Multidialectal and Multilingual Practices for Enhancing the Development of Arabic as a Foreign/Second Language: Transcending Monolingual Models
Panel 133, 2018 Annual Meeting
On Saturday, November 17 at 11:00 am
Panel Description
Multidialectal and Multilingual Practices for Enhancing the Development of Arabic as a Foreign/Second Language: Transcending Monolingual Models
Recent research has explored the advantages of multilingual approaches to second language pedagogy that reflect sociolinguistic realities of authentic target language communication and encourage learners to develop agency in the process of constructing an L2 identity. In the field of Arabic as a foreign/second language (L2 Arabic), issues of deciding which varieties to study and teach, and whether there should be room for code-switching in L2 Arabic is still controversial. Therefore, this panel (consisting of scholars in the field of L2 Arabic) responds to MESA 2018’s theme by discussing approaches to diglossia, code-switching, and multilingualism in L2 Arabic learning contexts to give learners and their interlocutors tools to negotiate meaning and construct identities as (emerging)multilinguals (Levine, 2011; van Compernolle, 2015). These issues are particularly relevant for L2 Arabic students, given the largely multilingual and diglossic nature of authentic communicative contexts in the Arab world, and given our increasingly transcultural and translingual globalized world. The focus of this panel, therefore, is to demonstrate, through empirical research, how multidialectal and multilingual practices can provide productive strategies for L2 Arabic learning and development.
The first paper draws upon qualitative data collected in Arabic study abroad contexts to analyze tensions between monolingual ideologies of study abroad as Arabic immersion and the multilingual practices and identities students develop abroad, concluding with the need for a practice of intentional translanguaging to enhance Arabic learning and intercultural development. The second study draws on data from classroom and dyadic speaking practice interactions to discuss how judicious use of students’ L1 for certain purposes does indeed work as one of several interactional resources that contribute to enhancing L2 development by operating as a mediating tool to cultivate communication and L2 learning. The third paper draws on data from speech productions at different levels of Arabic L2 instruction, displaying learners’ evolving competence and systematic patterns in their accommodation of linguistic systems as they navigate multiple varieties. The paper reinforces the need for making curricular decisions that uphold multidialectical practices in the Arabic classroom. The fourth paper explores Arabic students' linguistic practices in homestays during short-term study abroad. This multi-method study focuses on student multilingual behavior in light of their ultimate proficiency outcomes in Arabic.
Disciplines
Linguistics
Participants
Ms. Emma Trentman
-- Presenter
Dr. Sonia Shiri
-- Presenter
Dr. Khaled Al Masaeed
-- Organizer, Presenter, Chair
First language (L1) use in foreign/second language (L2) learning contexts by learners and their instructors seems to be rather common (Levine, 2011). However, in the context of L2 learning and teaching, the utilization of the learners’ L1 by learners and/or their instructors is still controversial. Drawing upon approximately ten hours of audio- and video-recorded data and insights from sociocultural theory, the current study explored the use of code-switching (CS) in the following L2 Arabic environments: (1) an Arabic as a second language study abroad program; and (2) Arabic as a foreign language during classroom interactions in the US. Results of this study showed that, overall, participants used CS between English and Arabic in both learning environments to negotiate meaning and identities in order to keep the conversation going, show solidarity, and signal the interlocutors’ acknowledgment of their mutually bilingual identities and roles in these interactions. Results also showed that CS tends to occur in the following contexts: (1) when the learners lacked a specific linguistic skill needed to maximize their speaking practice and maintain understanding between them and their speaking partners to bridge these linguistic gaps, and ask for assistance when needed; (2) when the speaking partners provided learners with chunks of talk to foster their lexical learning; and (3) when both learners and their speaking partners showed solidarity and maintained intersubjectivity as mutually bilingual speakers, normally at the periphery of speaking sessions. Based on these results, the current study contributes to the existing research on CS in L2 learning by sociolinguistically exploring the judicious use of CS and its role in enhancing L2 learning, in both small-group speaking practice activities, and during classroom interaction. Finally, to argue for more flexibility in allowing the utilization of sensible CS in L2 environments, the study concludes with a discussion about pedagogical implications for the use of CS in target language speaking practice environments such as the ones in this study and suggests directions for future research for a better understanding of this bilingual/multilingual practice in order to move beyond the monolingual model that has not been in sync with research and linguistic reality of our world.
