New Book Offers Innovative Curriculum for Teaching Modern Standard Arabic

Kalima wa Nagham A Textbook for Teaching Arabic also features a free audio component

Press Release

NYU Abu Dhabi (NYUAD) Senior Lecturer of Arabic Nasser Isleem has published the third volume of his book Kalima wa Nagham A Textbook for Teaching Arabic. Co-authored by Associate Professor and Director of Asian Studies at the College of Charleston Ghazi Abuhakema, this book uniquely and simultaneously introduces Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) and the salient aspects of Educated Spoken Arabic (ESA).

Aimed at students whose Arabic proficiency level is at least intermediate to high, according to American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL's) rating scale, this book features an audio and video component, available here. Students who complete the book will be able to develop important language skills–listening, speaking, reading, writing, and expressing deep cultural knowledge–and reach the advanced high proficiency level by the end of the book.

Kalima wa Nagham employs a threaded story that introduces language concepts along with music to enhance vocabulary retention and recall. At the core of the textbook are written and oral texts that present examples of Arabic grammatical concepts and important cultural aspects, as well as related vocabulary. These are supplemented by drills and activities that can be used in a classroom setting or pursued individually. The book is available for purchase on Amazon and the NYUAD bookstore.

 

 

“Kalima wa Nagham is intended to be a comprehensive model for developing teaching materials for teaching Arabic as a Foreign Language where learners' needs and expectations are met, and, at the same time, where language as  a dynamic entity is adequately examined and presented."

NYUAD Senior Lecturer of Arabic Nasser Isleem

About NYU Abu Dhabi

NYU Abu Dhabi is the first comprehensive liberal arts and research campus in the Middle East to be operated abroad by a major American research university. NYU Abu Dhabi has integrated a highly selective undergraduate curriculum across the disciplines with a world center for advanced research and scholarship. The university enables its students in the sciences, engineering, social sciences, humanities, and arts to succeed in an increasingly interdependent world and advance cooperation and progress on humanity’s shared challenges. NYU Abu Dhabi’s high-achieving students have come from over 115 countries and speak over 115 languages. Together, NYU's campuses in New York, Abu Dhabi, and Shanghai form the backbone of a unique global university, giving faculty and students opportunities to experience varied learning environments and immersion in other cultures at one or more of the numerous study-abroad sites NYU maintains on six continents.