Investigating instructor beliefs on integrating linguistic variation in Arabic teaching

Principal Investigator: Dr. Rasha Soliman, Lecturer in Arabic Language and Linguistics, University of Leeds

Research Assistant: Dr. Melissa Towler, Post-Doctoral Researcher

About the researchers: Dr. Rasha Soliman is an associate professor of Arabic Language and Linguistics at the University of Leeds.  Dr. Solimans’s research focuses on dialectology and mutual intelligibility in the Arabic language.

Abstract: This research aims to investigate the current beliefs that schoolteachers have in relation to the integration of different varieties of Arabic into their teaching. The data analysis will aim to produce a set of principles to clear misconceptions and guide schoolteachers in how to integrate more variation into their teaching.

Why is QFI Funding this? QFI has been working in the United Kingdom since 2016 and is currently supporting the teaching of Arabic in 31 mainstream schools across Scotland, England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. Understanding how the teaching of Arabic plays out in classrooms in the United States may not necessarily inform or reflect on what is happening in Arabic classrooms across the UK so this research is important to QFI’s work in the UK. Starting from teachers’ viewpoints on the integration of varieties in their teaching will allow for an intimate and accurate look at teachers’ experiences as they grapple with teaching students Arabic in addition to ensuring their students can also score competitively on assessments such as the A-Levels and GCSE that are MSA-specific.

You can read the GUIDELINES in ENGLISH: HERE

You can read the GUIDELINES in ARABIC: HERE

You can read the RESEARCH REPORT: HERE