Models of Community Educational Leadership - Essay Example

Community Education Leadership Project Number 1 Introduction………………………………………………………………………..…… 3 2 Models of Community Educational Leadership…………………………………….…. 5 2.1.1 Arabic Language Blog Model……………………………………………………..…. 5 2.1.2 Bilingual Monkeys Model…………………………………………………………… 5 2.1.3 Al Amal Program Model……………………………………………………..……… 6 2.1.4 Al Bayan School Model…………………………………………………………….... 6 2.1.5 Al Rashid School Model……………………………………………………………... 7 2.1.6 UNESCO’s We Love Reading Model……………………………………………….. 7 3.1 The Community Education Project…………………………………………………….. 9 3.1.1 Objectives of the Community Education Program………………………………..…. 9 3.1.1 Implementing Community Education Program…………………………………........ 12 4.1 Evaluating the Community Education Program……………………………………….. 18 5.1 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………... 20 6.1 References……………………………………………………………………………… 21 Introduction The benefits of understanding one’s heritage language can never be over emphasized. Moreover, it is noteworthy that learning a new language greatly aids in improvement of the individual’s ability for critical thought. In the last few years, the United States has witnessed thousands upon thousands of students arriving from Saudi Arabia fro higher education programs. Because, in a majority of the cases, the students come in with their families, knowledge of the heritage language remains essential. Students who come from Saudi Arabia, however, blend in and communicate in English as their heritage language becomes irrelevant as none of them use it hence. According to surveys, children of Saudi Arabian descent residing in the United States have little or no mastery of their language, with numerous linguists expressing concerns that in a short while, none of the students and children from Saudi Arabia will be able to write or read their heritage tongue as the influence of the English language continues to overwhelm the Arabic language (Abu–Rabia, 2002). This community education project is heavily influenced by this escalating loss of meaning of the Arabic language especially amongst the children (students) of Saudi Arabian descent living in the United States. Furthermore, research demonstrates the various importance of being bilingual. Being bilingual has been linked in a plethora of different exploits with positive intellectual growth and indeed superior critical and creative thinking capacities. Bilingual persons are also more sensitive to different languages and have listening potentials that are higher than their counterparts who only have an understanding of one language (Ayari, 1996). Bilingualism therefore considerably improves one’s communication skills across various contexts and cultures, thereby creating in such persons a healthy sensitivity towards diversity (Campbell & Christian, 2003). Children who are bilingual have the chance of better understanding other cultures of the world, and are consequently more appreciative of the cultures of other people. Apart from these, learning a different language increases one’s chances of gaining employment in various regions of the globe. Being bilingual in this scenario therefore becomes a great asset in the contemporary competitive world (Valdés, 2005). The Arabic language is a highly renowned and popular less commonly taught language (LCTL) in the United States and is fast metamorphosing into one of the most widely used languages world over. Realizing its importance, the UN has since recognized the Arabic language as one of its official languages. As it is, there is more likelihood and progress towards the Arabic language losing its LCTL status in the near future. With many university scholars currently pursuing careers in the language, its significance is yet set to soar, with a high probability that its study as a foreign language in the United States universities will certainly overtake those of other foreign tongues such as Spanish, French, Chinese, Japanese, German, and Italian. This project explores one of the innumerable approaches through which the study and mastery of the Arabic language can be mad possible in the communication and learning spheres of communities of the United States, and indeed in other parts of the globe. Models of Community Educational Leadership They include the Arabic language blog model, bilingual monkeys model, Al Amal program model, Al Bayan school model, Al Rashid school model, and UNESCO’s ‘We Love Reading’ Model. Arabic Language Blog model This model is basically a coming together of a wide and populous community of non-Arabic language speakers who learn the language via online platforms/ classes. The model has a key speaker, Mohammed, who doubles as its director. In his exploits, he tries