Francophone Students Experience at AUB

With students speaking different languages and coming from different nationalities, AUB has always represented the melting pot for the Lebanese culture. Many students come to AUB from schools where French is the language of instruction. With English being the language of instruction at AUB, many of these students face a problem. The problem varies between differences in academic performance and problems in interaction with English-educated colleagues.

Peter Shebaya, Director of the Civilization Sequence Program, said that, "I consider them to be a part of the environment . . . they sometimes stand out by giving the impression that they are better prepared for the study of humanities because of their secondary school programs." However, even if they were better in coping with some notions, Shebaya saw that these students express some insecurity with using the English language and feel somehow uncomfortable. "Nevertheless, that does not affect their overall performance," he concluded.

Shebaya considered that Francophone students are generally more active. "Of course, that induces richness and variety among students when the interaction process is enhanced. Anglophone and Francophone students complement each other in an interesting and enriching manner," said Peter Shebaya.

According to Mona Amyuni, another CS faculty member and a specialist in French literature, "English-educated students have their higher level in English language as an advantage, whereas Francophone students have a better methodology, so it roughly levels itself out." On the long term, once Francophone students become more proficient in English language "their rigorous, Cartesian method of analysis becomes definitely an asset," added Dr. Amyuni.

When it comes to class participation, Dr. Amyuni refused to generalize as long as getting involved in a discussion depends on the personality of each and every student. Moreover, she considered that "The Anglo-Saxon system of education is more liberal in its approach than the French System and Francophones tend to be a little more timid in the classroom."

At the social level, Amyuni noticed the tendency of French-educated students to "gang together" in her class. French is becoming more spread on campus. Amyuni often tells her Francophone students humorously: "You're paying to improve your English, so stop speaking French!"

On a final note, Dr Amyuni added, "Learning a language opens a door to another culture. It enriches one's reservoir of information and is becoming part of the global village thus allowing one to move freely among various cultures."

Nabil Dajjani, professor of Psychology, was much more radical in judging the performance of his French-educated students. "Because of their solid background, they perform much better than American-educated students. Their vocabulary is very rich and they have better command of the English language in general. They read more and faster and their personalities are more developed."

According to Dr. Dajjani, American-educated students encounter an inner kind of cultural conflict between "our traditional Arab society and the liberal American system. The gap between these two renders the student lost, unless he [or she] gets a readjustment of values at home. French-educated students, because of the rigidity and discipline of their system, suffer less from that lack of equilibrium."

As for expressing themselves in written English, French-educated students - according to Nada Fadda, instructor of the Communication Skills Program in the English Department - "do stand out in writing long-winded essays, which is frustrating because they don't hit directly the point that they're asked to elaborate on."

Fadda also noticed the ability of French-educated students to read more, "but that is not a general rule." With American-educated students, she feels more interactive in class since "they are less inhibited and less embarrassed with language," she added. Ms. Fadda also pointed out that "some students who come from strict Francophone schools such as College Louise Wegmann tend to take things more seriously, to perform better in their assignments, and to read more frequently."

Fadda indicated that she is not prejudice against French students but is curious "to hear what the Frenchies have to say." She also found it pleasant to refer to French authors such as Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir in class. "When I do that, French-educated students understand what I am talking about, whereas many Anglophones have never heard about these French authors in their American schools," she said.

At the student level, Outlook surveyed some English-educated as well as French-educated students in order to recount their experience of interaction with each other. Most English-educated students considered Francophone students as being ethnocentric. Jouna, a nursing English-educated student, described French-educated students as acquiring "their own perspective with which they evaluate their colleagues. Frenchies rarely interact with us outside the academic realm. They also have a tendency of considering us inferior to them because they master an extra language. They do not consider the fact that unlike them, we weren't taught French at school."

Many Francophones disagree with Jouna's opinion. They think that they build friendships with all students, despite the differences in language usage. However, they rarely meet English-educated students off AUB campus. "I entered this University with a group of friends from my school," said Lisa, a business student. "We remained close to each other despite our integration in university life. Of course, it is not a matter of snobbish behavior. I think it is the influence of our education that shapes our friendship affinities: We have a European academic background while Anglophones are mostly influenced by American culture," Lisa concluded.

Furthermore, many Francophone students justified their choice of entering AUB as being based on the fact that they sought the kind of American liberal education that AUB offers. Francophone students stated two other reasons that lie behind their choice of AUB as an institution for their higher education: Meeting people who come from different backgrounds, and grasping the opportunity that AUB offers for their future international plans.

Whatever academic advantages any of the languages -- whether English or French - offers; the difference in attitude and social behavior between the two groups remains obvious. The two groups do not easily interact while their common culture, the Lebanese, does not seem to be able to reduce this social gap. Perhaps some external factors, such as globalization, would be more successful in bringing these two groups to better ways of interaction.