Running Head: ESL in Yemen 1

Teaching English as a Second Language in Yemen

Lindsey Houseman

St. Lawrence University

Running Head: ESL in Yemen 2

Abstract

Situated in South Arabia, the official language of Yemen is Arabic. Although education in Yemen is a government priority there are still many challenges in the educational system.

Yemeni students encounter many challenges in learning English so therefore ESL teachers would play a major role in helping out. The main difficulty is that the curriculum in Yemen is outdated and only focuses on grammar and how to use it the correct way. The curriculum does not include listening, reading, speaking, and writing. ESL teachers would need to take into account the lack of resources such as books and computers as well as take into consideration that nearly all people who live in Yemen are Muslim and the dress and topics should be more conservative. In order to be an ESL teacher in Yemen, one needs to obtain a university degree or teaching institution qualification. The average pay for a Yemeni teacher is $150 per month.

Keywords: education, Yemen, primary education, considerations, teaching

Teaching English as a Second Language in Yemen

There is a high need for teaching English as a second language (ESL) all over the world.

One country that could use help with teaching and learning English as well as learning styles is the country of Yemen. Situated in South Arabia, the people who live in Yemen speak Arabic.

Yemen is an extremely poor country with very little of anything especially resources for schooling. It is very important that the education in Yemen is a government priority or else there would most likely be very little education. Most children only attend school until they are 14 years old. The schooling they go through is called primary education where they learn the basics of subjects like math and literature. It is important that teachers understand what problems arise

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in Yemen with the educational system but also just pertaining to the problems of the country itself. Teachers should take in all considerations before teaching in the country of Yemen. In order to succeed in Yemen, teachers need to be motivated and understanding to the different culture and especially about the lack of resources.

Background and History

Yemen dates back from the 7th Century AD when the Caliphates decided to expand their territories and spread the Islamic region. Before getting annexed by other empires such as the

Ethiopians and the Persians, Yemen was known as one of the oldest important centers in the

Near East region (Tharoor, 2010). It was between the 12th BC and the 6th AD when Yemen was important. Once the Caliphates took over the territories, Yemen feel under the Egyptian Sunni

Caliphate throughout the 11th Century (Historical Background). By the 16th Century the territory was claimed by the Ottoman Empire. In the 19th Century, all of North Yemen was controlled by the Ottoman Turks. During that time, the Ottomans only controlled South Yemen for brief periods because the British Empire had a lock on the southern part of the country making it impossible for the Ottomans to fully control (Tharoor, 2010). North Yemen gained its independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1918, and in 1962 became a republic. At this time, the British Empire was still in control on South Yemen. However, in 1967, the British decided they did not want control over South Yemen and completely cut all ties (Historical Background).

South Yemen established its own government with the independence they had after the British

Empire pulled out. In 1970, South Yemen became a Communist state where it adopted a

Communist form of government. By 1990, North and South Yemen realized it would be easier if they united. On May 22, 1990, North and South Yemen officially became one. Since then, they

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have remained united and are officially known a the Republic of Yemen (Historical

Background).

Yemen is located right at the top of the Arabian Peninsula. It is centered between Oman and Saudi Arabia. Yemen sits at the opening of the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait. The Bab-el-Mandeb links the Red Sea to the Indian Ocean. Because of this, Yemen is part of one of the most active shipping lanes in the world (Tharoor, 2010). The temperatures in Yemen are very high and there is very limited rainfall in all of the country. Although there is limited rainfall some parts have more rain than others, it depends on the elevation. The average rainfall per year is 5.12 inches.

Humidity is also very high ranging between 50-70% all year. Only 3% of the land in Yemen is good enough for crops. There are many sand and dust storms, resulting in soil erosion and crop damage. The country also has very limited natural freshwater.

The population of Yemen is 26,832,000 with the primary language being standard

Arabic. In total there are 11 different languages used in Yemen and all the languages are considered living. Seven of the languages spoken are indigenous and four are non-indigenous

(Tharoor, 2010). Unfortunately, three of those languages are dying out and one is in trouble and may die out soon. The immigrant languages brought to Yemen were Egyptian Spoken Arabic,

Hindi, and Somali.

Education

Education in Yemen is run through the government. The government has made education their top priority and is working hard to develop a good system (Education System in Yemen).

