Teaching Arabic as a Foreign

Language

Teaching Arabic as a Foreign Language: Techniques for Developing Language

Skills and Grammar is an indispensable guide for in-training and novice teachers
of Arabic as a foreign language and a source of fresh and effective ideas for
experienced teachers.
This highly practical guide outlines how Arabic second-language skills
(listening, speaking, reading, and writing) and grammar are targeted in isolation
from one another and how they are integrated to reinforce each other through the
use of specific tried-and-tested techniques and activities.
Teaching Arabic as a Foreign Language provides instantly accessible, practical
teaching techniques to target and develop specific language skills and grammar at
novice, intermediate, and advanced levels.

Mohammad T. Alhawary is Professor of Arabic Linguistics and Second Language

Acquisition and Director of MA in Arabic for Professional Purposes and the
Teaching of Arabic as a Foreign Language Programs at the University of Michigan,
USA. He teaches graduate and undergraduate courses on Arabic language and
Arabic theoretical and applied linguistics.
Teaching Arabic as a Foreign
Language

Techniques for Developing

Language Skills and Grammar

Mohammad T. Alhawary
First published 2024
by Routledge
4 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2024 Mohammad T. Alhawary
The right of Mohammad T. Alhawary to be identified as author of
this work has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78
of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted
or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic,
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including photocopying and recording, or in any information
storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the
publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks
or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and
explanation without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN: 978-1-138-92099-6 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-138-92100-9 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-68667-7 (ebk)
DOI: 10.4324/9781315686677
Typeset in Times New Roman
by Apex CoVantage, LLC
To the dedicated teachers of Arabic to whom
teaching Arabic is not a mere source of earning a living
To the persevering students of Arabic to whom all
they have heard about Arabic being a difficult language
means little or nothing despite often being made to
learn too much in too little time
Contents

Introduction 1

1 Listening techniques 4
1 Developing listening at the novice level 4
1 Repetition of sounds in single syllables
‫ ﺗ َﻜﺮار اﻷﺻﻮات اﻟﺘﻲ ﺗﻘﻊ ﻓﻲ ﻣﻘﻄﻊ واﺣﺪ‬4
2 Repetition of sounds in context
‫ ﺗ َﻜﺮار اﻷﺻﻮات ﻓﻲ ﺳﯿﺎق‬6
3 Listening to and identifying which sound is which
‫ اﻻﺳﺘﻤﺎع إﻟﻰ اﻷﺻﻮات وﺗﺤﺪﯾﺪھﺎ‬6
4 Listening to and repetition of minimal pairs
‫ اﻻﺳﺘﻤﺎع إﻟﻰ اﻟﺜ ﱡﻨﺎﺋﯿﺎت ﱡ‬9
‫اﻟﺼﻐﺮى وﺗ َﻜﺮارھﺎ‬
5 Listening to and repetition of minimal pairs and raising hand
‫ اﻻﺳﺘﻤﺎع إﻟﻰ اﻟﺜ ﱡﻨﺎﺋﯿﺎت ﱡ‬10
‫اﻟﺼﻐﺮى وﺗ َﻜﺮارھﺎ ﻣﻊ رﻓﻊ اﻟﯿﺪ‬
6 Listening to and repeating lexical stress on syllables with
long vowels ‫اﻻﺳﺘﻤﺎع إﻟﻰ اﻟﻨﱠْﺒﺮ ﻓﻲ اﻟﻤﻘﺎطﻊ اﻟﺘﻲ ﺗﺤﺘﻮي ﻋﻠﻰ‬
ّ‫ أﺣﺮف ﻣﺪ‬10
7 How many words in an utterance? ‫ ﻛﻢ ﻛﻠﻤﺔ ﻓﻲ اﻟﻠﻔﻆ؟‬12
8 Listen and identify the letters of each word ‫اﺳﺘﻤﻌﻮا وﺣﺪّدوا‬
ّ ‫ أﺣﺮف‬12
‫ﻛﻞ ﻛﻠﻤﺔ‬
9 Brief dictation ‫ إﻣﻼء ﻗﺼﯿﺮ‬13
10 True/false comprehension questions ‫ ﺻﻮاب أم ﺧﻄﺄ‬14
2 Developing listening at the intermediate level 17
11 Taking messages over the phone
‫ ﺗﻠﻘّﻲ اﻟﺮﺳﺎﺋﻞ ﺑﺎﻟﮭﺎﺗﻒ‬17
12 Total physical response and carrying out commands
‫ اﻻﺳﺘﺠﺎﺑﺔ اﻟﺠﺴﺪﯾﺔ اﻟﻜﺎﻣﻠﺔ وﺗﻨﻔﯿﺬ اﻷواﻣﺮ‬18
viii Contents

