In this volume leading teachers of Arabic, many of whom have written influential textbooks for advanced learners, explore the realities and challenges of teaching Arabic as a foreign language. Topics covered include the state of the Arabic teaching profession; the institutional challenges in U.S. and study-abroad programs; the teaching of various skills such as writing, reading, speaking, and listening; the varieties of Arabic and their relevance in the classroom; the uses of technology in the classroom; and testing. Published in 1995, many of the issues raised in this volume remain relevant today.
Distributed for the American Association of Teachers of Arabic
Table of Contents
Introduction
The Arabic Teaching Profession: Current Realities and Future Challenges
Mahmoud Al-Batal
1. The Teaching of Arabic in the United States: Whence and Whither?
Peter F. Abboud
2. The Institutional Setting of Arabic Language Teaching: A Survey of Program Coordinators and Teachers of Arabic in U. S. Institutions of Higher Learning
R. Kirk Belnap
3. Teaching Arabic as a Foreign Language: Challenges of the Nineties
Alaa Elgibali and Zeinab Taha
4. Higher Level Language Skills in Arabic: Parameters and Issues
Roger Allen
5. Issues in the Teaching of the Productive Skills in Arabic
Mahmoud Al-Batal
6. Teaching Spontaneity in Elementary Arabic
Zev bar-Lev
7. The Role of Close Reading in the Elementary Arabic Curriculum
Margaret Larkin
8. The Grammar Controversy: What to Teach and Why
Zeinab Taha
9. Learning from Gulliver: The Teaching of "Culture" in an Advanced Arabic Language Course
Samar Attar
10. Discourse Competernce in TAFL: Skill Levels and Choice of Language Variety in the Arabic Classroom
Karin C. Ryding
11. An Integrated Curriculum for Elementary Arabic
Munther A. Younes
12. Computer-Assisted Language Learning for Arabic: Rationale and Research Potential
Mahdi Alosh
13. Computers and Proficiency Goals: Facing Facts
Dilworth B. Parkinson
14. Incorporating Video in Teaching Arabic
Ahmed Ferhadi
15. The Arabic Speaking Proficiency Test and Its Implementation
Raji Rammuny
Index
Contributors
Peter Abboud Mahmoud Al-Batal Roger Allen M. Mahdi Alosh Samar Attar Zev bar-Lev R. Kirk Belnap Alaa Elgibali Ahmed Ferhadi Margaret Larkin Dilworth B. Parkinson Raji M. Rammuny Karin C. Ryding Zeinab Taha Munther A. Younes
About the Author
Mahmoud Al-Batal is an associate professor and director of the Arabic Flagship Program at University of Texas at Austin. He is coauthor (with Kristen Brustad and Abbas Al-Tonsi) of the Al-Kitaab Arabic textbook series.
