When Arabs gathered, again, over the future of their language, Amany Abdel-Moneim was there to listen The native language of some 260 million people, Arabic is the largest living member of the Semitic family -- widely spoken throughout the Middle East and North Africa, though mainly in the form of dialects, some of which are mutually incomprehensible for most purposes. Addressing this fact, "The Arab Child's Language in the Age of Globalisation", a three-day conference held at the Arab League last week, focused on the role of language in shaping identity and how to promote its unity among future generations; 40 children from ten countries, aged 16-17, participated not only in talks but workshops and came up with an agenda of recommendations of their own. The conference was the collaborative work of many parties: the Arab Council of Childhood and Development, the Arab League (AL), the Arab Gulf Programme for United Nations Development Organisation, UNESCO, the Kuwaiti Fund for Arab Economic Development, and the Islamic Organisation for Education, Science and Culture (ISESCO). It coincided with the international celebration of the World Language Day. An operetta named Marha Abnaa Al-Fusha (Children of Classical Arabic) was staged at the end of the inaugural session, emphasising the importance of preserving Arabic and showing ethnic and traditional costumes across the Arab world. Participants mulled over the challenges facing Arabic, its role in intercultural dialogue and the right of children to master it. On behalf of his father Prince Talal Bin Abdul-Aziz, President of the Council for Childhood and Development, Prince Turki pointed out the role of language in protecting shared heritage and culture. Stressing the importance of learning foreign languages to empower people with access to modern knowledge, and facilitate communication with the rest of the world, he nonetheless maintained that this must never be at the expense of losing touch with one's own language: "Our aim is to come up with a strategy for preserving language among children to be part of our educational strategy scheduled to be submitted at the upcoming Arab submit." For his part AL Secretary General Amr Moussa spoke of preserving Arabic being "a national duty and a collective responsibility to be shouldered equally by the family, educational institutions and the media". Current fears of "language atrophy", he suggested, are well founded, especially among the intellectual elites; children must be allowed to register the beauty and power of their language and learn to express themselves confidently in it. It is an end, he said, to which no effort should be spared. On the other hand Soheir Abdel-Fattah, expert at the Council for Childhood and Development, warned against the dangers of "language extinction", calling for utilising research conducted at this conference for future language policy planning in the Arab world. On a similar note, ISESCO Secretary-General Abdel-Aziz Al-Twigrii spoke of "language pollution", the condition whereby the influence of foreign languages -- those of economically predominant countries -- corrupts Arabic, especially among children. One study released at the conference found that the language of advertising and the commercial world has a corrupting effect -- with the use of colloquial and foreign words written in Arabic script. Another, carried out on Libyan children, found that dialect and foreign expressions were far preferable among them than standard Arabic. This can undermine the language in use for 15 centuries and leave Arabs exposed to "cultural invasion"; it is a mistake to let dialect prevail at the expense of the Arabic tongue. The event, which closed on Monday, called on Arab countries to draft law ensuring the use of Arabic on TV and in advertising, and linking language with economic, social and political reform -- with the final communiqué supporting the teaching of Arabic at teacher-training colleges, upgrading educational standards, introducing new teaching plans at primary schools and setting up language centres in and around the Arab world. The whole event, it is worth noting, is part of a wider integrated strategy to improve children's prospects, which also provides for higher standards of living and development. Arabic satellite channels aimed at children were proposed -- for the benefit of Arab children outside the Arab world, with a ten-year plan culminating in more efficient use of Arabic while respecting the minorities' right to their own languages. Ambassador Nancy Bekir also announced the establishment of an annual prize to go to the best work written in Arabic verse or prose by a child -- an AL initiative endorsed by Moussa.