13 Guessing game: what is it? ‫ ﻣﺎ اﻟﺸﻲء؟‬:‫ ﻟﻌﺒﺔ اﻟﺘﺨﻤﯿﻦ‬19

14 Aural dictation cloze ‫ﻧﺺ اﻻﺳﺘﻤﺎع‬ ّ ‫ ﻣﻞء ﻓﺮاﻏﺎت‬20
15 Detecting errors: what are they? ‫ ﻣﺎ ھﻲ؟‬:‫ ﺗﻤﯿﯿﺰ اﻷﺧﻄﺎء‬21
16 Filling turns in a dialogue ‫ ﻣﻞء أدوار ﺣﻮار‬22
17 Dictation of a text ‫ﻧﺺ‬
ّ ‫ إﻣﻼء‬23
18 Picture ordering ‫ إﻋﺎدة ﺗﺮﺗﯿﺐ اﻟﺼﻮر‬24
19 Get the gist of the text ‫اﻟﻨﺺ اﻟﺮﺋﯿﺴﺔ‬
ّ ‫ اﺳﺘﺨﺮﺟﻮا أﻓﻜﺎر‬25
20 Complete the story: what will happen next?
‫ ﻣﺎ اﻟﺬي ﺳﯿﺤﺪث ﻓﯿﻤﺎ ﺑﻌﺪ؟‬:‫ أﻛﻤﻠﻮا اﻟﻘﺼﺔ‬26
3 Developing listening at the advanced level 27
21 Dictogloss “‫ إﻣﻼء ”اﻟﺪﯾﻜﺘﻮﻏﻠﻮس‬27
22 Summarize in your own words ‫ﻟﺨﺼﻮا ﺑﻜﻠﻤﺎت ﻣﻦ ﻋﻨﺪﻛﻢ‬ ّ 28
23 Jigsaw listening: listen and collaborate
‫ اﺳﺘﻤﻌﻮا وﺗﻌﺎوﻧﻮا‬:‫اﻟﻤﺠﺘﺰأ‬
ُ ‫ اﻻﺳﺘﻤﺎع‬29
24 Comprehending the listening text in stages ‫اﻟﻨﺺ‬ ّ ‫ﻓﮭﻢ‬
‫ اﻟﻤﺴﻤﻮع ﻋﻠﻰ ﻣﺮاﺣﻞ‬30
25 Make up your own questions ‫اﻟﻨﺺ‬ ّ ‫ﺿﻌﻮا أﺳﺌﻠﺔ ﻋﻦ‬
‫ ﺑﺄﻧﻔﺴﻜﻢ‬31

2 Speaking techniques 33
1 Developing speaking at the novice level 33
1 Chain introductions and greetings ‫اﻟﺘﻌﺎرف اﻟﺘﺴﻠﺴﻠﻲ وﺗﺒﺎدل‬
‫ اﻟﺘﺤﺎﯾﺎ‬33
2 Name tags ‫ ﺷﺎرات اﻷﺳﻤﺎء‬35
3 Match up ‫ اﺑﺤﺜﻮا ﻋﻦ ﻗﺮﻧﺎﺋﻜﻢ‬35
4 Identity cards ‫ اﻟﺒﻄﺎﻗﺎت اﻟﺸﺨﺼﯿﺔ‬36
5 Describe the picture ‫ﺻﻔﻮا اﻟﺼﻮرة‬ ِ 37
6 My favorite day of the week
‫اﻟﻤﻔﻀﻞ ﻓﻲ اﻷﺳﺒﻮع‬
ّ ‫ ﯾﻮﻣﻲ‬38
7 Group interviews ‫ ﻣﻘﺎﺑﻼت ﺟﻤﺎﻋﯿﺔ‬39
8 Who am I? ‫ ﻣﻦ أﻧﺎ؟‬40
9 Describing family members ‫ وﺻﻒ أﻓﺮاد اﻟﻌﺎﺋﻠﺔ‬41
10 Fill in the blanks to personalize students in class
‫اﻟﺼﻒ‬
ّ ‫ ﻣﻞء اﻟﻔﺮاﻏﺎت ﻟﺸﺨﺼﻨﺔ طﻼب‬41
2 Developing speaking at the intermediate level 44
11 Memory chain ‫ اﻟﺬاﻛﺮة اﻟﺘﺴﻠﺴﻠﯿﺔ‬44
12 Role-play ‫ ﺗﻤﺜﯿﻞ أدوار‬46
 Contents ix

13 Guess what the teacher wrote ‫ﺧﻤﻨﻮا ﻣﺎذا ﻛﺘﺐ اﻷﺳﺘﺎذ‬

ّ 47
14 What will you bring? ‫ﺳﺘﺤﻀﺮون؟‬ ِ ‫ﻣﺎذا‬ 48
15 Marooned ‫اﻟﺴﺒُﻞ‬
‫ﻨﻘﻄﻊ ﱡ‬
ِ ‫ ُﻣ‬49
16 Interviews ‫ ﻣﻘﺎﺑﻼت‬49
17 My ideal day ‫ ﯾﻮﻣﻲ اﻟﻤﺜﺎﻟﻲ‬51
18 Discuss and share ‫ ﺗﻨﺎﻗﺸﻮا وﺗﺸﺎرﻛﻮا‬52
19 What is the truth? ‫ ﻣﺎ اﻟﺤﻘﯿﻘﺔ؟‬52
20 120/90/60 or 4/3/2 ‫ﻓﺄﺳﺮع‬
َ ‫أﺳﺮع‬ َ ‫ ﺗﻜﻠّﻤﻮا‬53
3 Developing speaking at the advanced level 54
21 Picture-based story ‫ﻣﺼﻮرة‬
ّ ‫ ﻗﺼﺺ‬55
22 News reports ‫ ﺗﻘﺪﯾﻤﺎت ﻋﻦ ﻣﻘﺘﻄﻔﺎت إﺧﺒﺎرﯾﺔ‬55
23 Group trip ‫ رﺣﻠﺔ ﺟﻤﺎﻋﯿﺔ‬56
24 Optimists and pessimists ‫ ﻣﺘﺸﺎﺋﻤﻮن وﻣﺘﻔﺎﺋﻠﻮن‬57
25 Debating ‫ إﺟﺮاء ﻣﻨﺎظﺮة‬58

