A HEIGHTENED demand for Arabic translators in the British armed forces and intelligence services has helped fuel interest in the language among students in Scotland.
The number studying Arabic and doing Middle Eastern studies in Scottish universities has increased by more than 20% in the past two years as lucrative career paths have opened up.
Both MI5 and MI6, Britain's internal and external intelligence agencies, have launched major recruitment drives targeting linguists at the traditional autumn graduate fairs.
GCHQ, the government's surveillance base in Cheltenham, has also prioritised Middle Eastern languages, alongside Russian and Asian languages, offering a starting salary to linguists of £18,400.
Dr Andrew Newman, a senior lecturer in Islamic studies and Persian at Edinburgh University, said he had seen a "discernible" increase in inquiries by Scottish students interested in studying Middle Eastern languages at degree level.
However, he said: "We haven't got a very large pool of people who can do these languages. If the numbers for these are small, they don't have a lobby when it comes to budgetary exercises. During the Afghanistan war, Tony Blair appointed an assistant who was proficient in six languages. Where is his replacement? Where is the replacement for that generation of translators?"
Dr Newman said that, unlike America, there is very little funding for students studying Middle Eastern languages at postgraduate level.
He added: "This needs to change if you're going to have a pool of people domestically who can do this." Dr Richard Kimber, chairman of the Arabic and Middle Eastern studies department at St Andrews University, said there had been a "very substantial" increase in applications to study Arabic.
He said: "I think it's down to the very considerable interest in Middle Eastern affairs aroused by the September 11 attacks. It coincided exactly with 9/11. It is not only due to political interest, but is beneficial to their career prospects."
The need for linguists in Iraq was demonstrated earlier this year when one of the mature students studying Arabic at Edinburgh University who had previously served in the armed forces was recalled to serve in Basra.
However, although student numbers have doubled on the undergraduate Arabic degree, many of the students are from America, Dr Kimber said.