Teaching English in Egypt

Teaching English in Egypt

Emily Cowles

Critical Aspects of Teaching English as a Second Language

April 6, 2016

Robin Rhodes-Crowell

1 Teaching English in Egypt

Introduction

In many countries, English is known as a lingua franca, it is used as a common language to make communicating more efficient. Many of these countries have different native languages and Egypt is one of those countries. The English language was first introduced to Egypt in the

1880s when the country fell under British control. When Egypt became independent from Britain in 1952, English continued to be taught in schools around the country (Teaching, 2014). In

Egypt, the official language is Arabic, but English and French are widely spoken as well (CIA,

2016). Egypt has a need for teachers in different contexts for teaching English because Egypt has a lot of interaction with the English-speaking world. Egypt is a big tourist country, so it is important for the people living there to be able to communicate to the tourists. It is also important for people to learn English so they would be able to travel to other countries where the native language is English. This report will help those who are interested in teaching English in

Egypt, with information on the different types of schools in Egypt, the language policy, common mistakes of Arabic learners, cultural considerations, as well as the Hofstede criteria.

As a prospective English teacher in Egypt, there are a few facts that should be known about teaching abroad. Teaching abroad is a way to do something wonderful for the students, while also being able to get a whole new view on life and education. Teachers will gain experience as well as change the lives of their students. However, teachers cannot go to a country and automatically assume that they will be able to get a job immediately. In Egypt, the criteria required to teach English is to have two years of relevant teaching experience as well as a teaching license or certification. According to the International TEFL Academy, most of the first time teachers will have to have an interview in Egypt before they are accepted for a teaching position. But before the prospective teachers receive the English teaching jobs, they must be

2 Teaching English in Egypt certified by the following programs: TESOL, TESL, or TEFL. These certifications validate the teachers teaching ability and show that they know how to teach English as a second language.

The TESOL, TESL or TEFL programs also verify that the potential teachers understand the rules of English for writing the language, and not just the speaking. The potential teachers will also be responsible for their airfare as well as their housing; however, the cost of living in Egypt is low compared to that of the United States, which means the lower wages will not make a big impact on how the teachers live. The purpose of this paper is to inform potential teachers looking to teach English in Egypt, as it is important to understand that teaching in another country is very different than teaching in their own country.

Schools in Egypt

There are four different types of schools in Egypt. The first type of school is a public school, run by the Ministry of Education, and is supposed to be funded by the government.

However, according to UNICEF, “the quality of education remains a major challenge that hinders the capacity of children to develop to their full potential” (ElMeshad, 2012). About 92% of Egyptian students are enrolled in these public schools. There are two different types of public schools, the first being local Arabic schools, where the students are taught completely in Arabic and the experimental public schools which offer different classes in foreign languages.

Another type of school in Egypt is called a National Institution School. These schools are semi-private schools with a high language standard. (ElMeshad, 2012). An example of a

National Institution School would be the Al-Azhar school system. The Al-Azhar schools are not public or private, but they follow the curriculum supplied by Al-Azhar University. They do not have to follow the rules of the Ministry of Education. Most of the students that are enrolled in the

Al-Azhar schools continue on to the University, as the fees are already paid for the students to

3 Teaching English in Egypt go. The third type of school in Egypt is an Embassy School. These schools also do not have to follow the rules of the Ministry of Education. The students follow the curriculum set by the country they came from. According to Eman Morsy, “these schools do not offer the courses required by the ministry in Arabic, Religion and Social Studies, [and] Egyptian universities are not likely to admit students from these schools” (ElMeshad, 2012). The fourth and final type of school in Egypt is a private school. These schools offer more than one type of diploma: the

British General Certificate of Secondary Education, the International Baccalaureate and the

French Baccalaureate. These schools also offer advanced language classes, as well as classes taught in Arabic. These schools are overseen by the Ministry of Education, but the schools can design their own curriculum for the students.

Language Policy in Schools

In Egypt, English is taught starting in primary school. Students also study Arabic, just like students in the United States study English all through school. The curriculums are created by the Ministry of Education and are to be followed by all schools. Compared to the public schools, the Al-Azhar schools focus more on Islamic studies in their curriculums. In Secondary

School, both lower and upper, English is a required class, as well as Arabic. Similarly, schools in the United States requires students to take English as well as a foreign language. In Egypt, along with English and Arabic, the students have the option to take another language as well. Even throughout Technical and Vocational Secondary Education, English, Arabic and other general education subjects are 50% of the curriculum (Clark, 2013). Arabic is the official language of all levels of education, but other private schools offer courses taught in English as well as French.

