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| By U.S. Air Force Tech. Sgt. Paul Dean 407th Air Expeditionary Group Public Affairs |
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| ALI BASE, Iraq, Oct. 11, 2005 --- Nothing would seem out of place if the room were inside an American schoolhouse. The classroom has posters with picture clues describing nouns. The tables have books, pens, paper and lesson books on them, and students take notes while talking amongst themselves and laughing occasionally. There is nothing uncommon about English as a second language class, but there is a unique reason English classes are held here. Iraqi airmen are required to take the course so they can read and understand U.S. Air Force technical orders outlining operation and maintenance of three C-130 Hercules the U.S. gave to the Iraqi Air Force. Iraqi Air Force leaders decided several months ago that aircraft technical orders would not be translated into Arabic, which meant operators and maintainers would have to be taught English -- from scratch in most cases. The task of teaching English to the almost 500-person strong Iraqi Air Force went to the Defense Language Institute. Beverly Hall is part of a four-person DLI mobile training team here teaching Iraqi Airmen assigned to Squadron 23. Teaching English to non-English speaking students has never been so important, Hall said. “These guys are building a democracy, and I get to be here to watch it grow,” she said. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, said Hall, who has been teaching English here since May. A common interest in the future of Iraq and the importance of learning to read and write in English has created unique bonds between the teacher and her 15 students. “Teacher, hello teacher,” the students call out frequently in the partitioned tent used as a classroom. The calls are often questions about how their answer differs from that in the book. Many times answers given by the students are better than the book answer, and above the grade level of the lesson. At such times, they give Hall a knowing smile. “No schmoozing,” she responds. The motivation behind the learning here is different from any Hall said she has ever experienced, and one she does not think could ever be duplicated.
“Adult students in general are more self-motivated,” she said. “But these guys, well they don't need me to motivate them at all. They know what the motivation is -- they have to build a country.” |
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slightest hint of a stumble when a fellow student is reading out loud. This is followed by a student-instigated huddle with discussions switching from Arabic to English to ensure everybody understands. The huddle ends when three or four of them say the word out loud to validate group understanding. They then cue Hall that she can go on. |
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