-Caveat Lector- http://www.nytimes.com/2002/06/01/opinion/01PORT.html?todayshe adlines=&pagewanted=print&position=bottom
June 1, 2002 Lost in Translation at the F.B.I. By GEOFF D. PORTER In announcing his restructuring of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Robert S. Mueller III, its director, stressed the importance of upgrading the F.B.I.'s intelligence capabilities by recruiting "the right people with the right experience." If my own experience with the agency is any guide, that should include an urgent recruiting drive for people with the right Arabic language skills. Less than a week after the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, I responded to the F.B.I.'s calls for Arabic translators. I know of a half-dozen other Middle Eastern studies graduates who also applied � Ph.D.s who, like me, are proficient in one or more Arabic dialects, as well as in Modern Standard Arabic. Ultimately � dismayed by what seemed to us the agency's flawed understanding of what proficiency in Arabic means � none of us pursued our candidacies. I applied less than a week after Sept. 11 but wasn't called for the four-and-a-half hour translation test until January. It wasn't until February that I sat for a four-hour interview and polygraph test. The F.B.I. was then to begin a six- to eight-month background check. At the earliest, I might have started translating more than a year after I applied. The slow pace, however, wasn't the most unsettling characteristic of the process. There was something more worrisome: The F.B.I.'s Arabic translation test simply does not measure all the language skills needed for intelligence gathering focused on Arabic speakers. The Arabic-language test � copyrighted in 1994 by the Defense Language Institute, according to the back of my exam booklet � was solely in Modern Standard Arabic, the Arabic most frequently studied at American universities. This is the form used for official speeches and in the news media in Arab countries � but almost never in conversation. It differs substantially from the spoken varieties of Arabic in vocabulary, syntax and idioms � enough so that a non-native speaker who learned only Modern Standard Arabic would not be able to understand Arabic speakers talking to one another. The regional dialects also differ from one another � varying considerably from one end of the Arabic-speaking world (in Morocco) to the other (in Oman). The dialects are, for some Arabic speakers, mutually unintelligible. (Once, I mistakenly gave a Cairo taxi driver directions in Moroccan Arabic, and he responded: "Ich spreche kein Deutsch.") These varieties of Arabic are the language of the market, the home and the street for the world's 200 million Arabic speakers. Yet no colloquial Arabic, in any dialect, appeared anywhere on the F.B.I.'s Arabic translation test, which included a listening-comprehension section. During my post-exam interview, I tried to offer some feedback about the test's failure to measure skills in everyday spoken Arabic, but the interviewer brusquely moved on to his next question. Nor was there a chance for me to name the two Arabic dialects in which I am proficient. The interview is scripted; there is no room for unscripted interaction. All the other Middle East studies applicants with whom I spoke said they, too, noticed the test's shortcoming but couldn't find an opening to comment on it. As the F.B.I. reorganizes, it should improve its recruitment of Arabic translators by adding tests that measure fluency in one or more of these numerous Arabic dialects. Otherwise, its translators may be limited to reading Arabic newspapers or listening to Al Jazeera broadcasts. They may misunderstand wiretapped phone conversations or be unable to identify crucial information. Until the F.B.I. shows more willingness to listen to the experts it is trying to attract, it will not get the expertise it needs. Geoff D. Porter teaches Middle Eastern studies at New York University. Outgoing mail is certified virus free Scanned by Norton AntiVirus <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance�not soap-boxing�please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'�with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds�is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. 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