3 Reading techniques 60
1 Developing reading at the novice level 60
1 Spot the words ‫ اﻟﺒﺤﺚ ﻋﻦ اﻟﻜﻠﻤﺎت‬60
2 Sorting out words into lists ‫ ﺗﺼﻨﯿﻒ اﻟﻜﻠﻤﺎت ﻓﻲ ﻗﻮاﺋﻢ‬61
3 “Bingo” “‫ ﺳﺒﺎق ”اﻟﺒﻨﻐﻮ‬61
4 Role-play ‫ ﺗﻤﺜﯿﻞ أدوار‬62
5 Repeated reading aloud ‫ اﻟﻘﺮاءة اﻟﺠﮭﺮﯾﺔ ﻣﻊ اﻟﺘ ﱠﻜﺮار‬63
6 Fast reading ‫ اﻟﻘﺮاءة اﻟﺴﺮﯾﻌﺔ‬64
7 Sentence simplification ‫ ﺗﺴﮭﯿﻞ اﻟﺠﻤﻞ‬65
8 Guessing then confirming ‫اﻟﺘﺄﻛﺪ‬ّ ‫ اﻟﺘﺨﻤﯿﻦ ﺛﻢ‬66
9 True/false comprehension questions ‫ ﺻﻮاب أم ﺧﻄﺄ‬67
10 Rearranging scrambled sentences ‫إﻋﺎدة ﺗﺮﺗﯿﺐ اﻟﺠﻤﻞ‬
‫ اﻟﻤﺒﻌﺜﺮة‬68
2 Developing reading at the intermediate level 69
11 Getting the gist of the text ‫اﻟﻨﺺ‬
ّ ‫ اﺳﺘﺨﺮاج اﻟﻤﻌﻠﻮﻣﺎت اﻟﺮﺋﯿﺴﺔ ﻣﻦ‬69
12 The comprehension race ‫ ﺳﺒﺎق اﻟﻔﮭﻢ‬70
13 Guess the comprehension questions ‫ﺧﻤﻨﻮا أﺳﺌﻠﺔ اﻟﻔﮭﻢ‬ّ 71
14 Guess the text ‫اﻟﻨﺺ‬
ّ ‫ﺧﻤﻨﻮا‬
ّ 72
15 Recap and discuss more ‫ﻟﺨﺼﻮا وﺗﻨﺎﻗﺸﻮا أﻛﺜﺮ‬ ّ 73
16 Reading fast ‫ اﻟﻘﺮاءة اﻟﺴﺮﯾﻌﺔ‬73
17 What is the advertisement for? ‫ﻋﱠﻢ اﻹﻋﻼن؟‬ َ 74
18 Information gap ‫ ﻧﻘﺺ ﻓﻲ اﻟﻤﻌﻠﻮﻣﺎت‬75
x Contents

19 3/2/1 ‫ﻟﺨﺼﻮا وﻋﺒِّﺮوا واﺳﺄﻟﻮا‬ ّ 76

20 Come up with the questions or summarize the text
‫اﻟﻨﺺ‬
ّ ‫ﻟﺨﺼﻮا‬ّ ِ ‫ ﺿﻌﻮا أﺳﺌﻠﺔ اﻟﻔﮭﻢ أو‬77
3 Developing reading at the advanced level 78
21 Summarize in your own way ‫اﻟﺨﺎص‬ ّ ّ 78
‫ﻟﺨﺼﻮا ﺑﺄﺳﻠﻮﺑﻜﻢ‬
22 Retell a summary of the text ‫ﻟﻠﻨﺺ‬ّ ‫ ﺗﺒﺎدﻟﻮا ﻣﻠﺨﺼﺎﺗﻜﻢ‬79
23 Comparing texts ‫ ﻣﻘﺎرﻧﺔ ﺑﯿﻦ اﻟﻨﺼﻮص‬80
24 Relating background knowledge and personal experiences
‫ اﻟﺮﺑﻂ ﺑﺎﻟﻤﻌﺮﻓﺔ اﻟﺴﺎﺑﻘﺔ واﻟﺨﺒﺮات اﻟﺸﺨﺼﯿﺔ‬81
25 I agree and do not agree ‫ أﺗ ّﻔﻖ وﻻ أﺗ ّﻔﻖ‬82

4 Writing techniques 84
1 Developing writing at the novice level 84
1 Writing lists ‫ ﻛﺘﺎﺑﺔ ﻗﻮاﺋﻢ‬84
2 Fast copying ‫ اﻟﻨﺴﺦ اﻟﺴﺮﯾﻊ‬85
3 Planning an itinerary ‫ اﻟﺘﺨﻄﯿﻂ ﻟﺮﺣﻠﺔ‬86
4 Sentence modeling ‫ اﻟﻨﺴﺞ ﻋﻠﻰ ﻣﻨﻮال اﻟﺠﻤﻞ‬86
5 Writing a long sentence ‫ إﻧﺸﺎء ﺟﻤﻠﺔ طﻮﯾﻠﺔ‬88
6 Creative dictation ‫ اﻹﻣﻼء اﻹﺑﺪاﻋﻲ‬88
7 Sentence completion ‫ إﻛﻤﺎل اﻟﺠﻤﻞ‬89
8 Rearranging scrambled words within sentences ‫إﻋﺎدة‬
‫ ﺗﺮﺗﯿﺐ اﻟﻜﻠﻤﺎت اﻟﻤﺒﻌﺜﺮة ﻓﻲ ﺟﻤﻞ‬90
9 Similar and dissimilar ‫ ﻣﺘﺸﺎﺑﮭﺎن وﻣﺨﺘﻠﻔﺎن‬91
10 Likes and dislikes ‫ ﻣﺮﻏﻮﺑﺎت وﻣﻜﺮوھﺎت‬94
2 Developing writing at the intermediate level 95
11 Rearranging and modifying scrambled sentences
‫ إﻋﺎدة ﺗﺮﺗﯿﺐ اﻟﺠﻤﻞ اﻟﻤﺒﻌﺜﺮة ﻣﻊ ﺗﻐﯿﯿﺮ ﻣﺎ ﯾﻠﺰم‬95
12 Brainstorming and fast drafting ‫اﺳﺘﺜﺎرة اﻷﻓﻜﺎر واﻹﻧﺸﺎء‬
‫ اﻟﺴﺮﯾﻊ‬97
13 Transforming a dialogue into a narrative paragraph
‫ﺳﺮدي‬
ّ ‫ﻧﺺ‬
ّ ‫ ﺗﺤﻮﯾﻞ ﺣﻮار إﻟﻰ‬98
14 My daily routine ‫ ﻧﺸﺎطﺎﺗﻲ اﻟﯿﻮﻣﯿﺔ‬99
15 Personal letters, notes, and postcards ‫ﻛﺘﺎﺑﺔ رﺳﺎﺋﻞ ﺧﺎﺻﺔ‬
‫ وﻣﻠﺤﻮظﺎت وﺑﻄﺎﻗﺎت ﺑﺮﯾﺪﯾﺔ‬100
16 Sum it up ‫ اﻛﺘﺒﻮا اﻟﺨﻼﺻﺔ‬101
17 Reconstructing a story ‫ﺼﺔ‬ ّ ِ‫ إﻋﺎدة إﻧﺸﺎء ﻗ‬101
18 Completing a story ‫ﺼﺔ‬ ّ ِ‫ إﻛﻤﺎل ﻗ‬102
 Contents xi

