Developing communicative competence in spoken Arabic: A survey of Korean university students

Abstract

This study aims to examine the communicative Arabic teaching methods currently used in Korean universities that extend beyond MSA to promote learner understanding and awareness of colloquial Arabic dialects. Arabic is characterized by a diglossic linguistic situation, which means that it consists of both diverse colloquial dialects used in different regions and social classes, and the written standard of Modern Standard Arabic. Recent trends in the field of language education have been moving toward a communicative approach to instruction. Since both MSA and spoken Arabic are important language variants that cannot be ignored, university curricula should integrate both variants into language courses. In the spoken Arabic education awareness survey conducted in the present study, the majority of the respondents answered that they wanted to increase the number of spoken Arabic classes offered at their university. Concerning colloquial Arabic, the majority also answered that they preferred the Egyptian dialect, followed by the Gulf and Levantine dialects. In terms of the timing of colloquial Arabic instruction, most respondents answered that they thought it should start in third year or in second year at university. It is also important to develop textbooks and other teaching and learning materials to aid the efficient instruction of spoken Arabic, which will give students the communicative skills necessary to be effective and competent communicators regardless of where they travel, study, or work in the Arab world.