Defence School of Languages, UK BILC Professional Seminar for NATO/PfP countries BLED, SLOVENIA 2012 Mr Chairman, ladies of the secretariat, gracious hosts, friends & colleagues – Mike & Keith & Jerry!

Teaching Specific Skills: Approaches to Teaching Listening & Speaking in the Arabic Language by Mr Hassan Almilaik Defence School of Languages, UK

To introduce and describe: Aim To introduce and describe: Listening & Speaking in brief Methodologies of Teaching L & S The Main Challenges

DSL Mission To train MOD personnel in foreign languages in order to support Defence operations and to realise the full linguistic potential of every student.

The Teaching of Listening “Listening is a fundamental language skill, but often ignored by second language teachers” Listening as Comprehension. Listening as Acquisition. Understanding spoken discourse.

Listening Strategies Predicting – Predicting information or ideas prior to listening Inferencing – Drawing inferences about complete information based on incomplete or inadequate information Monitoring – Monitoring one’s own performance while listening, including assessing areas of uncertainty

Listening Strategies Clarifying – Formulating clarification questions about what information is needed to make a fuller interpretation Responding – Providing a personal, relevant response to the information or ideas presented Evaluating – Checking how well one has understood, and whether an initial problem posed has been solved

Specific Listening task (MOL) Listening Strategies Specific Listening task (MOL) Preview the main idea before listening. Rehearse language (e.g. Pronunciation & vocabulary). Decide in advance which aspect of the text to concentrate on.

Specific Listening task (Gist) Listening Strategies Specific Listening task (Gist) Pre-listening activity ~ In pairs, students predict the possible words and phrases that they might hear While listening ~ Students underline or circle those words or phrases that they have predicted correctly Post listening ~ Pair process-based discussion–students compare what they have understood

Speaking Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) Diglossia – MSA and Regional Dialects / Variations DSL Can deliver Training in the following dialects: Iraqi & Gulf dialects Egyptian & Levantine Sudanese

Varied Methodologies The Communicative Approach Focuses on aural comprehension – early speech production Individual Oral Practice (IOP). Transacting Business (Trans Bus) Situational Interpretation (Sit Int) Consecutive Interpreting

Varied Methodologies The Direct Approach (Target) Lessons begin with social or military dialogue using mainly dialect or conversational style The use of transliteration

Varied Methodologies The Grammar –Translation Method Reading Texts: are used for grammatical analysis Disconnected sentences: are used for translation exercises from the target language into mother tongue and vice versa

Varied Methodologies Audio-Lingual Method & Inclusion of ICT Intensive use of: Language Laboratories Visual aids Great importance is given to practise native- like pronunciation

Main Challenges Intensive exposure to the Target Language Pressure of Time Complexity of certain areas of the Arabic Language Ability and Motivation Surface Learning versus Deep Learning Fluency versus Accuracy Final Assessment (MLA)

Maintaining Arabic After Training Deployment to the Middle East On-the-job training. (OJT) Academic language training at unit level Dialect training in-house or at overseas facilities Self-directed study using ICT

Listening & Speaking Questions?

Arabic Language Wing, Defence School of Languages, UK For information about this presentation, please contact: Hassan Almilaik Arabic Language Wing, Defence School of Languages, UK Office Email: Office tel/fax: DSL Website: Hassan.Almilaik108@mod.uk 044 (0) 1494 683364 www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/AboutDefence/WhatWeDo/TrainingandExercises/DSL