The current national curriculum in Lebanon is rooted in a complex web of historical, political, colonial, cultural, and religious factors, all of which have contributed to its creation. This article aims at establishing a timeline of Lebanese curriculum shifts from the mid-19th century to the present day. It provides a historical overview of the main events that led to the establishment of English and French as official languages in Lebanon, with a special focus on how colonial powers have influenced the shaping of the Lebanese curriculum and the language of instruction. This influence was closely related to the shaping of the Lebanese national identity.

Lebanon is a small country (10,452 km²) located on the eastern Mediterranean, bordered by Syria in the east and the north and the occupied Palestinian territories or Israel (depending on the map used) in the south. Approximately 5 million people live in the country, a large majority of whom belong to one of the 18 officially recognized existing sects, mostly variations of the Christian (Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant) and Moslem (Sunni, Shiite, and Druze) faiths.

Foreign Languages in the Lebanese Curriculum: A Timeline

Frayha (1999, as cited in Bacha & Bahous, 2011) identifies three phases when describing the influence of foreign powers over the teaching of languages other than Arabic in Lebanon: the foreign missionaries phase, the French mandate phase, and the post-independence phase.

The Foreign Missionaries Phase: 1866–1920

Ottoman and Arabic were the languages of instruction in Lebanese schools during Ottoman rule (Shaaban & Gaith, 2003). Yet toward the second half of the 19th century, European and U.S. missionaries, witnessing the decline of the Ottoman Empire over the Levant region, sought to achieve greater influence over the diverse religious groups in Lebanon by establishing bilingual schools and universities in which Arabic, along with the language of the missionary group (e.g., French, English), were the languages of instruction (Zakharia, 2010). For Bashshur (2011), the missionaries aimed at finding their way into the native Lebanese’s hearts through the education of their minds.

The year 1866 became a landmark in Lebanese education history, because it was the year of the foundation of the Syrian Protestant College, currently known as the American University of Beirut (AUB). A Catholic equivalent of this institution, the Université Saint Joseph, shortly followed in 1875. These two institutions almost completely monopolized higher education in the Levant until the early 20th century (Bashshur, 2011) and have, since then, had an immense influence on Lebanese education, contributing to make Lebanon the cultural capital of the Arab world until the 1950s.

Zakharia (2011) highlights the transcendence of AUB’s decision to switch the language of instruction to English at the beginning of the 20th century, a move that entailed the teaching of scientific subjects such as mathematics and science in English, a foreign language, while Arabic was restricted to the literary subjects, such as music, arts, and religious studies. The impact of this decision was such that it still fashions instruction in Lebanon more than 100 years later. Moreover, the move also impacted K–12 education in that schools had to follow suit and adopt foreign languages into their curricula to ensure that students were not at a disadvantage should they decide to pursue a degree in higher education (Zakharia, 2011). Even Al Maqasid, a school that was considered an educational pocket of resistance to linguistic hegemony, had to adapt its curriculum to introduce foreign languages (Sbaiti, 2011).

In sum, the foreign missionaries’ influence on Lebanese education was characterized by the introduction of Western languages into the country’s educational scene. However, these foreign languages only appeared to spread within certain sects. The table below summarizes the language preferences of various religious sects during this phase (Zakharia, 2011).

The combination of foreign influences, sectarianism, and the tumultuous political scene related to World War I caused the Lebanese educational system to become a site of struggle and contentions. Language became a “battlefield of struggle for identity” (Sbaiti, 2011, p. 60), in which Arabic was associated with the nationalist project, and English and French with colonialism.

The French Mandate Phase: 1920–1943

Sykes-Picot was a secret agreement between the French and English governments during WWI to divide the remains of the waning Ottoman Empire into two zones of influence (Bashshur, 2011). Lebanon fell under French ordinance, and a mandate dictating that the French language be taught in all public schools in Lebanon was issued by the French government in 1922 (Sbaiti, 2011). As a result, French became associated with modernity and enlightenment, whereas Arabic became associated to backwardness.

In order to further establish French dominance over the region and drive a wedge between Syria and Lebanon, the French encouraged the use of Arabic in Syria while promoting French in Lebanon (Sbaiti, 2011). Along these lines, a 1924 mandate by the French government dictated that any new private school be licensed by the French High Commission regulating education in Lebanon at the time (Sbaiti, 2011). In order to be licensed, schools must submit a copy of their curriculum showing French as the language of instruction. Furthermore, financial aid for schools was conditional upon the acceptance of a French teacher appointed by the French High Commission (Sbaiti, 2011). Notwithstanding the French linguistic hegemony during this phase, some schools (e.g., Al Maqasid) offered strong resistance, and toward the end of the French mandate, Arabic was more and more associated with the nationalist movement seeking independence from France.

Post-Independence Phase: 1943–Present Day

After gaining its independence from France, the Lebanese Ministry of Education continued to recognize French as an official language, although Arabic became mandatory at school in an attempt to solidify the fragile and new national identity (Zakharia, 2011). During the golden years of Lebanon (1950–1975), when the country was seen as a bridge between the East and the West, English became recognized as a new official language, and national exams were offered in English, French, and Arabic (Zakharia, 2011). However, after the beginning of the civil war in 1975, Arabic was no longer perceived as a unifying national language (Zakharia, 2011), and after the end of the conflict in 1990, the government decided to develop a new national curriculum, which was finally launched in 1997 (Zakharia, 2011).

The new curriculum intended to solidify the country’s new constitution, which asserted Lebanon’s Arab identity as well as spiritual and cultural openness (Zakharia, 2011). The new curriculum reinstated Arabic as the mandatory medium of instruction in schools, while simultaneously recognizing French and English as official languages. Interestingly, nowadays Arabic is the language of identity in Lebanon, English is the language of practicality, and French is the langue du salon—the language of culture (Zakharia, 2011).

References

Bacha, N., & Bahous, R. (2011). Foreign language education in Lebanon: A context of cultural and curricular complexities.Journal of Language Teaching & Research, 2, 1320–1328. doi:10.4304/jltr.2.6.1320-1328

Bashshur, M. (2011). Observations from the edge of the deluge: Are we going too far, too fast in our educational transformation in the Arab Gulf? In O. Abi-Mershed (Ed.), Trajectories of education in the Arab world: Legacies and (pp. 247–272). New York, NY: Taylor & Francis.

Sbaiti, N. (2011). “If the devil taught French”: Strategies of language and learning in French mandate Beirut. In O. Abi-Mershed (Ed.),Trajectories of education in the Arab world: Legacies and challenges (pp. 59–82). New York, NY: Taylor & Francis.

Shaaban, K., & Ghaith, G. (2003). Effect of religion, first foreign language, and gender on the perception of the utility of language. Journal of Language, Identity, and Education, 2(1), 53–77.

Zakharia, Z. (2011). Language-in-education policies in contemporary Lebanon. In O. Abi-Mershed (Ed.), Trajectories of education in the Arab world: Legacies and challenges (pp. 157–183). New York, NY: Taylor & Francis.

Fares J. Karam is a doctoral student in the Curriculum and Instruction program at the University of Virginia. He worked as an English teacher in his home country, Lebanon, for several years before moving to the United Arab Emirates. As a Senior English Consultant, he took part in the educational reform efforts in the emirate of Abu Dhabi through curriculum development and teacher training. His research interests include second language writing, bilingual education, and diversity.