Acquiring discursive Arabic proficiencies requires skills in at least two varieties: Modern Standard Arabic and a spoken dialect. This diglossic situation is a source of anxiety for learners and educators alike. Since the early introduction of Arabic in U.S. colleges that began at Harvard in the mid-20th century, many teaching models have emerged. Most of these models have been underpinned mainly by the concept of diglossia, yet the debate around the best method to teach Arabic varieties remains unsettled.

In this talk, Afaf Ali, Ph.D, will introduce trans-dialectology as a framework for developing Arabic discursive competencies that is grounded on four foundational components:

1. developing knowledge about the heterogeneous historical nature of Arabic,
2. teaching comparative skills about Arabic varieties,
3. incorporating the available linguistic repertoires,
4. employing authentic teaching materials.

The framework incorporates songs as one of the authentic tools that is theoretically and empirically appropriate for developing Arabic discursive skills through the trans-dialectological lens.

A Q&A session will follow immediately after the presentation.

Keywords: Translanguaging, trans-dialectology, Arabic diglossia, language teaching methods, songs

The event is open to the general public, and it will be hybrid. Attendees who select Zoom as their attendance preference will receive Zoom information via email. 

Speaker

Afaf Ali Nash holds a Ph.d. in Applied Linguistics (UCLA) and BA in Literature (Iraq-Baghdad University). She is a first generation immigrant, and is concerned with anything having to do with language and matters of socio- and anthropological linguistics. She authored and instructed courses in Arabic, linguistics, and anthropology in a number of highly acclaimed schools, including UCLA, USC, and Middlebury College. She publishes in Arabic and English on topics of heritage languages, language brokering, medical interaction, language teaching, and Arabic literature. She also authored online lessons on learning Arabic through poetry, found here and here. Most Recently, she has translated Harry G. Frankfurt's On Bullshit into Arabic, which is coming out this month from Dar al-Machreq, Lobanan. She has been part of the UCLA Center for World Languages and National Heritage Language Resource Center family since 2009.

Please email inquiries to cwl@international.ucla.edu.

Sponsor(s): Center for World Languages