Language Gain During Arabic Study Abroad: A Case Study of a Semester Abroad in Amman, Jordan

Transcription

1 Brigham Young University BYU ScholarsArchive All Theses and Dissertations Language Gain During Arabic Study Abroad: A Case Study of a Semester Abroad in Amman, Jordan Laila Lamani Brigham Young University - Provo Follow this and additional works at: Part of the Other Languages, Societies, and Cultures Commons BYU ScholarsArchive Citation Lamani, Laila, "Language Gain During Arabic Study Abroad: A Case Study of a Semester Abroad in Amman, Jordan" (2008). All Theses and Dissertations This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by BYU ScholarsArchive. It has been accepted for inclusion in All Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of BYU ScholarsArchive. For more information, please contact scholarsarchive@byu.edu.

2 LANGUAGE GAIN DURING ARABIC STUDY ABROAD: A CASE STUDY OF A SEMESTER ABROAD IN AMMAN, JORDAN by Laila Lamani A master s thesis submitted to the faculty of Brigham Young University in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Master of Arts Center for Language Studies Brigham Young University August 2008

3 Copyright 2008 Laila Lamani All Rights reserved

4 BRIGHAM YOUNG UNIVERSITY GRADUATE COMMITTEE APPROVAL of a thesis submitted by Laila Lamani This thesis has been read by each member of the following graduate committee and by majority vote has been found to be satisfactory. Date R. Kirk Belnap, Chair Date Yvon LeBras Date Wendy Baker

5 BRIGHAM YOUNG UNIVERSITY As chair of the candidate s graduate committee, I have read the thesis of Laila Lamani in its final form and have found that (1) its format, citations, and bibliographical style are consistent and acceptable and fulfill university and department style requirements; (2) its illustrative materials including figures, tables, and charts are in place; and (3) the final manuscript is satisfactory to the graduate committee and is ready for submission to the university library. Date R. Kirk Belnap Chair, Graduate Committee Accepted for the Department Ray T. Clifford Director, Center for Language Studies Accepted for the College Joseph Parry Associate Dean, College of Humanities

6 ABSTRACT LANGUAGE GAIN DURING ARABIC STUDY ABROAD: A CASE STUDY OF A SEMESTER ABROAD IN AMMAN, JORDAN Laila Lamani Center for Language Studies Master of Arts This thesis presents a qualitative and quantitative analysis of the 2006 Arabic study abroad in Amman, Jordan. This analysis aims to help organizers and participants of similar future programs to maximize language gain. The students pre- and post-program language competencies in reading, speaking, listening, and writing are measured and compared. The students daily journals during the period of the program are also analyzed. The quantitative analysis shows that statistically significant improvement has occurred in all four language skills. The qualitative analysis suggests that keeping a steady journal, setting daily or weekly language goals, doing volunteer work, having clear and reasonable language learning expectations, understanding the need to get out of one s comfort zone, and being aware of the resources available are the best factors that positively affected the students language gain. Frustration in terms of not having enough opportunities to practice the language negatively affected the students language gain.

7 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I am very grateful to Dr. R. Kirk Belnap, my graduate committee chair, for his valuable help over the past years. I am also grateful to my mother, my uncle Mokhtar Lamani, and my husband for their continuous support and unconditional love; and to Dr. James A. Toronto for his help and guidance.

8 TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION... 1 CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW THE IMPORTANCE OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES IN THE U.S THE EFFECT OF STUDY ABROAD ON SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION ARABIC TEACHING IN THE UNITED STATES Background Why Are Students Studying Arabic? ARABIC STUDY ABROAD RESEARCH CHAPTER 3 SUBJECTS AND METHODOLOGY READING AND LISTENING COMPREHENSION SPEAKING WRITING CHAPTER 4 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION READING AND LISTENING COMPREHENSION Arabic Proficiency Exam: Reading Arabic Proficiency Test: Listening Arabic Proficiency Exam: Reading and Listening SPEAKING WRITING Political Writings Personal Writings LESSONS FROM THE STUDENTS JOURNALS CHAPTER 5 CONCLUSION REFERENCES APPENDICES APPENDIX A ACTFL PROFICIENCY GUIDELINES FOR SPEAKING APPENDIX B ACTFL PROFICIENCY GUIDELINES FOR WRITING APPENDIX C SAMPLES FROM STUDENTS JOURNALS vii

9 LIST OF TABLES Table 1: Results of the Pre and Post Arabic Proficiency Test (Reading and Listening).. 21 Table 2: Students Journals and Reading Comprehension Skill Table 3: Students Journals and Listening Comprehension Skill Table 4: Results of the Pre-Program and End-of-Program Speaking Tests Table 5: Students Journals and the Speaking Skill Table 6: Students Ratings for Political Writing Assignments Table 7: Students Ratings for Personal Writing Assignments Table 8: Ratings for the Students Midterm and Final Writings viii

