27.3401, Review: Applied Ling; Language Acq: Zouhir (2015)

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LINGUIST List: Vol-27-3401. Fri Aug 26 2016. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 27.3401, Review: Applied Ling; Language Acq: Zouhir (2015)

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Date: Fri, 26 Aug 2016 12:27:31
From: Hassan Makhad [hmakhad at hotmail.com]
Subject: Unpacking the Core Teaching and Learning Practices of Arabic at a Major U.S. University: Critical Assessment, Innovation, and Collaboration

 
Discuss this message:
http://linguistlist.org/pubs/reviews/get-review.cfm?subid=36161217


Book announced at http://linguistlist.org/issues/26/26-5438.html

AUTHOR: Abderrahman  Zouhir
TITLE: Unpacking the Core Teaching and Learning Practices of Arabic at a Major U.S. University: Critical Assessment, Innovation, and Collaboration
SERIES TITLE: LINCOM Studies in Second Language Teaching 26
PUBLISHER: Lincom GmbH
YEAR: 2015

REVIEWER: Hassan Makhad, Cadi Ayyad University

Reviews Editor: Helen Aristar-Dry

SUMMARY

The book, Unpacking the Core Teaching and Learning Practices of Arabic at a
Major U.S. University: Critical Assessment, Innovation, and Collaboration, by
Abderrahman ZOUHIR, addresses issues related to the teaching and learning of
Arabic at the university level in America.  It explores the influential
components that affect Arabic instruction. It also sheds light on the learning
challenges American students face while enrolled in Arabic programs. It
additionally proposes a range of directions to ameliorate Arabic education and
reduce the difficulties it confronts.  

The book consists of five chapters, references and four appendices. Chapter
One is the introduction. It contains two sub-sections. The first depicts the
situation of Arabic in the USA. Increasing interest in Arabic is the outcome
of three motives: (1) Arabic as the language of Islam, (2) US involvement in
the Middle East and (3) growing concern about Arab culture. The author
observes that despite the growth of interest in Arabic programs, learners face
many difficulties studying the language. The complexities range from the
writing system to derivations, phonology and syntax. Accordingly, he states
that the project is inspired by three questions (p 5): (1) What are the
foreign language history, literacy and practices of the participants? (2) What
are the challenges that the participants face in learning Arabic? And (3) what
factors influence the learning and teaching of Arabic? The second sub-section
provides justifications for the importance of the book. It argues that the
work is important for the teaching and learning of Arabic, as it investigates
the challenges faced in these activities. It also explores the factors that
affect these two endeavors.  

Chapter Two is a review of literature on the subject of Arabic teaching and
learning in the USA. It comprises six sections with additional subsections.
The first deals with the historical development of Arabic teaching and
learning in the USA. Many researchers claim that Arabic has been taught at
Harvard University around 1654. Furthermore, the chapter shows that Arabic
language programs are expanding in US universities post 9/11. It also deals
with pedagogical disagreements regarding the existence of many Arabic forms:
Standard Arabic, colloquial dialects and middle varieties of Arabic. The
author proposes to consider student needs to determine which variety to learn
as a foreign language.  The second section is about the elements that affect
learning Arabic. He cites various factors: socio-cultural, psycho-social,
socio-cognitive, linguistic and pedagogical. All of these components motivate
or discourage learners. For example, familiarity with Arab culture is more
likely to result in successful learning of the language. Thus the integration
of culture into Arabic courses is important. Similarly, familiar topics and a
good methodology facilitate learning. The section on assessment illustrates
that evaluations need to be restrained and standardized.  They need to involve
student’ viewpoints; otherwise they are not valuable. Standardization is
required as the author mentions many examinations; yet testing standards may
not reflect language abilities. Section Four requires teachers to have
systematic and professional evaluation skills. These include portfolio and
classroom assessments. He also suggests taking students’ task difficulties
(anxiety, noise, and weaknesses) into account. Section Five recommends the use
of technology (computers, videos, multimedia and related materials) as an
innovative methodology of teaching languages. It offers a broad range of
advantages. It improves learning, and it facilitates communication with
other/native speakers. Thus it should be incorporated into classrooms, and
teachers should be trained in this domain. 

