Dubai: The Arab youth’s tendency to use foreign languages is increasingly becoming a challenge to their native language and should be dealt with strategically, academics said.
Officials from the Hamdan Bin Mohammad e-University (HBMeU) recently took part in the Second International Conference on Arabic Language that focused on the challenges involved in “Teaching the Arabic Language over Latest Needs.”
Held under the theme “Arabic Language in Danger: All Are Partners in Protection,” Dr Talal Mohammad Al Darwish, Head of HBMeU’s Centre for Arabisation and Programme Integrity, presented a paper based on the e-university’s experience that details ways to overcome these challenges through e-Learning.
Al Darwish began the discussion with a focus on “Our Children and Knowledge”, particularly zooming in on the Arab region’s current cultural status where the young generation tend to use foreign languages as opposed to their native Arabic language.
Al Darwish pointed out that one of the leading initiatives for university learning and e-learning across the Arab world is the Cloud Campus, a social online learning initiative.
Introduced under the directives of Shaikh Hamdan Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and President of HBMeU, Cloud Campus aims to strengthen the culture of e-learning and promote optimal adoption of advanced technologies and social networks to spread knowledge among the Emirati and Arab youth.
“This initiative is not limited to education alone, it is based on an integrated approach that reinforces social responsibility among young people through the direct and effective use of the internet,” Al Darwish said.