to make easy certain basic information of the language of Arabic to the learners. He also uses YouTube to upload his recorded videos in which he delves into such things as pronunciation of various Arabic letters. He details the English language pronunciation of every letter in Arabic through his blogs so that learners gain an understanding of how these Arabic letters ought to be pronounced. Apart from this, Mohammed additionally participates in question-answer chats in which he answers questions from his students and posts his comments on them while also encouraging the learners to persevere and strive for their goals (Arabic Language Blog, 2015). In his blogs, there are featured several words and sentences in Arabic that are translated into the English language. Bilingual Monkeys Model The Bilingual Monkeys, just like the Arabic language blogs, is an online tool fro learning new languages. However, unlike the Arabic language blog which only focuses on Arabic, other languages are also taught in the Bilingual Monkeys website which was founded by a parent educator who has in the last two decades gained a lot of experience working with thousands of bilingual students. The Bilingual Monkeys has great strategies and offers support to parents who want to raise children who are bilingual. Apart from this, model also boasts several workshops and activities that are designed to specifically aid parents in helping their children to more effectively and step by step learn other languages. In addition, workable inspiration and ideas are availed to help in meeting this challenge with much success, and in a way that is more fun and less taxing to the young learners (Bilingual Monkeys, 2015). Al Amal Program Model The Al Amal Program model, on the other hand, focuses on pre-K-12 students who are Muslims in a learning atmosphere that is purely Islamic. This fulltime, non prophet and independent school has a curriculum that places extra emphasis on the Quran, the Sunnah, Islamic studies, with mastery of the Arabic language very important in the education system/ model. In this model, students are taught Arabic based on the requirements and potential of each student from pre-K school up to the high school level. Founded in 1994 by members of the community and parents, this model (school) was also aimed at providing for the children an alternative to public education. Initially, classes were conducted from the teachers’ homes as funds were gathered so that a larger venue could be secured. Presently, the school is located in a building that was previously an elementary school. Al Bayan School Model In this model, the school offers lessons on Arabic language, Quran and Islam during weekends (Saturdays) for both the adults and children. The program for adults teaches those adults who have no understanding of Arabic to speak, write and read Arabic while children who are between 7-8 years of age are taught on the Arabic language as well as on the Quran (Islamic studies). In this model, students are not only taught language, but also on every aspect of Islam including behavior and even the topics of Islam that are highly advanced. Al Rashid School Model Just as the previously discussed Al Bayan School, the Al Rashid School is also a Saturday school which offers basic teaching of Islam to children of ages 4 to 14. Located in San Diego, the Al Rashid School instructs on the Quran and the essential Arabic language. Because of the magnitude of the students who attend the school, the lessons are divided into two. One session takes place from 10 am to 1:30pm while the other occurs from 2pm to 5pm, same day. UNESCO’s ‘We Love Reading’ Model This is a Jordanian NGO which seeks to encourage, train and develop young people, children and women in different sectors of education like health, literacy and entrepreneurship, through its various programs. The model basically aims to elicit social change through reading and therefore alter the attitude of people into being more responsible members of the society. The We Love Reading (WLR) model, founded by Rana Dajani, has since grown into other Arab nations with its official language Arabic. The WLR views reading as a common societal value and a way of arriving at a common goal of mobilizing people into making change in the society. Apart from changing attitudes within the community and fostering a culture of reading, the program promotes a gradual and natural development of woman leadership in the society and introduces and maintains the idea of volunteerism in the young people of the communities the program has reached (Effective Literacy Programmes, 2015). The Community Education Project Objectives of the Community Education Program The main objective of the proposed community education program