Proficiency and Practices in Arabic

When I designed and piloted this survey, I was aware that many learners at Mawaarith had had some exposure to Arabic prior to enrolling in the school, and I anticipated that they would provide different answers in relation to different sub-skills. However, the findings in relation to prior proficiency were among the most influential in terms of re-shaping my understanding of these learners. This section first focuses on their reported proficiency prior to entering the school and then discusses the abilities that the learners claimed in Arabic at the end of the year.

4.3.1 Prior proficiency in Arabic. Over half the students at Mawaarith claimed that they had some proficiency in Arabic when they enrolled in the school. Their abilities varied considerably; they reported different abilities in regard to sub-skills of language use, and this survey did not make any

attempt to assess their level of ability in the language overall or these sub-skills. However, even without objective assessments of proficiency (which, I will argue again, could not have been designed

appropriately prior to investigations like the one described here), these findings highlight the

heterogeneity of this learning community not only in relation to their priorities for language learning but also in their experience of learning Arabic.

Looking at all of the students enrolled in Arabic, 30 students, or 44.1%, said that they had no skills in Arabic prior to entering Mawaarith. The remaining 38 students were evenly divided: 12, or 17.6%, could only read; 14, or 20.6%, could only speak; and 12, or 17.6%, reported that they could both read and speak. Four of those who said they could speak Arabic still reported very low proficiency at the end of the year, which suggests that they could say a few words in Arabic but had little communicative ability. Comparing HLLs and non-HLLs shows that all of the HLLs reported some ability in Arabic, while the majority of the non-HLLs reported none. No non-HLLs reported that they could read and speak Arabic when they enrolled, but there were many non-HLLs who reported that they could read or speak to some extent. These data are shown in Figure 4.1.

No skills Read only Speak only Read & Speak

Figure 4.1.

Prior abilities in Arabic among HLLs and non-HLLs. Read 16% Speak 42% Read & Speak 42%

HLLs

Non-HLLs

The finding that some learners claimed that they could read but not speak the language is intriguing in and of itself. While HLLs of many languages, and particularly those that use a different writing system from English, may report that they could speak but not read before they began learning the language in an instructed setting, this situation in which literacy is dominant over or precedes oracy has not been considered in the literature. Over a quarter of the learners included here as non-HLLs have clearly engaged in practices outside school that have allowed them to develop some level of literacy in Arabic.

4.3.2 Reported abilities in Arabic at the end of the year. At the end of the school year, students were asked a very similar question about their prior proficiencies. Based on their responses to the initial survey, piloting of the final survey, and the understanding that I had gained over the course of the year, however, I added two options to the list of prior abilities: I knew a few words in Arabic and I knew Arabic, but not formal Arabic (MSA or ىحصف). Five students, 2 HLLs and 3 non-HLLs, selected a few words as their only ability. Ten students, all but one of them HLLs, reported that they knew Arabic, but not formal Arabic when they entered Mawaarith; of these, only two students listed this as their only prior ability. The remaining responses to this question had very similar proportions to those at the beginning of the year.

After several months of observing these learners in class and noting what they seemed to be able to do in Arabic, I constructed a list of “can-do” statements that included both oral and literacy skills and that broke these skills down into activities that aligned with tasks that I knew the learners had done in class. During piloting of the final survey, students from the beginner and intermediate classes asked me to add more basic options so that they could report their ability to understand a few words when they heard them. Table 4.6 below lists the options that the learners were given and the percentage of all the learners who reported that they had that skill, in order from the most-selected to least-selected option.

In my observations of the Arabic classes at Mawaarith, I found that learners in the Advanced class were expected to do all of these tasks, though they might not be able to express their thoughts or feelings in much depth or detail. The Intermediate group varied; they were expected to do all of these

tasks except the last three in Table 4.6, but some were still not able to read fluently at the end of the year. The Beginners could in some cases read and write sentences, but for the most part they were comfortable with reading, writing, and saying a few words. Again, their ability to decode the alphabet varied.

Table 4.6.

Self-reported abilities at year end among all learners.

N %

I understand some words in Arabic when I hear them. 46 75.4

I know all the letters in Arabic and the sounds they make. 39 63.9

I can have a basic conversation in Arabic. 36 59.0

I know how to say a lot of words on different topics in Arabic. 36 59.0 In English, I can talk about some differences among Arabic-speaking countries. 33 54.1 I can read and write a lot of words on different topics in Arabic. 32 52.5 I can read and write sentences on different topics in Arabic. 31 50.8 I can write a paragraph about myself, my family, or my school in Arabic. 27 44.3 I can read a simple book in Arabic and understand the meaning. 24 39.3

I can give a presentation to my class in Arabic. 23 37.7

I can express what I am thinking or how I feel in Arabic. 22 36.1 Nearly all the traditional HLLs were in the Advanced level at Mawaarith, with one exception in the Intermediate group and another among the Beginners. The Beginners were usually learners who had just entered Mawaarith and had no prior exposure to Arabic, though a few were in their second year. The Intermediate learners, then, were those who were not traditional HLLs but who had been studying Arabic for some time. Figure 4.2 compares learners’ reported abilities in each of the three class levels.

Figure 4.2.

Student-reported abilities at year end by class levels.