However, the World Education Services requires the certificates from both Secondary School as well as Higher Education to be in English. Overall in schools, all students are required to take

4 Teaching English in Egypt

English no matter what grade they are in. This shows that the country knows that being able to speak English is important for many different reasons, and will be used throughout the lives of the students.

Common Learner Mistakes

English pronunciation is difficult for all nonnative speakers. For Arabic speakers, the pronunciation of ‘th’ is hard. Instead of the correct pronunciation, the Arabic speakers make words like, the, these, and them, have a ‘z’ sound. The sound associated with the letter ‘p’ is not known in the Middle East. People whose first language is Arabic will pronounce words that start with ‘p’ with the letter ‘b’ instead. Many of the issues with pronunciation come from the English letters not being in the Arabic alphabet. When the sounds do not exist in the Arabic alphabet it makes it difficult for the speakers to say words with the ‘th’ and words that start with ‘p’ in

English. This makes learning English difficult because people may not know what these new

English speakers are saying, because they pronounce the words incorrectly at first. According to

Amy Saifain, “the Arabic and English languages are two of the most widely spoken languages worldwide, and arguably two of the most difficult languages to learn” (Saifain, 2013). Learning a new language isn’t easy especially with languages that have a lot of rules that do not make sense even to the native speaker, which is why it is important for all English teachers to know and understand all of the rules of the English language. Mistakes are normal and teachers need to keep in mind the mistakes that Arabic speakers will make when learning English.

Cultural Considerations

Education in Egypt is more formal than education in the United States. When the teacher walks into the classroom, the students are expected to stand up and greet him or her. Students are

5 Teaching English in Egypt expected to be formal around each other while attending school, and co-ed friendships are generally not acceptable (Teach, 2016). Dress code is also important in Egypt as it is expected to be conservative, due to the Islamic tradition in the country. Some schools also require students to wear uniforms. However, girls are allowed “to wear headscarves only with a written note from parents” (Teach, 2016). According to the Go Overseas website, female teachers may feel less respected in a classroom setting than a male teacher, due to the views of gender in the country.

According to Sarah Hartmann, who wrote an essay called, The Informal Market of

Education in Egypt: Private Tutoring and Its Implications, education is structured differently in

Egypt than in the United States. In the United States teachers want their students to explore the world and use their own opinions to make connections throughout the learning world. In Egypt, the students are to focus on “rote learning, on memorization and reproduction of a given body of knowledge, which is prescribed by centrally devised curricula and textbooks” (Hartmann, 2008, p. 45). Students are expected to memorize and recite what the teacher or the textbook told them, and they should not contradict what the teacher has to say, or discuss their questions about the topic. Hartmann observed some classes in Egypt, and came to the conclusion that, “students knew the answers by heart, reproduced them without hesitation and usually recited them in chorus” (Hartmann, 2008, p. 45). The curriculum is all laid out for the teachers, and the Ministry of Education does not want them to veer far from that curriculum. The teachers are also observed by government officials, who visit classrooms regularly to make sure the teachers are following the specific plan. However, Hartmann believes that there are some teachers who will use some extra time that they have to be inspiring to their students even if it means to go off course slightly to make a lesson seem important to his or her students.

6 Teaching English in Egypt

Another cultural situation that is important for teachers to understand is the difference in culture. Even though most students would be learning English in their own country they could have a teacher that is from the United States who might teach differently, or they could in the future work in tourism or even travel abroad to the United States or another country where the official language is English. In language learning, “crucial sociocultural principles determine the norms of appropriate language use and behavior with in the frameworks of the society” (Hinkel,

2001, p. 396). However, unless the culture is taught along with the language skills the students will not know the appropriate behavior or language use for English speakers. It is also very important for the teachers to learn the culture of the country that they could be teaching in,

“classroom teachers need to advance their own knowledge of how learners’ first cultures work and how it impacts their ability to learn” (Hinkel, 2001, p. 405). If a teacher walks into a classroom in Egypt and does not expect their students to stand and greet him or her when they walk in, the classroom environment will be very uncomfortable for the teacher on that first day of teaching. The teachers will not succeed if they do not understand the culture of the country that they are going to be teaching in. It would also be helpful for the teachers to teach the United

States culture along with English to show what it might be like if the students from Egypt go to the United States or a similar country for college or a job. Culture is a very important aspect of learning English or any foreign language and it should not be ignored in any country, especially when it might interfere with students learning.

