This book presents theoretical and methodical cultural concerns in teaching literatures from non-American cultures along with issues of cross-cultural communication, cultural competency and translation. Covering topics such as the 1001 Nights, Maqamat, Arabic poetry, women’s writing, classical poetics, issues of gender, race, and class, North African concerns, language acquisition through literature, Arab-spring writing, women’s correspondence, issues connected with the so called nahdah (revival) movement in the 19th century and many others, the book provides perspectives and topics that serve in both the planning of new courses and accommodation to already existing programs.

Understanding the complexities of Arab politics, history, and culture has never been more important for North American readers. Yet even as Arabic literature is increasingly being translated into English, the modern Arabic literary tradition is still often treated as other--controversial, dangerous, difficult, esoteric, or exotic. This volume examines modern Arabic literature in context and introduces creative teaching methods that reveal the literature's richness, relevance, and power to anglophone students. Addressing the complications of translation head on, the volume interweaves such important issues such as gender, the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, and the status of Arabic literature in world literature. Essays cover writers from the recent past, like Emile Habiby and Tayeb Salih; contemporary Palestinian, Egyptian, and Syrian literatures; and the literature of the nineteenth-century Nahda.

The Arabic Classroom is a multicontributor work for trainee and in-service teachers of Arabic as a foreign language. Collected here is recent scholarly work, and also critical writing from Arabic instructors, Arabists and language experts, to examine the status of the teaching and learning of Arabic in the modern classroom. The book stresses the inseparability of the parameters of contexts, texts and learners in the effective Arabic classroom and investigates their role in enhancing the experience of teaching and learning Arabic. The book also provides a regional perspective through global case studies and encourages Arabic experts to search for better models of instruction and best practices beyond the American experience.

An introduction to Modern Arabic Literature, from the beginning of the nineteenth century to the present

Teaching Arabic as a Heritage Language is a practical guide to Arabic pedagogy for Heritage Learners of Arabic. Exploring the teaching of Arabic as a foreign language (TAFL) in North America and Europe, it covers sociocultural topics such as diglossia and religion alongside theoretical approaches to Heritage Language Learning. It also provides a new and detailed definition of the heritage language learner (HLL) of Arabic. The role of the professor and the material are explored to ensure a successful learning experience. The latest advances in HLL are considered together with the recent and recommended changes in classroom practice, giving rise to the recognition of the individual needs of heritage learners. This is an indispensable resource for instructors, researchers, and students in the fields of TAFL and TASOL, as well as linguists interested in Arabic language learning and teaching.

Arabic literary salons emerged in ninth-century Iraq and, by the tenth, were flourishing in Baghdad and other urban centers. In an age before broadcast media and classroom education, salons were the primary source of entertainment and escape for middle- and upper-rank members of society, serving also as a space and means for educating the young. Although salons relied on a culture of oral performance from memory, scholars of Arabic literature have focused almost exclusively on the written dimensions of the tradition. That emphasis, argues Samer Ali, has neglected the interplay of oral and written, as well as of religious and secular knowledge in salon society, and the surprising ways in which these seemingly discrete categories blurred in the lived experience of participants. Looking at the period from 500 to 1250, and using methods from European medieval studies, folklore, and cultural anthropology, Ali interprets Arabic manuscripts in order to answer fundamental questions about literary salons as a social institution. He identifies salons not only as sites for socializing and educating, but as loci for performing literature and oral history; for creating and transmitting cultural identity; and for continually reinterpreting the past. A fascinating recovery of a key element of humanistic culture, Ali’s work will encourage a recasting of our understanding of verbal art, cultural memory, and daily life in medieval Arab culture.

The aliens have arrived. And they’re hungry for electricity. In the Earth of the future, humans are on the run from an alien force—giant blobs who suck up electrical devices wherever they can find them. Strata and her family are part of a caravan of digital rescuers, hoping to keep the memory of civilization alive by saving electronics wherever they can. Many humans have reverted to a pre-electrical age, and others have taken advantage of the invasion to become dangerous bandits and outlaws. When Strata and her brother are separated from the caravan, they must rely on a particularly beautiful and rare robot pony to escape the outlaws and aliens—and defeat the invaders once and for all.

The first of its kind aimed specifically at teachers of Arabic and instructors-in-training, this book is a practical and helpful resource for information about curricula, methods, goals, testing, and research. It should also be of interest to teachers of other less-commonly taught languages (LCTLs), who struggle with similar issues.

Arabic Stories for Language Learners--a language learning experience for beginner to intermediate students of the Arabic language. The traditional stories of a country are invaluable at providing insight into understanding the culture, history and language of a people. A great way to learn Arabic, the sixty-six stories found in Arabic Stories for Language Learners present the vocabulary and grammar used every day in Arabic-speaking countries Pulled from a wide variety of sources that have been edited and simplified for learning purposes, these stories are presented in parallel Arabic and English, facilitating language learning in the classroom and via self-study. Each story is followed by a series of questions in Arabic and English to test comprehension and encourage discussion. Online companion audio helps students of Arabic improve their pronunciation and inflection, and immerses non-students into the uniquely Arabic storytelling style. All audio content is accessible on tuttlepublishing.com/downloadable-content.

According to the Qur’an, God created two parallel species, man and the jinn, the former from clay and the latter from fire. Beliefs regarding the jinn are deeply integrated into Muslim culture and religion, and have a constant presence in legends, myths, poetry, and literature. In Islam, Arabs, and the Intelligent World of the Jinn, Amira El-Zein explores the integral role these mythological figures play, revealing that the concept of jinn is fundamental to understanding Muslim culture and tradition.