More inclusive Arabic language courses for highly diverse students groups
Arabic language courses are designed for students with limited or no exposure to the language or culture. However, also Heritage Learners (HLs) participate, students who have considerable experience with the Arabic language and culture. HLs are highly diverse, but can generally be seen as belonging to one of two categories: students coming from immigrant families who speak a variety of Arabic with some proficiency. Or students associated with the culture through religion and experience of Arabic mainly through scripture, classical and religious texts in Islamic schools.
Available curricula do not address specific HLs’ needs, which are different from mainstream learners. This project contributes to more inclusive Arabic language programs by designing courses and learning materials that better fit HL needs.
The project started with a needs assessment of teaching an Arabic program, using interviews with HL students and teachers. Research was also conducted on HL courses in other languages. The qualitative analysis of the interviews shows that Project Based Language Learning is promising in this context. The course design phase took place during the Corona lockdown, but the new course was not designed as a distance course. It was designed as an online version of an in-person course. Ultimately, two new courses were created to teach Arabic at the pre-intermediate and intermediate levels. These courses follow the general philosophy of the Arabic program at Leiden, but include Project-Based Learning.
Development of inclusive Arabic language courses
The initial plan was to produce listening materials in Arabic, but this proved impossible due to Covid restrictions. The needs assessment showed that there was a demand for new materials to stimulate language production (speaking, writing) and that understanding spoken language was a strength. Physical meetings to develop the course were allowed during the implementation of the second course. Another challenge was recruiting interviewees and disseminating the new course to students who were not on campus. The first phase of the course had fewer enrollees than expected, but now that the course is available and can be offered immediately, it is possible to raise awareness of it.
Effectivity of Project-Based Language Learning
The project was evaluated after each step. Anonymous course evaluations provided insight into student satisfaction. A focus group meeting using dialogue after the first course also provided insight. A workshop for teachers was evaluated with a feedback form. Finally, student grades indicate the learning process.
The evaluation shows that the target students appreciate that the course celebrates their individual identity while acknowledging their linguistic and cultural diversity. The structure of the course allows them to focus on the gaps in their language skills while building on their linguistic and cultural strengths. The focus group agreed that project-based learning is very effective and were eager to spend more time on projects. However, when the proportion of project-based learning was increased in the second course, it proved to be very taxing on the students' commitment, resulting in slightly lower grades.
Those who want to implement PBLL in their program should take the time to plan the course. The design can still be improved to meet the different needs of the student population. It can greatly benefit both teachers and students, but it also requires a lot of structure and organization.
Relevante publicaties
- Carreira, M., Chik, C. H., & Karapetian, S. (2019). Project-based learning in the context of teaching heritage language learners. In Project-Based Learning in Second Language Acquisition (pp. 135–152). Routledge.
- Montrul, S. (2015). The Acquisition of Heritage Languages. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/DOI: 10.1017/CBO9781139030502
- Montrul, S., & Polinsky, M. (2021). The Cambridge Handbook of Heritage Languages and Linguistics. Cambridge Handbooks in Language and Linguistics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/DOI: 10.1017/9781108766340
- Turkistani, F. (2019). Toward a Better Understanding of Arabic As a Heritage Language: A Case Study of High School Arabic Language Teacher. George Mason University.
- Zabarah, H. (2016). College-Level Arabic Heritage Learners: Do they belong in Separate Classrooms? Journal of the National Council of Less Commonly Taught Languages, 18. https://doi.org/10.10119/issn.1930-9031.2016.03.08
Presentaties over dit project
Comenius Teaching Fellow 2020
