Abstract
Arabic Heritage Learners in Denmark: Realities and Visions
Abstract
Despite the large corpora of research on the issue of language heritage learners around the world, little is done on Arabic as a Heritage language. For that, the current study will focus on Arabic heritage learners living in Denmark given the fact that the Arabs are the biggest foreign community living there.
This study is a replication and extension of a previous study conducted by Ibrahim and Allam , in 2006 at the American University in Cairo. In their study the two researchers categorized the Arabic heritage learners enrolled at the American University in Cairo and investigated their linguistic level, their motivation, their attitude, their parents’ attitude towards learning Arabic, and the material used for teaching Arabic for these learners. This current study will try to document whether or not there are any similarities/dissimilarities between Danish and American Heritage learners of Arabic.
Data will be collected using two surveys; one for the Arabic heritage learners and the other for their Arabic teachers, and the sample of the study is enrolled in the Arabic Language classes offered at the Arab and Islamic studies, Institute for Culture and society in the University of Aarhus, Carsten Niebuhr Section, Department of Cross-Cultural and Regional Studies in the University of Copenhagen, and International Business Department, Communication Studies, Faculty of Humanities in University of Southern Denmark. Inferential statistics as well as open-ended interviews will be used to compare the initial results with the results from the previous study.
Based on the results of the study, the researcher will conclude by recommending new innovative techniques that might be helpful in improving both the Arabic teaching profession and the learning process as well. It will answer questions related to learning and teaching of Arabic as a heritage language among the second generation of Arab immigrants and Muslims heritage.
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