19 Paraphrasing a text to simplify it ‫ﻧﺺ‬

ّ ‫ﺻﻮغ‬ َ ‫إﻋﺎدة‬
‫ ﻟﺘﺴﮭﯿﻠﮫ‬103
20 Discussing job announcements/advertisements
‫ ﻣﻨﺎﻗﺸﺔ إﻋﻼﻧﺎت وظﺎﺋﻒ‬104
3 Developing writing at the advanced level 105
21 Applying for a job in response to a job advertisement
‫ﺑﻨﺎء ﻋﻠﻰ إﻋﻼن ﻟﻮظﯿﻔﺔ‬ ّ
ً ‫اﻟﺘﻘﺪم إﻟﻰ ﻋﻤﻞ‬ 105
22 Writing under time pressure ‫اﻟﻜﺘﺎﺑﺔ ﺗﺤﺖ ﺗﺄﺛﯿﺮ ﺿﻐﻂ‬
‫ اﻟﻮﻗﺖ‬106
23 Differences and similarities ‫ أوﺟﮫ اﻟﺸﺒﮫ واﻻﺧﺘﻼف‬107
24 Reconstructing the article from article outline ‫إﻋﺎدة‬
‫ﺻﻮغ اﻟﻤﻘﺎل ﻣﻦ ﻣﺨﻄﻂ اﻟﻤﻘﺎل‬َ 108
25 Whole class collaborative writing ‫اﻟﻜﺘﺎﺑﺔ اﻟﺘﻌﺎوﻧﯿﺔ ﻋﻠﻰ‬
‫اﻟﺼﻒ‬
ّ ‫ ﻣﺴﺘﻮى‬109

5 Grammar techniques 111

1 Developing grammatical competence at the novice level 111
1 Chain question formation ‫ﺗﺴﻠﺴﻠﯿﺎ‬
' ‫ﺻﻮغ اﻟﺴﺆال‬ َ 111
2 Describing pictures using noun-adjective phrases ‫وﺻﻒ‬
‫ اﻟﺼﻮر ﺑﺎﺳﺘﺨﺪام اﻟﺼﻔﺔ واﻟﻤﻮﺻﻮف‬113
3 Find the relations between words ‫اﺑﺤﺜﻮا ﻋﻦ اﻟﻌﻼﻗﺎت ﺑﯿﻦ‬
‫ اﻟﻜﻠﻤﺎت‬114
4 Chain question formation and the use of adverbials ‫ﺻﻮغ‬ َ
‫ﺗﺴﻠﺴﻠﯿﺎ واﺳﺘﺨﺪام اﻟﻈﺮوف‬
' ‫اﻟﺴﺆال‬ 115
5 Find related words by root and pattern ‫ِاﺑﺤﺜﻮا ﻋﻦ اﻟﻜﻠﻤﺎت‬
‫ اﻟﻤﺸﺘﻘﺔ ﻣﻦ اﻟﺠﺬر واﻟﻮزن ﻧﻔﺴﯿﮭﻤﺎ‬116
6 Supply the definite article if necessary ‫أﺿﯿﻔﻮا اﻟـ اﻟﺘﻌﺮﯾﻒ‬
‫ ﻓﻲ اﻟﻔﺮاغ وﻓﻖ ﻣﺎ ﯾﻠﺰم‬118
7 Rearranging the scrambled words and making necessary
changes ‫ إﻋﺎدة ﺗﺮﺗﯿﺐ اﻟﻜﻠﻤﺎت اﻟﻤﺒﻌﺜﺮة ﻣﻊ ﺗﻐﯿﯿﺮ ﻣﺎ ﯾﻠﺰم‬120
8 Translate the sentences into Arabic ‫ﺗﺮﺟﻤﻮا اﻟﺠﻤﻞ إﻟﻰ‬
‫ اﻟﻌﺮﺑﯿﺔ‬121
9 Sentence parsing ‫ﻧﻮﻋﻲ اﻟﺠﻤﻞ وﺗﺤﻠﯿﻠﮭﺎ‬َ ‫ ﺗﺤﺪﯾﺪ‬122
ّ
10 Identify the error, if any, and correct it ‫ﺣﺪدوا اﻟﺨﻄﺄ إن ُوﺟﺪ‬
‫وﺻﺤﺤﻮه‬
ّ 123
2 Developing grammatical competence at the intermediate
level 124
xii Contents

