King Salman Global Academy Bolsters Arabic Education with Month-long Initiative in India

Arabic Language Month in India that took place in New Delhi and Kerala at King Salman Global Academy for Arabic Language, KSGAAL, ended with scientific programs and events in the last month of July. Consistent with this initiative, this study proposed to collaborate with educational organizations in India and improve Arabic language curricula, teachers’ performance, and the language value in India.

Activities consisted of travelling and interactions with Jawaharlal Nehru University, Kerala University and other Arabic offering universities in India and Arabic teaching associations. The event also involved a tour to the Saudi Embassy in New Delhi.

Special activities of the month long event were the panel discussions on assessing the Arabic teachers for those who do not speak Arabic, effective use of technology in education, effective designing of modern teaching programs, and miscellaneous issues associated with Arabic as a foreign language teaching and learning. In order to promote scientific research related to teaching Arabic to non-speakers, a scientific symposium was conducted which included themes which focused on Saudi Arabia’s attempt to introduce Arabic as a foreign language for the learners who have no prior knowledge of Arabic as the second language education in India, bilingualism, and some of the problems encountered while teaching Arabic to learners who do not have any prior knowledge of the language.

The event also made available 4 courses to enhance the teaching ability of Arabic teachers, to the non-speakers, that comprises state of the art methods from teaching. In the same vein, four courses were developed for the learners these comprising of reading skill and listening skill, specifically designed for those who have non-native proficiency in Arabic.

According to Abdullah Al-Washmi, secretary-general of the academy, the event helped achieve the academy’s goal due to the presentation of its activities dedicated to the teaching of Arabic to the foreigners as well as promoting the work of the Kingdom in the sphere of Arabic language dissemination. He said that such practice has been done earlier during the academies in Brazil, Uzbekistan, Indonesia and China.

Al-Washmi further continued to say that, through the Arabic Language Month in India, it was possible to emphasize the academy’s important position as well as in provid- ing major support and cooperation for the projects on Arabic for non-native speakers and in enhancing the collaboration with the other bodies for the Arabic language teaching in countries other than Saudi Arabia.