Arabic is the second most common home language of English learners in the United States. Educators seek to design culturally sustaining pedagogy to develop Arabic-speaking English learners' English skills while nourishing their heritage language and affirming their culture's values. The authors report on a series of interviews with three Arabic…

Having hardly learnt any English or having at best learnt wrong English (which is worse than no English) during their junior and secondary school years and having little or no exposure to English outside their classrooms, and partly due to certain weaknesses and shortcomings in what the teachers teach and how they teach, college students in some…

This article describes how to help students connect what they learn in the language classroom to the outside world as they learn to understand, produce, and analyze spoken, written, visual, and cultural information in their second language (L2). As learners make connections between course material and the physical and virtual spaces where the L2…

The "Muqaddimah," a massive 14th century text by Arab historian Ibn Khaldun, while primarily a history, in the later chapters deals with linguistics and pedagogy. Multiple publications on what his work contributes to the field of education exist. But surprisingly, only two papers have appeared specific to teaching English to speakers of…

Students at the College of Languages and Translation (COLT) take an Islamic Translation course in which they practice translating different kinds of Islamic texts (genres) including excerpts from the Holy Quran and the Prophet's Sayings. The aims of the present article are to introduce the students to the history of the translation of the Holy…

It should come as no surprise that digital video technology is of particular interest to English language learners; students are drawn to its visual appeal and vibrant creative potential. The seven original case studies in this book demonstrate how video can be an effective and powerful tool to create fluid, fun, interactive, and collaborative…

This article presents an overview of the Arabic language in the United States. Drawing on archival research and statistical analysis, the article is divided into 4 major sections. The first discusses the history of immigration from the Arab world to the United States, as well as past efforts at Arabic language maintenance. The article continues…

In this article, the author discusses an online youth magazine that his Palestinian students developed. In April of 2006, they launched the inaugural edition of their teen e-zine, "Behind the Wall." With the help of his brother-in-law, students, along with a computer programmer, the "Behind the Wall" website was constructed.…

Describes an exhibition for the benefit of teachers of English in Arab Primary Schools, which was prepared by third-year students at the Teachers College for Arab Teachers. The exhibition included games, songs, audiovisual aids, crossword puzzles, vocabulary, spelling booklets, preposition aids, and worksheet and lesson planning aids. (SED)

This paper discusses problems faced by Arab learners of English in general, focusing on problems specific to English language majors/graduates at Arab World University. It highlights the situation with Jordanian students, noting various causes of their problems with English (e.g., school and English language department curricula, teaching…

Training materials and a discussion group project for upgrading teaching standards in English as a second language (ESL) in Egypt are described. The hypothesis on which the project was based was that the best way to improve foreign language teaching would be pre- or in-service programs emphasizing attitudes toward language and language learning.…

Linguistic and sociocultural issues in the concept of nationality and identification with a community in French and Arab circles are compared, with references to other European national groups. Among the concepts explored and diagrammed are father, mother, land, fatherland, people, nation, state, homeland, national community, and local community.…

Overviews a bilingual program serving urban schoolchildren who come from Arabic-speaking homes. The article describes the mission of the program as the preparation of students, in close cooperation with their families, to become contributing citizens in a changing society by providing a challenging curriculum to develop knowledge and a sense of…

The four 1984 quarterly numbers of the journal include feature articles, techniques for teaching English as a second language (ESL), research summaries, and book reviews. The feature articles include: "The English Language Center at King Faisal University"; "English Language Training at ARAMCO"; "AlBank AlSaudi AlHollandi's Practical English…

A college course in English as a second language for the sciences that combines field experience with language learning is outlined. The proposed course includes two components: (1) a core course of both relevant scientific content and language, including grammar, vocabulary, reading, and writing presented topically; and (2) visits to sites and…