11 Using the imperative and negative imperative ‫اﺳﺘﺨﺪام‬

‫ ﺻﯿﻐﺘ َﻲ اﻷﻣﺮ واﻟﻨﮭﻲ‬125
12 Find your classmates according to their actions ‫اﺑﺤﺜﻮا ﻋﻦ‬
‫ زﻣﻼﺋﻜﻢ وﻓﻖ أﻓﻌﺎﻟﮭﻢ‬126
13 Compare yourselves ‫ ﻗﺎرﻧﻮا ﺑﯿﻦ أﻧﻔﺴﻜﻢ‬127
14 Using the passive voice ‫ اﺳﺘﺨﺪام اﻟﻔﻌﻞ اﻟﻤﺒﻨﻲ ﻟﻠﻤﺠﮭﻮل‬129
15 Nominal sentence parsing ‫ﺗﺤﺪﯾﺪ اﻟﺠﻤﻞ اﻻﺳﻤﯿﺔ وﺗﻤﯿﯿﺰ‬
‫ ُرﻛﻨَﯿﮭﺎ ﻣﻊ اﻹﻋﺮاب‬130
16 Provide your reasons ‫ﻋِﻠّﻠﻮا أﺳﺒﺎﺑﻜﻢ‬ َ 131
17 Collapse into one sentence ‫ادﻣﺠﻮا ﻛﻞ ﺟﻤﻠﺘﯿﻦ ﻓﻲ ﺟﻤﻠﺔ‬
‫ واﺣﺪة‬132
18 Name the structure in the text ‫ﻟﻨﺺ‬ ّ ‫ﺳﻤﻮا اﻟﺘﺮﻛﯿﺐ ﻓﻲ ا‬
ّ 133
19 Translate into Arabic ‫ ﺗﺮﺟﻤﻮا إﻟﻰ اﻟﻌﺮﺑﯿﺔ‬135
20 Identify the errors, if any, and correct them ‫ﺣﺪّدوا اﻷﺧﻄﺎء‬
‫وﺻﺤﺤﻮھﺎ‬
ّ ‫ إن ُوﺟﺪت‬136
3 Developing grammatical competence at the advanced
level 137
21 Dictogloss of a grammar point ‫ﻟﻨﺺ‬ ّ “‫إﻣﻼء ”اﻟﺪﯾﻜﺘﻮﻏﻠﻮس‬
‫ ﯾﺤﺘﻮي ﻋﻠﻰ ﺗﺮﻛﯿﺐ ﻣﻌﯿّﻦ‬137
22 Complete the speculations ‫اﻟﺘﻜﮭﻨﺎت‬ ّ ‫ أﻛﻤﻠﻮا‬138
23 Identify your errors and correct them ‫ﺣﺪّدوا أﺧﻄﺎءﻛﻢ‬
‫وﺻﺤﺤﻮھﺎ‬ ّ 140
24 Compare your attributes ‫ ﻗﺎرﻧﻮا ﺑﯿﻦ ِﺧﺼﺎﻟﻜﻢ‬142
25 Identify the grammatical structures and vocalize them
‫ ﺣﺪّدوا اﻟﺘﺮاﻛﯿﺐ اﻟﻨﱠْﺤﻮﯾّﺔ وأﻋﺮﺑﻮھﺎ‬143

Appendix A Correction symbols: intermediate level 146

Appendix B Correction symbols: advanced level 147
Bibliography and resources for further reading 148
Index 156
Introduction

This book contains five sets of 25 techniques, with a total of 125 techniques, aimed
to develop the four language skills (listening, speaking, reading, and writing) and
grammatical competence. Each set of techniques is loosely graded within each
level (and numbered accordingly) and all fall along three proficiency levels based
on the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) guide-
lines: the novice level (10 techniques), the intermediate level (10 techniques), and
the advanced level (5 techniques). All the techniques are interactive and communi-
cative in nature and are based on the communicative language teaching approach.
Some are meant to target a particular skill in isolation, since it is extremely benefi-
cial to do this at times, especially at the novice level. Others are designed to target
a particular skill while integrating one or more skills so that class time can be opti-
mally used and language skills developed in parallel. Ultimately, this integration is
based on a well-known rationale of a sound integrated theory of language teaching,
since skills are better developed when integrated, since they reinforce one another
(e.g., Hammerly 1985; Alhawary 2013).
Each technique contains three sections: purpose, procedure, and variations.
The “purpose” section explains the rationale for the technique, its learning or
pedagogical objectives, its targeted skill, whether the technique is meant to
be implemented to target a skill in isolation or being integrated to target more
than one skill, and the approximate time it takes to execute the technique. The
section on “procedure” offers a step-by-step explanation of how to implement a
given technique. Many techniques whose application may not be self-evident,
contain specific sample contents to illustrate how the technique is to be imple-
mented. The section on “variations” offers additional suggestions of how the
technique can be executed differently. Of course, there are many other possible
variations with which any technique can be carried out, depending on the crea-
tivity of the teacher as well as their students’ needs. In other words, it is up to
the teacher to follow all the steps as suggested or to skip or replace a step with
another one that they think will work better for their teaching style and/or their
students’ needs.

DOI: 10.4324/9781315686677-1
2 Introduction

A number of assumptions should be taken into account about the included tech-
niques in general. These include the following:

• The overarching assumption of these techniques is to create classroom activi-

ties that are nonthreatening, fun, and engaging, including the grammar-based
ones.
• Many of the techniques should be viewed as dynamic rather than static in that
those designed for a certain skill can be used for developing another skill with
modification if a proper focus is established on the targeted skill.
• Many techniques of a given skill can be reordered as long as the difficulty level
of the targeted form and function are taken into account.
• The number of students suggested for each group work is not random but is
always specified for any given technique so that all students in all groups can
participate equally actively, all kept on task, and group-member dominance
minimized.
• The approximate time suggested for a given technique to be executed is given
so that the teacher can prepare accordingly and/or subsequent modifications
of the technique are made with an eye on the time required to execute the
technique efficiently. Some of the important dynamic factors here include the
number of students in a particular class, the degree of homogeneity of their
language background and proficiency level, the teacher’s classroom manage-
ment skills, and the teacher’s ability to improvise and keep the pace of the
technique going.
• The sample contents provided for some of the techniques are examples of how
the techniques can be implemented and the teachers can use or develop different
content to implement a given technique so long as the targeted language form
and function are appropriate to the level.
• The Arabic variety used to illustrate the techniques here is Modern Standard
Arabic, which can be substituted with any dialectal variety when (a) the content
and context are appropriate and (b) the same variety is kept constant while inte-
grating the skills; that is, integration is recommended to take place across skills
rather than across varieties (see Alhawary 2013).

