The language planning situation in the Sultanate of Oman

ABSTRACT

This paper examines the language planning situation in the Sultanate of Oman with emphasis on the planning of Arabic, English, French and German, and their choice and spread in serving different interests and purposes. The paper explores the historical, social, political, and ideological processes and complexities of the language policy and planning (LPP) situation in the Sultanate. The discussion attempts to show that language planning, as carried out by the elites, is top-down and ideologically oriented and motivated, as it favors certain knowledge and traditions, while marginalizing and oppressing others. A brief introductory history of Oman is followed by an account of the language profile of the country. The paper then examines the role of Language in Education Planning (LEP) in the spread of Arabic, English, French, and German in schools and higher education. It concludes that there is an ideological struggle, contest, and conflict at the LEP level resulting in a lack of strategic planning and organized effort affecting language choice, language spread, language contact, language preservation, language maintenance, and language shift. Finally, the paper recommends avenues for further research and ways forward for LPP and LEP in Oman.

Abbreviations: AALIM: Arab American Language Institute in Morocco; ACTFL: American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages; AFL: Arabic as a Foreign Language; ALT: Arabic Language Teaching; BES: Basic Education System; BTEC: Business and Technology Education Council; CA: Colloquial Arabic; CEFR: Common European Framework; CELTA: Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults; CfBT: Center for British Teachers; CFO: Centre Franco Omanais; CLS: Critical Language Scholarship; CLT: Communicative Language Teaching; CoE: College of Education; DAAD: German Academic Exchange Service; DALF: DiplômeApprofondi de Langue Française; DELF: Diplômed’Etudes en Langue Française; DELTA: Diploma in English Language Teaching to Adults; ELT: English Language Teaching; EMI: English-medium instruction; FPEL: Foundation Program English Language; EU: European Union; GCCC: Gulf Cooperation Council Countries; GFP: General Foundation Program; GPA: Gulf Pidgin Arabic; GUtech: German University of Technology; H: High; ICC: Intercultural Communicative Competence; IELTS: International English Language Testing System; IESCO: Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization; IGCSE: International General Certificate of Secondary Education; KSA: Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; L: Low; LEP: Language in Education Planning; LPP: Language Policy and Planning; LWC: Language of Wider Communication; MENA: Middle East and North Africa; MoE: Ministry of Education; MoHE: Ministry of Higher Education; MSA: Modern Standard Arabic; NCATE: National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education; NRAA: National Records and Archive Authority; OAAA: Oman Academic Accreditation Authority; OIF: International Agency of La Francophonie; OPA: Oman Pidgin Arabic; OPEC: Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries; PDO: Petroleum Development Oman; PFLOAG: Popular Front for the Liberation of Oman and the Arabian Gulf; PHEIs: Private Higher Education Institutions; QA: Quranic Arabic; RWTH: Rheinisch-WestfälischeTechnischeHochschule; SCPTT: Specialized Centre for Professional Training of Teachers; SQU: Sultan Qaboos University; TCF: Test de connaissance du Français; TEF: Test d’ Evaluation de Francais; TOEFL: Test of English as a Foreign Language; TOEIC: Test of English for International Communication; TVET: Technological Vocational Education and Training; UAE: United Arab Emirates; UN: United Nation; UNESCO: United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization; ZD: Zertifikat Deutsch

KEYWORDS:

• Language policy and planning
• language in education planning
• Arabic
• English
• French
• German

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank Professor Allan Luke, my Ph.D. thesis supervisor at the University of Queensland in Australia (1998–2001) for introducing me to the field of LPP, inspiring me to pursue my research in this highly critical field of study and to develop my professional critical thinking skills. I would like to gratefully acknowledge the comments made by the three anonymous reviewers and thank Dr Kerry Taylor-Leech and Dr Pauline Bryant for their help in preparing this monograph. I also thank Mrs Maryam Al Biloshi and Mr Ali Al Riyami from the Ministry of Educationfor providing important information on the teaching of Arabic and English. I extend my thanks to Mr Mohammed Al Wihaibi from the Ministry of Education for providing important information on the teaching of French and German. I am further grateful to Mrs Nada Ambousaidi from the Ministry of Education and Dr Noor Al Najjar from the College of Education, Sultan Qaboos University for their help with finding the maps of Oman. I am also thankful to Mr Nassir Al Yahyai from the Civil Service Employees Pension Fund for providing data about the labor force in Oman. Finally, my thanks are due to Hussain Taqi Al-Lawati from the Diwan of Royal Court for the important information he provided on the structure and function of the Diwan.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes on contributor

Ali Al-Issa is an Associate Professor of English Language Education in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction, College of Education, Sultan Qaboos University, Sultanate of Oman. He graduated from the University of Bristol with a B.Ed. in Education, English Language Teaching, and obtained his M.A. in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages from the Institute of Education, University of London, UK. He received his Ph.D. in Education, Applied Linguistics, from the University of Queensland, Australia. He has co-authored two books and published several articles related to ELT in Oman in several prominent journals. His research areas are second language teacher education and language policy and planning.

ORCID

Ali S.M. Al-Issa http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4687-5657

Notes

1 This resulted in Oman hosting the secret USA-Iran talks that led to the landmark nuclear agreement in 2013.

2 The Diwan of Royal Court is a council of state which is the political and administrative link between the Sultan of Oman and the central government, the armed forces, the security forces and the people. It is responsible for the Sultan’s royal ceremonies and for law-making. The Diwan also supervises the work of cultural, religious, scientific, and social planning, projects, programs, and institutions. These include Oman 2040 Future Vision, the Public-Private-Partnership Taskforce, the National Youth Program for Skills Development, the National Program for Enhancing Economic Diversification, the National Leadership and Competitiveness Program, Islamic Institutes, Muscat Municipality, Sultan Qaboos Mosques, and environmental conservation.

3 An Islamic endowment of property to be held in trust and used for charitable or religious purposes.

4 The CEFR is a guideline used to describe achievements of learners of foreign languages across Europe and, increasingly, in other countries. It was put together by the Council of Europe as the main part of the project ‘Language Learning for European Citizenship’ between 1989 and 1996. Its main aim is to provide a method of learning, teaching and assessing which applies to all languages in Europe. Cambridge Assessment English was involved in the early development of CEFR. However, in 2001, a European Union Council Resolution recommended using the CEFR to set up systems of validation of language ability. The six reference levels are becoming widely accepted as the European standard for grading an individual’s language proficiency.