Jennifer Escobedo

Teaching & Learning 339

Arabic Reading Guide

1. What challenges, if any, do Arabic-speaking ELLs face?

English is written and read from left to right but Arabic is written and read right to left
which proposes a serious challenge for Arabic-speaking ELLs because not only will they
be learning a whole new language but they have to learn an opposite structure for writing
and reading. Another challenge for Arabic-speaking ELL students is the transfer of their
first language skills to their second language, sentence structure, and sounds of certain
English letters.

1. What are Arabic-speaking ELLs needs?

Something that Arabic-speaking ELLs could benefit from is speaking Arabic in the home
as well as in school in order to help the transfer process from their first and second
language. They also need authentic texts to be able to relate to the content they are
learning.

1. What can facilitate the learning of Arabic-speaking ELL students in the classroom?
To make learning easier for Arabic-speaking students teacher must have Arabic cultural
awareness and allow the students to use their first language in the classroom in order to
improve their second language. Teacher must also give the students adequate time and
feedback when doing classroom work.

1. What problems may their EL teachers face in supporting these students in the
classroom?
There are disagreeing parties that believe allowing Arabic-speaking students, as well as
all ELL students, to speak their fist language in the classroom does not work. Therefore
there may be disagreements among staff, but studies show allowing students to speak
their native language in the context of learning truly helps them with their second
language. Another problem teachers may face is not being able to give their Arabic-
speaking student enough support in the classroom. Arabic-speaking students struggle
with English vocabulary and transferring their first language in order to better their
English vocabulary, so if the teacher doesn't know Arabic, which is the case for most
American ELL teachers, then that student will struggle grasping English vocabulary
without being able to make the connections with Arabic vocabulary. EL teachers may also
be unaware of cultural norms Arabic students have and may offend them.