The main problem that occurs with the development of the education system is the poorness of the country. But the government has a high budget for the system itself averaging between 14 and 20 percent of the total government expenditure (Education System in Yemen). The country

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struggles to provide requisite infrastructure. There are very few classrooms, the teaching is inadequate and few in numbers, and the school facilities and educational materials offered are of very poor quality. There are four different levels of education in the country; primary, secondary, vocational, and tertiary (Education System in Yemen).

Primary education in Yemen, also known as basic education is the most common path of education. It is a 9 year program for students between 6-14 years of age and is most Yemenis major education experience (Yemen-Preprimary Primary Education). The primary levels cover what other countries consider elementary and middle school. This is the mainstream level of education before students have the option to move on with their education and get accepted into various streams of secondary school which prepares them for a career in education or for a tertiary education. By the end of nine years of primary school, students are expected to have basic skills in literacy and mathematics mainly with a few other subjects that aren’t focused on as much as math and literacy to have demonstrated they have gone through primary school and their level of scholarly talent (Yemen-Preprimary Primary Education).

As stated earlier, most Yemenis do not move on to more education after primary school.

But if they decide they want to, they will continue on with three more years of school called secondary education. For the first year of secondary school, a common curriculum is followed

(Jamal). In grade 11 they switch to literary or scientific tracks of education and continue on those preferred tracks for the next two years (Jamal). At the end of 12th grade they receive a secondary education certificate (Education System in Yemen).

Although most students who attend secondary school choose a literacy or scientific track, they are also offered other possibilities. This is called vocational education. During vocational education students can move to a technical secondary school, which is called a vocational

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training center (Jamal). A vocational training center is a health manpower training institute or and agricultural secondary school. The students choose the one they want to attend depending on their needs. A variety of different skills at a range of all levels is acquired at this education level.

Tertiary education is the final and hardest level of education offered in Yemen. Tertiary education is what we consider college or university. In Yemen this level of education was established in the 1970’s with the creation of Sana’a University (Education System in Yemen).

There are now 9 Universities in Yemen that are state-funded and there are also a few private liberal arts universities and colleges as well. There are four main categories offered at these universities and colleges; medical sciences, science and engineering, science and humanities, and an international college that specializes in business, arts, design, and information technology

(Jamal).

Problems with Education

As previously stated the main two subjects focused on during primary school are mathematics and literature. While those are very important subjects to learn. There needs to be more of a variety in subjects (Moheyddeen, 2016). Students need to have a basic understanding for subjects such as science and history. It would be very beneficial for them to understand science especially when it comes to climate and weather. They could learn all about why sand and dust storms happen in their country instead of just living them and having no understanding.

Along with the lack of educational subjects being taught, there is also a lack of resources in the school system (Moheyddeen, 2016). There are very few books in the school, for reading or for teaching out of. There is also no technology offered to the students or the teachers in school.

Most classrooms have a lack of space and desks so the students end up sitting on the ground

(Moheyddeen, 2016). Some schools in Yemen don’t even have enough pens and pencils for the

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students to write with so everything is taught by lecture, which isn’t the best way to teach students, it does not give them the opportunity to try things themselves.

Another problem with education factors around the curriculum being old fashioned and only focusing on one component. Instead of teaching students how to listen, read, speak, and write, the Yemen curriculum focuses mainly on grammar (Jamal). Grammar is a much needed topic, but reading and writing are very helpful life skills that could benefit the people of Yemen.

People can talk and write without the correct grammar and be understood. The focus on grammar is a problem because although it is important, people can go through life without it but reading and writing are very useful and needed life skills.

Girls education is another issue in Yemen. Education is offered to girls in Yemen but since school is not mandatory the enrollment rate for girls is very low. Lots of families in Yemen believe girls in Yemen don’t need an education because they cook and clean and that kind of stuff isn’t worthy of an education (Statistics, 2013). Another reason girls do not attend school is because of the very young marriage rate in Yemen (Statistics, 2013). A lack of female teachers contribute to the low enrollment levels. Parents are unwilling to send their girls to school that has primarily male teachers because it makes them uncomfortable and they believe that their daughters should be learning from the same sex (Moheyddeen, 2016).

