Exploring Arabic Emergent Literacy Instruction in Al Ain Private Schools: A Case Study of Two Teachers

The concept of emergent literacy reflects a view of children’s development and learning of language in which the emerging language skills gradually progress in alignment with the developmental aspects of children (Sandvik, van Daal, & Adèr, 2014). This case study aimed at delving into the nature of Arabic emergent literacy instruction by exploring the perceptions and practices of a case of two teachers in one private school in Al Ain city. The questions this study attempted to answer were: (a) what are the perceptions of private schools’ teachers’ in Al Ain regarding the Arabic emergent literacy instruction? (b) What are the practices of Arabic emergent literacy instruction these teachers apply in the classroom? (c)Are there any differences between the teachers’ perceptions and their actual practices of Arabic emergent literacy instruction? The qualitative methods of data collection included interviews and classroom observations and were followed by an analysis process of coding data into themes. The main findings described under each of the three research questions included the teachers’ perceptions about the emergent literacy skills’ learning and teaching with regards to the teachers’ roles, materials, activities and the use of technology. It also highlights the challenges these teachers face in teaching Arabic language to young children. In the description of the practices of Arabic emergent literacy instruction applied by the participant teachers in their lessons, the types of implemented activities, the targeted skills, the teaching strategies and the use of technology were thoroughly included. The differences found between the perceptions and practices were limited to two examples in a case of one teacher. This study presents recommendations to the Ministry of Education, teacher education programs and implications for future research

Challenges in Bridging the L2 Literacy Divide: A Guide for Language Teachers Dealing with Adult Learners

Extensive theoretical discourse has centered on the broad subject of literacy within both academic and general contexts. In modern language classrooms, much attempt is made to foster both comprehension and composition skills utilizing often complex texts in the hope that adult learners may become familiar with the more rudimentary aspects of a target language with the ultimate aim of improving their literacy competency for various rationales. Numerous obstacles need to be overcome in order to achieve this aim. Many of these challenges are not well understood by educators which unfortunately results in poor levels of achievement by learners who often feel they are not able to complete such a seemingly insurmountable task. Educators wishing to engage learners effectively in the higher processes and competency of learning to read and write proficiently need to understand the difficulties many learners face in attempting to unlock the many enigmatic parameters of any new language with respect to higher level receptive and productive conventions. This process needs to begin by challenging previously held notions regarding teaching adults how to read and write in a target language by focusing on the learner’s needs rather than a generic process which will hopefully bring out the desired outcome in every case. As educators, we need to provide our learners with the tools and materials in order to achieve any level of progress. Motivation, patience and dedication are the labor to achieve this aim. The following discussion is not only aimed at teachers involved in English language instruction, but also for those involved in the delivery of other languages

Home Literacy Practices of Arabic-English Bilingual Families: Case Study of One Libyan American Preschooler and One Syrian American Preschooler

Individual differences in early literacy skills can be attributed to children’s previous history of emergent literacy experiences during their preschool years. The purpose of this qualitative study was to learn about the emergent literacy experiences of one Libyan American preschooler and one Syrian American preschooler and how their families support these experiences in their bilingual homes. Through the lens of social theory of learning (Lave & Wenger, 1991; Wenger, 1998) and sociocultural theory (Rogoff, 1990; Vygotsky, 1978), this multi-case study was designed to explore family literacy practices with a preschooler in a naturalistic setting. The questions guiding this study were: (1) How did the texts, tools, and technologies available in two bilingual home settings impact the emergent literacy practices of a Libyan American child and a Syrian American child? (2) What support did family members provide for these two children as they developed emergent literacy practices in their bilingual home settings? Data sources included a demographic questionnaire, digital-recordings of family literacy practices with a preschooler, audio-recorded in-depth interviews with the parents, home visits, the preschoolers’ writing samples, and photographs of literacy activities, materials, and the home environment. The recorded family literacy practices and interviews were transcribed and analyzed to identify emerging themes. Both within-case analysis and cross-case analysis were conducted. Findings revealed that the preschoolers in both families use a multimodal process such as talking, drawing, singing, chanting, recitation, technologies, and sociodramatic play in their daily literacy experiences. The parents are not concerned with teaching their children specific literacy skills; but they naturally use techniques for keeping them on task and questioning skills to enhance oral language and comprehension development. These families’ home literacy practices are Americanized by living in the mainstream social group, and English is frequently used among the family members. However, their bilingualism and religious literacy practices enrich and vary their children’s emergent literacy experiences and their family literacy practices. The significance of this study resides in the importance of getting to know individual families’ backgrounds to better understand and respect the cultural practices of family literacy