10 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: Changes in the Students Pre and Post Arabic Proficiency Exam (Reading and Listening) Figure 2: Group s Average Rating for Political Writing Assignments Figure 3: Group s Average Rating for Personal Writing Assignments Figure 4: Change in the Students Writing Between the Midterm and the Final ix

11 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION The opportunity to study abroad can be a crucial part of a student s second language learning experience, as will be shown in chapter 2. Not only does it provide the means for the dedicated student to learn more about the world, but it also offers the vital opportunity to immerse themselves in the target language and develop their abilities in all aspects of that language: reading, speaking, listening, writing, and cultural understanding. In recent years a significant amount of research has been conducted on the importance of the study abroad experience and the pivotal role it plays in helping students understand the language better and enabling them to acquire new cultural insights. Most of these studies have focused on Romance languages, such as French and Spanish, which are the most commonly taught languages in the U.S. In today s world, some languages have gained in importance or priority in the international community. Recent political events, such as September 11, 2001 and the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, have stirred up wide interest in the Arabic language. Arabic enrollments have quadrupled at colleges and universities all over the U.S. since According to a 2006 survey conducted by the Modern Language Association (MLA), student enrollment in Arabic courses at American colleges has grown faster since 2002 than any other foreign language. 1

12 In 2002, there were 5,505 American university students enrolled in Arabic classes, which was 10 times the number of students that enrolled in Arabic classes during the school year (Welles, 2004). MLA also reported that as of Fall 2006, 23,974 students in colleges and universities around the country were enrolled in Arabic classes. We are also witnessing a significant effort to provide Arabic classes in K 12. Elementary schools with intensive language programs and bilingual education are found all across the United States. These programs are primarily offered in Spanish and French. They have proved their effectiveness by graduating students with high levels of language proficiency (National Foreign Language Center, 2003). In September 2007, the New York City Department of Education founded the Khalil Gibran International Academy, a dual-language middle school that provides education in Arabic and English in grades 6 through 12. According to the school s official statement, its goal is to prepare students for college and successful careers and to foster an understanding of different cultures, a love of learning, and desire for excellence in all of its students (The New-York City Department of Education, 2008). In summer 2007, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence Programs sponsored STARTALK, a national initiative for summer language education, in which 400 high school students and teachers enrolled. STARTALK awarded the students scholarships to study Arabic intensively nation-wide and provided professional development opportunities for prospective and current Arabic teachers for K-16 through teaching training workshops. As part of the National Security Language Initiative, the State Department s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs funded the Council of American Overseas Research 2

13 Centers (CAORC) in 2006 to launch the Critical Languages Scholarships Program in order to encourage the overseas study of languages that are critically needed by the U.S, which included: Arabic, Bengali, Hindi, Punjabi, Turkish and Urdu. Korean, Chinese, Russian, and Persian were added in The scholarship recipients are expected to continue their language study beyond the scholarship period and are expected to pursue careers where they will use their language skills (CAORC, 2007). All of these programs and new initiatives show the importance that the Arabic language is gaining in the U.S. Thus, more importance should be given to analyzing some of the available Arabic study abroad programs, which will help in developing their effectiveness. The purpose of this thesis is to analyze data from the 2006 Arabic Study Abroad in Amman, Jordan that Brigham Young University offered in the Spring and Summer Terms in order to help future organizers and participants to maximize language gain during an Arabic study abroad program. This thesis will show the changes that occurred in all aspects of the students language ability: reading, listening, writing, and speaking. It will also discuss possible reasons for this change and present suggested learning strategies and other ways to maximize the students learning during an Arabic study abroad program. 3

14 CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW This chapter will present a summarized review of teaching foreign languages in the United States and the effect of study abroad on second language acquisition in general and Arabic in particular. 2.1 THE IMPORTANCE OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES IN THE U.S. The United States of America is the economic and political leader of the world; a fact that has privileged the English language and made it the language of trade and technology (Lazaro, 2004). Also, English remains dominant in the United States despite the growing numbers of people from various ethnicities and languages to the extent that Americans perceive their country to be monolingual (Ferguson, 1986). The U.S. is behind many other nations when it comes to foreign language learning. For example, China has a policy of teaching English to all children at the elementary level, and one fourth of all students in Australia study an Asian language (Kelleher, 2006). However, Marty Abbott, education director for the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages, noted that the United States is waking up and realizing the importance of being multilingual for future success (Abbott, 2006). In light of a changing world, it has become necessary to learn foreign languages in order to be part of the world. Thus, more schools are beginning to offer less-commonly- 4

