????今年3月,，我訪問(wèn)了迪拜美國(guó)大學(xué)（the American University in Dubai）穆罕默德?本?拉希德傳播學(xué)院（the Mohammed bin Rashid School of Communications）（我與該地區(qū)一些杰出的商界領(lǐng)袖同屬該院顧問(wèn)委員會(huì)成員）。部分學(xué)生用流利的英語(yǔ)向我們作了報(bào)告,，隨后我驚訝地聽(tīng)到,，其他幾位顧問(wèn)坦率地指出他們的母語(yǔ)“已陷入危機(jī)”。

????事實(shí)表明,，英語(yǔ)正在迅速成為新一代受過(guò)良好教育的阿拉伯人士所掌握的唯一語(yǔ)言,。

????這對(duì)阿拉伯地區(qū)乃至全世界（這一點(diǎn)我稍后再詳述）都不是一件好事。迪拜美國(guó)大學(xué)的新聞學(xué)院是中東唯一一個(gè)允許學(xué)生用阿拉伯語(yǔ)學(xué)習(xí)的現(xiàn)代教育項(xiàng)目,。盡管如此,，許多來(lái)到這里的學(xué)生阿拉伯語(yǔ)行文書(shū)寫(xiě)和正式表達(dá)能力都相當(dāng)不足，需要重修阿拉伯語(yǔ)課程,。

????根據(jù)聯(lián)合國(guó)教科文組織的數(shù)據(jù),，海灣地區(qū)的識(shí)字率高達(dá)98%，可所識(shí)之字越來(lái)越多地是指的英語(yǔ),，而非阿拉伯語(yǔ),。

????偏愛(ài)英語(yǔ)的傾向很早就開(kāi)始了，阿聯(lián)酋那些私立“模范”學(xué)校的學(xué)童全部課程都采用英語(yǔ)授課,，包括數(shù)學(xué)和科學(xué),，就連公立學(xué)校也在推行偏向英語(yǔ)的政策。已在阿聯(lián)酋居住16年,、在中東地區(qū)逗留逾30年的帕特里夏?阿布?瓦德教授惋惜地說(shuō),，就連阿聯(lián)酋政府資助的扎伊德大學(xué)（Zayed University）也沒(méi)有一門(mén)課使用阿拉伯語(yǔ)授課。

????看起來(lái),，這種趨勢(shì)正在向整個(gè)地區(qū)蔓延,。沙特阿拉伯許多中上等階層的家庭在家里也說(shuō)英語(yǔ)——而不僅是在職場(chǎng)上,，據(jù)一位知識(shí)淵博的人士分析,，這是因?yàn)榧议L(zhǎng)們擔(dān)心阿拉伯語(yǔ)不夠成熟完善。

????一位阿聯(lián)酋首席執(zhí)行官告訴我,，他自己的孩子阿拉伯語(yǔ)都說(shuō)不流利,。他說(shuō)，為了讓他們將來(lái)能夠擁有更好的職業(yè)發(fā)展前途,，他送孩子們就讀英語(yǔ)學(xué)校,，但現(xiàn)在感到后悔，因?yàn)楹⒆觽円巡涣?xí)慣說(shuō)祖祖輩輩沿用的語(yǔ)言了,。

????精英階層為何對(duì)此感到焦慮呢,？它不僅是個(gè)情感問(wèn)題。該地區(qū)其他國(guó)家爆發(fā)阿拉伯之春運(yùn)動(dòng)的關(guān)鍵原因之一是貧富分化，而語(yǔ)言分化正是其反映,。人們不斷告訴我,，我憑生活經(jīng)驗(yàn)得出的感受是準(zhǔn)確的：家庭越富裕，其成員在家說(shuō)阿拉伯語(yǔ)的可能性就越低,。如果同一個(gè)國(guó)家的人民卻說(shuō)這不同的語(yǔ)言,，他們?cè)趺纯赡艹诫A級(jí)界限，解決就連沙特阿拉伯這種石油富國(guó)都深受困擾的高失業(yè)率問(wèn)題呢,？（SM咨詢集團(tuán)表示,，即使按最保守的估計(jì)，沙特失業(yè)率也高達(dá)20%,。）

????對(duì)于試圖在當(dāng)?shù)卮笳购陥D的企業(yè)高管來(lái)說(shuō),，偏愛(ài)英語(yǔ)也會(huì)帶來(lái)挑戰(zhàn)。迪拜美國(guó)大學(xué)新聞學(xué)院院長(zhǎng)阿里?阿爾?賈伯對(duì)我說(shuō)：“如果不能與本國(guó)人民對(duì)話,，就不可能成功,。”MBC廣播公司首席執(zhí)行官皮熱?達(dá)赫則表示,，聘請(qǐng)合格的新聞?dòng)浾吆懿蝗菀?，因?yàn)橥瑫r(shí)精通英語(yǔ)和阿拉伯語(yǔ)“是一種罕見(jiàn)的素質(zhì)”。?

????Marhaba and hello. In March, I visited the Mohammed bin Rashid School of Communications at the American University in Dubai, where I sit on the advisory board with prominent regional business leaders. After some students presented reports to us in fluent English, I was surprised to hear my fellow board members say bluntly that their native language is "in crisis."

????It turns out English is fast becoming the only language of a new generation of educated Arabs.

????This isn't a good thing for the region or the rest of the world. (I'll get to that in a moment.) The journalism school at the AUD is the only modern program in the Middle East that allows students to study in Arabic. Still, many students arrive poorly versed in written Arabic and the formal spoken language and require refresher Arabic language courses.

????Literacy in the Gulf States is 98%, according to Unesco. But that literacy is increasingly in English, not Arabic.

????This English bias starts early, with children in private "model" schools in the United Arab Emirates studying their full curriculum, including math and science, in English. But state schools are pushing a pro-English agenda too. Professor Patricia Abu Wardeh, who has lived in the UAE for 16 years and in the region for more than three decades, laments that the UAE's government-sponsored Zayed University offers no major in Arabic.

????The trend appears to be taking hold regionwide. In Saudi Arabia, many upper-middle-class families speak English at home -- not just at work -- because, as one knowledgeable source told me, parents fear Arabic isn't sophisticated.

????One Emirati CEO told me his own children do not speak Arabic fluently. He said he put them in English schools to help ensure they'd have great career prospects. But now he says he regrets that his children don't feel comfortable speaking the language of their forefathers.

????Why the anxiety among these elites? It isn't just sentimental. The bifurcation of wealth, a key part of Arab Spring uprisings elsewhere in the region, is mirrored in the bifurcation of language. I am continually told that what I've experienced anecdotally is true: The wealthier the family, the less likely its members speak Arabic at home. If people in the same country don't speak the same language, how can they work across class lines to solve the problems of high unemployment that plague even oil-rich Saudi Arabia? (SM Advisory Group says 20% is an extremely conservative estimate for Saudi joblessness.)

????For executives trying to build local businesses, the English bias is a challenge. The dean of the AUD's school of journalism, Ali Al Jaber, told me, "If you can't address your own people, then you can't be successful." Pierre el Daher, the CEO of broadcaster MBC, says hiring journalists is a challenge because fluency in both English and Arabic "is a rare quality."