The future of Arabic teaching in British universities James Dickins University of Leeds Sept. 2, 2010 1. Arabic teaching up to c.1968 • Elite subject: – Cambridge: since 1632 – Edinburgh: since1750 • Classical language – Began in Cambridge as adjunct to theology – Subsequently adjunct to Greek and Latin • Grammar-translation method – Modern literary Arabic (Cowan 1958) – A new Arabic grammar of the written language (Haywood and Nahmad 1962) 2. Standard Arabic teaching: c.1968-1995 • Some broadening beyond elite universities: – Cambridge, Oxford, SOAS, Exeter, Manchester, Leeds, Durham, Edinburgh, St. Andrews – But also: Heriot-Watt, Salford • Standard Arabic as a classical and modern language – Introduction of modern Arabic elements at various universities – From 1970s, Leeds focuses on Modern Standard Arabic • Elementary Modern Standard Arabic (Abboud et al. 1968) – communicative approach (within formal grammatical framework) – use of taped materials, presenting Arabic as explicitly spoken language – now unfashionable audio-lingual method 3. Colloquial Arabic teaching to c.1995 • No significant presence in British universities • Colonial period – Sudan as an example: • • • • Sudanese grammar (Worsely 1925) Sudan Arabic: An English-Arabic vocabulary (Hillelson 1930) Sudan Arabic texts (Hillelson 1935) Sudanese Colloquial Arabic (Trimingham 1946) • 1960s-1970s: Georgetown grammars and dictionaries • A short reference grammar of Moroccan Arabic (Harrell 1962) • A dictionary of Syrian Arabic: English-Arabic (Stowassser 1964) • A reference grammar of Egyptian Arabic (Abdel-Massih et al. 1979) • Post-Georgetown – Lots! 4. Arabic teaching since c.1995 (2000): 1 • Student numbers – 1990s: slight fall – Since 2000: massive increase (2000-2003: 50%) • Student composition – – – – – Experienced language learners Interest in Islam / the Middle East Interest in Arabic (e.g. time spent in Arab world) Students of Arab background. Students of non-Arab Islamic backgrounds • Broadening of universities – E.g. UCLAN launched full Arabic degree in 2009 5. Arabic teaching since c.1995 (2000): 2 • Broadening of curriculum to include Colloquial Arabic • Communicative approach to Standard Arabic: al-Kitaab fi ta‘allum al-‘arabiyya (al-Batal et al. 1995; 2nd edn. 2004) • audio materials • video materials • computer materials • Cf. also: – Mastering Arabic (Wightwick and Gaafar, 1990; 2nd edn. 2007) • audio materials – Standard Arabic: an advanced course (Dickins and Watson 1999) • audio materials (but otherwise more traditional) 6. Integration of Standard and Colloquial Arabic • Teach Standard and Colloquial separately – most universities, with Colloquial typically introduced after students have begun to learn Standard Arabic • Teach Standard and Colloquial in tandem, but for different domains – University of Cambridge – Centre for Advanced Study of Arab World (CASAW: Edinburgh) • Standard Arabic used for written-based activities, and Colloquial for spoken-based activities including talk about texts written in Standard Arabic. • Teach Standard and Colloquial mixed together – Typically through the use of a version of Arabic considered to be the language of highly educated people in formal spoken situations (e.g Formal spoken Arabic; Ryding 1990) 7. Demand for Arabic • Students – – – – – Experienced language learners Interest in Islam / the Middle East Interest in Arabic (e.g. time spent in Arab world) Students of Arab background. Students of non-Arab Islamic backgrounds • Employers – Non-government: • • • • • Commercial (needing translation, etc.) NHS, law (needing interpreters, etc.) Arab press (esp. London-based) Cultural organisations Human rights organisations – Government: • Foreign Office • GCHQ • Military 8. New types of learners • Speakers of Arabic at home – E.g. second generation British Arabs • School learners of Arabic – In 2005: • 2,183 people took GCSE Arabic (up 63% from 2001) • 429 people took A-Level Arabic (up 64% from 2002) • People with specialist interests – E.g. religious Classical Arabic 9. New technology: computers and the internet • Edinburgh/CASAW e-learning project (Mourad Diouri) • Open University – Blended learning introductory Arabic project (2007): funding not currently available 10. Summary and prospects: 1 • Different types of degree courses: – – – – – full BAs joint honours BAs Minor element of BAs UWLP/IWLP modules Postgraduate (MA, etc.) courses • New types of degree programmes – Arabic-intensive – Translation – Interpreting • Specialist interests – Colloquial Arabic focus – Classical Arabic (e.g. religious Arabic) 11. Summary and prospects: 2 • New types of funding: – – Specialist institution funding: CASAW Direct government bursaries? • New types of institution – – – elite universities non-elite universities Open University • New types of student – – native/near-native speakers of Arabic no previous language-learning experience • New teaching techniques – blended learning Thank you very much!