Collaborative Distance Arabic Language Learning Between Russian and Arab Students in Africa

Abstract

Teachers of Arabic as a foreign language (AFL) in Russia mainly focus on reading and grammar, not oral skills. Russian students learning AFL have limited opportunities to practice oral skills (listening & speaking) outside the classroom, meet native speakers of Arabic and practice oral skills with them. This study aims to propose a model for online collaboration among Russian AFL teachers and students and Arabic-speaking teachers and students in African Arab countries through video-conferencing platforms to help Russian students practice oral skills. First, the host teacher contacts the collaborating teacher. The host and guest teachers select the platform, set the practice schedule together, prepare the material and online resources for oral practice. They try the platform and its different tools, how to share the screen, call on students, breakout rooms…etc, how to upload/share material. The practice material may consist of Arabic language functions, things around the students, daily activities, experiences and students’ environment, describing pictures, talking about cultural topics and so on. Only Standard Arabic should be used. No explanation in L1 (Russian), no translation, no explanation of grammatical rules, no use of Arabic grammatical terms, and no writing of the question and answer on the board. The students should depend on their ears. They use short sentences and concrete objects, nouns, verbs … etc. Vocabulary and sentence structure are taught together. Pictures, gestures, and short videos are used while the students are answering the questions. Some students ask questions, others answer. The same question pattern ما هذا؟ ماذا يفعل is used when the teacher asks about names of objects and actions (verbs). They ask questions to help students discriminate singular, dual, plural, masculine and feminine forms and verb conjugations. Mistakes are corrected instantly. The students repeat the correct form, new word or question several times. Correct answers are reinforced. Positive feedback is given for every answer. Benefits and shortcomings of online international collaboration between students and teachers from different countries are given.