Chapter Three is about the methodology the author has used in his
investigation. It contains three sections. The first is about data. The
research, which was begun in 2006, employs six participants at the
intermediate level and seeks to reveal the linguistic and social backgrounds
of participants as well as their interests in studying Arabic. Moreover the
author utilized three approaches in data collection: interviews (of students,
former and current teachers), classroom observations and think-aloud
considerations. The objective is to identify students’ proficiency level and
determine the learning problems they face. Two raters scored the test, and the
data is systematized on the basis of patterns and regularities that present
learning motivations, objectives and drawbacks.

Chapter Four, which is the core of the book, treats the findings of the
research. It deals with three basic topics: (1) Student experience in foreign
language learning, (2) Difficulties in learning Arabic, and (3) Problems of
teaching Arabic. All the participants studied different languages in high
school, but not Modern Standard Arabic (MSA). Moreover, they have varied
drives for learning MSA. The majority of them assert that success on the job
market is the main reason. Others want to know about Islam, Arab culture and /
or communication with family. Candidates have confronted some inconsistencies
with MSA which they did not find with other languages in high school. They
hence consider MSA a difficult language. In addition, the syllabus is awkward,
and the vocabulary is out of context. They use different strategies in their
learning endeavors and they all ask for more practice. But they all experience
linguistic transfer of their native language experience. They thus make
various types of mistakes. They also face syntactic, morphological,
phonological and orthographic challenges. Besides they confront the confusion
between MSA and colloquial dialects. Moreover, teachers use different teaching
methods and classes contain large numbers of students.  

In Chapter Five, the author gives suggestions to overcome the difficulties
made plain in teaching and learning MSA. He advises including MSA classes in
high school curricula because students experience difficulties as a result of
not being exposed to less commonly taught languages before university
enrollment. This has to be coupled with exchange of expertise between teachers
of Arabic and those of commonly taught languages. He recommends class
activities that facilitate vocabulary retention. He promotes the use of
adequate curricula and material with the consultation of teachers. He also
advocates that education must be learner-centered, as its success depends on
student involvement. He is in favor of exchange, study-abroad and summer
programs to improve Arabic learning. He also recommends qualified,
well-trained and experienced staff to do the teaching job. He finally defends
the use of technology to facilitate learning of Arabic. 

EVALUATION

Indeed, this is an influential book. It provides readers with a general view
of the issues related to teaching and learning Arabic in US universities. It
has managed to present a full understanding of the topics under concern. The
importance of the book lies in its usefulness for students, teachers and
curriculum designers of Arabic. Its main strength is the exposing of the
predicaments that Arabic students face, together with the offering of a
comprehensive set of recommendations to solve the challenges that hinder
successful Arabic programs at the university. Indeed, he has been successful
in his objectives. However, I find the structure of the book somewhat
confusing. Sections and subsections are left unnumbered. Readers need to
frequently go back to the content table to situate themselves in the book.
This complicates reading and comprehension.

The most important points he highlights in the work are those that prevent
successful learning of Arabic.  According to him, they are: (1) Absence of
Arabic in high school, (2) Absence of qualified staff, and (3) Absence of
adequate textbooks. The first factor, I believe, is necessary because of the
nature of Arabic. The language has some specific properties that English, as
well as other European languages, lack. For instance, Arabic is written from
right to left in a cursive way. People are not familiar with several of the
difficult sounds that it contains. Some characters have dissimilar forms in
isolation, in the beginning, middle or end of a word. To make things tougher,
the vowels are added as marks on consonants. Given these complexities (not
counting others), earlier exposure to MSA in High school is central to gaining
familiarity with the language. Fluency in MSA depends on exposure to the
language, and adult learners need more time to achieve proficiency. The more
contact with the language one has the easier the learning becomes. This is so
because despite the apparent impenetrability mentioned above, MSA is a very
consistent language in terms of spelling and pronunciation. The words are
spelled the way they are articulated. Thus knowledge of orthography ensures
production of correct forms, because patterns of spelling and pronunciation
are established systematically. Multiple encounters with the language
therefore guarantee letter-sound correspondence mastery. 