15 taught languages that will help students be more competitive in this era of globalization. More university students have also been signing up for foreign language classes. According to the 2006 Modern Language Association report, there was an increase of 38.9% in foreign language course enrollments (excluding ancient Greek and Latin) between 1995 and 2006 in institutions of higher education in the United States. Critical languages have gained a lot of importance in the United States, particularly Arabic and Chinese. The first has gained importance for political and national security reasons (as mentioned in the introduction), and the second for primarily economic reasons. Enrollment in Arabic has increased by 92.3%, and Chinese between 20% and 30% between 1998 and 2002 (Welles, 2004). Different languages require varying number of instruction hours in order to achieve the same proficiency level; according to a 2005 study published by Rifkin, non-cognate languages such as Chinese, Arabic, and Japanese take students longer to learn. Students need more time on task, and this can be accomplished through different approaches. U.S schools use different tools to enhance second language acquisition. For example, Brigham Young University has an on-campus Foreign Language Students Housing: The Foreign Language Student Residence provides a unique opportunity for students to enhance and refine language skills. The on-campus complex consists of 25 apartments for men and women, learning nine different languages: Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish. Residents develop confidence and fluency practicing the language daily. They pledge to speak only the 5

16 target language in the apartment with their roommates, one of whom is a student native speaker. Together they plan meals, shop, cook, eat and clean up while communicating in the target language. (Brigham Young University Housing Office, 2008). Another tool used across the nation is intensive language programs, such as the Concordia Language Villages that teach 15 languages and have an annual enrollment of about 9500 young students and 500 adults. The staff includes more than 1200 native speakers and language professionals that make language immersion possible (Concordia Language Villages, 2008). Rifkin suggests in his study that participating in such intensive programs puts the students in a better position to maximize their language gain from a study abroad program (Rifkin, 2005). 2.2 THE EFFECT OF STUDY ABROAD ON SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION Study abroad programs are another approach used by many institutions in order to give students the opportunity to develop foreign language proficiency. Research has shown that students who go on a study abroad are more proficient in certain aspect of the second language than those who did not (Lafford, 1995; Magnan, 1986). As said in the introduction, study abroad is an important component of the students second language acquisition process, as it puts them in a situation where they can use the language on a daily basis and interact with native speakers. A lot of research indicates that study abroad has a positive effect on different aspects of the students language learning. In a 1967 a large-scale study of 2784 senior college students conducted by John 6

17 Carroll, data showed that the amount of time the students spent is a very strong predictor of language proficiency. The students in this landmark study were studying French, Italian, German, and Russian. Study abroad can help to significantly improve students speaking ability (Liskin- Gasparro, 1984). Gasparro and Urdaneta found that students Oral Proficiency Interview (OPI) scores improved significantly after only one semester study abroad in Venezuela (Gasparro and Urdaneta, 1995). Another study of students studying Russian demonstrated that the people who score at the Advanced level on their OPI are those who have studied Russian for four years at the college level; about 40% of the students attain that rating after four months of study in Russia (Brecht, Davidson and Ginsberg, 1993). Stansfield (1975) shows that students who were at a zero proficiency level attained the same oral proficiency level of students who have studied four semesters of the target language (Spanish) at the university level, after spending only 100 days abroad. Another important fact that is widely discussed in studies about the acquisition of a second language during study abroad is the students perceptions regarding the natives, the language and culture, and their motivation behind learning the target language (Brecht and Robinson, 1993; Polanyi, 1995; Siegal, 1995). Regan (1995) also found that students made significant gains in their sociolinguistic appropriateness after a year of study abroad in France. Brecht and Robinson, (1995) found that the students attitudes toward the target language can affect their second language acquisition positively or negatively. Likewise, preconceived ideas and assumptions prevented students who went to France from 7

18 interacting with native speakers, thus negatively affecting their language learning (Wilkinson, 1998). On the other hand, Yager s research on advanced adult learners of Spanish shows that learners who like Spanish and enjoy interacting with native speakers and listening to them produce more native-like language (Yager, 1988). Much research has been done on factors that positively or negatively affect language gain during study abroad. Brecht, Davidson, and Ginsberg (1993) reports on 658 American college students who studied in the Soviet Union between 1984 and Almost 40% of the students came back from their study abroad having reached the Advanced level in speaking, while only 13% of students reach this level after four years of Russian in the U.S. (with no study abroad). They report that the factors that had a significant impact on student language gain are: gender (men learned more than women), expert language learners (students who have had another foreign language made more progress), previous grammar instruction (students beginning their abroad program with better grammar knowledge scored higher in speaking and listening skills), and aptitude tests (these were shown to make a consistent and substantial contribution to the prediction of student achievement in a variety of adolescent and adult language training programs ) (Wesche, 1981). They also found that having previous high school Russian positively related to a higher OPI score, but negatively related to their listening comprehension score. Students who knew another Slavic language also scored better in their OPI but did not perform significantly better in listening. Previous language immersion had a positive effect on listening scores but was not significant for OPI scores. Some study abroad programs have used journaling as part of their curriculum plan. In a 2001 study, Raschino took 35 students to Seville, Spain for a three and half weeks. 8

