Introduction

The Arab EFL Journal has been established by the Time Taylor Organization as part of the world wide Asian EFL Journal group. Dr. Paul Robertson and Dr. Khairi Al-Zubaidi are the founding members.

The emergence of the English as a global language in the last decades and the rapid growth in the fields of technology and communication have made our universe a global village. The English language is one of the main components of this globalized millennium. In most of the Arab countries English language teaching and learning is a huge challenge. Even after many years of learning English, the students are still struggle in acquiring and comprehending the language. Many attempts have been made, on individual national country levels in an effort to improve the students’ ability in improving the command of the language. The failure rate is so high that it can no longer be ignored. In this globalized century a strong command of English as a foreign language and cultural awareness are essential to face new challenges.

The Arab EFL Journal is a pioneer English Journal of its kind in the Arab World. The Arab EFL Journal is for all Arab English language teachers, scholars and researchers regardless of their nationalities, religions and cultural backgrounds. It will be a real platform for all Arab English language scholars to exchange views, opinions, programs and experiences with actual English situation in Arab countries. The Arab EFL Journal aims - besides its publications, seminars and symposiums - at organizing an annual conference which will be held each year in one Arab country, as well as establishing joint activities with several Arab universities and educational institutions. Participation in Arab EFL Journal activities will be open for participants from non Arab countries.

Finally, the Arab EFL Journal sees a genuine need to improve English language skills in the Arab countries to cope with new ESP developments and challenges. Efforts must be made to convey the message effectively to all Arabs that it is in the national interest to enhance the Arab countries’ international competitiveness in the era of globalization and information and communication technology, by mastering the English language. We hope that the Arab EFL Journal will contribute to bridge the gap between the Arabs and the West throughout positive and mutual understanding.