This paper examines the intersection of monolingual ideologies and multilingual practices within the experiences of U.S. Arabic learners studying abroad using interview, observational, and interactive data. The learners and hosts in this study were participating in five very different study abroad programs in three different countries, including a semester long intensive Arabic program with a language pledge in Egypt (23 students, 14 hosts), two semester long programs at an English-speaking university in Egypt (29 students, 10 hosts), an academic year at a language program in Oman (one student), and a two-week faculty led study abroad program in Jordan (8 students, 11 hosts).
Despite these program differences, however, the data demonstrates that participants in all of these programs drew from monolingual ideologies to describe their expectations of the study abroad experience, such as anticipating that study abroad would be Arabic "immersion," and that everyday encounters would automatically occur in Arabic. When these monolingual expectations clashed with their multilingual experiences abroad, such as when locals addressed them in English, or they felt the need to choose between practicing Arabic and making friends in English, students sometimes experienced frustration and disappointment. Yet I argue that analyzing students' actual interactional practices abroad in fact demonstrates the value of multilingual practices for Arabic language and intercultural learning. Furthermore, these multilingual practices are a key component of creating students' and hosts' desired multilingual identities.
For this reason, I argue that programmatic interventions to support language and intercultural learning during study abroad should not perpetuate monolingual ideologies, for example by telling students to pretend to be from a non-English speaking country or enforcing a language pledge. Instead, they should take a multilingual perspective I call intentional translanguaging, drawing on the work of García and Flores (2014). Rather than viewing the use of English or Arabic as a binary choice, intentional translanguaging asks speakers to draw upon all of their linguistic resources, in multiple languages and dialects, to promote language and intercultural learning. This approach encourages Arabic learning, while also recognizing the multilingual realities of the 21st century Arabic study abroad context.
Arabic instructors’ and curriculum planners are faced with the question of what methods to adopt to raise learners’ awareness of the sociolinguistic reality of Arabic use within increasingly multidialectal and multilingual Arabic-speaking speech communities. The Integrative Approach has been proposed as one such method. The question remains, however, as to the successful outcome of such integration given the demands of learning multiple varieties, typically Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) and a variety (or more) of Colloquial Arabic (CA).
To address this question, this study investigated productions by 70 students in the first three years of Arabic instruction at a major Arabic program in the United States. It aimed at measuring learners’ ability to develop competence in MSA and CA. It, therefore, explored (1) the features of speech that learners display, (2) the existence of systematic patterns in the participants’ speech productions, and (3) the participants’ awareness of appropriate register in their MSA-CA use. The productions included student presentations, class skits and discussions, and end-of-course interviews. A qualitative, multistep, data-driven analysis was performed, and marked features were identified.
The findings showed marked similarities that reflect learners’ evolving competence in MSA and CA. The learners code-switched between the varieties in their use of words, phrases, and sentences in instances of intrasentential and intersentential mixing. As they advanced in their Arabic study, their choices seemed to reflect their awareness of the appropriate language forms depending on the context of use. The productions also showed patterns of diglossic code-switching found in the speech of Arabic speakers. The study supports the importance of making curricular decisions that embrace the multidialectal use of Arabic in the Arabic L2 classroom. It also calls for an attitudinal shift, viewing learners’ code switching as a successful utilization of linguistic resources and a representation of the multidialectal and multilingual realities of Arabic use.
Research on the role of the homestay in developing linguistic and intercultural competence among foreign language learners in study abroad settings has yielded contradictory results. While some studies captured some gains and a reasonable level of satisfaction, others chronicled experiences fraught with disappointment, frustration and limited progress in proficiency. What happens when you add diglossia to the mix and make the linguistic environment not only bilingual but multilingual? This study set out to address this research question in the Arabic context by examining the experiences of 73 American college-level students who completed two-month programs in Tunisia. Students were placed with local host families while attending an intensive Arabic program that taught Modern Standard Arabic along with some Tunisian dialect. All families were diglossic and bilingual if not multilingual, in addition to possessing varying degrees of familiarity with other Arabic dialects and so was the case with a large number of the students. This paper reports on the language choices in this complex linguistic setting during interactions between host families and guests. A look at post-program linguistic proficiency and intercultural competence reveal counter-intuitive outcomes and challenge the zero-sum game in which multilingualism and multidialectalism have been cast vis a vis foreign language development.
