The teaching of Arabic language and culture in UK schools (original) (raw)
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As part of the Arabic Language and Culture Programme, this report was commissioned by the British Council Arabic Language and Culture Programme in March 2016 and finalised in December 2016. The research team, which comprises of a consortium based at Leeds University, Edinburgh University and Goldsmiths, University of London, collates and presents data to reflect how Arabic is taught in schools in the UK. This report expands on a limited body of research in relation to Arabic teaching and learning, and focuses on how Arabic is taught including teaching methodologies, resources and learning strategies currently employed in teaching Arabic as a foreign language (TAFL) in schools. Specifically looking at the teaching of Arabic in UK schools has not previously been investigated, making this research of vital importance to teachers of Arabic, school leaders, teacher educators and policy makers. The research project aims to find answers to the following questions: 1. How is Arabic being taught in UK schools today and how it can be improved? 2. What varieties of Arabic are being/should be taught and to what extent is attention being paid to the diglossic nature of the language? 3. What are the challenges faced by Arabic learners and teachers which may have an impact on the efficiency of Arabic learning and teaching?
The teaching of Arabic as a community language in the UK
International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 2022
This paper provides an overview of UK Arabic language teaching in supplementary and mainstream schools from available research papers and provides a synopsis of recent developments in supporting Arabic teaching at school level and pathways to Higher Education. The largest study cited is the 2016 research collaboration between the British Council, the Universities of Leeds, Edinburgh, Goldsmiths, and London, and Alcantara Communications [Snowden et al. (Citation2016. Teaching Arabic as a Foreign Language in the UK – Strand 1 Research: How Arabic is Being Taught in Schools. London: British Council)], exploring current teaching techniques, teachers’ perceptions of diglossia and variation in Arabic, and these are incorporated when designing teaching activities and materials. With surveys, interviews and lesson observations, Snowden et al. show teachers believe in the importance of communication as a learning aim and are familiar with the communicative approach but many base learning activities on traditional writing tasks and less on listening and speaking. It shows that Arabic diglossia remains a challenge with teachers stating that learning dialects is important, yet they struggle to find appropriate approaches and materials for it. This paper presents challenges faced by Arabic teachers including foundational teacher training, continuous professional development and material design, concluding with recent developments in supporting teaching Arabic as a community language and recommendations for addressing current challenges.
The Leeds Language Scholar 2020: Issue 6 Special issue on Arabic language teaching
Leeds Language Scholar Journal, 2020
Editorial This special issue of the Language Scholar is dedicated to Arabic language learning and teaching in Higher Education. The idea of this issue stemmed out of a growing interest in researching Arabic language pedagogy and an increasing number of scholarship projects that investigate Arabic learning and teaching from different perspectives. Such work was witnessed in two international conferences that took place in March 2017 at the University of Leeds, then in April 2019 in Kings College, University of London. The conferences aimed to bring together researchers, scholars and teachers who share the interests and expertise in Arabic language pedagogy and who indeed presented an impressive range of contemporary topics that are being researched in order to advance the field of Teaching Arabic as a Second Language (TASL). In 2019 conference, the call for papers for this issue was announced and it has been a delight for us to receive a number of very interesting topics from colleagues in the UK and abroad who all strive to tackle issues faced by Arabic teachers and learners and suggest ways to overcome challenges, to develop and to promote the learning of Arabic in Higher Education. This issue has six papers starting with Al-Hamad and Mohamed’s paper which builds on current research on error analysis with a focus on Arabic phonology and orthography. The paper presents interesting examples of phonological and orthographical errors made by 60 participants who are all English speakers studying Arabic in the UK and it showed an inclination to revert to the closest sounds to those in English language. The paper gives good insights to Arabic teachers when planning their teaching activities to support their students getting used to new phonological and orthographical systems. The second paper by Al Tubuly looks at the extent and range of cultural knowledge found in four common Arabic textbooks and shows that although these books dedicate some sections to present Arabic culture, they lack the focus on the deep culture that is needed for proper understanding of the