is to encourage and assist students and other members of the community in learning the Arabic language through programs that are not only easy but equally interactive and fun. The program seeks to mobilize the community in which it is implemented into using the Arabic language more so that the language moves from its LCTL status to the most popular foreign language in the United States. In addition, this project seeks to expand the employment opportunities of Arab students in the United States by ensuring they are proficient in the language that is widely spoken in the wordl so that they can gain employment not only in the United States but expand their opportunities to other parts of the globe. Pronunciation of words is very important when learning the Arabic language and so ensuring literacy/ competency on such will form another crucial objective in this proposed initiative for community education (Temples, 2013). For a student to effectively learn Arabic phrases and words, it is no doubt that they must be in a position to correctly pronounce such words. In endeavors to realize this goal, the program will utilize a common learning technique that has been successfully used by other previous teachers and students of the Arabic language. The Arabic language has a number of different letters that do not have equivalents in Latin or English, and this technique will help in efforts to better transliterate words in Arabic in Latin encoding so that pronunciation is best taught and mastered. For those letters that lack equivalents, the way of encoding Arabic letters in Latin called Arabizi/ Arabish will be handy. For electronic print, this involves using numerical in place of Arabic letters that are absent in the conventional keyboard to represent them, which is commonly confused by unknowing persons as typos. For instance, ‘Hello Ali, how are you?’ can be typed as ‘Mar7aba 3ali, keef 7alak?’ Other such examples of Arabic encoding that will be used when reading and transliterating Arabic include ‘3’ for “ع” (growling aaa) (a very rough “a” where the sound is produced in the throat), ‘7’ for “ﺡ” (strong sounding “hhha”) (a hard h), ‘6’ for “ط” (deep ta), ‘2’ for “ء” (frozen a), ‘kh’ for “خ” (strong kha), ‘th’ for “ث” (tha), ‘9’ for “ق” (deep ka), ‘gh’ for “غ”, and so on. The technique will thus utilize the list of common Arabizi encoding which will contain characters predominantly seen when reading and transliterating Arabic, therefore aiding the special department of pronunciation in a significant fashion (Temples, 2013). Furthermore, at the end of the school year, the program hopes that the students will have mastered at least 243 essential words in Arabic as well as their pronunciations. These 243 words are mother, father, brother, sister, uncle, aunt, cousin, house, bedroom, living room, bathroom, kitchen, basement, swimming pool, garden, mosque, playground, school, restaurant, museum, window, door, table, chair, desk, bed, hairdo, comb, perfume, face, eyes, nose, fingers, hair, eye brows, feet, hands, baby, I, you, he, she, it, her, his, them, read, write, draw, play, find, eat, drink, sleep, dream, happy, sad, angry, welcome, come, go, come back, pay, buy, t-shirt, pants, with, together, what, where, why, when, who, money, toy, dolly, car, airplane, train, ship, bus, taxi, napkin, menu, order, illness, hospital, doctor, nurse, police man, teacher, engineer, pilot, person,- inside, outside, of, food, fruit, vegetables, chicken, beef, rice, French fries, apple, orange, grapes, banana, fish, sea, earth, space, science, math, artist, watch, socks, shoes, dress, carpet, grand father, grandmother, son, daughter, food mixer, knife, spoon, fork, vacuum, glass, honey, sugar, popcorn, tomato, eggs, cake, juice, milk, cheese, beans, water, cotton, pen, pencil, paper, envelop, lunch, dinner, breakfast, bag, box, chocolate, basket, bicycle, fox, river, lake, falls, tree, sun, moon, sky, rabbit, horse, lamb, cow, cat, dog, puzzle, map, scissors, red, white, black, yellow, blue, grey, green, long, short, fat, thin, big, small, beautiful, ugly, expensive, cheap, Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December, spring, summer, fall, winter, yes, no, difficult, easy, talk, cry, smile, sit, stand, running, rid, king and queen. Other important Arab greetings, such as ‘alsalamalikom w rahmatallahe w barakath,’ which translated in English means ‘peace, mercy, and blessing of god,’ will form an important part of the language learning. At the end of the program, children should also be able read short stories that are narrated in picture format where the first story shall be a picture story describing a girl named Sarah. Sarah is a beautiful smart girl who goes to school every day. On one day she falls sick and her