Hofstede Criteria

The Hofstede Criteria is a theory developed by Geert Hofstede about how values are influenced by culture. With the 6-D Model, Hofstede uses his results to look at how the Egyptian values are reflected through their culture. These dimensions are extremely important in education

7 Teaching English in Egypt because viewing the ways that a persons’ values are influenced by their culture is shown in their learning styles as well as the way that students may act in a classroom on a day to day basis. As

Egypt is an Islamic nation, culture is very important to them so it will be shown by the students through their learning.

Power Distance, is defined by “the extent to which the less powerful members of institutions and organizations within a country expect and accept that power is distributed unequally” (Hofstede, n.d.). Egypt scored high on power distance, which means that the people living in the country accept that there is a hierarchy within members of the society. This is shown in education as the student/teacher relationship, because the teacher is ranked higher than the student and the students cannot question the teacher if they believe they are wrong about the topic. Even if the teach would want the students to question them, it would feel wrong in an

Egyptian society.

The second dimension of the Hofstede Criteria is Individualism. Egypt is known as a collectivist country. This means that the country is able to work in groups, who will care for each other in exchange for friendship. Loyalty is extremely important in the Egyptian society, as it

“fosters strong relationships where everyone takes responsibility for fellow members of their group” (Hofstede, n.d.). This would be shown in an Egyptian society in education in group work, because the students would all work together and compared to the United States there is generally a leader of the group, and in a collectivist society the students will split the work evenly and will all work together to get to the final product of the project.

The third dimension, is Masculinity. Countries are either a feminine country or a masculine country. A country that is masculine wants to be the best, by winning, and being successful, compared to a feminine country which is driven by liking what is done and caring

8 Teaching English in Egypt dearly for the people around you. Egypt is a relative feminine society. The people of Egypt

“strive for consensus, people value equality, solidarity and quality in their working lives”

(Hofstede, n.d.). Usually, the status of a person is not shown, and conflicts are not resolved by competition but rather by negotiation. In a feminine country, the students will have to follow their curriculum, but they will be cared for by their teachers who will be there to help them when they need help. The teachers won’t leave their students out to dry if they need extra help on an assignment. The students will try to do their best and if they don’t succeed they will try again until they are happy with what they have because they care about their education and want to do well.

Uncertainty Avoidance is the fourth part of the Hofstede Criteria. The definition of uncertainty avoidance is, “the extent to which the members of a culture feel threatened by ambiguous or unknown situations and have created beliefs and institutions that try to avoid these” (Hofstede, n.d.). Egypt scores high on this dimension, they want to be able to avoid uncertainty. Countries with a high score on uncertainty avoidance want rules, and they want to be able to work hard. If someone is uncertain about something, they won’t be able to work hard or be sure of themselves in an educational or professional setting. Students will make sure to know all the facts about school, and their work because if they are not sure about one thing, they will not be able to avoid the uncertainty of the work. They will also be sure to know and follow all the rules required to succeed in school because being uncertain about something makes the people of the Egyptian society uncomfortable. If the students know all the details, they will be able to do the best that they can do.

Long Term Orientation, is the way that the country is able to maintain the history of the past, while also having to go through the problems that could be encountered in the future. Egypt

9 Teaching English in Egypt scores low on this scale, meaning that their culture is normative. They are big on traditions, and want to be able to know the absolute truth when it comes to receiving quick results and planning for the future. This dimension would be shown through the curriculum that the students are taught in school, they should learn about the past, while comparing and contrasting it to the present and the future. As the Islamic culture is a large part of the Egyptian society, they will have traditions that continue forever throughout the school day as well as at home.

The sixth and final dimension of the Hofstede Criteria is Indulgence. This means that the score received is based on how much a country can control themselves with their desires.

Egypt’s score is very low, meaning that they are extremely good at containing themselves when they feel the need to go after an impulse. The inhabitants of Egypt do not set aside a lot of time for themselves and they feel that if they indulge themselves they are doing something wrong. In education, this would be an example of wanting to learn more than what is on the syllabus, generally, students are not supposed to ask questions, and that is because they cannot indulge themselves into their education. They are held to the syllabus and cannot look further into the information coming from the teacher or the textbook.

