Arabic Across the Curriculum in a Bilingual Gulf University

Springer, 2019

This chapter describes the many initiatives that have been spearheaded by the United Arab Emirates in an effort to develop the teaching and learning of Arabic in the country. Although there has been unprecedented attention given to Arabic language education in the decade up to 2018 including an Arabic language charter, a reading law, the Arabic reading challenge, the Arabic for life report, and the Arabic award to list just a few, private and public schools are still having some challenges in bringing best practice to the Arabic language classrooms with students still underperforming. The UAE vision and initiatives set in place to develop Arabic language education are to be applauded, however, it is the direction of that vision that needs to be adjusted to focus mainly on teacher preparation and teacher and school leadership training. Teachers and school leaders are the most important piece in the educational fabric and without ensuring that they receive the best preparation and continuous and meaningful training and support throughout their careers, these initiatives will have little impact on Arabic language education outcomes. 2

2012

Education, Business and Society: Contemporary Middle Eastern Issues, 2008

Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to map out the status of Arabic language teaching as practiced in the Arab World today and to bring into focus the main issues that any improvement to that discipline would need to look at. Design/methodology/approach -A review of the current teaching practices and needs in the teaching of the Arabic language. Findings -Arabic language teaching practices remain teacher centered and bound to teaching the textbook and overlooking the importance of aligning the curriculum to instruction and assessment. Practical implications -The need is critical for writing national standards for the Arabic language in addition to establishing teacher colleges that offer quality pedagogical training all backed by sound research and generous funding Originality/value -To highlight the importance of teaching and seeing the Arabic language in a totally new light that preserves national identity yet embraces best teaching practices.

2021

The 3rd Biennial Arabic Language Teaching & Learning in the UK Higher Education conference will be hosted by the Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies, University of Exeter, under the theme 'Arabic in a Globalized World'. This event, to be held online via Zoom, will take place on 8 th and 9 th April 2021, 9.30-18.30 BST. Registration is FREE but required for all attendees. Registration is now closed. Zoom links for each day will be emailed the night before for security reasons.

˜The œjournal of Asia TEFL, 2023

ABSTRACT Arabic as Foreign Language (AFL) teachers and the parents of AFL students often complain that AFL students are not able to speak Arabic at an acceptable level even after years of studying the language in a formal educational setting. To search for possible reasons, an empirical study was conducted at an international school in Dubai to help highlight the status quo of the AFL curriculum and to suggest a constructive recommendation on how to improve AFL proficiency level.

American Educational Research Journal

This study aimed at investigating the difficulties that non-natives face in learning Arabic at Jordanian Public Universities. It was also an attempt to find some solutions to such difficulties. To achieve these objectives the researchers used a questionnaire which was sent to fifty-three non-native students who learnt Arabic as a foreign language at two Jordanian public universities (i.e. the University of Jordan and Al Al-Beit University). The questionnaire consisted of three areas related to linguistic difficulties, the materials used in teaching and classroom activities. The results obtained by the questionnaire revealed that the existence of different varieties of Arabic constituted a major difficulty. The results also indicated that the materials used in teaching and classroom activities were not helpful for students' to develop communicative competence in Arabic. In the light of these conclusions, different solutions were suggested to overcome these difficulties.

English as a Medium of Instruction on the Arabian Peninsula, 2023

This chapter focuses on the general linguistic challenges faced by Gulf Arab students enrolled in foundation programmes in English-medium universities in the region, in speaking, listening, reading and writing. Despite the increasing enrolment of Gulf nationals in English-medium Kindergarten to Grade 12 schools, there is still a significant number of students from rural areas and of lower socioeconomic status who struggle with language at English-medium universities and colleges. In addition, many of these students lack the critical thinking and reading skills necessary to develop 21st-century skills for the workplace. This chapter features a discussion of Arabic diglossia, what it is and how it affects students’ literacy skills, as well as some suggestions for what content and programme teachers can do at English-medium colleges and universities to help students overcome the linguistic challenges posed by English as a Medium of Instruction. This chapter particularly highlights challenges in reading and writing, and the subsequent academic dishonesty that may occur as a result. It concludes by offering practical recommendations.

Eurasian Arabic Studies, 2018

The study aimed at identifying the following: (i) The language of higher education institutions websites in Arab countries; (ii) percentage of universities that use a foreign language as medium of instruction. (iii) the specialties that have adopted English as a medium of instruction; (iv) reasons for creating a preparatory year at some Arab universities; (v) appointing foreign deans and department heads at some institutions; (vi) their role in enriching the Arabic content on the internet and in the Arabic Lexicon Project; (vii) percentage of periodicals, articles, theses, conferences, research chairs published in English and those published in Arabic; (viii) their role in Arabization and translation, amount of translated works and number of translation centers; (ix) existence of Arabic language teaching institutes; (x) availability of Arabic specialized databases; (xi) use of English / French in specialized associations, training workshops, conferences, academic correspondence and reports; (xii) availability of Arabic language and Arabization functions such as students' clubs, celebrating the International Mother Tongue Day and International Arabic Language Day; (xiii) type of language used in Arab students' online discussion forums; (xiv) attitudes towards using Arabic as a medium of instruction and towards those who have received their college education in Arabic and towards instructors and specialists who do not know English; (xv) difficulties faced by students learning English. The author searched the websites of 648 higher education institutes in the Arab World. She examined each website and analyzed its content to find out the following: (1) the language of the websites and their main pages; (2) which courses are taught in Arabic and which ones are taught in English; (3) the percentage of private and state universities that use English as a medium of instruction and those that use Arabic as a medium of instruction; (4) number of foreign universities that have branches in Arab countries; (5) aims of the preparatory year at Saudi universities; (6) number of Arabic language, translation and Arabic linguistics research chairs and excellence centers, and the amount of research produced in English and Arabic; (7) number of foreigners holding administrative positions; (8) number of Arabic electronic databases. The author used several data collection tools such as questionnaires consisting of open-ended questions to survey a sample of Arab faculty and Arab college students to find out how they perceive the use of English and Arabic as a medium of instruction and in the work place; what they think of doctors and instructors who do not know English; why students use colloquial language in online discussion forums, and the difficulties that preparatory-year