list, I am a U.S. educated professional of Arab  
background.
I have worked for several years in the Arab/Persian Gulf and can speak  
from
experience. There, if you come from an Arab background, regardless of
whether or not you were educated in the West, you are looked upon as  
some
kind of inferior creature. You face much more difficulty in hiring,  
and if
hired, you will not receive the same recognition and pay as your
Anglo-American colleagues. To be sure, this discriminatory treatment  
also
applies to professionals from other parts of the world, as India or  
Africa.
But this discriminatory practice is becoming more serious as several  
leading
American universities have opened or are opening up campuses in the  
Gulf,
quietly adopting and thus sanctioning the same practice.

To give an example, yesterday I looked at an announcement for a  
variety of
jobs, including Arabic studies, by a Saudi university. The ad stressed  
that
the applicant must visit the university's website and fill out their
APPLICATION FORM (which they wrote like this in capital letters for
emphasis). I went to their website and downloaded the form. In  
addition to
the customary information requested on such forms, the form asks for a
"recent photograph." They really want to see how you look. They ask  
for the
name of your father and your spouse's father. They ask all sorts of  
things
about your degrees, but one important detail they inquire about is "the
medium of instruction." They ask about your mental and physical health  
and
whether or not you were convicted for "political" reasons. They ask  
for the
email address of your present employer. They ask about your religion and
your spouse's religion. But most importantly they ask about your, your
spouse's, and your children's nationalities: now and at birth. Their  
ad says
"An applicant should hold an earned doctorate from any of the accredited
North American, European or Australian universities." But even if you  
are an
American citizen now with a Ph.D. from the U.S, it would matter to  
them to
know that you were born, say, in Egypt.

To give this Saudi university some credit, at least it is doing it in  
your
face. Other institutions are careful not to disclose their prejudice,  
opting
to practice it more insidiously.

There is a need for us professionals, native and non-native speakers of
Arabic, to come together in solidarity and take a position against
institutions that practice any kind of racist bias. The question is  
what's
the best way to confront this?

Muhamed Osman Al Khalil

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