Teaching Refugees

It is important for prospective English teachers to know that they could be teaching any type of person in Egypt. From students in elementary up through college, or even transitional refugees who have relocated to Egypt, as well as people who work in tourism. As a teacher it is very important, “to know why your learners want to speak English” (Folse, 2006, p. 4). If a teacher doesn’t know why their students want to learn English, it will be difficult for them to have lesson plans all planned out for the first day of teaching. The refugees who are in Egypt are awaiting the go ahead to stay there after having come from a war zone in other parts of Africa.

10 Teaching English in Egypt

The refugees may have come from places such as South Sudan, and decided to relocate to Egypt.

They are not usually allowed into the public schools without birth certificates, and the refugees have difficulty finding their documents. (Wachob & Williams, 2011, p. 598). As the refugees are most likely adults, it is important for the teachers to know and understand that they will not learn the same as children do. According to Folse (2006), it is the, “biggest, most insulting mistake you can make in teaching adults” (p. 12). Even though adults may be at the same learning level as some children, they are not interested in playing the same games or doing the same activities.

English is the language that is taught in these refugee schools because it is usually the language of choice for making decisions, as English is the most commonly known language in the world.

The location where these decisions are made is usually in a native English speaking country as well. Most of these schools were founded by refugees themselves, because there were no schools of education for refugees coming from other countries. Schools would not admit these refugees because their education had been interrupted and the only way to finish their schooling was to build their own refugee schools and now the students can show their love for education by creating something that benefits not only themselves, but people around them, and everyone then gets a chance to learn if they want to.

There are challenges for teaching in the refugee schools because they are not funded by the government or the church. The first issue in the classroom, is the limited space, because these schools are not funded by the church or the government, it is difficult to find a classroom space that is not over crowded. Finding books and supplies is also difficult due to the lack of money.

There is also a lack of support from the families of the refugees, making it hard on the students emotionally and that shows through discipline and their focus in the classroom (Wachob &

Williams, 2011, p. 599). The lack of support from families is also evident when the students have

11 Teaching English in Egypt the option to join a gang, as gangs are now a big problem in the refugee schools in Cairo. The influence from the gang does not affect just the students who join, it can threaten the quality of the education for the other students around them.

There are many challenges for the teachers teaching in these refugee schools as well. Due to the lack of money and support, it is difficult for the teachers to plan good lessons for their students. It is hard for the refugee schools to hire quality teachers, so many of the teachers in the schools do not speak English as well as native speakers do. While there are some native English speakers who teach at the schools, it is not very often that they are the majority of the faculty.

Not one of the schools is the same, as some of the schools have a lot of volunteers and some schools don’t have enough. The shortage of funds in these schools, could lead to the teachers being absent from their students lives, which could make learning English the last thing that the refugees want to do because their teachers are not there to inspire them to learn.

However, the refugee schools are starting to improve thanks to the American University in Cairo, or AUC. Teachers are being trained in a way that will help the students, and will make their knowledge of English higher than it was before. The AUC wants to create curriculum that is the same, and could be recognized by a national institution. Not only is the AUC helping the students’ education for the future but the teachers as well, the university wants to get the teachers involved in taking their own classes about teaching English and making curriculums. If the teachers were given the opportunity to take classes to learn how to create curriculums they would be able to make the quality lesson plans that the students in the refugee schools are not receiving now. Working with the students that are in the refugee schools will give the teachers another chance for experience and opportunity that they may not receive in a public or private school in

Egypt. Transitional education is extremely important in the world of refugees because it can help

12 Teaching English in Egypt them get back on their feet, and if they have teachers who are passionate about their work, the students’ learning could inspire them to do great things with their lives after school.

Conclusion

Some aspects of education and teaching abroad in Egypt are similar to the United States, but a lot of the aspects are different. Culture is different in the United States, the way that teachers are respected is very different than in the United States. Even the schools are set up in a slightly different way. However, knowing all of these facts about the culture and the way that students are expected to act in school is important for all incoming teachers. The information presented here is not everything that a teacher might need to know in order to teach in Egypt, but the information included is a good starting point for new teachers aspiring to teach English. It is critical for all potential teachers to know that they may cross bridges that will be different than the issues covered here. But all teachers should remember that no matter the hardships of the specific situation, the experience that comes from these teaching situations will be remembered forever, and most likely the teachers will make an impact on their students as well and motivate them to succeed in life after school.

