Home page
ع
Resources for Current Students, Faculty and Staff
Webmail Directory Catalog Banner Canvas Moodle
Primary Navigation Background
Quick Links / AUC Directory, Faculty Directory
Woman with a red book behind her reading Teaching Arabic as a Foreign Language
  1. NEWS
  2. Teaching Arabic as a Foreign Language: Dalal Abo El Seoud

Teaching Arabic as a Foreign Language: Dalal Abo El Seoud

Honey ElMoghazi February 21, 2024
Arts and Culture

Effective methods of teaching Arabic as a foreign language (TAFL) incorporate both communication and creativity to address the complexities of the Arabic language. Exploring this topic, Dalal Abo El Seoud, senior instructor II in the Department of Arabic Language Instruction, most recently edited the newly released book, Challenges in Teaching Arabic as a Foreign Language (AUC Press, 2024), which brings together the expertise of 18 TAFL professionals.

We spoke with Abou El Seoud to learn more about the challenges that TAFL instructors and students face, her motivation for editing the book and what she hopes readers will take away from it. 

1. What are the common challenges that non-native speakers of Arabic face when studying the language?

Students studying the Arabic language face several difficulties, including pronunciation and the Arabic script itself, which differs significantly from the Roman alphabet. The complexity of Arabic grammar, vast vocabulary, and reading comprehension can be daunting. In addition, Diglossia, the coexistence of Modern Standard Arabic and regional dialects, can create communication difficulties. Understanding the cultural and historical context linked to Arabic can also be time consuming.  

 

2. What do you believe motivates non-Arabic speakers to learn the language?

Some are motivated by cultural interest, seeking to understand the rich tapestry of Arabic culture. Others are compelled by religious reasons, with many Muslims worldwide studying it for a more profound connection to their faith. Some are also drawn to it for professional and academic opportunities –– whether travel, communication, humanitarian efforts or personal relationships.

 

3.What is the best way to teach Arabic to non-native speakers?

The ideal teaching approach should be eclectic and student-centered, creating an enjoyable learning environment through interactive games and engaging activities. It should focus on clear learning outcomes for each lesson and put together multiple assessment measures to ensure student comprehension and progress. 

 

4. What motivated you to edit Challenges in Teaching Arabic as a Foreign Language?  

My profound passion for the Arabic language and strong desire to share its beauty and significance with others. I want to create a valuable resource that fills a noticeable gap in the existing TAFL literature. By offering practical insights and guidance, I hope to not only contribute to the field of language education but also promote cross-cultural understanding. 

 

5. What was the most challenging part?

Ensuring grammar and style consistency, preserving the author’s voice, handling citations, managing deadlines and providing constructive feedback to authors.

 

6. What’s the most valuable benefit you gained from editing this book?

This experience has not only deepened my knowledge but also expanded my professional network. I derived benefit and inspiration from each and every chapter. Whether it was insights into educational methods, discussions on cultural sensitivity, examinations of emerging trends or nuanced approaches to assessments, every chapter offered valuable perspectives that deepened my appreciation of the subject matter. It was truly a holistic journey of learning, and the synergy of all these facets within the book left a profound impact on me. 

 

7. What can readers expect to gain from the book?

The book can highlight some of the challenges that teachers face when teaching Arabic as a second language and offer practical solutions and effective strategies to address them. It can provide insights into instructional techniques, materials, and activities that have proven successful in Arabic language classrooms. It can also inspire further research and academic advancement in understanding the challenges and effective practices in teaching Arabic. In addition to that, researchers and scholars can benefit from the book as a resource for literature reviews, theoretical frameworks, and ideas for future research directions.

 

8. What about the instructors featured in the book?

All of them have extensive experience in teaching students of Arabic as a foreign language over an extended period. Their collective wisdom and years of dedicated teaching have equipped them with a profound understanding of the challenges and nuances that non-native students encounter. Their longstanding commitment to the field makes their contributions to this book particularly insightful. 

 

9. What advice would you give other TAFL instructors and teachers-in-training?

Opting for continuous engagement in ongoing research and new teaching methodologies to implement in the classroom, as well as being proactive in creating diversified assessment techniques that would provide students with hands-on learning experiences. This commitment to staying abreast of the latest educational advancements not only maintains their teaching dynamic but also enriches the educational journey of their students. 