Constructing Arabic as Heritage: Investment in Language, Literacy, and Identity among Young U.S. Learners

The numbers of learners studying Arabic in the U.S. have increased more than any other language over the last ten years. As a critical language, important for strategic political and economic reasons, Arabic has received considerable support from the Departments of State and Education (Jackson & Malone, 2009; Wiley, 2007). However, Arabic is also a prominent heritage language, important for cultural and interpersonal reasons to the families and communities who speak it and for whom it is a binding force (Fishman, 2001; Van Deusen-Scholl, 2003). Nevertheless, research on learners of Arabic and their learning processes is still very limited. Existing studies have compared Arabic heritage learners’ motivation and the structure of their language knowledge with that of non-HLLs (Husseinali, 2006; Benmamoun, Montrul, & Polinsky, 2010), but HLL research has hardly addressed the complex social and cultural influences on their learning processes (He, 2010; Montrul, 2010). Drawing on investment in language learning (Norton Peirce, 1995; Norton, 2000) as a theoretical lens, this study asks how learners and their families construct Arabic as heritage and its implications for their beliefs and practices. Focusing on students in a public charter middle school in the southeast U.S. who are studying Arabic as a foreign language, this study seeks to bring together language learning, identity construction, and the challenges and implications of biliteracy for Arabic learners from a range of backgrounds in an effort to understand the complexity of the Arabic learning process. To that end, it uses ethnographic methods including interviews with five focal families, class observations, and surveys and strives for grounded theory. In constructing heritage, each learner and family, from a range of national and cultural backgrounds, must balance priorities regarding the multiple varieties of Arabic, religious literacy, and the role of Arabic in local and global contexts. Results should shed light on the role of social context in language and literacy development for Arabic and comparable LCTLs, contribute to theory regarding the relationship between identity construction and language learning for heritage learners, and suggest approaches to supporting young learners of critical and heritage languages to promote a more multilingual society

Обучение чтению и письму на арабском языке на начальной ступени

Чтение и письмо используются для приобретения новых идей, получения новых знаний для того, чтобы испытать новые чувства, приобрести новое отношение и изучить проблемы с разных точек зрения. Как правило, чем больше вы читаете и пишете, тем выше ваши коммуникативные навыки, тем больше вы расширяете свой словарный запас и способны точно и более эффективно формулировать концепции для других. Итак, цель этой статьи - объяснить и показать, как образование может помочь детям на начальном этапе приобрести навыки чтения и письма и связано с развитием, которое приведет к приобретению опыта в других сферах жизни.Reading and writing are used to acquire new ideas to gain new knowledge, to experience new feelings, to acquire new attitudes and to explore issues from multiple perspectives. Generally, the more you read and write, the more you improve your communication skills, the more you broaden your vocabulary and are able to articulate concepts accurately and more effectively to others. So, the purpose of the article is to explain and show how education can help children in the primary stage to acquire reading and writing skills and how it is interrelated with the life experience

Use of visual representations and drawings in writing for arabic high school english language learners

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Using the Visual Arts to Support the Development of Young Refugee Children: A Puppet-Making Workshop

The growth of developing young children is highly determined by the kinds of experiences they encounter in their social and cultural environment early on in their lives, and arts exposure in early childhood plays a crucial role in this process. Many children do not have access to such learning experiences – particularly in the case of young refugees who would spend the first few years of life in environments they are not familiar with. The visual arts can act as a tool that brings refugee children closer to meaningful and nurturing experiences that can facilitate their integration within the new host community. This thesis examined the role of the visual arts in the development of young refugee children, and various resources were explored to develop a process-based puppetry workshop designed to be implemented with preschool-aged refugees, aimed at supporting their growth with specific regards to the cognitive, communication, and social-emotional domains

A Study of Effective Teaching Strategies in A Kindergarten Chinese Immersion Class

The research question addressed in this capstone is, what teaching methods or strategies are effective in terms of teaching the target language, Chinese, as well as teaching other content areas through the target language for kindergarten students in a Chinese immersion program. The motivating factor for this capstone is the scarcity of existing research about specific teaching methods in this type of schools in the United States. The author looks for the effectiveness of Units of Inquiry learning model by documenting students’ response and reaction for multiple activities or projects. She tries to find out whether such learning model generates a longer lasting memory. She discusses whether the complexity of a Chinese character or a weak corresponding English-Chinese meaning is a challenge for beginner learners. She also addresses the uniqueness of Mathematicrelated language in Chinese and its influence in developing kindergarten students’ number sense