With little creativity, the teacher can modify any technique as they feel neces-
sary to meet their students’ needs and match their personal teaching style, select
from them, or add to them other techniques to compile their own repertoire of tech-
niques. It is hoped that each teacher teaching the Arabic language is dedicated to
their profession. One manifestation of such dedication is being willing to compile
one’s own repertoire of techniques that they find most effective and best meet their
students’ needs. In this regard, and in addition to the entries of cited works as well
as relevant works, the bibliography offers many valuable sources for further read-
ing on techniques and crucially related topics.
Doubtless, there is a countless number of techniques that have been invented
and reinvented, used, and reused with different modifications and variations. The
 Introduction 3

techniques contained in this book are among the most effective, practical, and tried
in the classroom based on the author’s teaching experience of more than 30 years at
the three different proficiency levels. Moreover, they require little to no prior prep-
aration and are written and explained in a very accessible, straightforward style
so that they can be readily used by all teachers of Arabic, the novice or in-training
teacher, and the experienced teacher. In addition to being an essential resource for
teachers, the book can be useful to draw insights for instructional material develop-
ment and for in-training teacher preparation programs.
I am forever indebted to countless individuals who have contributed to this work
in one way or another, including former students, colleagues, and all authors cited
in the bibliography. My utmost gratitude is owed to Samantha Vale Noya at Rout-
ledge for believing in this project and for being exceptionally patient with me and
my repeated requests for extensions due to many tough, unforeseen, circumstances.
This book is dedicated to students and teachers of Arabic.
Chapter 1

Listening techniques

1. Developing listening at the novice level

Listening is viewed here in terms of the ability to recognize Arabic at the sound,
word, memorized chunk, phrase, sentence, and paragraph levels. At the novice
level, the focus is mainly on the sound, word, memorized chunk, and phrase levels.
Towards the novice high listening is also pitched (a little higher than the ACFL
guidelines) at the sentence level. It is both meant for sound and speech recognition
as well as listening comprehension. Listening at the word level is generally useful
for focusing on the sound level, whereas listening at the phrase/sentence level is
helpful for focusing on how words are merged and heard together. A listening tech-
nique is usually implemented as a pre-listening, during-listening, post-listening
activity, or all of these combined. Activities used during the pre-listening activities
are usually referred to as “advanced organizers.”

1. Repetition of sounds in single syllables ‫ﺗَﻜﺮار اﻷﺻﻮات‬

‫ا ﻟﺘﻲ ﺗﻘﻊ ﻓﻲ ﻣﻘﻄﻊ و ا ﺣﺪ‬

Purpose
To provide learners with practice to perceive and produce sounds accurately. Imita-
tion by repeating after the teacher or the teacher’s demonstration of sound produc-
tion is an effective technique (with many variations) to train learners to perceive
sounds accurately. Repetition in unison is generally preferred over individual rep-
etition, since the former has the added advantage of sheltering timid learners and
the ability to test how well learners are perceiving and pronouncing sounds and
words. The number of times for each instance can vary (1–3 times), depending on
needs and control against boredom. Three times is usually a good cutoff point. It
requires little to no preparation and takes about 5–10 minutes to execute.

Procedure
1. Read and have your students imitate you by repeating after you (1–3 times)
the target sound in combination with the three short vowels, each syllable

DOI: 10.4324/9781315686677-2
 Listening techniques 5

separately or all three syllables at once, and then with the three long vowels—
while pointing to each syllable on the board or screen as in the following sam-
ples of syllables:

Sample 1: ‫ﺑﺎ ﺑﻮ ﺑﻲ‬ ‫ب‬

ِ ‫ب‬ َ ←
ُ ‫ب‬

Sample 2: ‫ﺗﺎ ﺗﻮ ﺗﻲ‬ ‫ت‬

ِ ُ ‫ت‬
‫ت‬ َ ←
2. When an emphatic sound (to an already-covered nonemphatic counterpart) is
the target, read both pairs of counterparts with the three short–long vowel com-
binations (by pointing to each syllable on the board or screen) and have your
students repeat after you 1–3 times. As in Procedure 1, each syllable can be read
and repeated separately or all three syllables can be read and repeated at once as
in the following samples of syllables:

Sample 1: ‫ﺗﻲ‬ ‫ﺗﻮ‬ ‫ﺗﺎ‬ ‫ت‬

ِ ‫ت‬ ُ ‫ت‬ َ ←

‫طﻲ‬ ‫طﻮ‬ ‫طﺎ‬ ‫ِط‬ ُ

‫ط‬ َ
‫ط‬ ←

Sample 2: ‫ذي‬ ‫ذو‬ ‫ذا‬ ‫ِذ‬ ُ‫ذ‬ َ‫ذ‬ ←

‫ظﻲ‬ ‫ظﻮ‬ ‫ظﺎ‬ ‫ِظ‬ ُ

‫ظ‬ َ
‫ظ‬ ←

Sample 3: ‫ﺳﻲ‬ ‫ﺳﻮ‬ ‫ﺳﺎ‬ ‫ِس‬ ‫س‬ ُ ‫س‬ َ ←

‫ﺻﺎ ﺻﻮ ﺻﻲ‬ ‫ص‬ِ ‫ص‬

ُ ‫ص‬
َ ←

Variations
Instead of first reading and having your students repeat a nonemphatic sound with
all three short and long vowels before moving to read and have your students repeat
the emphatic counterpart with the short and long vowels, read and have students
repeat the nonemphatic sound with a short/long vowel and then the emphatic sound
with a short/long vowel. In addition, each syllable can be read and repeated sepa-
rately, or all three syllables (with short/long vowels) can be read and repeated at
once as in the following samples of syllables:

Sample 1: ↓ ‫ﺗﻲ‬ ↓ ‫ﺗﻮ‬ ↓ ‫ﺗﺎ‬ ↓ ‫ت‬

ِ ↓ ‫ت‬ ُ ↓ ‫ت‬ َ ←

‫طﻲ‬ ‫طﻮ‬ ‫طﺎ‬ ‫ِط‬ ُ

‫ط‬ َ
‫ط‬
6 Listening techniques

Sample 2: ↓ ‫ذي‬ ↓ ‫ذو‬ ↓ ‫ذا‬ ↓ ‫ِذ‬ ↓ ُ‫ذ‬ ↓ َ‫ذ‬ ←

‫ظﻲ‬ ‫ظﻮ‬ ‫ظﺎ‬ ‫ِظ‬ ُ

‫ظ‬ َ
‫ظ‬

2. Repetition of sounds in context ‫ﺗَﻜﺮار اﻷﺻﻮات ﻓﻲ ﺳﯿﺎق‬

Purpose
To provide learners with practice to perceive and produce sounds accurately in
words in different contexts and in different positions (initial, media, final). It
requires little to no preparation and takes about 5–10 minutes to execute.