father takes her to the hospital. The doctor diagnoses her with high fever, and gives her medicine. The medication makes her feel tired, and she returns home and sleeps. In the second story, there are three friends; Sarah, Ahmed and Maryam. Sarah is a teacher, Ahmed an engineer and Maryam scientist. They help each other to provide the service for the motherland. In the third story, Faisal is a very smart boy. One day when he returns from school he finds a poor girl. He gives her money to help her. The girl is overjoyed and thanks him. Other important objectives of the program are to have all participating students attend 90% of the lectures and to teach students so that they are proficient in the five basic sentences of Arabic, can pronounce and spell (as elaborated in the implementation section that follows). Implementing the Community Education Program In this implementation, the first steps entail the selection of a staff coordinator and teachers, where I shall presumably be the staff coordinator. The staff coordinator is in charge of coordinating the entire program (schedules) and supervises the whole school. The model will be made up of six groups with each group composed of a maximum of 30 students. Each group will additionally have one teacher and one volunteer who can be a parent or a teacher of the Arabic language and has mastery in both spoken and written forms of the language. The whole program will thus be made up of 6 teachers and 6 volunteers. In this set-up, the coordinator, teachers and volunteers will come up with different strategies to improve the levels of Arabic language literacy in the participants (students). The best point to start with is definitely pronunciation. In the learning of Arabic language, pronunciation is as vital as learning to write and read the language is. Strategies that merely focus on the reading and writing aspects have been shown to result in a lot of problems withy the spoken word and also in the syllabic deletion tasks. Such students find it impossible to compete against good readers and their performances and scores on accuracy in various endeavors fall below the standards that are expected (Temples, 2013). When the syllabic tasks of these two groups are compared, children only taught to read and write encounter hardship from the syllables/ sounds/ phonemes. In addition to pronunciation, vocabulary building is critical. A strong vocabulary ought to be a basic feature of any student who is able to communicate in Arabic. A good vocabulary facilitates better communication within the community and will also help learners better meet the society’s expectations when they are better able to communicate with their parents who in most instances stick to their heritage Arabic language and rarely speak the second language. Spelling is also very important in this community education program. The spelling teaching sessions will most likely consume the most time compared to other sessions since Arabic spellings are very difficult and different from other languages. Yet at the end of the program, students need to be better placed tom spell the words in Arabic correctly. In as far as the difficulties and models of literacy that are there in the English language can also be found in other languages such as Arabic, literacy acquisition of Arabic is peculiar as it starts with the application of orthography (Amor & Riadh bed Maad, 2013). The transparent orthographies of the English language models are different compared to the language model of Arabic and so Arabic language students are faced with the need to be able to identify and know how to interpret and read pictures using the correct vocabularies. In this wavelength, a student gains fluency of the Arabic language when they are capable of applying vocabulary to identify various pictures. In addition, a student ought to know at least 500 words when they have come to terms with the ideas of learning the language. The words that should be basically known by the learners include their age, self representations, visions/ dreams/ ambitions, schools, hobbies, and where one lives (home). The coordinator, teachers and volunteers during the program must be able to demonstrate sound leadership during this endeavor in order that the vision is transformed into a reality (practicality). Wisdom and clarity of vision in all the leaders will prevent chances of conflicts of interest during the program implementation. Being a leader involves the development and nurturing of one’s passion, and adequate preparations to take on the tasks to come. Importantly still, these leaders must be in possession of certain academic qualifiers/ papers (at least a bachelor’s degree) in the Arabic language for the program to be successful instead of a mediocre and