Read Arabic!Online Arabic Reading Materials for American High School Learners and

Teachers

Dr. Gerald LampeDr. Frederick Jackson Dr. Jennifer RobinsonNational Foreign Language Center at the University of Maryland at College Park

Read Arabic!

Overview of Presentation Introduction

Features of Read Arabic!

Demonstration of Three Lessons

Some Issues in Developing the Materials

Discussion

Read Arabic!

Read Arabic!

Introduction

Read Arabic!

Project

Funded by a three-year grant from the U.S. Department of Education’s International Research and Studies Program

Target audience is American high school students 85 online reading materials of Modern Standard

Arabic ILR Levels 0+ to 1+ Available to the public at NFLC websites. No cost

and no registration!

Read Arabic!

Need for Read Arabic!

Limited materials available in MSA at secondary school level (ACTFL Novice and Intermediate)

Support the learning process of an important LCTL

Provide opportunity for independent study

Supplement classroom-based learning

Universal access, online and free

Read Arabic!

Read Arabic!

Features

Read Arabic!

Texts and Content

Topics are selected to interest high school learners

Some are authentic texts (e.g., signs, menu, classified ads)

Some are adapted from authentic texts online (e.g., biography)

Some lower-level texts were composed for instructional

purposes

* Based on ACTFL “Communication” Standards and on the ALIF Arabic Curriculum developed by Professor Wafa Hassan and her team

Read Arabic!

Read Arabic! Topics

Basic Arabic structure and vocabulary

Arab Americans

Heroes of the Arab world History and geography

Customs and traditions Everyday life

Facebook and Twitter Language for travel

Popular artists & writers Common signs

Texts in target language on topics of interest to high school learners

Read Arabic!

Read Arabic! Design

Many kinds of “scaffolding” to assist learners Translation into English (upon request) Audio recording (upon request) Glossary of words & phrases with use in context Language and culture notes

Activities to help build reading skills and check comprehension of texts. Specific hints and feedback are provided to help understanding.

Activities are repeatable

Read Arabic!

User Feedback on Lessons

Majority are students, but other users are teachers and adult self learners

Most use the materials for independent practice at home or in school labs

Almost 90% find the units interesting and helpful in learning the language

About 85% find the units to be at the right length and level for their learning

A frequent comment is “give us more units!”

Read Arabic!

Read Arabic!

Demonstration of

Three Lessons

Read Arabic!

Lessons

ILR Level 0/0+ Novice: Travel: A Train Schedule

ILR Level 1/1+ Intermediate: Letter to a Friend

ILR Level 2/2+ Cultural: People: Khalil Gibran

Available at http://readarabic.nflc.org

Read Arabic!

Read Arabic!

Some Issues in Developing the Materials

Read Arabic!

Some Issues in Developing the Materials

MSA vs. dialects• Everyday language usually in dialect• Visual & print media• Social media

Identifying Texts• Few authentic MSA examples at low levels• Presence of dialect in authentic texts• Need to capture meanings of complex morphology

Instructions• Differences in use of gender in verbs

Translation• Difficult for certain concepts

Read Arabic!

Read Arabic!

Discussion