Procedure
Read and have your students repeat after you each word containing the target sound
separately (1–3 times) as in the following samples:

Sample 1: َ َ‫َﺟﻠ‬
‫ﺲ‬ ‫دَﺑّﻮس‬ ‫ﯾَْﺴﺒَﺢ‬ ‫ﺗ َْﺴﺪﯾﺪ‬ ‫ﺳْﺒﺖ‬
َ ‫ﺳﯿﻦ‬ ←

Sample 2: ‫َﺣﺸﯿﺶ‬ ‫رﯾﺶ‬ ‫ﺑَﺸﯿﺮ‬ ‫ﺑﺎﺷﺎ‬ ‫ِﺷْﺒﺮ‬ ‫ﺷﯿﻦ‬ ←

Variation
You can integrate listening with the reading skill by having your students read the
words after the repetition is completed, each student reading one word in a chain
fashion so that all students get to read the words.

3. Listening to and identifying which sound is which

‫ا ﻻ ﺳﺘﻤﺎ ع إﻟﻰ اﻷﺻﻮات و ﺗﺤﺪ ﯾﺪ ھﺎ‬

Purpose
To provide learners with practice perceiving sounds accurately, especially those
that may be similar to others and learners tend to confuse between them such as
the emphatic versus nonemphatic (such as ‫ ت‬versus ‫ط‬, ‫ ذ‬versus ‫ظ‬, ‫ س‬versus ‫ص‬,
and ‫ ك‬versus ‫ ) ق‬and voiceless versus voiced (such as ‫ ث‬versus ‫ذ‬, ‫ س‬versus ‫ز‬,
and ‫ خ‬versus ‫ )غ‬consonants in words in different contexts. Learners need to be
reminded here to pay attention to the vowel quality of vowels occurring with such
consonants: the back/heavy vowel quality occurring with emphatic sounds versus
the front/light vowel quality occurring with nonemphatic sounds. It requires little
preparation and takes about 5–10 minutes to execute.
 Listening techniques 7

Procedure
Read (or play a recording) to class and have your students check the correct choice
of sound they heard within a word such as Samples 1 and 2 that follow. Words com-
prising this technique can be based on minimal pairs as in Sample 1 but not neces-
sarily as in Sample 2. Read each word separately with a short pause to allow your
students to check the correct choice of the sound heard. You can read each word
once or twice. Students should not be able to read the words, only listen to them.

Sample 1: Check whether the word you hear contains ‫ ت‬or ‫ط‬.
Teacher’s Version
1- ‫ﺗﺎب‬ ‫ت‬ ☐ ‫ط‬ ☐
2- ‫طﺎب‬ ‫ت‬ ☐ ‫ط‬ ☐
3- ‫َﻣﺘﺒﻮع‬ ‫ت‬ ☐ ‫ط‬ ☐
4- ‫َﻣﻄﺒﻮع‬ ‫ت‬ ☐ ‫ط‬ ☐
5- ‫ﺖ‬ّ َ‫ﺑ‬ ‫ت‬ ☐ ‫ط‬ ☐
6- ّ َ‫ﺑ‬
‫ﻂ‬ ‫ت‬ ☐ ‫ط‬ ☐

Sample 1: Check the box whether the word you hear contains ‫ ت‬or
Student’s Version ‫ط‬.
1- _______ ‫ت‬ ☐ ‫ط‬ ☐
2- _______ ‫ت‬ ☐ ‫ط‬ ☐
3- _______ ‫ت‬ ☐ ‫ط‬ ☐
4- _______ ‫ت‬ ☐ ‫ط‬ ☐
5- _______ ‫ت‬ ☐ ‫ط‬ ☐
6- _______ ‫ت‬ ☐ ‫ط‬ ☐

Sample 2: Check whether the word you hear contains ‫ س‬or ‫ص‬.
Teacher’s Version
1- ‫ﺻﺒﺎح‬
َ ‫س‬ ☐ ‫ص‬ ☐
2- ‫ﺳﻼم‬
َ ‫س‬ ☐ ‫ص‬ ☐
3- ‫ﺼﺒﺎح‬
ْ ‫ِﻣ‬ ‫س‬ ☐ ‫ص‬ ☐
4- ‫ُﻣْﺴِﻠﻢ‬ ‫س‬ ☐ ‫ص‬ ☐
8 Listening techniques

5- ‫ﻧﺎس‬ ‫س‬ ☐ ‫ص‬ ☐

6- ّ َ‫ِﻣﻘ‬
‫ﺺ‬ ‫س‬ ☐ ‫ص‬ ☐

Sample 2: Check the box whether the word you hear contains ‫ س‬or ‫ص‬.
Student’s Version
1- _______ ‫س‬ ☐ ‫ص‬ ☐
2- _______ ‫س‬ ☐ ‫ص‬ ☐
3- _______ ‫س‬ ☐ ‫ص‬ ☐
4- _______ ‫س‬ ☐ ‫ص‬ ☐
5- _______ ‫س‬ ☐ ‫ص‬ ☐
6- _______ ‫س‬ ☐ ‫ص‬ ☐

Variation
More than two such sound choices can be included, but perhaps not more than 3–4
maximum so students won’t be distracted by the presence of too many words and
the task becomes too difficult such as in the following sample:

