International Arabic Language Conference under way

Wednesday, May 08, 2013

Dubai: The challenges facing the Arabic language and the language’s situation was the focus of the second International Conference on Arabic Language, taking place in Dubai between May 8-10.

The conference is being held under the patronage of His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, who attended the conference’s first session.

The conference is part of Shaikh Mohammad’s aspiration to enhance the importance and position of the Arabic language due to the significance of the language’s cultural, historical and civilisational identity for the Arab world.

The conference is also part of the UAE Vision 2021, which strives to make the UAE a centre of excellence for the Arabic language.

The conference has more than 60 sessions, that discuss all matters relating to Arabic language, and has more than 1,000 participants.

Shaikh Nahyan Bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Culture, Youth and Community Development, said in his opening speech that: “The UAE has given the Arabic language the highest priority, as we have clear policies that are rooted in our religion, our history, our constitution and laws, and our social and economic reality.”

He added that he does not believe the Arabic language is in danger, “as the Arabic language lives amongst us, around the clock, it’s a live language, in all areas and fields, we live it and live with it, in mosques, schools, universities and in the media with all its facets.”

He added that it is also used in all official documents and constitutions in all Arab countries.

“The Arabic language is widely used but I think that Arabic language lovers have higher and bigger expectations for it.”

He noted that there is also an increase in the number of non-Arabic speakers who are starting to learn Arabic.

However, Al Nahyan said, that the danger lies in not speaking it in our daily lives, not writing and researching in it and not translating into it.

Another danger, he noted, is pushing new generations into learning foreign languages and neglecting Arabic.

This conference, he said is a very positive step in the right path. He added that its role is to come up with recommendations that clearly indicate the various responsibilities of people, Arab countries, ministries and organisations in preserving the language.

Hussain Al Bataynah, one of the participants, who is an associate professor at Al Balqaa applied university in Jordan, said that he was there to discuss a research paper, that discusses the Arabic language and knowledge in one of the sessions.

“What makes this conference unique, is the large number of people who love the Arabic language… the most important thing is that the recommendations that come out of this conference are applied in the real world and not stored in drawers,” Al Bataynah said.

Dr Yahya Mohammad Al Qudah, an Arabic language instructor in Ajman Educational Zone, who is attending the conference, said the conference was very informative, “it has discussions, lectures and workshops, there is communication between the lecturers and the audience.”

He added that he is not worried about the Arabic language as there are over a billion Muslims that use the language, and it is one of the world’s top languages as well as one of Unesco’s official languages.

The event has been organised by the International Council for Arabic Language in cooperation with Unesco and the Association of Arab Universities.

By Noorhan Barakat?Staff Reporter