Related stories

book cover

Visual Voices

“I always insist on the collective because this is how you change history,” says Bahia Shehab (MA ’09), professor of practice in the Department of the Arts and co-editor of Revealing, Recording, Reflecting: Graphic Women from Southwest Asia and North Africa (SWANA), the first publication of its kind to document the work and legacy of contemporary women designers.“This landmark book is about the ‘us’ of women,” says Shehab, who founded AUC’s graphic design program in 2011. ‘When people hold the book, I want them to recognize women’s voices in the Arab world. They are beautiful, they are colorful and they are varied. And they’re not limited to the geography of the Arab world. We are everywhere.”Full of vibrant images, the book emerged from a collaborative initiative aimed at documenting and celebrating the contributions of SWANA women in the field of design. It all started when four women graphic designers from different institutions — Shehab from AUC in Egypt, Huda Smitshuijzen AbiFarès from Khatt Foundation in the Netherlands, Yasmine Nachabe Taan from the Lebanese American University in Lebanon and Soukeina Hachem from Shape interior design studio in Morocco — decided to research and showcase the work of Arab women designers. “We are four women from various parts of the region who came together to reflect, collect and reveal stories of Arab women designers,” says Shehab. Not only were they tapping into an undocumented frontier, but their research process was atypical. “The normal route usually involves archives and a lot of reading,” explained Shehab. “But for this book, we decided to do something else: We opened up our research to a bigger community. So we were four curators, not authors. The idea is that it is a collective story of over 80 Arab women graphic designers that we are telling together, so there isn’t a single authority or voice.”The first step for the co-editors was to focus on themes, the types of stories they want to tell. For Shehab, the choice was clear. “I love everything about Arabic design — its calligraphy, letters and typography — so I chose to work on Ladies of Letters: women who are as passionate about Arabic letters as I am. Each of us worked on a topic that she felt eager to explore in-depth.” The book explores themes of Visual Storytelling by Women, Engaged Image-Making for Social and Political Commentary, Ladies of Letters (connecting generations of women writers and designers) and Navigating Diasporic Identities. Focusing on the work and impact of Arab women graphic designers, illustrators, calligraphers and typographers, the book includes critical writing, testimonials, primary documents and artwork. The co-editors proposed the project online, collecting reflections on the different themes through Zoom panels and collaboration with a cultural space in Berlin, Germany for people to share their insights and recommend women in the field who can be featured in the book. “That physical space became our living research space, with sticky notes, observations, posters and new books. It was the first time for us to experiment with collective crowd-sourced research, and it was an enriching experience,” Shehab says.Questionnaires were then sent out to women graphic designers, asking them to tell their own stories. “In the book, we are not reflecting on how they feel or assuming the meaning of their work. They are choosing what stories they want to tell — in their own words,” affirmed Shehab. 
Arts and Culture
leila saad

Stage of a Lifetime

The year was 1964 when alumna Leila Saad, soon to be Miss Egypt, first fell in love with theatre and launched an acting career that has lasted 61 years (and counting) A tall wooden door guards the Heliopolis apartment where, on a Saturday afternoon, Leila Saad ’66 checks emails on her iPad and prepares for a day of work. Amid the funky statues, potted plants and fairy lights that furnish her apartment, Saad fills the space with a smile, her white hair and pixie cut accentuating her vibrant energy. She insists on coffee — for her, karkade — and an hourlong chat before beginning the interview.Donning black leggings, a colorful blouse and a cross necklace alluding to her Coptic roots, Saad is adamant that she would never leave Heliopolis as she gives us a tour of her old Cairo home. “God will take care of the destination and the rest,” insists Saad, relying on her faith in the present as she has during much of her eventful life.The octogenarian’s career is going strong — she has an acting job later today, and she recently wrapped up a project she directed for AUC, The Importance of Being Earnest.Church bells ring in the vicinity as she takes a seat on her balcony, a private garden filled with greenery. The first question — “Who is Leila Saad?” — prompts the actress to spring to life, her voice heavy and animated with conviction: “Leila Saad is an 88-year-old who is passionate about theatre and has been on a journey doing theatre for 61 years, since she was cast in a 1964 AUC rendition of Oklahoma in Ewart Memorial Hall.” She laughs that her first role caused three music directors to quit after Bob Harper, the casting director, insisted that she sing in the play (“I can’t sing,” says Saad). Thus began a love for theatre, which has since colored every aspect of Saad’s life. A New Life in North AmericaSoon after Oklahoma, Saad opened up a cafeteria called Greedee’s in the basement of the newly acquired Greek Campus, where she started meeting with AUC’s theatre group: “There was no theatre department at the time, but there was something called the Maskers Club,” she reminisces. “I have the best memories with them.”Saad was majoring in English literature at first, but following Harper’s guidance, she soon received a full scholarship to study theatre at the University of Southern California (USC) — an offer she couldn’t refuse. She knew then she had to follow her dreams, even though she was sad to leave AUC in 1966.“I was scared and nervous and hesitant, but I went. I took my suitcase and $11 because during Nasser’s rule, we were only allowed 5 Egyptian pounds (equivalent to $11 at the time),” says Saad. “I didn’t know anybody except a friend of mine whom I knew from Cairo and who happened to be studying television and film, and we lived together as roommates.”Saad’s journey in the United States was one that spanned decades: She loved USC but disliked California, so she moved to Oregon, where she joined a graduate program in the theatre department and Middle East Studies Center at Portland State University. After a few years, Saad relocated again. “I was thriving in Portland, but it was time to move to the East Coast where there was more opportunity in theatre,” Saad says. She worked at Boston University (BU) and joined a professional theatre company in the city, where she remained for 25 years. 
Arts and Culture
an old man hands

The Secret to a Long Life

With less than 1,400 cases of supercentenarians in history, the exceedingly rare occurrence of living past 110 is a sought-after phenomenon in the research on human longevity. However, Sungsoo Chun, professor at AUC’s Institute of Global Health and Human Ecology, points out that the experimental methods used to research each case differs, with each country’s experts typically studying their supercentenarians independently. This creates problems when comparing results, making it difficult to generalize or draw scientific conclusions that apply beyond each individual case. “We need to collectivize existing and future studies to find the secret behind extreme longevity,” Chun says.To do this, Chun started a cohort study network composed of international subject matter experts. This method pools together existing data on supercentenarians while the network designs a protocol to standardize future research in this area of study. The protocol, which will determine the specific cohort design and data points to be collected in future studies, will connect all research on supercentenarians, allowing longevity researchers to work together. “Without the collaboration of global experts, it’s impossible,” says Chun. The Global Supercentenarian Cohort Network Study conference, which was hosted at AUC in May 2025, brought researchers one step closer to finalizing a protocol. “Two years ago, we set up the network with 42 study panel members from around the world, and they all shared their insights. Accordingly, we developed a draft of the protocol,” he says. “This conference was one of the final stages to global experts reaching a consensus.” 
Science and Tech
Share