Job Opportunities

In 2013 the New Horizons Training Center was looking for ESL teachers to teach English to the students (Hiring ESL Teachers in Yemen). The teachers needed to have a desire to visit new places and discover other cultures. There are three main responsibilities ESL teachers need to have; class preparation, instruction, and program administration (Hiring ESL Teachers in

Yemen). The teachers needed to be prepared and accountable for designing and developing

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individual lesson plans following the methods and systems that the school requires, ensure appropriate and timely delivery as well as have compliance with the policies of the school. The instruction required the teacher to be present in the school 40 hours a week and can teach up to

40 hours while also spending at least seven hours a week preparing for class (Hiring ESL

Teachers in Yemen). The teacher also needed to attend staff meetings and monitor student progress. The teacher needed to submit all the lesson plans to the manager for the program administration portion of the responsibilities. The qualifications required to teach at the New

Horizons Training Center include the ability to work well in a structured system, two or more years of ESL teaching experience, experience teaching in a non-English speaking country preferred, a good command for both written and spoken English, and a university degree or teaching institution qualifications (Hiring ESL Teachers in Yemen). Although speaking Arabic is not a requirement, it is highly recommended to have a little back ground because Yemen students have very poor learning skills and need reassurance and lots of help which would be hard to give without knowing their native language. Other ESL jobs offered in Yemen follow the same kind of rules and qualifications, unfortunately there are not many teaching jobs offered in Yemen.

Although there is a high need for teachers in Yemen, there are not many job opportunities in teaching. The main reason for this is because how of poor the country is. On average, teachers get paid $150 per month, and the government does not have the money to pay more teachers

(Educational System in Yemen). There are other job opportunities in Yemen such as the United

Nations Development Programme (UNDP) (Jobs). The UNDP is a global development network that advocates for change and connects countries knowledge. If someone was interested in that job they could possibly start a free class that taught English to the people of Yemen (Jobs). There

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are definitely ways teaching can be added over there but it may need happen on top of having another job because the government cannot afford to hire more teachers in the school system.

Considerations

There are many things to take into consideration when thinking about taking a job in

Yemen. A lack of resources would be very hard to teach with especially coming from the United

States where there are unlimited resources. The pay would be a huge factor especially if one wasn’t planning to stay in Yemen their whole life because living on a monthly salary of $150 would not help one be successful in other countries. The climate is also a factor to consider. It is very hot there and depending on where a person was from, living in a climate where the temperature is always high as well as the humidity could be a very hard adjustment. ESL teachers should also take in a cultural consideration that nearly all people who live in Yemen are

Muslim and the dress and topics should be more conservative (Jamal). When moving to a new place there are always lots of considerations and moving to Yemen would be a very different living style and change of scenery for many ESL teachers therefore they should carefully think about all the factors.

Conclusion

Although Yemen is a very poor and under resourced country, the people who lives there are great people who want change. It is and has been a developing country for a long time. The evolution of education has increased immensely over the years. Even though there aren’t a lot of opportunities or spaces for teaching, ESL teachers should not be scared away from teaching in

Yemen. The country of Yemen would benefit immensely from ESL teachers. It is important for teachers to remember Yemen students focus mainly on grammar and expanding their knowledge to more speaking, listening, reading, and writing would be very beneficial. It is also important

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for teachers to know that the students are used to being lectured at and at first may have a hard time doing interactive and hands on activities. Teachers need to know how to make and teach their lessons in ways that will not offend any cultural traditions or ways. After taking in all the considerations that apply when moving and teaching in Yemen, teachers should be confident in their own abilities and know that they are helping and changing a country in need. With all the knowledge needed to prepare teachers for life and teaching in Yemen, they will find opportunities that will not only change the students and education of Yemen but will also change themselves in positive ways and will be an unforgettable experience.

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from:http://education.stateuniversity.com/pages/1687/Yemen-EDUCATIONAL- SYSTEM-O VERVIEW.html Jobs. (n.d.). Retrieved May 05, 2017, from http://www.ye.undp.org/content/yemen/en/home/operations/jobs.html

Moheyddeen, K. (2016, October 07). Education in Yemen Struggles after More than a Year of Conflict. Retrieved May 05, 2017, from http://blogs.worldbank.org/arabvoices/education- yemen- struggles-conflict

Statistics. (2013, December 31). Retrieved May 05, 2017, from https://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/yemen_statistics.html

Tharoor, I. (2010, November 01). A Brief History of Yemen: Rich Past, Impoverished Present. Retrieved May 05, 2017, from http://content.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2028740,00.html

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Yemen - Preprimary Primary Education. (n.d.). Retrieved May 05, 2017, from:http://education.stateuniversity.com/pages/1688/Yemen-PREPRIMARY- PRIMARY-E DUCATION.html