19 These students lived with host families and were given a packet that included directions on journaling. The students were provided with specific cultural activities that they needed to do and were required to keep a journal in which they reflect upon that activity. Those journals were collected every week to make sure that the students were keeping up with their assigned tasks and at the end before their final exams. In this case study, journaling was used as a tool to follow the students linguistic and cultural gain, and it also forced them to interact more with the native speakers and use the target language. Polanyi (1995) states that through the students journals while studying abroad in Russia, she was able to find out why male students made more progress than female students in listening comprehension. She found a persistent pattern of sexual harassments by Russian men that the female students reported, which limited their opportunities to interact with native speakers. In another study conducted by Miller and Ginsberg, students journals proved to be an effective source of data, as the authors found out through them the students common beliefs about language learning, such as their tendency to re-create a classroom environment while in real-life situations on their study abroad in Russia (Miller and Ginsberg, 1995). Most of the research on foreign language study abroad programs has focused on Spanish, French, Russian, and German (mostly Western European languages and Russian, which had great political importance before the fall of the Soviet Union.) As stated earlier, some less-commonly-taught languages, such as Arabic, Chinese, Persian, and Turkish, have become very important to the U.S. for both political and economic reasons. These languages have shown large enrollment increases in recent years and more institutions offer study abroad programs for students of these languages. 9

20 Unfortunately, not much research has been done to evaluate these study abroad programs, which would provide opportunities for these programs to become better, thus producing better speakers, linguists, interpreters. Such studies on Arabic are reviewed below. 2.3 ARABIC TEACHING IN THE UNITED STATES Background MLA reported a 126.5% increase in Arabic enrollments in higher education between 2002 and 2006 (MLA, 2006). Unlike what a lot of people might think, the teaching of Arabic has been available in the United States since early colonial times, first as part of Harvard s courses in Semitic languages between 1654 and Arabic was introduced through instituting first Hebrew and cognate languages and then Arabic soon after. Arabic was introduced at Yale in 1700, at Dartmouth and Andover in 1807, and at Princeton Theological Seminary in 1822 (McCarus, 1992). Like other foreign languages, Arabic was first taught using the grammar-translation method in order to be able to read and translate Arabic literature and religious books. So the main skill that was being developed was reading, and Americans had little or no interest in developing their listening or speaking abilities in foreign languages; thus, after the outbreak of World War II, it appeared that Americans had a critical deficit that had to be remedied essentially overnight as far as foreign language acquisition is concerned (Coleman and Fife, 1949). In order to remedy to that deficit, new Arabic teaching materials were being developed for the teaching and learning of different Arabic dialects, such as A Short Reference Grammar of Moroccan Arabic (Harrell, 1962) and A Reference Grammar of Syrian Arabic ( Cowell, 1964). The publishing of Elementary Modern Standard Arabic 10

21 in 1968, and Intermediate Modern Standard Arabic in 1971 by Peter Abboud and Ernest McCarus was considered a breakthrough in Arabic teaching in the United States (Ryding, 2006). Different programs emerged in order to create more successful learning environments, such as the Middlebury College summer language schools that offer a famous immersion program for different languages, including Arabic. The summer Arabic school at Middlebury College was established in It is considered to have played an important role in shaping Arabic language teaching in the U.S and abroad. The book that is most widely used in teaching Arabic is Al-Kitaab, which was developed and produced at the school. The school is also famous for its Language Pledge through which the students show their commitment to the acquisition of the language: All Language School students agree to abide by the Language Pledge, a formal commitment to speak, listen, read, and write the language of study as the only means of communication for the entire summer session. It is the foundation of all of our intensive immersion programs. The Language Pledge originated at the Language Schools and the term is a registered trademark of Middlebury College (Middlebury College, 2008). In 1967, the Center for Arabic Study Abroad (CASA) was established and is mainly funded by the U.S. Department of Education. It is highly competitive and has offered more than 1350 American students and professors the opportunity to study the Arabic 11

22 language and culture in Cairo and now in Syria, too (Center for Arabic Study Abroad, 2008). Now, there are a number of centers all over the Middle East that offer intensive Arabic classes where non-native Arabic speakers go for their language immersion and study abroad experience. Some of these centers include the Language Center at the University of Jordan in Amman, the Hedayat Institute for Arabic Studies in Cairo, Al- Azhar University in Cairo, the American Language Institute in Fez, the Intensive Arabic Studies program in Tangier, the Arabic Teaching Institute for Foreigners in Damascus, the Yemen Language Center in Sanaa and many more centers that offer intensive courses in Arabic. Even though there is an increasing number of study abroad programs, they are uneven in quality. In order for students to choose a good program, they need to have information about the curriculum; access to previous students entrance and exit scores would make these programs more accountable and provide greater incentive for them to look at themselves and improve (Al-Batal and Belnap, 2006) Why Are Students Studying Arabic? Belnap (2006) presents survey results on students motivations behind learning Arabic. This study is based on data gathered between April 2003 and August Most students responded that they enjoy learning languages (88.2%) and 87.2% reported enjoying learning the Arabic language. 87.4% of the students agreed that they were learning Arabic because they want to interact with those who speak Arabic; 78.6% were learning it because they want to travel to the Arab world; 67.5% wanted to be able to read the modern Arabic press; 66% wanted to be able to understand radio and TV broadcasts; 12

