The sudden, online shift imposed by covid-19 on all high education institutions has caught all educators in general, and us, language instructors, in particular unprepared. The closing down of the University, the repatriation of our exchange and study abroad students seemed like the apocalypse of language learning, not only for language instructors but also for program directors who had to sustain their language program missions in unfamiliar territory. In my department it left the director disarmed from a repertoire of more than a 50 years’ tradition in Arabic foreign language teaching. Although language instructors had extensive and intensive training to learn how to teach using online tools and resources, Language program directors were not receiving the same focused attention and training to help them sustain their programs within the new normal. They were stripped of the cultural immersion component that provided unparalleled communication and interaction opportunities for American and students from other nationalities to learn about Arab culture. Many questions with regard to teacher presence, cross cultural interaction and performance were raised and were in need for innovative strategies that create positive learning experiences for students and instructors. Experiences that are difficult for “Simple onlinification" of in-person classes to attain. This presentation will showcase examples of how the Department of Arabic Language Instruction at my institution overcame initial, preset perceptions about technology as an artificial and restricting medium of communication in language instruction. How appropriate use of technology enhanced International student’s independent and active learning and teacher’s teaching and sustained program’s mission through: offering humanized Arabic courses, virtual online cultural clubs, online language exchange partnerships, cross institutional internationalization at home initiatives that addressed issues of presence, interaction and performance. In doing so, the presentation will also provide the perspective of a language program’s director on how academic librarians or libraries in general can support language online teaching and facilitate the interaction of students.

This presentation describes the outline of a semester-long assignment in which students of Arabic (intermediate level) were partnered with native speakers. The partnership was in the form of telecollaborative conversation that took place in multiple meetings online. Additionally, it looks in details at students' responses to questions related to the way this assignment was able to not only give them the opportunity to enhance their language skills and ability but also to inch them closer to the understanding of the issues that they discussed from the perspective of their partners. In addition to the detailed description, the presentation looks at a survey that the students completed after having completed the semester. The survey includes questions that help get an insight into the partnership from the students' perspective. The survey includes questions that help get an insight into the partnership from the students' perspective. Moreover, the presentation inspects the results obtained from mapping students' oral performance throughout the semester, looking specifically at vocabulary usage, length of the conversation, and sentence complexity. The information from the survey & the analysis help shed light on the outcome of this practice and may guide future similar practices.

This Presentation is an integral part of the broader context of our panel, discussing how online teaching and learning provides many additional advantages to our students and how the library facilitate this leaning opportunity. This virtual course model is a compelling vision for online language education, with a focus on teaching Arabic remotely. The main focus is on Arabic. Using live virtual zoom students can access the course sessions on a determined schedule that the course syllabus will clearly structure. Based on my long experience teaching Arabic language, culture and literature online, this shift to purely teach language in a cultural context is a great opportunity provided by the Covid-19 pandemic need for virtual teaching. The project uses two cultural components including food and music/song to enhance and strengthen students’ Arabic vocabulary and sentence building as well as conversational skills in the target language. This is an upper intermediate level class. Using zoom and you tube, through our ASU library facilities, the class shares screen to play songs from you tube and videos on Arabic food. Following playing a song in Modern Standard Arabic, different words and lyrics from the song will be written on the screen board. Students will be asked to translate these words into English. Another exercise is to help students conjugate verbs from present to past tense and vise-versa. Students can use their note books to remember the words. Then volunteers will be asked to write the words on the screen and share their screens. Next is to use those words in sentences in Arabic and have students converse in groups in the target language. The same applies to using videos on food items. The next step is to correct any mistakes and share with the entire class on the zoom screen. Short group presentations in the target language constitute a fun class activity as well, that students love. Repetition and routine are some of the most effect approaches in teaching foreign languages that help students stay in the target language and resist the temptation to use English. Assessment and evaluation of students’ work will be based on the ACTFL criterion. Virtual office hours will help students practice speaking in the target language with the Professor who will simultaneously answer any of their questions. The course is a great reflection of vocabulary/sentence building, and of enhancing students’ conversational skills in the target language. .

What happens to a language program predicated on students’ participation in a Study Abroad program in a year like 2020? In exploring this question, this presentation will document the different types of adjustments that program directors made as a result of the global pandemic. Many of the adjustments that 2020 forced upon language educators have uncovered practices and tools that will continue to be a part of language programs in years to come. This presentation will detail the campus resources and technologies that came together to salvage our students' experiences in lieu of the changes forced upon us in the Fall semester of 2020, with particular emphasis on those innovations that have the potential to contribute to the development of our language instruction beyond the beyond the 2020 pandemic.