Arabic-L;PEDA:K-12 Arabic Teachers Qualifications

[Dilworth Parkinson]

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Arabic-L: Tue 11 Jan  2005
Moderator: Dilworth Parkinson <dilworth_parkinson at byu.edu>
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1) Subject:K-12 Arabic Teachers Qualifications

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1)
Date: 11 Jan  2005
From:khorshid at aucegypt.edu
Subject:K-12 Arabic Teachers Qualifications

Dear Dr. Eissa,
 
Ideally, the Arabic language teacher should have a degree in teaching  
Arabic as a foreign/ second language. But since this is, unfortunately,  
not available to everyone, the second best would be a combination of  
the following:
 
1. a training in teaching A foreign/ second language, be it English,  
Spanish or whatever.
2. a good knowledge base in Arabic syntax, morphology and other areas  
of the Arabic language.
3. a thorough understanding of the difference between teaching Arabic  
as a first and as a foreign/ second language. That is, teaching Arabic  
to Arab kids in Arab countries versus teaching it to kids whose first  
language is not Arabic, in non-Arab countries.
4. an understanding of child psychology, specifically, the different  
developmental stages through which the child's brain go.
 
In my own experience, the last two points are usually overlooked. In  
some Islamic schools I visited in the U.S., Arab teachers teach their  
kids the same way these teachers had been taught in their countries of  
origin.
 
The most dramatic issue here is whether to start with the Arabic  
alphabet or with oral language. It seems that, at least, most teachers,  
and parents, equate the alphabet with "the language".
In 2000 the New Horizon Schools in Los Angeles and Orange County  
started a communicative program to teach 3-7 year-old kids oral  
standard Arabic, without the alphabet. Right now I'm visiting those  
schools to evaluate the kids' performance, which looks great to me for  
two reasons:
 
1. The kids play with the language and have fun, no more suffering in  
trying to learn the alphabet, which they are not mentally ready for  
yet..
2. The kids understand and produce so much; vocab. and sturcture.
 
If you need more details and quantification please let me know.
 
Ahmad Khorshid
Arabic Language Instructor
The American University in Cairo
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