Arabic speaking communities, their beliefs and lifestyles. The paper helps teachers to consider the missing elements of culture that they may need to supplement into their curriculums. The third paper by Durkawi and Mouazen is a timely topic that looks at the application of the Integrated Approach (IA) in teaching and gives a practical guide to Arabic teachers who plan to use the IA in their programmes. The authors in this paper share examples of good practice and the challenges that they faced in applying the IA at different proficiency levels as well as a number of positive outcomes that they observed. Our fourth paper by El Essawi also provides analysis of Arabic textbooks on how much they focus on communication strategies. This is a topic that received very little attention in the field of TASL as communication strategies are limitedly found and even non-existent in some textbooks as revealed in this paper. El Essawi’s paper concludes with pedagogical suggestions on how to incorporate communication strategies in classroom activities and teaching materials for the objectives of orientation, exposure and practice. The fifth paper here by Golfetto shifts the readers’ attention to the students as it investigates the learning experience of Arabic heritage learners. The study, which focused on heritage learners in Italian universities, presents an argument that supports the merging of heritage and non-heritage learning classes. It lists the benefits of merging them including the creation of a more homogenous and authentic learning environment that supports linguistic variation in the class and bridges learning gaps. Finally, the issue concludes with the sixth paper by Khalil providing a comparative linguistic description of Modern Standard Arabic and the Cairene dialect at phonological, lexical and grammatical levels with many examples from the two Arabic varieties. The paper is a useful reference to learners and teachers who incorporate linguistic variation in their programmes. It also provides a framework that can easily be followed by other researchers and scholars who wish to analyse other Arabic varieties. We are grateful to all our authors who shared here their scholarship and research work and made it available to a wide range of readers. We are also deeply thankful to our reviewers, in alphabetical order, Yolanda Cerda, James Dickins, Hanem El-Farahaty, Giorgia Ferrari, Kassem Wahba and Shahira Yacout, who dedicated their time, efforts and knowledge to review these papers and provide invaluable advice. Huge thanks go to the Language Scholar managers Irene Addison-Child and Milada Walkova who put a lot of efforts on checking papers, communication with authors and reviewers and putting all of this work together. We hope that this special issue will provide a good reference for many Arabic teachers and researchers who strive to advance the field of Arabic language pedagogy. Rasha Soliman (on behalf of the Language Scholar editorial team)
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.
Arabic Language Education in the UAE: Choosing the Right Drivers
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
Entries for GCSE Arabic saw an 82% increase in the decade between 2002-2012. Following a report identifying Arabic as the third most important language for the British Council has proposed expansions in provision of this subject in UK schools. Research into the GCSE Arabic student population, their performance, and experiences however, is sparse, if not non-existent. One issue that has been explored in the limited literature available on adult learners of Arabic, largely in a US context, has identified the issue of heritage language learners (HLLs), their identification and how they differ from L2 learners. This study examines this issue in the context of the Arabic GCSE, with a sample of students (n = 75) and teachers (n = 6) of the Arabic GCSE drawn from 5 schools from around England. The study employs a mixed-methods design, triangulating qualitative and quantitative data, as well as data from two different groups of participants (teachers and students), where appropriate to offer as complete a picture of the performance of HLLs and NHLLs in the sample of GCSE Arabic students as possible. The first stage of the research identifies the characteristics of a sample of GCSE Arabic students and investigating whether the backgrounds of this sample correspond to current theoretical conceptualisations of heritage language learners. The performance of HLLs and their NHLL counterparts, operationalized as their scores on a selection of GCSE Arabic exam tasks (reading, writing, and listening) to ensure authenticity of testing material, are compared, as are students' perceptions of their performance and the performance of their counterparts drawn from interview and questionnaire data. Teachers of Arabic are also interviewed and asked to complete questionnaires so as to provide an alternative perspective on student performance and patterns between any groups in their respective classes. Finally, students and teachers were asked to reflect on their teaching and learning experiences with the subject so as to explore for alternative explanations for any differences in performance, and factors that may have affected the performance of students in the sample.