All approaches to describing the role of motivation in second language learning have shared, in various degrees, two limiting features. First, the major approaches have been social-psychological. Motivation has been consistently linked with attitudes toward the community of speakers of the target language, with an interest in interacting with such speakers, and with some degree of self-identification with the target language community. The most influential work in the field has been that of Gardner and Lambert. Other models of the relationship between motivation and second language learning, all of which have been heavily influenced by the work of Gardner and Lambert and which maintain the social-psychological perspective, include those of Schumann (1978, 1986) Giles and his associates ( Giles and Byrne, 1982; Beebe, 1988), and Krashen ( Dulay et al. 1982; Krashen, 1985) Lambert was the first to hypothesize a social psychological theory of second language acquisition. He stated that (Lambert, 1963b:114): This theory, in brief, holds that an individual successfully acquiring a second language gradually adopts various aspects of behavior which characterize members of another cultural group. The learner's ethnocentric tendencies and his attitude toward the other group are believed to determine his success in learning the new language. His motivation to learn in thought to be determined by his attitudes and by his orientation towards learning a second language. (Giles and Clair, 1979) Thus, " the student's harmony with his won culture community and his willingness or ability to identify with other cultural communities become important considerations in the process of second language acquisition" (Giles and Clair, 1979: 193). This paper will follow a study that will be conducted during the course of the CLS program. Based on the social-psychological theory of second language acquisition, the purpose of this study is to identity the CLS students' motivation and to measure to what extent the CLS Arabic program has contributes to creating an intrinsic motivation.

The paper will demonstrate how film and media clips are being used in the CLS Arabic curriculum to provide students with additional contextual frameworks in which to understand and apply their language learning. Since the CLS Arabic programs place an emphasis on the active acquisition of standard and colloquial registers in tandem, the paper will explore how the integration of activities structured around Arabic film and media clips can serve as a vital resource for assessing students' abilities to comprehend these shifting registers and the contexts to which they correspond. Ultimately, the paper will examine how the incorporation of these materials helps students recognize, activate and produce the aforementioned register shifts in a way that demonstrates their understanding of the correlation between register and context.

The 2010 CLS summer Arabic program in Muscat, Oman admitted only students rated at Advanced proficiency, as determined by placement exams administered prior to the program's start. A goal of the Oman program was to introduce students to a wide variety of authentic material in all registers of Arabic. A complementary goal was to incorporate a significant number of texts, video and other materials produced in, or focusing on, Oman, its culture, history and traditions. The aim was to provide students with a greater understanding of and appreciation for the culture in which the program operated through the materials they encountered in their classes. Students were surveyed about their knowledge of Oman at the beginning and end of the program and were asked their opinions about the ways in which Omani culture was made a part of their program. The local Omani teachers were likewise asked their opinions regarding the use of localized materials in their teaching. This paper describes the results of these surveys, reports on the successes and failures of using localized cultural materials with Advanced students of Arabic, and presents suggestions for those preparing curricula for Advanced-level programs in the Arab world.

The evolving draft of culture proficiency guidelines is a clear indicator of the importance and urgency of addressing the teaching and assessment of culture proficiency in foreign language programs. The issue of culture proficiency is particularly pertinent for study abroad programs where opportunities for cultural learning are greatest and the quality of pedagogical practices varies most. The Critical Language Scholarship (CLS) Arabic program is a summer intensive study abroad that is administered in six different locations in the Arab world with shared goals and objectives but with different living arrangements and level specificities. This paper first reports on the various approaches that the Arabic CLS program has adopted in order to actively promote cultural learning and consciously integrate it in the curriculum. The focus will be on addressing the local Arabic varieties and creating "language socialization" opportunities for students. Second, this paper investigates the effectiveness of the various approaches of the CLS program in the acquisition of various discrete as well as elusive components of culture and the role of technology in promoting this learning. Cultural proficiency is assessed using surveys administered before and after the program in all six sites as well as observation and interviews. The draft culture proficiency guidelines will be piloted in rating the students.