Study abroad is typically assumed to lead to greater contact with local speakers of the target language and improved linguistic proficiency. However, research on study abroad demonstrates that both local contacts and linguistic outcomes vary widely (Freed, 2008; Kinginger, 2009). As a result, researchers have turned to examining the "process" of study abroad, in addition to the linguistic "product" (Wilkinson, 1998). The use of poststructuralist theories of identity (i.e Block, 2007; Norton, 2000) to examine qualitative and ethnographic data gathered during the study abroad sojourn has demonstrated that the negotiation of national, ethnic, and gendered identities abroad impacts students' abilities to gain local contacts as well as improve their language skills (Jackson, 2008; 2010; Kinginger, 2008; Siegal, 1996). In this paper, I use these poststructuralist theories of identity to analyze the experiences of seven Arabic heritage learners studying abroad in Egypt. I focus on the impact of their negotiation of Arab, Egyptian, foreign, religious, and gendered identities on their access to Egyptians and use of Arabic. The dataset consists of interview, questionnaire, and observational data collected over 17 months at two universities in Egypt, the American University in Cairo and Alexandria University. The participants include 63 Arabic students (including the seven heritage speakers), ten Arabic teachers, and thirteen Egyptian friends of the students. Based on the multiple and often contradictory subject positions the heritage students negotiated abroad, I demonstrate how their status as heritage speakers of Arabic could both help and hinder access to Egyptians and use of Arabic. For example, negotiating an identity as Egyptian, rather than foreign, could result in greater use of Arabic, yet also lead to alienation if students were mocked for their mistakes in Arabic or resisted identification with a particular cultural practice. I conclude with pedagogical and program recommendations to assist heritage students in the negotiation of their identities abroad such that this sojourn helps, rather than hinders, their contact with locals and linguistic development.

Some research has shown that there are some problems facing heritage students (Egyptians) compared to their counterparts who are learners of Arabic as a foreign language (AFL) in their oral and written production of Modern Standard Arabic (MSA). Although heritage students may come with more background in Arabic (a well pronounced Egyptian colloquial Arabic dialect) than AFL learners, it is often reported that they face a lot of difficulties in producing different MSA syntactical and morphological structures. Moreover, unlike AFL learners who mostly start learning Arabic from scratch, most of the heritage students start learning MSA with various Egyptian colloquial Arabic (ECA) backgrounds. Accordingly, heritage students have different linguistic and pedagogical needs that differ from those of AFL learners. This agrees with Kagan et al (2001:442, quoted in Ibrahim & Allam, 2006) who stated that “the heritage students are neither typical students of foreign language, nor of native language”. Among the four types of heritage students, classified by Ibrahim & Allam (2006), the present paper focuses on the fourth type which is Arabs who lived in Arab countries, attended international schools, and had never had any formal education in Modern Standard Arabic. I concentrated on this type of students as they are the majority of heritage students who study the Arabic language in the American University in Cairo. From my experience in teaching the Arabic Language to heritage students, I support Valdes (1995) who mentioned that teachers have to build on the learners' existing skills not to take them back to a beginning level. Thus, this paper presents a teaching technique in which heritage students' ECA background is well employed to help them enhance their MSA writing skill. To illustrate, heritage students are exposed to some authentic listening component (audio or video). Then, they are provided by various written exercises prepared by the teacher. Students' writings are analyzed while considering: 1) incorrect MSA grammatical structure and 2) ECA versus MSA collocations, connectors, vocabulary items, etc. Finally, employing ECA background would result in not only improving students' writing skill, but also in increasing their self confidence while dealing with the Arabic language.

The study of heritage learners has advanced understandings and approaches to teaching second language by identifying characteristic features of this learning community. Studies that specifically isolate communities of heritage learners of Arabic tend to focus on ethnic heritage learners, i.e. Arab students, but do not specifically address religious heritage learners, i.e. non-Arab Muslim students (Rouchdy, 1992). This paper examines qualitative data from religious heritage learners of Arabic to suggest that religious heritage learners can be characterized by their trends in prior language exposure, motivation and shifts in motivation, and displays of identity. This paper analyzes surveys, interviews and discussions with 14 religious heritage learners of Arabic during the spring of 2009 at the University of Texas at Austin. The analysis begins by characterizing similar trends in prior exposure to Arabic before entering the university classroom. A closer examination of these trends can help inform teaching approaches as educators tap into these learners familiarity with particular lexical items and grammatical concepts, pronunciation, and most significantly cultural competence. Trends in motivation for learning Arabic and shifts in motivation during the course of Arabic study were also evident. Broader analysis of these trends as well as attitudes towards learning dialects and teacher preferences can help to shape learning experiences that encourage these students to continue past introductory levels. This is uniquely important in the Arabic classroom where attrition rates past the intermediate-level are high and where more contact hours are needed to reach proficiency. Finally, the effect of their studies on the learners’ personal spirituality and perceptions thereof emerged as an important topic to analyze since it generated the most detailed and varied responses. Narratives provide a glimpse into the complexities of their religious identity in the Arabic classroom and their identity as a learner of Arabic amongst Muslims. The analysis is followed by suggestions for further research and curriculum development. A closer look at religious heritage learners of Arabic can help educators enhance the learning experience for both religious heritage learners as well as their peers by using characteristics such as prior language exposure, motivation, and displays of identity to target their teaching approaches and strategies more effectively.

In recent years, the field of Arabic-as-a-foreign-language teaching has been experiencing a shift towards methodologies that aim to approximate the language development trajectory of the native speaker of Arabic, by exposing the learners to Modern Standard Arabic and to the spoken dialects simultaneously and in functionally appropriate ways (Brustad, Al-Batal & Al-Tonsi, 2011; Wahba, 2006; Younes, 2006). Such teaching approaches are presumed to cater to the needs of traditional learners of Arabic who have been shown to be interested in reaching full functional competency in the language, including mastery of the sociolinguistic continuum of standard and non-standard varieties (Al-Batal & Belnap, 2006). However, it is not clear how such approaches meet the needs of heritage learners of Arabic who, by virtue of their background exposure to spoken varieties, may be bringing different attitudes and priorities to the classroom. The current study addresses this question empirically. The study was conducted over the course of three semesters at a large community college in the Midwest. The participants were 34 heritage and 28 non-heritage learners of Arabic enrolled in beginning-level courses in Modern Standard Arabic. Data were collected at three stages – first, semi-structured individual interviews with seven heritage learners served as a basis for an open-ended interview protocol. A focus group interview with ten additional learners was then conducted using the open-ended protocol, in order to yield more elaborate information about learner motivation and attitudes towards diglossia. Finally, a survey based on systematized data from the interviews was administered to 54 learners from four intact classes. Results from the quantitative and qualitative analyses of the data show that not only did the Arabic heritage learners in this sample differ from the non-heritage learners in terms of needs and attitudes, but that there was significant variability among heritage learners themselves. The variance in attitudes towards Modern Standard Arabic and the spoken dialects, shown by this learner population, suggests that the current one-size-fits-all teaching and curricular approaches may be failing to address the needs of heritage learners adequately because they disregard the complex nature of background language competences. This presentation concludes with suggestions for further empirical research that would help fine-tune curricular and materials development to accommodate the needs of Arabic heritage learners.