23 and 67% of the students were studying Arabic because they want to understand Arab culture (Belnap, 2006). Other studies reported that most students aim at developing a conversational ability, which is a top priority for them (Belnap 1987, Kuntz 1996). According to Karin C. Ryding learning situations, materials, motivations, forms of attention, learning styles, and strategies are some of the issues in Arabic applied linguistics that need extensive classroom research. There is currently very little information about how Arabic students learn (Ryding, 2006). Despite the status that Arabic has gained in the U.S, there is still a need for research in the different aspects of the language, especially in the area of Arabic study abroad. 2.4 ARABIC STUDY ABROAD RESEARCH In 2000, Patricia Kuntz published a research regarding Arabic students and teachers beliefs about language learning. The study showed that significant differences do exist in beliefs about language learning between students and their abroad teachers based on cultural and educational background and on cognitive mode (Kuntz, 2000). She argued that knowing their beliefs strengths and weaknesses can help teachers develop better curriculum, assessment, and teaching methods. Kuntz and Belnap (2001) presents the results of a study of two study abroad programs that looked at students beliefs and their teachers while on study abroad in Morocco and Yemen. This research offers many recommendations concerning study abroad and how to make it better and more successful, such as: - Many teachers in study abroad programs have not studied language pedagogy and do not have much experience teaching non-native speakers, so it would be good 13

24 for the program director to train the teachers and provide them with resources in order to create materials and activities that would be appropriate to the learners. - More attention should be given to helping teachers and directors abroad to build a strong and successful program; in order to do this, one needs to understand the students needs. - Teachers in the U.S. need to prepare their students for an abroad learning environment that might not be perfect or ideal through introducing insights on the culture of the Arab educational system; teachers and students need to make good use of attitudes that help learning and try to alter counterproductive beliefs. - It would be useful for Arabic teachers in the U.S. to have access to information about various abroad programs in order to positively advise their students on how to make the best of their study abroad experience. - Funding agencies could have reviews for these study abroad programs, which will make them more accountable, which is the best motivation for change and improvement. - Increase cooperation between these programs and the U.S. through teacher training and other workshops. Many factors affect language gain during study abroad programs, and if managed properly, these programs can be effective tools to facilitate the learning of a second language. Arabic learners should benefit from an Arabic study abroad program as much as learners of Romance language. 14

25 CHAPTER 3 SUBJECTS AND METHODOLOGY In the 2006 Spring and Summer Terms, Brigham Young University conducted a study abroad program for its Arabic students at the University of Jordan in Amman, Jordan. Thirty-two students participated in that study abroad: 11 female students and 21 males. Twenty nine of these students had their first two years of Arabic on campus and were going on their study abroad to get third-year Arabic credit; the remaining three students were going to Jordan after having completed their third-year Arabic on campus. They were all required to keep a daily language journal in English in which they reported their activities and kept track of the hours they spent speaking Arabic. They also had to meet with a student instructor (SI) twice a week for a writing appointment. The writing appointment involved the student writing a one-page composition in Arabic before coming to meet the SI. The latter would assign two writing topics every week for the students to write about: one would be a personal topic (about what they did during the weekend, their feelings about the study abroad experience, the problems they were facing, their insights in general ); the second was a political topic (about their opinion of what they were discussing in their current events classes). Each writing appointment lasted twenty minutes, during which the SI and the student discussed the student s writing and corrected the grammar and structure of the text. The 15

26 students would write down grammar notes and receive warnings against making the same mistakes in the next writing. The students had Arabic classes everyday (Sunday-Thursday): a Jordanian Arabic class and a Modern Standard Arabic class, in which the students discussed current events (for a total of 3 hours of Arabic instruction a day.) The students took a placement exam to determine their respective levels of Arabic proficiency and were divided according to these levels. At the end of the study abroad, students re-took the placement exam, and submitted the learning journals and writings. The students participated in ACTFL Oral Proficiency Interviews given by a certified OPI tester before the start of their study abroad experience in order to determine their speaking ability level, and they had another oral interview at the end of the study abroad program. The following are the measures used to analyze the change in the students language abilities: 1. Reading and Listening Comprehension ability: pre and post results from the placement exam. 2. Speaking ability: pre and post results from the ACTFL interview. 3. Writing: results from change in personal and political writings. This study uses the students language journals to determine the different languagerelated activities that individual students used during their study abroad program. The journals also present the students cultural insights gained at different times during their program. 16