The second issue is also valid as long as teachers are considered to be the
second half in the process of education. The first half is the students. Even
with qualified staff, learning can only happen if students are interested in
lessons. Students get interested in a program when its content is suitable to
their goals and desires. Yet qualified teachers facilitate learning provided
that they conduct instruction and give rise to aspiration and competition. To
make learning profitable in this regard, it must be interactive. A teacher’s
job is to adapt programs to serve the learning objectives of students. (S)he
familiarizes students with MSA’s structure and its correct use. Accordingly,
the instructor has to encourage students to participate and be active more
than (s)he does because the material is addressed to the learners. Moreover,
in addition to their jobs of teaching and evaluating, educators need to show
personal and humane characteristics toward learners. These sorts of serious
attention have clear and positive impact on skill development, even more than
teaching methods.  Furthermore, I think that the major task of MSA instructors
is to orient learning. They have to lead classes to discover language
processes. They may raise conversation issues and guide knowledge
improvements. They can probably expand oral and written abilities by
encouraging debates and allowing students to get involved in formulating
opinions so as to develop linguistic skills. All of these activities, as well
as others, play significant roles in facilitating learning. They enrich
linguistic experience and increase knowledge. 

The third item is certainly the most important because I am confident that the
quality of a text book determines the success or failure of an education. That
is why textbooks are an issue of concern and research in second language
teaching. A good schoolbook provides organized and fruitful instructions. I
believe that benchmarking is the solution here. Actually, there are lots of
successful Arabic programs in many Arab countries. The author is certainly
familiar with the Iqraa textbook series, by Ahmed Boukmakh, that used to cover
the entire primary school in Morocco. Such programs provide organized
instruction through gradual knowledge increment. They are composed of
appropriate subjects with accurate arrangements and defined objectives. Their
content reflects the aim of familiarizing learners with MSA. Model series like
these solve the majority of problems mentioned by the author. Having referred
to the Iqraa example, does not disqualify other published MSA manuals,
especially in the Arab gulf countries. These types of works could be adopted
probably after revisions and reconsiderations. I am aware that more inquiries
need to be done in this domain, as any kind of a teaching pattern and content
relies heavily on the incorporated instruction material. Moreover, a good
language program must be varied because not everybody learns the same way. I
also think that no teaching methodology is conclusive. Each method has its own
benefits and drawbacks. The justification is that students use different
mental processing techniques in learning. Their views may thus be of great
relevance in these matters. 

Given these requirements, success may only happen if learners are more exposed
to the target language in addition to their being motivated and taught by
trained staff. Adding my voice to that of the author, I equally believe that
instructors must be given more freedom to choose whichever program they
consider adequate. They should also be open to benchmark other experiences and
flexible in their teaching strategies thus making curricula more appealing.

In sum, the book is vastly instructive and informative. The topic is
well-researched. The style is lucid and coherent. It provides readers with an
appealing analytical approach and insightful examination method of the issues
it treats. It is highly recommended to the community dealing with themes of
applied linguistics and second language teaching, especially MSA students and
educators.


ABOUT THE REVIEWER

Hassan Makhad is assistant professor at Cadi Ayyad University, the
polydisciplinary faculty of Safi. Main interests are: syntax and morpho-syntax
of afro-asiatic languages: Tashelhiyt, Moroccan Arabic and modern standard
Arabic. other intersts are language policy, educational reform, L2 teaching
and administrative reform.





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