amateur venture (Wang et al, 2010). Experience in teaching the Arabic language can also play a vital roe when selecting teachers for the program or weeding out excess volunteers. Experience confirms the person’s ability to teach the language so that it does not boil down to crossing fingers and trial and error missions. An experienced teacher will better verify the grammar and involve students in positive learning activities. A teacher should be able top encourage the students to see the importance of learning the language, while establishing professional standards (Atkisnson, 2011). The climate of the learning location will be very important. The environment of the class should be able to promote and accommodate high standards and performances of the learners as well as teachers. The environment affects the quality of the process of learning. Equally, good attention from teachers enable the students (who are known to be consistently attention sensitive) to feel confident and develop a love for the language. Studies continue to irrevocably emphasize the importance of safe and positive school climates in student performances (Wang et al, 2010). It is the duty of the teachers and volunteers, therefore, to strive to create a productive environment both within and outside classrooms using activities that are enjoyable so that learners develop a confidence and love for the language. In the end, students become freer to use the language taught in such positive environments with their staff, teachers, friends and peers. Learning a new language especially at a young age requires a multipronged approach. This approach will undeniably require the co-operation of the community and parents of the students. This community education program should not be treated as a separate entity because it can only attain great success when all stakeholders (school board, parents and the community) are involved (Wang et al, 2010). The program team thus ought to rally the community by encouraging them to use the Arabic language in their communications with the students which will further the comprehension levels and vocabulary of the students. No one is an island of information and the community’s participation therefore promotes a consistent learning experience, encourages learning and expands the knowledge base of the whole community. Students interact most with their parents, however, and as such, communication (in Arabic) between the students and parents will help build their power in the language. Another useful strategy is education entertainment to improve proficiency, such as through distribution of Arabic language cartoons, music and movies to enable the language stick in the minds of the young ones (Al-Sobh, Abu-Melhim, & Bani-Hani, 2015). The performance of individual students will determine the success of the community education program. The teachers should ensure they give clear instructions. However, students are generally different and it is the responsibility of the teacher to sensitively accommodate both slow and fast learners. Moreover, a teacher should preferably utilize different models of education since students portray different emotional, physical and educational needs. Every unique student instance must thus be treated with utmost care and attention. In this line, relevant instructions for reading need to be given to individual learners alongside appropriate learning activities so that individual love and strife for the language is developed (Elbeheri et al, 2011). Consistent communication between parents and teachers is essential and provides an avenue for the teacher to update the parents/ guardians on the development and circumstances of the particular child. The parents are hence advised by the teacher on how best to aid the children’s performances. A library is also very important in this program of community education so we shall have an assemblage of various educative books that the students will be able to borrow at will to aid in their learning process. Through this initiative, the students will be able to share with their parents, information regarding their study of the Arabic language. The program will also encourage the parents to find time to read the books with their children and watch Arabic programs with them to further enhance their command in the language. Keeping in mind the reasoning previously highlighted, the teaching program, therefore, will also include learning letters and numbers, learning 10 (souras) from the Quran and learning to pronounce, spell and read at least 300 words during the period of 36 Saturdays which will encompass one school year. The learners will be able to read at least two short stories by identifying pictures in the books using correct vocabulary for the pictures