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References

CIA. (2016, March 03). Africa :: Egypt. Retrieved March 29, 2016, from https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/eg.html

CIEE. (2016). Your Teaching Abroad Adventure Begins Here. Retrieved March 30, 2016, from https://www.ciee.org/teach/why-teach-abroad/

Clark, N. (2013, November 04). Education in Egypt - WENR. Retrieved March 31, 2016, from http://wenr.wes.org/2013/11/education-in-egypt/

ElMeshad, S. (2012, May 10). Egypt's school system: Taking a look at schools, their curricula, and accreditation | Egypt Independent. Retrieved March 30, 2016, from http://www.egyptindependent.com/news/egypt-s-school-system-taking-look-schools- their-curricula-and-accreditation

Folse, K. S. (2006). The art of teaching speaking: Research and pedagogy for the ESL/EFL classroom. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.

Hartmann, S. (2008). The informal market of education in Egypt: Private tutoring and its implications. Department of Anthropology and African Studies. Mainz, Germany. Print.

Hinkel, E. (n.d.). “Culture and pragmatics in language teaching and learning”. Teaching English as a Second or Foreign Language. National Geographic: Boston, United States (2014). Print.

Hofstede, G. (n.d.). What about Egypt? Retrieved March 30, 2016, from http://geert- hofstede.com/egypt.html

Saifain, A. (2013). Common Mistakes in English by Arabic Speakers. Retrieved March 31, 2016, from http://learnersenglish.com/common-mistakes-english-arabic-speakers/

Teach English in Egypt. (2016). Retrieved March 29, 2016, from http://www.gooverseas.com/teach-abroad/egypt

Teaching English in Egypt. (2014). Retrieved March 29, 2016, from http://www.internationalteflacademy.com/egypt-English-teaching-jobs-abroad-middle- east

Teaching English in Egypt - ESL Teacher Job Benefits. (2016). Retrieved March 29, 2016, from https://www.oxfordseminars.com/country/egypt/

Wachob, P., & Williams, R. (2011, December 30). Teaching English to refugees in transition: Meeting the challenges in Cairo, Egypt. TESOL Quarterly. 4(3) p. 596-605.

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Annotated Bibliography

CIEE. (2016). Your Teaching Abroad Adventure Begins Here. Retrieved March 30, 2016, from https://www.ciee.org/teach/why-teach-abroad/

This article from the CIEE website is about why English teachers should teach abroad.

CIEE is a program for teaching abroad, and it explains that teaching abroad is an amazing experience and the teacher coming in will make a difference to their students no matter what.

Not only does CIEE have their own teaching program, but they offer TEFL courses which are very important when going abroad to teach English. CIEE explains that teaching abroad can give teachers experiences that they would not get if they taught in the United States or another

English speaking country. CIEE can help English teachers around the world teach almost wherever they want and the programs offered will help teachers become certified in the programs that they need to teach abroad.

This website would be very helpful to all potential teachers even if they know nothing about what they want to do. CIEE can inspire teachers to teach abroad and make a difference in a different part of the world. Any prospective teachers can visit this site to help them along with their teaching abroad issues and even help them get ready to teach. It has all the important facts needed to teach abroad and will be very beneficial for all teachers to look at this website.

Teaching English in Egypt. (2014). Retrieved March 29, 2016, from http://www.internationalteflacademy.com/egypt-English-teaching-jobs-abroad-middle- east

While this article is specifically about Egypt, it is the International TEFL Academy website and would be useful for all potential teachers looking to teach English abroad. This article explains how the English language was started in Egypt, from when the country was under British control in the 1880s. However, since that time English is used more often in the

15 Teaching English in Egypt country due to tourism. Egypt is a big tourism country which is why it would be a good place for teachers to teach English. This article also explained that most teachers would have to interview for the position in Egypt and then they would be offered the job, it is also mentioned that teachers will have to be TEFL or TESOL certified in order to teach. The article also outlined the requirements and some important guidelines for teaching in Egypt. It also talks about some interesting facts about the country that might be helpful to the potential teachers as well as the reasons for teaching English in Egypt. This article would be very helpful to teachers because it explains the particulars about teaching in Egypt very well and straightforward. The information shared is everything that teachers might want to know before they start looking for teaching jobs in Egypt. Teachers can also look up any country to see all the information about that specific country rather than Egypt.

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