Online Arabic Reading Materials for American High School Learners and Teachers Read Arabic! Online Arabic Reading Materials for American High School Learners and Teachers Dr. Gerald Lampe Dr. Frederick Jackson Dr. Jennifer Robinson National Foreign Language Center at the University of Maryland at College Park

Read Arabic! Overview of Presentation  Introduction  Features of Read Arabic!  Demonstration of Three Lessons  Some Issues in Developing the Materials  Discussion

Read Arabic! Introduction

Project  Funded by a three-year grant from the U.S. Department of Education’s International Research and Studies Program  Target audience is American high school students  85 online reading materials of Modern Standard Arabic ILR Levels 0+ to 1+  Available to the public at NFLC websites. No cost and no registration!

Read Arabic! Need for Read Arabic!  Limited materials available in MSA at secondary school level (ACTFL Novice and Intermediate)  Support the learning process of an important LCTL  Provide opportunity for independent study  Supplement classroom-based learning  Universal access, online and free

Read Arabic! Features

Texts and Content  Topics are selected to interest high school learners  Some are authentic texts (e.g., signs, menu, classified ads)  Some are adapted from authentic texts online (e.g., biography)  Some lower-level texts were composed for instructional purposes * Based on ACTFL “Communication” Standards and on the ALIF Arabic Curriculum developed by Professor Wafa Hassan and her team

Read Arabic! Read Arabic! Topics Basic Arabic structure and vocabulary Arab Americans Heroes of the Arab world History and geography Customs and traditions Everyday life Facebook and Twitter Language for travel Popular artists & writers Common signs Texts in target language on topics of interest to high school learners

Read Arabic! Read Arabic! Design  Many kinds of “scaffolding” to assist learners  Translation into English (upon request)  Audio recording (upon request)  Glossary of words & phrases with use in context  Language and culture notes  Activities to help build reading skills and check comprehension of texts. Specific hints and feedback are provided to help understanding.  Activities are repeatable

Read Arabic! User Feedback on Lessons  Majority are students, but other users are teachers and adult self learners  Most use the materials for independent practice at home or in school labs  Almost 90% find the units interesting and helpful in learning the language  About 85% find the units to be at the right length and level for their learning  A frequent comment is “give us more units!”

Read Arabic! Demonstration of Three Lessons

Read Arabic! Lessons  ILR Level 0/0+ Novice: Travel: A Train Schedule  ILR Level 1/1+ Intermediate: Letter to a Friend  ILR Level 2/2+ Cultural: People: Khalil Gibran Available at

Read Arabic! Some Issues in Developing the Materials

Read Arabic! Some Issues in Developing the Materials  MSA vs. dialects Everyday language usually in dialect Visual & print media Social media  Identifying Texts Few authentic MSA examples at low levels Presence of dialect in authentic texts Need to capture meanings of complex morphology  Instructions Differences in use of gender in verbs  Translation Difficult for certain concepts

Read Arabic! Discussion