for up to at least 300 words per program (school year). The students should be able to know five basic sentences cite words such as my name is…, I live in…with…, good morning, good evening, good night, thank you, you are welcome, and so on. The students, staff and teachers must constantly use the phrases in their communication so that they stick in the minds of the learners. They should also be able to pronounce and spell up to 184 words by first beginning to learn how to write the sound of two letter words (which would be 84 words) in different ways, then secondly, 100 words which contain three letters, for example, sky, sun, cow, sit and win (Elbeheri et al, 2011). Families will be informed about the new program through e-mails using the Saudis club and the parents will be allowed the chance to register their children up to 10 days before the opening of the school and its learning program. A contract will be written between the contract coordinator and the parents where the coordinator will promise quality, completion of the schedule, and constant communication with the parents on student affairs, while the parents, on the other hand, will promise regular attendance of their children and give written notification in cases of absenteeism. A 90% participation attendance will nonetheless be required of each student during the school year. The community education program will be located at the al Faroqe mosque. There are three available rooms at the mosque (two rooms located in the second floor of the mosque and one on the first floor) yet there will be 6 groups. This will therefore necessitate two separate sessions during the day. Each session will serve three groups in the three different rooms. Each room will have a maximum of 30 students (although the distribution will be evenly spread throughout the groups depending on the number registered), one teacher and one volunteer. The morning sessions will take place from 9am to 1pm and the afternoon sessions for the remaining three groups will occur from 2pm to 6pm. The first one hour will be spent reviewing the work of the previous lessons and the rest for covering the week’s agenda. A 10 minute break is allowed upon expiry of the first hour, and on resumption, the next 50 minutes are used in story reading. Then another 10 minute break is followed by a 50 minute session of writing words. After a 15 minute break, the last 45 minutes will be spent in the library with volunteers who help them in reading (probably in groups). The first Saturday of the school year will however be spent introducing students to one another, to the teaching staff, and division into groups. These introductions will ease tensions/ fear and create good cohesion among the learners with each other and with their teachers. This time can also be spent educating the children on the importance of their venture of learning their heritage language and reassuring them of how fun the process will be. Learning will then commence the following week. Evaluating the Community Education Program Evaluation is a very important aspect of the community education program that enables the stakeholders to get a clear picture of what and how well the students are learning. Through such assessments, it will be determined whether or not the program is realizing its goals/ objectives. The purpose (use) of the evaluation will be to promote the values of Arabic language education, enhance the instruction quality, strengthen the teachers’ statuses, and to find new/ better ways of utilizing the available lesson hours. This will ensure that the students’ opportunities to learn are evaluated, continued improvement or change is realized, program structures that enable high quality are instituted and to verify/ ensure that teachers are knowledgeable and skilled enough to meet the standards required of an Arabic language teacher (Allen, 2007). Both formative and summative forms of evaluation shall be applied in the evaluation process of the education program implemented above. In formative assessment there will be observation, recording and documentation of what the children know and do and when and ho they do it. This will entail a number of data collection techniques such as observations, work collections, interviews and written records, with the results obtained used to improve strategies of training, modify the curriculum, an develop positive environments for learning. Through progress monitoring and standards based observations, the progress of each student is noted and feedback given to the learner in various sustained ways (Formative Assessment Guidebook, 2015). In summative assessment, student learning is evaluated following an instructional unit or period then compared against a benchmark (standard) (Summative