By Mubarak Al-Hajri (with photos) BEIRUT, June 22 (KUNA) -- In light of low levels of mastering the Arabic language in Lebanon, voices of highly concerned are being raised to warn of the dangers of this matter affecting the Arab identity, the mother language and its future.
With the increasing threat to the usage of the Arabic language in Lebanon, the need to take more initiatives and action plans in coordination with the ministries concerned has become urgent.
Most youngsters in the Arab societies are undergoing a crisis of confidence towards the Arabic language where they consider it a discourse of tradition that is incapable of keeping pace with the requirements of the modern times, and that its concepts and terminology are confined only to religion and history without meeting the demands of science, art and technology.
It has been scientifically proven that the problem does not lie in the Arabic language especially that it is rich in vocabulary that other languages lack and consists of descriptive, prose and sound aesthetics that distinguish it from other languages.
Experts believe that the main reason behind the Arab youngster's alienation from the Arabic language is social, creativity and productivity frustration in Arab societies, and that the language itself is nothing but a victim of this impasse.
The regression of the Arabic language and its literatures in Lebanon has been a consequence of the country's orientation towards the Francophone and Anglo-Saxon languages, Director of Letters and Human Science Faculty, Branch 1 at the Lebanese University, Dr. Nabil Khatib told KUNA.
He attributed this decline in the overall level of the language to the dedication to foreign languages in schools at the expense of the Arabic language, as well as the misconception among parents who have come to consider that the key to success in the future of their children lies in mastering one or more foreign languages.
It is significant to speak Arabic without any sort of exaggeration, master writing it and using it correctly in forms of expression as Classical Arabic is not required to be used by any family members, added Dr. Khatib.
He also stressed the need to return to focus the attention on facilitating Arabic to the youth, emphasized speaking, pronouncing and writing it accurately, in addition to mastering its calligraphy, calling on the media to be cautious when using this rich language.
"The Arabic language is not only grammar and literary texts, but a sense of belonging as well," said Arabic Language Professor, Dr. Mohammad Abu Ali in a similar statement to KUNA.
Each language has two essential functions; the role of expression and that of belonging, Dr. Abu Ali added, pointing to the major dilemma in the curricula in the Arab countries, which is treating it the same way we treat foreign languages'.
For his part, Arabic Language Professor, Dr. Ahmad Kamel said that the responsibility of protecting the language from deteriorating lies in the hands of educational institutions, parents, civil society and the government, calling for concerted efforts to save and preserve the Arabic language.
Some families speak to their children with foreign languages and encourage them to use them as well due to their conviction that other languages are more important than Arabic, he noted, stressing that this is a major mistake that must be remedied as everyone must take pride in their language.
He stressed that Arabic is the language of the holy Quran as it acquired its outstanding status by this main attribute, noting that "it represents our originality and our extended historic roots." Arabic is the most powerful language that includes derivations and adjectives, and the richest in vocabulary and terms as it consists of over 500 million words.
Code-switching is one of the distortions caused to the Arabic language in Lebanon as some daily-used phrases consist of two or more languages combined such as "Merci kteer," derived from "thank you" in French and "very much" in Arabic, in addition to the mistakes done in writing advertisement texts according to their pronunciation in the native dialect.
Over 300 million people around the world speak Arabic, which is the official language in 23 countries as well as in several international organizations such as the United Nations (UN), League of Arab States (LAS), United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), World Health Organization (WHO), Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) and several other bodies. (end) mah.ba KUNA 221256 Jun 13NNNN