From a seed to a blooming tree, this was the journey of the Arabic Center for non-native speakers, which was established five years ago and became a growing center, funded by local and international institutions.
The teacher training programme ‘Teaching Arabic to Non-native Speakers’ was launched in cooperation with the University of Glasgow as part of UK-funded research entitled ‘Accelerating the impact of the Online Arabic from Palestine(
This programme aims at training (19) Arabic-language teachers in using creative teaching methods and innovative techniques to teach Arabic to non-native speakers. The trainees, taking part in the program, are IUG graduates from the Faculty of English and Arabic Language who were selected among over 100 applicants, based on several criteria which included their graduation year, academic results and GPA. Sixty of them took a competency test, and the successful graduates were interviewed and finally, (19) of them were involved in the program.
Prof. Sa’eed Al-Ghora, Dean of IUG Community Services and Continuing Education, opened the teacher training course by expressing his gratitude for organizing such a valuable programme at the Arabic Center.
Prof. Nazmi Al Masri said that this project is distinguished to be the first training program of its kind because it is implemented in partnership with international trainers from the University of Glasgow, following years of close cooperation. Secondly, the training course integrates language-teaching approaches based on developing communication skills with innovative and effective techniques to improve the Arabic language in a short time. He added that the aim of this training program is to empower graduates with practical skills tailored for English and Arabic teachers that could be useful to find online teaching jobs. Prof. Al Masri welcomed the trainees and thanked the trainers and the Glasgow partners in this project, Dr. Giovanna Fassetta (Principal Investigator) and Dr. Maria Grazia Imperiale (Postdoctoral Research Associate). Dr. Fassetta and Dr. Imperiale will be involved in the training by delivering some online sessions.
The training course consists of four phases. Mr. Yousef, one of the trainers, explained that the first phase of the program will focus on understanding the pedagogical principles of teaching Arabic for non-native speakers, while the second phase includes using technology in teaching Arabic. The third phase will be led by Prof. Fassetta and Prof. Imperiale and will focus on contextualized teaching for the OAfP course, including the use of creative methods. During the last phase, the trainees will apply what they learn through developing and delivering authentic lessons with non-Arabic volunteers from all over the world. The 120-hour interactive training program, therefore, combines theoretical and practical sessions, in addition to exercises, reflections, discussion groups, and assignments.
At the end of the first day of the training, all the trainees expressed their enthusiastic motivation, passion and positive attitude towards such a unique program.
IUG Arabic Center Website: http://www.iugaza.edu.ps/
OPAC Blog: https://palestinian-arabic.blog/
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