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!