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Project Proposal

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Diane Jakacki edited this page May 29, 2015 · 1 revision

Introduction and Course Description

There are overwhelming challenges facing those who teach Arabic in U.S. universities. Perhaps the most crucial are the lack of teaching resources and incorporating Spoken Arabic materials in the formal Arabic class. Most American schools of higher education have chosen to give their vast attention to Modern Standard Arabic (MSA). A small number of American universities have begun to recognize the importance of integrating Spoken varieties in the classroom, as in the real lives of native speakers of Arabic, but these universities are the exception rather than the norm. The Arabic Studies Program at Bucknell University adopts the integration methodology, despite the fact that the available teaching and learning resources are far from being fully inline with this methodology, particularly for those students who are in the intermediate and upper level. To overcome the lack of resources in Spoken Arabic, the Arabic Studies Program’s staff is continuously working on developing digital and interactive materials by using different aids such as recordings, skits and YouTube videos.

In the current semester, Spring of 2015, the ARBC 102 and ARBC 103 students are experiencing Quizlet, an interactive learning tool based on learning, enhancing, memorizing vocabulary through flashcards and placing them in context. This ongoing process stemmed back in summer of 2014. So far, I have uploaded approximately 1400 flashcards in Spoken Arabic. The reactions of the Arabic students are very encouraging and their vocabulary intake is clearly evident in their speaking production. Using and incorporating the Quizlet tool is an important step toward restraining the range of technical obstacles such as delivering the materials to the students via conventional means, interactive testing and quizzes, having materials on one site and the ability to edit and generate these materials in different formats and forms.

Yet, there are a few downsides in using the Quizlet tool, the software is designed for the students to receive rather than produce. In other words, students can only listen but cannot record themselves pronouncing the vocabularies. Another issue with Quizlet is the fact that the software revolves only around the methodology of flashcards learning.

To overcome these challenges, I propose to develop two advanced digital and interactive learning tools in order to enhance the listening and speaking skills in Spoken Arabic. First, creating an iOS Arabic App, and the second is using the ibook platform to create an Arabic ebook for intermediate Arabic classes. These tools will be implemented in the core Arabic language courses: Beginning Arabic I (ARBC101), Beginning Arabic II (ARBC102), Intermediate Arabic I (ARBC103) and Intermediate Arabic II (ARBC104). The Arabic App will be used as a supplementary learning source in the beginning level courses as a tool to expand the students’ Spoken Arabic active vocabulary. It will contain flashcards of vocabulary and basic phrases. The students will be able to learn, create and play different games in order to master the materials, while enabling the instructor to receive and evaluate students’ oral productions as well.

As for the ibook, it will be used in combination with the current Arabic textbook, Al-Kitaab series for the intermediate courses. The ibook will contain embedded flashcards links, videos, written and audio scenarios, cultural materials, and testing and learning tools. This tool will enable the developer to create 3D materials and audio-recordings. The goal of incorporating the ibook in the intermediate level is to enhance students’ sentence and paragraph production and their speaking and listening skills on familiar topics in Spoken Arabic.

Rational Incorporating digital and interactive tools such as an iOS App and ibook will increase the chances of achieving strong and homogenous intermediate-mid proficiency in Spoken Arabic across the board. These technologies will accommodate various students’ learning styles and abilities, and will enable them to:

  • Enhance their speaking and listening skills on familiar topics such as kinship, hobbies, housing, giving directions, shopping etc.

  • Expand their active vocabulary;

  • Increase their chances of vocabulary maintenance;

  • Enhance their sentence and paragraph production rather that producing isolated vocabulary.

With regard to assessment, the assessment of students’ progress in Arabic will rely on different methods that are in use in the current course format such as homework, participation, speaking quizzes, written quizzes, recordings, skits and Oral Proficiency Interviews (OPIs) conducted by myself as a certified OPI tester. These will be in addition to the assessment mechanisms offered by the digital tools such as monitoring the learning progress of the students. This feature gives the primary instructor the ability to recognize, map and analyze the students’ struggles, strong sides and weak sides. The digital tools also offer interactive homework and multiple formats of interactive tests and quizzes.

Work Plan This project aims to develop two different digital products in the summer, an Arabic App and ibook. This is a tentative timetable for both projects:

  • Beginning of March to May: Reorganize the Arabic materials that the Arabic staff has already accumulated.

  • Beginning/mid of April 2015: Meet with the ITEC staff to discuss and finalize the work plan, as well as discuss the required tools and software needed.

  • May 10-15, 2015: Meet with the ITEC staff to familiarize and test the equipments and tools, and finalize the App and ibook platforms.

  • May 15- June 6, 2015: Upload the first section of App materials.

  • June 6, 2015: Meet with the ITEC staff to discuss the materials that have been uploaded onto the App.

  • Jun 6–July 4, 2015: Upload the first two chapters onto the ibook and upload the second section onto the App.

  • July 4, 2015: Meet with the ITEC staff to discuss the progress of the project.

  • July 4–29, 2015: Upload the third and fourth chapters onto the ibook and upload the third

  • section onto the App.

  • August 1-15, 2015: Modify the ARBC101 and 103 syllabi.

  • September and October 2015: Test the App materials in ARBC101 and the ibook material in ARBC103.

  • End of October: Evaluation meeting with the ITEC staff.

  • November 2015: Upload the fifth and sixth chapters onto the ibook and upload the fourth and fifth sections onto the App.

  • December 2015-January 2016: Upload the seventh and eight chapters onto the ibook and upload the sixth and seventh sections onto the App.

  • Spring semester 2016: Test the App materials in ARBC102 and the ibook materials in ARBC104.

  • End of April 2016: Evaluation meeting with the ITEC staff.

Anticipated Challenges: Since the goal of this project is to enhance Spoken Arabic through creating speaking materials such as dialogue and conversations, it is essential to engage one or two assistants who know the language such as Bucknellian native speakers of Arabic, TAs or advanced Arabic students. It is important to mention that this project is an ongoing process and its final product cannot be achieved in the upcoming summer. Implementing and testing these tools are importing to improve them.

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