Pedagogy
Arabic School

The Arab School is for young learners of Arabic. It is currently composed of three language levels and more levels are being added. This program is highly recommended for schools wishing to follow a bilingual program where Arabic is taught along with the students' native language. It may also be used by international schools in the Arab world. The KG course presents the sounds and shapes of the Arabic letters. It also presents words related to children's lives such as colors, shapes, etc. within stimulating games. The next level, Arabic 1, presents a number of topics where each is divided into several sessions. The curriculum runs in parallel with the national curriculum in Egypt for students at form 1. The following level, Arabic 2, revolves around ten stories about animals (the obstinate monkey, the foolish parrot, etc.) One of the powerful features of the Arab Academy's courses is that it provides the translation and sound files of every word and sentence used. It is also important to note that the all waves are recorded in two vanities: formal and informal. The formal variety provides full 'tashkill' or case endings and the informal variety does not offer the 'tashkiil'. The idea is to familiarize learners with the different ways they can be exposed to Modern Standard Arabic. Students are also given an option to listen to the same same words and sentences in colloquial. This important feature prepares students from the very beginning to deal with diglossia (two varieties of the same language used). The phonetic rules that are followed to transfer sounds from Standard Arabic to Egyptian Colloquial are given (more dialects to be added). This has proven to be a very useful tool that assists students at envisioning the similarities and differences between the two varieties and develop a familiarity with them. All sessions in Arabic 1 and Arabic 2 are organized in a similar fashion. They are composed of the following: 1. Presentation The main objective of the Arab Academy's programs is to teach students how to communicate. Communication is the focal point of our courses. Hence, we begin by introducing sentences within a situation. We follow the global method, which enables students to learn words and expressions in context. 2. Vocabulary Each session provides the learner with a number of words. All words chosen are within the realim of a child's word. Writing sheets are given and students are expected to print them in order to practice writing. 3. Activities or Games Over twenty activities per session are given to help students re-enforce and retain all elements studied. The tests are similar to the activities. So students should only move forward to take the end of session online test, when they are fairly comfortable working on the activities. Below is a sample of the types of activities available at each session Presentation: Comprehension   Dialogue Comprehension   Vocabulary Word Recognition Correct Order of Letters Arranging Letters to form a word Identifying correct form of letter Matching Words Word Recognition - extra word Meanings of Words Spelling   Listening/Words Identifying words in sentences Words containing minimal pairs   Listening/Sounds within words Identifying the sound of letters in words Sounds at the beginning of a word Sounds at the end of a word Minimal Pairs - Beginning of Word Minimal Pairs - End of Word   Listening/Syllables Recognizing the short vowel of a single letter Recognizing the long vowel of a single letter Identifying sounds of syllables comprising short vowels Identifying sounds of syllables comprising long vowels Minimal pairs: short and long vowels Minimal pairs: letters that are close in sound   Listening/Sentences Comprehension of Sentences Recognizing sentences   Group Games Tic Tac Toe (A game for 2 players) Cards Pot Luck (Play against the computer) Knowledge Bank (A Game for 2 teams)   Grammar (varies by session) Definite & Indefinite Nouns Gender: masculine & feminine Number Case Ending Root Spelling Verb Conjugation - Past Tense Verb Conjugation - Present Tense and much more ....

Teaching Methods: Tips and Tricks

I: Presentation The presentation depends on the topic to be taught. Here are suggestions on how to run the different types of presentations. 1. Vocabulary - Before you begin, invite students to tell you words they already know that are related to the topic or story of the session - Then run through the list of pictures (without sound or text) - Ask students if they know what the words are (for the pictures they see) - Show the text and activate the sound - Start again and ask each student to read the word then repeat it yourself and play the sound - You might like to ask each student to put every word in a sentence and you may give more sentences yourself. - Repeat for all words then move on to the story or situtation 2. Story or Situation - Run through the slide show (without sound or text), and ask students what they think is being said - Run through the whole show again with sound only - Run through the whole show again with sound and text - Split the class in groups and ask each group to simulate the situation - Then go to the activities section and let students respond to questions (using a datashow connected to a computer in class) - Discuss what students think of the story and how it relates to them. Try to force students to produce Arabic in the oral form and talk for as long as possible II: Games and Activities - Arabic structure is taught inductively through using examples within the activitites. The program follows a functional approach to grammar where students learn through exposure to language function such as negation, asking questions, telling time, etc. - Using the data show, let students one by one, go up to the screen and respond to the questions (within the activities part of the program). - Split the group into two teams. Ask a student from each group to go up and respond in turn. This increases students' motivation and level of retention as participants within each group focus to get the answer right and check the answer of the other team. - Move on to the next game or activity