Arabic Without Walls
With
so much misunderstanding in the world, we desperately need to expand
Arabic language-learning opportunities. Interest in learning Arabic has
greatly increased in recent years. Although many schools, colleges, and
universities have added Arabic to their curriculum, most American
students do not have access to study this important world language.
The U.S. Department of Education's Fund for the Improvement of Post-Secondary Education has awarded the University of California Consortium on Language Learning & Teaching and the National Middle East Language Resource Center a grant to develop Arabic Without Walls,
an innovative distance-learning program that will allow anyone, ranging
from high school students to senior citizens, to study Arabic - no
matter where they live.
A team of highly respected curriculum developers and experts designed Arabic Without Walls
to take advantage of the latest technology, while simultaneously
ensuring the critical human contact that is essential for successful
language learning. In order to provide a rich learning environment that
exposes learners to the depth and breadth of Arab culture, we are
collecting authentic materials and engaging interviews. These
interviews introduce learners to a sample of real Arabs from various
regional, educational, professional, and religious backgrounds.
Arabic Without Walls is based on the widely-used textbook Al-Kitaab fii Ta`alum al-Arabiyya
(Brustad et al., 2nd ed., Georgetown University Press, 2004). The
content and scenarios of the interviews parallel the content of the
lessons in Al-Kitaab and will be used as the basis for online
learning activities that help students acquire real facility in using
Arabic. Our experience shows that learners respond very positively to
natural and authentic materials.
Arabic Without Walls is a not a publicly accessible resource. More details on how to become involved will be posted soon (Nov/2009)