A brand new addition will be made to Sam Houston State University’s lineup of foreign language offerings this fall with the introduction of Arabic into the class catalogue.

To teach the new course, SHSU has enlisted the help of Saleh Matar A. Al-Qarni, a Fulbright scholar from Saudi Arabia. As stated in his application, Al-Qarni is eager to come to America to teach and learn more about American culture.

“I am very keen on teaching…and participating in the university’s activities. I have dreamed to visit the U.S.A. to find out about their culture and society to teach them my mother tongue and culture,” he said. Al-Qarni also hopes to attend a university in the United States where he intends to obtain master and Ph. D. degrees in linguistics. Al-Qarni was picked out of five applicants who applied to be a part of the Foreign Language Teaching Assistant (FLTA) program.

Jurg Gerber, SHSU’s director of international programs, is confidant that Al-Qarni will be an exceptional addition to the teaching staff.

“He is extremely fluent in English and he is also a Fulbright scholar, so there really is no doubt that he will do well,” he said.

When asked why Arabic was chosen out of the many other options available, Gerber feels that Arabic will be greatly beneficial to the university in many ways.

“We wanted to promote a language that is not very commonly taught,” he said. “There is a need within the criminal justice system and the government for it and as a university we should offer a broad selection of foreign languages.”

Though Gerber describes Arabic as an “unusual language” he is optimistic regarding its reception at Sam Houston State.

“Without any advertisement at all for (the class) we’ve already had four people sign up, through only a little bit of word of mouth,” he said. “I’m optimistic that by the fall we will have a good class of 5-10 students, and hopefully next year we will have more.”

Gerber is also hoping that the addition of Arabic will only be the first of new additions to the foreign language department.

“Slowly we will start expanding our offerings,” he said. Gerber is hoping that these expanded class offerings will help “make the campus more international, more diverse” and will be “a stepping stone to more international recruiting.”

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SHSU Media Contact:Stewart Smith
July 21, 2004
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