27 3.1 READING AND LISTENING COMPREHENSION At the beginning of the study abroad, the students took the Center for Applied Linguistics timed Arabic Proficiency Test to determine their reading and listening comprehension abilities. The results helped in placing the students in classes appropriate to their levels. At the end of the study abroad (almost four months later) the students retook the same test. They were not aware that they were going to retake the test. The reading comprehension part of the test included multiple texts of varying lengths and degrees of difficulty. They started with simple utterances and phrases, which grew into longer texts and more abstract subjects. Using the ACTFL scale, one could say that the texts started at the Novice level and ended at the Advanced High level. As for the listening comprehension part of the test, the listening passages also varied in length and difficulty. They started with basic greetings and common expressions, and grew into long and challenging listening passages that dealt with various subjects. There were a total of 100 multiple-choice questions on the Arabic Proficiency Test: 50 questions in the reading comprehension section, and another 50 questions under the listening comprehension section. 3.2 SPEAKING The students had an Oral Proficiency Interview before they left for Jordan. Thus, they were tested by an ACTFL-certified tester in order to determine their speaking level according to the ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines for speaking (See Appendix A.). One should mention that the OPI exam for Arabic is typically conducted in Modern Standard Arabic (which the students have been learning, and in which the students will study in for their current events and newspaper reading classes on the study abroad program). 17

28 Depending on the student s level, the tester may use Spoken Arabic (in this case it was Egyptian Arabic, because it is the colloquial that is taught at BYU along with Modern Standard). After the students completion of the study abroad in Jordan, other OPI testers conducted a post-program Arabic OPI by telephone in order to determine the students level. Also, in order to make the results easier to read, each ACTFL proficiency level was converted to a number in the following way: Novice Low=1; Novice Mid=2; Novice High=3; Intermediate Low=4; Intermediate Mid=5; Intermediate High=6; Advanced=7; Advanced High=8; Superior=9. While this has certain advantages, one should not forget that these intervals are not equal. The difference between Novice Low and Novice Mid is minimal compared to the difference between Advanced Low and Advanced Mid. 3.3 WRITING All of the second language skills mentioned above, reading, listening, and speaking, have had their fair share of discussion in different studies as presented in Chapter 2. On the other hand, writing does not get much attention (Cooper and Morian, 1980; Valdes, Haro, and Echevarriarza, 1992) and it has also been undervalued despite the fact that writing serves very important functions such as helping the student clarify their thinking and gather ideas in the second language (Walshe, 1979). The method used to evaluate the students writings is based on the ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines for Writing (See Appendix B.). Two college-level Arabic teachers reviewed randomly selected writing passages and rated them according to the above scale to ensure the accuracy of rating. The inter-rater reliability was found to be

29 The quantitative data from students pre- and post-program tests were used to test the hypotheses that statistically significant improvement occurred over the course of the study abroad program in all four-language skills. Students journals were qualitatively analyzed to look for common patterns of behavior that might have positively or negatively affected the students language gain. Samples from students journals are presented in Appendix C. Students names were replaced by code names throughout this thesis in order to protect their privacy. 19

30 CHAPTER 4 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION This chapter presents the results of the students writings, their pre and post reading comprehension and listening placement exam, as well as their pre and post Oral Proficiency Interview results. As previously mentioned, the students kept a journal of their daily activities, and important insights based on these will also be presented. The results of each of the above competencies will be presented and discussed in a separate section. 4.1 READING AND LISTENING COMPREHENSION All but one student took the pre and post Arabic Proficiency Test and Table 1 presents their results. The graphs in Figure 1 represent the changes that occurred in the students pre and post exam scores for reading comprehension, listening comprehension, and the combined score for both reading and listening comprehension Arabic Proficiency Exam: Reading A total of 31 students took both the pre-program and post-program reading section of the Arabic Proficiency Test. 20

31 Table 1: Results of the Pre and Post Arabic Proficiency Test (Reading and Listening) Student Name Change in Reading Prereading/50 Postreading/50 Prelistening/ 50 Postlistening /50 Change in Listenin Aaya Ahmad Ameera Anas Bader Bassem Bilal Daoud Eissa Fatima Habeeb Haroun Ibrahim Jameela Kareem Khadija Mahmood Majd Mohammad Mustafa Nabeel Nadeem Omar Rana Ruba Rula Saeed Samy Shakira Waleed Wassim

32 Figure 1: Changes in the Students Pre and Post Arabic Proficiency Exam (Reading and Listening) If µ d is the underlying average change in the result between the pre-program and post-program reading exam, then we can investigate the assumption that there is a significant statistical difference between the results of these two exams. Let: H o : µ d = 0 H a : µ d 0 The above can be tested using the statistic T where: T= d s d n where d and s d are the sample mean and standard deviation of the difference in the grade between the two exams, and n is the size of the sample. Substituting the values we obtained: 22

