View Content #26034

From https://www.qatar.georgetown.edu/faculty/arabic-events

The Fourth Georgetown-Qatar Arabic Program Symposium
Arabic Heritage Education: Pedagogy, Challenges, and Prospects
Doha, April 24-25, 2019

Over the past 10 years the Arabic program at Georgetown University in Qatar (GU-Q) has been predominantly involved in defining, articulating, and offering a separate track in Arabic language, culture, and literature introduced as Heritage Arabic. This track targets students of Arab descent, who have a connection to Arabic culture but whose pre-college language of instruction is not Arabic. While speaking one Arabic dialect fluently, these students have limited exposure to Modern Standard Arabic, which usually influences their competency in reading and writing skills. Constituting the majority of our Arabic students at GU-Q, these students often graduate from international high schools in the Arab world, but can also be identified among Arab communities living outside the Arab world. This symposium seeks to address significant aspects of heritage Arabic education. It aspires to provide a platform for sharing and discussing key issues in this field. Given the recent recognition of this separate track in Arabic learning, much needs to be done in terms of research, course preparation, and material development. Participants are expected to share their research on heritage Arabic education, whether in the Arab world or elsewhere. Suggested themes of the symposium are:

● Heritage Arabic: Concepts and Definitions
● Heritage Arabic Learners in the Arab world
● Heritage Arabic: East and West
● Acquisition of Arabic as a Heritage Language
● Teaching Literature for Heritage Learners
● Arabic: Native vs. Heritage
● Heritage vs Bilingualism
● Linguistic Features of Heritage Learners
● Curriculum Development
● Heritage Learners: Challenges and Struggles
● Curriculum: Content-based vs. Skill-based
● Proficiency and Assessment

The deadline for abstracts is December 10, 2018.

View the full call for proposals at https://www.qatar.georgetown.edu/faculty/arabic-events