Assessment Definition, 2013). Children will be required to submit weekly reports based on weekly quizzes and assignments. These regular assignments, exams and projects build the knowledge base of the children. Midterm tests and final exams will indicate the proficiency learners have acquired as a result of the community education program. These help teachers identify the strengths and weaknesses of the students with a view of improving them even further. Conclusion It is notable that the Arabic language, in the United States, is fading away (due to assimilation), even though it is widely used across other parts of the world. Arab families barely speak Arabic once they are in the United States, and this trend has greatly jeopardized the language (Wiley, 2007). The proposed community education program offers a glimpse of hope in salvaging the language from total annihilation in the nation. The initiative will also make the language popular in the United States when different communities begin to embrace it. The program focuses on children since early literacy (writing and reading) and language development start at the first years of life and is closely associated with the early experiences of a child with stories and books. Interactions of children with such materials as books, crayons and pictures and with adults form the foundation blocks for the development of language, writing and reading skills. Research indicates that early infancy experience and interactions aids in mastery of written and spoken aspects of language (and a significant chunk of language is learnt before children reach school age). This informs the program’s need to start this education process as early as possible in the lives of children (Child Development, 2015). References Abu–Rabia, S. (2002). Reading in a root–based–morphology language: the case of Arabic. Journal of Research in Reading, 25(3), 299-309. Allen, R. (2007). Arabic - flavor of the moment: Whence, why, and how? Modern Language Journal, 91(2), 258-261. Al-Sobh, M. A., Abu-Melhim, A-R.,& Bani-Hani, N. A. (2015). Diglossia as a Result of Language Variation in Arabic: Possible Solutions in Light of Language Planning. Journal of Language Teaching and Research, 6 (2), 274-279.Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.17507/jltr.0602.05 Amor, M. & Riadh bed Maad, M. (2013). The role of Arabic Orthographic literacy in the phonological awareness of Tunisian children.International Journal on New Trends in Education and Their Implications, 4(2), 15-24. Retrieved from http://www.ijonte.org/FileUpload/ks63207/File/02.amor.pdf Arabic Language Blog. (n.d.). Retrieved July 8, 2015, from http://blogs.transparent.com/arabic/common-arabic-words-and-sentences-part-i- transliteration/ Atkisnson, B. (2011). Alternative approaches to second language acquisition. New York, NY: Routledge. Ayari, S. (1996).Diglossia and illiteracy in the Arab world.Language, Culture and Curriculum, 9(3), 243-253. Beller, M. (2013). Assessment and Evaluation of the Israel Education System. Retrieved July 8, 2015, from https://www.google.com.sa/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CC MQFjAA&url=http://meyda.education.gov.il/files/Rama/Assessment_and_Evaluation_of _the_Israeli_education_system_f.ppt&ei=JPCVVZGCPMiu7Aa1l7CQAw&usg=AFQjC NEnaKh5bjWvu-F-kEb Bennis, W. (n.d.). Leadership is the capacity to translate vision into reality. BrainyQuote.com. Retrieved from http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/w/warrenbenn121713.html Bilingual Monkeys. (2015). Retrieved July 8, 2015, from http://bilingualmonkeys.com/ Campbell, R., & Christian, D. (2003). Directions in research: Intergenerational transmission of heritage languages. Heritage Languages Journal, 1(1), 1-44. Carreira, M. (2004). Seeking explanatory adequacy: a dual approach to understanding the term "heritage language learner". Heritage Languages Journal, 2(1), 1-24. Carreira, M., & Kagan, O. (2011). The results of the National Heritage Language Survey: Implications for teaching, curriculum design, and professional development. Foreign Language Annals, 44(1), 40-64. Child Development. (2015). Retrieved July 8, 2015, from http://www.zerotothree.org/child- development/early-language-literacy/earlyliteracy2pagehandout.pdf Effective Literacy Programmes › Programmes › Region or Country › Arab States. (2014, June 5). Retrieved July 8, 2015, from http://www.unesco.org/uil/litbase/?menu=12&programme=162 Elbeheri, G., Everatt, J., Mohfoudhi, A., Abu Al-Diyar, M., & Taibah, N. (2011). Orthographic Processing and Reading Comprehension Among Arabic Speaking Mainstream and LD Children. Dyslexia, 17(2), 123-142. Fishman, J. A. (2001). 