By Chris Estrada
With the Middle East continually in the news and China gaining economic clout, Arabic and Chinese language courses are now in high demand at Northeastern and at colleges across the country. As some classes for the two languages reach Northeastern’s 18-student limit per language class, some faculty are considering expanding their curriculum to bring in more students.
“It is good to have 18 students to make sure they are getting enough skill, but what we can do about that is to increase the courses,” said Safaa Shaheen, lecturer of Arabic language and culture at Northeastern. “Not to increase the number of students, but to increase the sections of the language itself.”
Shaheen’s two introductory courses have 15 and 16 students each, while her one second-level course has 10 students. But while the courses haven’t yet filled completely, a sophomore political science major said she thinks a major change has occurred.
“I know many people that are taking [Arabic], and a year ago, no one took it,” said Mercy Abena Osei Ameyaw. “I can almost guarantee if you know [Arabic] language, it’ll be great to know. Overseas, it’s just good to know the language.”
Ameyaw is currently in the military and could be given the call to go to Iraq “at any time.” She has been trained in the Arabic language both in the military and in her second-level Arabic course.
“Government-wise and military-wise, we’re being trained in all aspects of the language,” she said. “This conflict isn’t temporary. It’s permanent. I know. Arabic is the hot language in international news and politics, where everyone revolves around the Middle East and Arabic culture. I think it’s good for Northeastern to be up on current events, and that they should have a focus on it.”
Following the attacks of September 11, the Arabic language has become a major component for students in majors such as political science and criminal justice. Shaheen started the first Arabic language program at Boston College in 2002, thinking only a handful of students would be attracted to the new courses. She and her partners got more attention than they imagined.
“When we offered the courses, [Shaheen and a Middle-Eastern Studies committee] were afraid that there wouldn’t be any kind of demand or rush from the part of those students toward the language,” Shaheen said. “They expected that the courses that would be opened would just attract attention of three to four students maximum. The program wouldn’t be as strong … and they had a really big fear of that at that time. But when I started the program in 2002, and finished it in 2004, the courses attracted 70 students for the very first time to learn the Arabic language.”
One criminal justice major, freshman Sam Hahn, said he saw the Arabic language as a chance to set himself apart from the rest of his field and sees it as having the potential to be even bigger in American society.
“Speak a language that no one else speaks, like Chinese, Japanese and Arabic,” Hahn said. “Any language that isn’t common … with the way the world seems to be turning these days, [the Arabic language] can catch on. If the Arabic immigration turned up and increased, I could see a large potential for a major language.”
The Chinese language is also getting a boost from students looking at their post-college careers. Xiaoyang Zhou, a lecturer of Chinese language at Northeastern, said she has noticed her pupils picking up on China’s evolution into a global superpower.
“Some of them have a clear goal to go to China for co-op, jobs and internships,” Zhou said. “Most of my students major in international affairs and business, and there’s a big demand for technicians and engineers … a lot of high-tech and management.”
The Modern Language Department has begun to take steps to increase courses to accommodate the demand for Chinese language courses, now peaking from what was a humble start.
“I think three or four years ago, we only had one to two Chinese courses at the lowest level,” Zhou said. “Now we have three classes and two years of Chinese. The 101s are almost full for both classes, and we’re getting ready to have a 301 soon. People have already registered for that … I’m sure we’ll add more Chinese classes in the future.”
However, Zhou said she doesn’t believe Chinese will ever surpass more traditional college languages, like Spanish and French, citing the enrollment differences between her language and the others.
“Chinese won’t surpass that,” she said. “But I think you look at the development of China, and you see Western countries invest in China, and students from America that can speak Chinese. We have so many companies in China. The level of Chinese students here is getting higher and higher. All this … change has encouraged more and more students to learn Chinese.”
Freshman criminal justice major Dan Trovillion is one such student and said he thinks understanding Chinese will help him achieve his career goals.
“One of my goals is to be in federal law enforcement,” Trovillan said. “One of the attributes they are looking for are people who are fluent in Chinese … I don’t think [Chinese] will be more popular … but it will get to the point where it is widely studied. You just have to consider what kind of use of a language you want after you learn it.”
