The Future of Education

Jordan is an Arab country in which English is the first foreign language. Other European and Asian languages, such as French, Spanish, Italian, German, Chinese and Korean, are also being taught in Jordan as foreign languages.

This paper aims to study the utilization of stereotypes in classes that teach European languages in the Faculty of Foreign Languages at the University of Jordan.  Most of the students who study these languages are beginners. Their knowledge of the cultures they study is minimal. Researchers such as Louis Porcher studied the role of stereotypes in classes of foreign languages, since they are considered as the first base of information for students about other cultures. He emphasizes that professors should indicate the unrepresentative character of stereotypes and that the other culture has also other traits that might be more important than what is portrayed in the stereotypes.

The paper begins by discussing the conceptual framework of stereotypes, especially in relation to its diminishing, yet still prominent, role in teaching students about a culture different from their own.  Against the backdrop of these observations, the paper analyzes the results of a questionnaire on the types of stereotypes that the students have about the cultures that they are studying. The questionnaire was distributed to third year students majoring in French, Italian and Spanish. This group was particularly targeted because this is when they are enrolled in civilization class. The results showed that most students retained some stereotypes that are ingrained in their consciousness and mindset even after being exposed to more objective characterization of the culture understudy.