300-plus years of heritage language education in the United States. In J. K. Peyton, D. A. Ranard & S. McGinnis (Eds.), Heritage languages in America: Preserving a national resource (pp. 81-97). McHenry, IL: Center for Applied Linguistics and Delta Systems. Formative Assessment Guidebook. (n.d.). Retrieved July 8, 2015, from http://www.ocmboces.org/tfiles/folder890/Formative Assessment Guidebook.pdf Furman, N., Goldberg, D., & Lusin, N. (2010). Enrollments in languages other than English in United States institutions of higher education, Fall 2009 (pp. 1-41). New York: Modern Language Association of America. Grabe, W. (2009). Reading in a second language: Moving from theory to practice. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Greer, M., & Johnson, D. (2009).National survey of schools teaching Arabic as a core course. Paper presented at the ACTFL 2009, Washington, DC. Retrieved from http://www.arabick12.org/schools/Arabic%20K-12%20Survey%20Presentation-ACTFL09.pdf Hashem-Aramouni, E. (2011).The impact of DIGLOSSIA on Arabic language instruction in higher education: Attitudes and experiences of the students and instructors in the U.S. Retrieved from http://www.csus.edu/coe/academics/doctorate/research/dissertations/cohort-2/assets/hashem-aramouni-eva-impact-diglossia-arabic.pdf He, A. W. (2010). The heart of heritage: Socio-cultural dimensions of heritage language learning. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 30, 66-82. Heritages Languages in America: Profiles: Details. (2013). Retrieved July 8, 2015, from http://webapp.cal.org/Heritage/ProfileDetails.aspx?id=965 Husseinali, G. (2006). Who is studying Arabic and why? A survey of Arabic students orientations at a major university.Foreign Language Annals, 39(3), 395-412. Ibrahim, Z., & Allam, J. (2006). Arabic learners and heritage students redefined: Present and future. In K. Wahba, Z. Taha & L. England (Eds.), Handbook for Arabic Language Teaching Professionals in the 21st Century (pp. 437-446). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. Lee, J. S. (2005). Through the learners eyes: Re-conceptualizing the heritage and non-heritage learner of the less-commonly taught languages. Foreign Language Annals, 38(4), 554-567. Montrul, S. (2010). Current issues in heritage language acquisition. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 30, 3-23. Perfetti, C., Landi, N., & Oakhill, J. (2005). The acquisition of reading comprehension skill. In M. J. Snowling & C. Hulme (Eds.), The science of reading: A handbook (pp. 227–247). Oxford: Blackwell. Rhodes, N., & Pufahl, I. (2010). Foreign language teaching in U.S. schools: Results of a national survey (Executive Summary) Washington, DC: Center for Applied Linguistics. Ricento, T. (2005). Problems with the ‘language as resource’discourse in the promotion of heritage languages in the USA.Journal of Sociolinguistics, 9(3), 348-368. Ryding, K. (1991). Proficiency despite diglossia: A new approach for Arabic. Modern Language Journal, 75(2), 212-218. Ryding, K. (2006). Teaching Arabic in the United States. In K. Wahba, Z. Taha & L. England (Eds.), Handbook for Arabic Language Teaching Professionals in the 21st Century (pp. 13-20). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. Saiegh-Haddad, E.‏ R. & Joshi, M.‏ (2014). Handbook of Arabic Literacy: Insights and Perspectives. New York, NY: Spinger. Summative Assessment Definition. (2013, July 25). Retrieved July 8, 2015, from http://edglossary.org/summative-assessment/ Temples, A. L. (2013). Constructing Arabic as Heritage: Investment in Language, Literacy, and Identity among Young U.S. Learners. Dissertation, Georgia State University. Retrieved from http://scholarworks.gsu.edu/alesl_diss/25 Valdés, G. (2001). Heritage language students: Profiles and possibilities. In J. K. Peyton, D. A. Ranard & S. McGinnis (Eds.), Heritage languages in America: Preserving a national resource (pp. 37-77). McHenry, IL: Center for Applied Linguistics and Delta Systems. Valdés, G. (2005). Bilingualism, heritage language learners, and SLA research: Opportunities lost or seized? Modern Language Journal, 89(3), 410-426. Van Deusen-Scholl, N. (2003). Toward a definition of heritage language: Sociopolitical and pedagogical considerations. Journal of Language, Identity & Education, 2(3), 211-230. Van Deusen-Scholl, N. (2011). Rethinking heritage language acquisition in the context of dynamic systems theory. Paper presented at the American Association of Applied Linguistics, Chicago, IL. Wang, S. C., Jackson, F. H., Mana, M., Liau, R., & Evans, B. (2010). Resource guide to developing linguistic and cultural competency in the United States.College Park, MD: National Foreign Language Center at the University of Maryland. Wiley, T. G. (2007).Heritage and Community Languages in the National Language Debate.Modern Language Journal, 91(2), 252-255. Read More