Establishing a Reading Culture in Arabic and English in Oman

Abstract

Within the Arab Gulf nation of Oman, reading skills in both Arabic and English are often associated with academic achievement, social success, and the development of life-long learning skills. In this context, reading is closely linked with a number of benefits, including school readiness and participation, learner motivation and self-confidence, employability and social mobility, future happiness, and the willingness and ability of individuals to take an active and constructive role in society. Despite this, Oman, like many of the other Arab nations, has been characterized as largely lacking a reading culture in either Arabic or English. Recent reforms and initiatives in the country have sought to improve learners " reading skills and to take the first steps towards establishing a genuine reading culture. This paper, therefore, begins by exploring some of the potential personal, social, and economic benefits that may be accrued through the establishment of a reading culture as supported by these reforms, before detailing some of the challenges that need to be addressed for this to be achieved. It ends by arguing for the need for various stakeholders to work together to design and implement a nation-wide reading program to help improve the quality of education in the country, and to also allow Oman to continue its path of development as a globally-competitive, stable, and dynamic nation. Introduction Improving the quality of education can contribute to long-term individual, social and economic gains that can have a profound impact on personal fulfillment, national competitiveness, growth, and development. Despite these potential advantages, Coughlan (2015) states that a global school ranking from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) based on a variety of international assessment tools such as the Pisa and the TIMSS tests, places Oman as among the five lowest-ranked nations in terms of students " math and science results. In addition, a recent report by Education First (2015) claims that Omanis have " very low " levels of English proficiency based on an on-line language test, and that Oman was ranked 58 th out of 70 countries worldwide in this regard. Similar findings indicating the underperformance of both Omani and other Arab learners in reading and literacy skills have also been reported in the literature (Al-Mahrooqi, Asante, & Abrar-ul-Hassan, 2010; Bell, 2001). Authors such as O " Sullivan (2009) claim that, as Arabic is a diglossic tongue with colloquial Arabic effectively acting as a first language for many in the Arab world, Arab students " Standard Arabic reading abilities are often at a second language level. As a result, these learners may be graduating from schools with significant problems reading in both Standard Arabic and English. Evidence reporting the poor reading skills of Omani learners is even more alarming when the massive investment the country has made in education reform, as exemplified by the introduction of the Basic Education system in 1998/1999, is considered. Coughlan (2015) cites the OECD estimation that Oman could experience GDP growth of more than 1400% over the lifetime of current school students if all learners are enrolled in schools and manage to achieve at least basic academic skills. In addition to the potential for significant economic growth, the development of basic math, science, and reading skills also offers a number of societal and personal benefits. Focusing on reading skills in both English and Arabic, a highly literate population tends to be more creative, more involved in community and social matters, better connected with the globalized world, and, ultimately, more likely to take an informed and active role in society thereby contributing to social cohesion and development. This is an especially important concern considering the events of the Arab Spring and their destabilizing effects on a number of nations of the Arab world (Al-Mahrooqi & Denman, 2016). On the individual level, enhanced literacy skills can also help make people better rounded individuals who are empathic, have fewer prejudices, and are open to experiences that continue to nurture and shape their identities and their understandings of their place in the world (see Abu Russ, 2010; Al-Mahrooqi, 2012; Amer, 2003; Whiteley, 2011).