33 d =4.452 s d =3.906 n = 31 We find that T= 6.35, which yields an observed level of significance (p) of 2.66*10-7. An alpha level of is used for all statistical tests in this thesis, and therefore, there is strong evidence that there is a significant statistical change in the results of the preprogram and post-program reading exams, and the above null hypothesis is rejected. Based on the students journals (see Table 2), it is possible to identify some attributes that appear to have helped the students to make more progress in terms of reading comprehension. The following were characteristics of students who made good progress: - Keeping a day-to-day journal: these students put in the most effort to keep their journal where they recorded all of their activities. - Setting goals: some of these students recorded in their journals the goals they want to achieve in terms of reading ability. - Making the most of the situation: most students reported being worn out in their Modern Standard Arabic classes and complained that they did not have enough time to process all of the new vocabulary and go over their assigned homework articles in detail. Some of these students came up with what turned out to be successful strategies in terms of dealing with long and hard news articles. One of the students states in his writing journal one month into the program: I went for volume rather than looking up every word I was able to get the main ideas. This allowed him to get into a reading habit. Other students reported in their journals that they had the habit of reading the scriptures in Arabic every day. 23

34 They expressed satisfaction at how easy understanding the language became. Many of these students wrote down a list of new vocabulary that they learned that day and some of them made cards with these words and set a goal of using them whenever possible (in class, homework, writing, while speaking). This helped them in memorizing vocabulary. Table 2: Students Journals and Reading Comprehension Skill Student Turned in Change in Journals Referenced: Name a Journal Reading Grade Setting Goals Exploiting Opportunities Aaya 10 Ahmad 4 Ameera 6 Anas 4 Bader 6 Bassem -4 Bilal 3 Daoud 1 Eissa 0 Fatima 5 Habeeb -1 Haroun 2 Ibrahim 6 Jameela 4 Kareem 7 Khadija 5 Mahmood 5 Majd 5 Mohammad 7 Mustafa 2 Nabeel 6 Nadeem 3 Omar 8 Rana 2 Ruba 6 Rula 5 Saeed -2 Samy 3 Shakira 6 Waleed 6 Wassim 18 24

35 4.1.2 Arabic Proficiency Test: Listening The same 31 students took both the pre-program and post-program listening section of the Arabic Proficiency Test. If µ d is the underlying average change in the result between the pre-program and post-program listening exam, then we can investigate the assumption that there is a significant statistical difference between the results of these two exams. Let: H o : µ d = 0 H a : µ d 0 The above can be tested using the statistic T where: T= d s d n where d and s d are the sample mean and standard deviation of the difference in the grade between the two exams, and n is the size of the sample. Substituting the values we obtained: d =5.516 s d =5.163 n = 31 We find that T= 5.95, which yields an observed level of significance (p) of 8.05*10-7. Therefore, there is strong evidence that there is a significant statistical change in the results of the pre-program and post-program listening exams, and the above null hypothesis is rejected. 25

36 Many students who did not achieve good progress in listening did not turn in their journals or turned in journals that were not complete and had very little information. However, based on the journals that were turned in (see Table 3), a few activities that might have helped the students improve in terms of listening ability included: Table 3: Students Journals and Listening Comprehension Skill Journals Referenced: Student Turned in Change in Watching Listening to Native Name a Journal Listening Grade Television Speakers Aaya 0 Ahmad -3 Ameera 4 Anas 13 Bader -2 Bassem 12 Bilal 7 Daoud 10 Eissa 4 Fatima 1 Habeeb 8 Haroun 9 Ibrahim 7 Jameela 14 Kareem -4 Khadija 5 Mahmood 10 Majd 3 Mohammad 7 Mustafa 1 Nabeel 10 Nadeem 11 Omar 7 Rana 6 Ruba 6 Rula -5 Saeed 14 Samy 4 Shakira 4 Waleed 1 Wassim 7 26

37 - Watching television with host family or native speaker: some of the students got into the habit of watching TV shows and news, and some of them also watched TV in cafes, especially during the World Cup soccer games, which provided a good opportunity for them to work on their listening and meet new people. - Listening to native speakers: some students took every opportunity to follow up on conversations carried out by native speakers while keeping a positive attitude and accepting the fact that it is unrealistic to understand every word, but made the most out of these listening exercises by trying to get the main ideas Arabic Proficiency Exam: Reading and Listening If µ d is the underlying average change in the result between the pre-program and post-program exam, then we can investigate the assumption that there is a significant statistical difference between the results of these two exams. Let: H o : µ d = 0 H a : µ d 0 The above can be tested using the statistic T where: T= d s d n where d and s d are the sample mean and standard deviation of the difference in the grade between the two exams, and n is the size of the sample. Substituting the values we obtained: d =9.968 s d =

38 n = 31 We find that T= 10.24, which yields an observed level of significance (p) of 1.31* Therefore, there is strong evidence that there is a significant statistical change in the results of the pre-program and post-program Arabic Proficiency exams, and the above null hypothesis is rejected. We notice from the data (Table 1) that the students who did well in reading did not necessarily do well in listening and vice versa. Different strategies used by different students could provide an explanation for this discrepancy as mentioned in the above sections. 4.2 SPEAKING There are 26 students who took both the pre-program and end-of-program speaking tests, and Table 4 presents the ACTFL level they achieved in their pre and post program OPI. If µ d is the underlying average change in the result between the pre-program and endof-program speaking tests, then we can investigate the assumption that there is a significant statistical difference between the results of these two tests. Let: H o : µ d = 0 H a : µ d 0 28

