B2 Non-refereed book chapter or chapter in a compilation book
Integration and students' perspectives in a multidialect environment
Authors: Zaki Mai, Jeremy Palmer
Editors: Mahmoud Al-Batal
Edition: 1st
Publication year: 2017
Book title : Arabic as one language : Integrating Dialect in the Arabic Language Curriculum
ISBN: 978-1-62616-504-5
eISBN: 978-1-62616-505-2
Web address : http://press.georgetown.edu/book/languages/arabic-one-language
THE ISSUE OF TEACHING Arabic in an integrated approach has gained considerable attention in the past decade (Al-Batal and Belnap 2006; Palmer 2008; Younes 2006; 2015). This issue, however, needs more qualitative and quantitative studies. Our research seeks to add to the literature by investigating a curricular model that provides students with exposure to Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) and Colloquial Arabic in a multidialect environment. In this model, students learning Arabic at the American University of Sharjah (AUS), an English-medium university in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), learn both MSA and one colloquial variety of Arabic. Due to the variety of Arabic-speaking expatriate communities in the UAE, there is not one predominately used colloquial variety of Arabic. In addition to the local Emirati dialect, there are sizable Egyptian, Levantine, and other regional varieties commonly used in the UAE. This particular linguistic situation presents its own challenges to an integrated approach.