Needs analysis and course design for Dacwa students: Teaching Arabic for specific purposes (TASP)

Abstract

It was found that the field of Teaching Arabic as a Foreign Language (TAFL) is not totally devoid of textbooks and research studies concerning Arabic for Specific Purposes (ASP). However, the greater part of these attempts lack a theoretical framework and, seemingly, guidance. Such attempts therefore fail to achieve their goals; hence, the researcher formed the opinion that a course for Teaching Arabic for Specific Purposes (TASP) needed to be designed. A theoretical framework for needs analysis and course design was required immediately as a first step. As my research focused on Saudi Arabia, the question was: What is the most important field to be taken as a case study? The obvious answer to this was Islamic Studies because students do not primarily come to Saudi to study medicine, or technical subjects: it is a fact that, more than 90% of final level students on TAFL programmes want to improve their Arabic in the field of Islamic Studies and more than 80% of them specifically chose the Islamic mission (dacwa) for their target purpose. It is the aim of this research to introduce the concept of Teaching Arabic for Specific Purposes to the field of Teaching Arabic as a Foreign Language in Saudi Arabia. It is in fact the groundwork to further detailed projects in this context. For this reason, an investigation was conducted in the following areas: Language for Specific Purposes, English for Specific Purposes, Language for Academic Purposes, Needs Analysis, and Course and Syllabus Design in the field of Teaching Languages for Specific Purposes. To bring the concept of Teaching Arabic for Specific Purposes into application, it was essential to study how a course could be developed in the light of the needs of the dacwa students in Saudi Arabia: the researcher undertook to assess and interpret the needs and demands of the students, the subject of dacwa, the teachers of dacwa, the TAFL teachers, the administrative staff in the Faculties of Dacwa and TAFL Institutes in Saudi Arabia. To ensure valid results, different methods were employed, such as: questionnaires, interviews and diagnostic tests. The findings of the needs analysis showed that reading was the most required skill for the students of dacwa and a course was designed to meet that objective