39 Table 4: Results of the Pre-Program and End-of-Program Speaking Tests Student Name Pre-Program OPI Post-Program OPI Changes (in steps) Aaya Ahmad Ameera Anas Bader Eissa Fatima Habeeb Haroun Hassan Jameela Kareem Khadija Mahmood Majd Mohammad Mustafa Nabeel Najib Omar Rana Ruba Rula Shakira Waleed Wassim The above hypothesis can be tested using the statistic T where: T= d s d n where d and s d are the sample mean and standard deviation of the difference in the grade between the two tests, and n is the size of the sample. Substituting the values we obtained: 29

40 d =2.346 s d =1.129 n = 26 We find that T= 10.59, which yields an observed level of significance (p) of 4.95* Therefore, there is strong evidence that there is a significant statistical change in the results of the pre-program and end-of-program speaking tests, and the above null hypothesis is rejected. Although the data and analysis above show that, on average, significant improvement occurred, different students attained different levels of improvement. Students journals show that the following attributes might have helped the students in improving their speaking skills (see Table 5): - Keeping a day-to-day journal: these students put in the most effort to keep their journal where they recorded all of their activities and tracked their daily speaking hours. - Discussing speaking goals: they wrote down their concerns with getting speaking hours in and made a daily/weekly list of goals on how to improve their speaking (which included trying to find different speaking partners.) - Accepting responsibility for learning: most of these students wrote in their journals at some point their realization that they are responsible for finding ways to improve their speaking abilities and that they are responsible to make the most out of their situation. 30

41 - Being able to get out of their comfort zone: these students took advantage of every single opportunity to practice speaking; they did not just rely on their host families or landlords; they approached people everywhere: taxi, bus, guided tours, shops; some even came up with strategies to start a conversation with strangers, such as walking up to someone and ask for directions or asking someone in a store where a certain product is. Generally this approach proved to be successful as the native speakers became curious as to how this student learned Arabic. Usually this would be the start of a good and fruitful conversation. - Staying in small groups: many of these students realized that being in a big group was not a good idea no matter who is in the group. If it is a group of American students, then the conversations would turn quickly to English; if it was a group of Arabs, then the student would get lost in the conversation, as the Arabic native speakers tend to get carried away in their conversations and forget about including the student. - Volunteering activities: some of these students volunteered to teach English at the Community Development Center where most people did not speak any English, so they had to speak Arabic in order to explain to their students some concepts of the English language or math. The center was a good source to meet new people and approach them. Another volunteering activity was helping out at church with interpreting during church-related activities. 31

42 Table 5: Students Journals and the Speaking Skill Student Name Turned in a Journal Change in OPI Rating Setting Goals Accepting Respon -sibility Journals Referenced: Getting Out of the Comfort Zone Staying in Small Groups Volunteering Activities Aaya 2 Ahmad 2 Ameera 2 Anas 2 Bader 1 Eissa 2 Fatima 2 Habeeb 3 Haroun 3 Hassan 2 Jameela 2 Kareem 3 Khadija 1 Mahmood 4 Majd 0 Mohammad 4 Mustafa 2 Nabeel 1 Najib 1 Omar 4 Rana 1 Ruba 2 Rula 1 Shakira 1 Waleed 2 Wassim 2 32

43 4.3 WRITING Political Writings Table 6 presents the students ratings according to the ACTFL guidelines for each political writing assignment (weekly assignments) that they turned in, in chronological order. Up to the eighth week, all students submitted all their political writing assignments. However, after that, some students missed some assignments. Figure 2 shows the change that occurred in the group: each point on the graph represents the group s average for that particular assignment. If µ d is the underlying average change in the result between the result of the 8 th week s assignment and the 1 st week, then we can investigate the assumption that there is a significant statistical difference between the results of the two weeks. Let: H o : µ d = 0 H a : µ d 0 The above can be tested using the statistic T where: d T= s d n where d and s d are the sample mean and standard deviation of the difference in the grade between the two weeks, and n is the size of the sample. Substituting the values we obtained: 33

44 Table 6: Students Ratings for Political Writing Assignments Student Name Weekly Political Writing Assignment Number Aaya Ahmad Ameera Anas Bader Fatima Habeeb Haroun Jameela Kareem Khadija Mahmood Majd Mohammad Mustafa Nabeel Omar Rana Ruba Rula Saeed Shakira Waleed Wassim d =0.958 s d =0.690 n = 24 We find that T= 6.80, which yields an observed level of significance (p) of 3.08*10-7. Therefore, there is strong evidence that there is a significant statistical change in the results of the 1 st and 8 th week, and the above null hypothesis is rejected. 34