The Pedestrian and the Camel

"Proposition #9: Only stricter traffic laws can prevent accidents," reads the blackboard of a fifth-floor classroom in Boylston Hall. The conservatively dressed professor of Arabic sits down at the table before the board, spiral notebook open before him, and begins the day's debate.

A few minutes into his arguments for the need of stricter traffic regulations, Ahmed Aly Moursy pauses, groping for the English word describing a person travelling on foot. "Pedestrian," ventures a thirtyish-looking woman on his right, and Moursy resumes his talk.

The delivery of an offbeat lecture does not explain the scene, and the Faculty of Arts and Sciences has not yet seen fit to add courses in highway safety to its curriculum. Rather, the occasion is a morning section of English E, "English as a Foreign Language," Harvard's answer to the needs of many foreign students and faculty members seeking to hone their oral and written skills in the English language.

Harvard offers four sections of English E throughout the year, each section concentrating on a specific area of English usage. The section discussing traffic laws is the oral section, and the focus is on the development of fluency in spoken English. Other sections stress writing and reading.

A quick glance about the room suggests that English E is something other than the foreign student's counterpart to the American student's foreign language nemesis. There is a mid-to late-twenties look about the students, and a certain formal air emerges during the course of the hour. Anne R. Dow, preceptor in English who teaches all four sections, shuns the use of first names--it is always "Mr. Kobayashi" or "Mrs. Flores."

Dow confirms the impression. "Students who take the course are mostly graduate students, research fellows and faculty members," she reports, and she estimates that no more than six undergraduates are enrolled in the four sections this term.

English E is billed as an "advanced" course in the Courses of Instruction catalog, and most students who choose to take it bring some sort of background in the language to the course. While Dow notes that no specific proficiency level is required to take the course, she adds that English E "is not a basic, intensive language course."

Though students receive course credit and a grade for English E, the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) has singled out the course for special treatment in one major respect. Beginning last fall, the Faculty now charges a cross-registration fee of $240 per term to graduate school faculties whose students (or members) have enrolled in the course. The affected faculty then has the option of absorbing the costs or passing the bill on to the student. Formerly, English E functioned like any other course offered by the Faculty--any member of the Harvard community could take the course without having the fear the possibility of paying an additional fee. All too frequently now, the faculties have chosen to saddle the student with the extra costs.

While Dow reports no drop in the number of enrolled students since the policy change, the attractiveness of English E has diminished somewhat in the eyes of some students. "It is a foolish policy," says Benjamin Geva, a second-year law student who had to cough up the $240. "Students should be encouraged to take this course, but for many people, the cross-registration fee can be the straw that breaks the back of the camel," he adds.