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Chapter 7. The ongoing rivalry between English and French in Lebanon

  • Kassim Shaaban
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Applied Linguistics in the Middle East and North Africa
This chapter is in the book Applied Linguistics in the Middle East and North Africa

Abstract

The rivalry between French Jesuit and American Protestant missionaries in the field of language education in Lebanon started in the 19th century and helped make Lebanon, together with Egypt, a leader in the Arab literary renaissance as well as a major center of education in the whole Middle East region. This competition has continued since then with French taking the upper hand during the French mandate (1916–1943), but English has been making slow but sure gains since then, reaching a place of prominence with the advent of globalization and the felt need for rebuilding societies around the concept of “information knowledge” (UNDP, 2002). The present study will provide a brief historical survey of the developing roles of these two foreign languages from the 19th century to the present. Then, it will present the enacted policies and practices related to foreign language education in Lebanon during the French mandate, early independence, post-civil war, and globalization periods. The study will provide an analysis of these policies and the way they were put into action on the ground. The phenomenal advances made by English in pre-university and university education, in communication in professional fields, and in physical space will be highlighted. Highlighted also will be the efforts on the part of the French-educated Lebanese elite to preserve the special status French has enjoyed in the country for a long time. Finally, the study will address the issue of the threats to the native language by the spread of the foreign languages into domains that were exclusive to Arabic.

Abstract

The rivalry between French Jesuit and American Protestant missionaries in the field of language education in Lebanon started in the 19th century and helped make Lebanon, together with Egypt, a leader in the Arab literary renaissance as well as a major center of education in the whole Middle East region. This competition has continued since then with French taking the upper hand during the French mandate (1916–1943), but English has been making slow but sure gains since then, reaching a place of prominence with the advent of globalization and the felt need for rebuilding societies around the concept of “information knowledge” (UNDP, 2002). The present study will provide a brief historical survey of the developing roles of these two foreign languages from the 19th century to the present. Then, it will present the enacted policies and practices related to foreign language education in Lebanon during the French mandate, early independence, post-civil war, and globalization periods. The study will provide an analysis of these policies and the way they were put into action on the ground. The phenomenal advances made by English in pre-university and university education, in communication in professional fields, and in physical space will be highlighted. Highlighted also will be the efforts on the part of the French-educated Lebanese elite to preserve the special status French has enjoyed in the country for a long time. Finally, the study will address the issue of the threats to the native language by the spread of the foreign languages into domains that were exclusive to Arabic.

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents vii
  3. Acknowledgments ix
  4. Chapter 1. Applied linguistics research in the Middle East and North Africa 1
  5. Section I. Language in society
  6. Chapter 2. When the president loses his voice, the people capture speech 11
  7. Chapter 3. Religion and identity in modern Egyptian public discourse 37
  8. Chapter 4. English between Egyptians 61
  9. Chapter 5. The age of global English 89
  10. Chapter 6. The linguistic landscape of Cairo from the Rosetta Stone to the Ring Road billboards: Signs of their times 115
  11. Chapter 7. The ongoing rivalry between English and French in Lebanon 161
  12. Section II. Language in education
  13. Chapter 8. A Qatari case for authenticity in the investigation of reading abilities and strategies 185
  14. Chapter 9. The development and validation of an Arabic language test in Saudi Arabia 203
  15. Chapter 10. A survey of English language proficiency requirements for admission to English-medium universities in Arabic-speaking countries 227
  16. Chapter 11. Student teachers’ computer-mediated narratives-in-interaction 249
  17. Chapter 12. Arabic language teacher education 269
  18. Chapter 13. Corpora and the study of Arabic vocabulary 289
  19. Section III. Future directions of applied linguistics in the MENA countries
  20. Chapter 14. Whither Arabic? 307
  21. Chapter 15. A forward-looking conceptual framework for Arabic curriculum design and instructional methodology 343
  22. Chapter 16. Applied linguistics in the MENA countries 363
  23. Biographies 377
  24. Author index 383
  25. Subject index 387
https://doi.org/10.1075/aals.15.07sha

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents vii
  3. Acknowledgments ix
  4. Chapter 1. Applied linguistics research in the Middle East and North Africa 1
  5. Section I. Language in society
  6. Chapter 2. When the president loses his voice, the people capture speech 11
  7. Chapter 3. Religion and identity in modern Egyptian public discourse 37
  8. Chapter 4. English between Egyptians 61
  9. Chapter 5. The age of global English 89
  10. Chapter 6. The linguistic landscape of Cairo from the Rosetta Stone to the Ring Road billboards: Signs of their times 115
  11. Chapter 7. The ongoing rivalry between English and French in Lebanon 161
  12. Section II. Language in education
  13. Chapter 8. A Qatari case for authenticity in the investigation of reading abilities and strategies 185
  14. Chapter 9. The development and validation of an Arabic language test in Saudi Arabia 203
  15. Chapter 10. A survey of English language proficiency requirements for admission to English-medium universities in Arabic-speaking countries 227
  16. Chapter 11. Student teachers’ computer-mediated narratives-in-interaction 249
  17. Chapter 12. Arabic language teacher education 269
  18. Chapter 13. Corpora and the study of Arabic vocabulary 289
  19. Section III. Future directions of applied linguistics in the MENA countries
  20. Chapter 14. Whither Arabic? 307
  21. Chapter 15. A forward-looking conceptual framework for Arabic curriculum design and instructional methodology 343
  22. Chapter 16. Applied linguistics in the MENA countries 363
  23. Biographies 377
  24. Author index 383
  25. Subject index 387
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