Sample: Check whether the word you hear contains ‫ث‬, ‫ ذ‬or ‫ظ‬.
Teacher’s Version
1- ‫ﺛ ُﺒﺎت‬ ‫☐ ث‬ ‫☐ ذ‬ ‫☐ ظ‬
2- ‫ذ ُﺑﺎب‬ ‫☐ ث‬ ‫☐ ذ‬ ‫☐ ظ‬
3- ُ
‫ظﺮوف‬ ‫☐ ث‬ ‫☐ ذ‬ ‫☐ ظ‬
4- َ ‫ُﻣ‬
‫ﺬاﻛﺮة‬ ‫☐ ث‬ ‫☐ ذ‬ ‫☐ ظ‬
5- ‫ُﻣﺜﺎﺑَﺮة‬ ‫☐ ث‬ ‫☐ ذ‬ ‫☐ ظ‬
6- ‫ﻈﺎﻟﻢ‬
ِ ‫َﻣ‬ ‫☐ ث‬ ‫☐ ذ‬ ‫☐ ظ‬

Sample: Check whether the word you hear contains ‫ث‬, ‫ ذ‬or ‫ظ‬.
Student’s Version
1- _______ ‫☐ ث‬ ‫☐ ذ‬ ‫☐ ظ‬
2- _______ ‫☐ ث‬ ‫☐ ذ‬ ‫☐ ظ‬
3- _______ ‫☐ ث‬ ‫☐ ذ‬ ‫☐ ظ‬
 Listening techniques 9

4- _______ ‫☐ ث‬ ‫☐ ذ‬ ‫☐ ظ‬
5- _______ ‫☐ ث‬ ‫☐ ذ‬ ‫☐ ظ‬
6- _______ ‫☐ ث‬ ‫☐ ذ‬ ‫☐ ظ‬

4. Listening to and repetition of minimal pairs ‫اﻻﺳﺘﻤﺎع إ ﻟﻰ‬

‫ا ﻟﺜﱡﻨﺎ ﺋﯿﺎ ت ا ﱡ‬
‫ﻟﺼﻐﺮى وﺗَﻜﺮارھﺎ‬

Purpose
To provide learners with practice to recognize phonemic contrasts and variations
in order to help them develop proper perception at the sound level as well as the
proper perception of the nature of vowels occurring with consonants and vice versa.
In particular, the proper attention to the nature of the vowel quality (front/light vs.
back/heavy) will lead to proper perception of consonants (emphatic versus nonem-
phatic ones). It requires little preparation and takes about 5–10 minutes to execute.

Procedure
1. Read words in pairs to your students and have them repeat after you (1–3 times)
and have them pay attention to the phonemic contrasts whether these are conso-
nant phonemes (i.e., emphatic vs. nonemphatic) or vowel phonemes (i.e., long
vs. short) as in the following samples. If a word involves an emphatic, have your
students pay attention to the back/heavy vowel quality occurring with emphatic
sounds versus the front/light vowel quality occurring with nonemphatic sounds.
When reading each pair, do so with a short pause between the two words. Your
students can look at you or read directly from the handout, book, or board.

Consonants Contrasts

Sample: ‫ﺳﺎح‬ ‫ﺻﺎح‬ ‫ﺳﺎل‬ ‫ﺻﺎل‬ ‫ﺳﺎم‬ ‫ﺻﺎم‬ ←

‫ﺳﯿﻦ‬ ‫ﺻﯿﻦ‬ ‫ﺳﻮر‬ ‫ﺻﻮر‬ ‫ﺳﺎر‬ ‫ﺻﺎر‬ ←

Vowel Contrasts

Sample: ‫ﺷﺎرب‬
ِ ‫ﺷِﺮب‬
َ ‫ﻋﺎﻟﻢ‬
ِ ‫ﻋِﻠﻢ‬
َ ‫ﺳﺎﻣﻊ‬
ِ ‫ﺳِﻤﻊ‬
َ ←

Vowel Variation (and consonant contrasts)

Sample: ‫ِﺗْﻔﻞ‬ ‫ِطْﻔﻞ‬ ‫ﺗﻮل‬ ‫طﻮل‬ ‫ﺗ ََﺮف‬ َ

‫طَﺮف‬ ←
10 Listening techniques

Variation
When repeating after you, your students can look at you, away, or read words from
the drill in the handout or book or on the board or screen. To make the drill more
challenging, have your students look away from you and conversely.

5. Listening to and repetition of minimal pairs and raising

‫ا ﻻ ﺳﺘﻤﺎ ع إ ﻟﻰ ا ﻟﺜﱡﻨﺎ ﺋﯿﺎ ت ا ﱡ‬
hand ‫ﻟﺼﻐﺮى وﺗَﻜﺮارھﺎ ﻣﻊ ر ﻓﻊ ا ﻟﯿﺪ‬

Purpose
To provide learners with practice to recognize phonemic contrasts and variations
in order to help them develop the proper perception of sounds and vowels while
energizing them if they look bored or tired. It requires little preparation and takes
about 5–10 minutes to execute.

Procedure
1. Read to your students minimal pairs such as those in the samples above.
2. Have your students look at you and have them raise their right hands if the word
they hear contains an emphatic sound (or long vowel) or raise their left hands if
the word they hear contains a nonemphatic sound.
3. Read each word separately and observe their responses and repeat as needed
until they hear and respond correctly.

Variations
a. Your students can look away from you or you look away from them (in such
a way so as not to see your mouth when you pronounce the words) and follow
Procedure 3 above.
b. To add fun to the activity, you can speed up and slow down your reading of the
words.
c. You can also change the order of the words in each pair so that you do not start
each pair with an emphatic in the first word but can start a pair with a word
containing a nonemphatic sound as well.

6. Listening to and repeating lexical stress on syllables

with long vowels ‫ا ﻻ ﺳﺘﻤﺎ ع إ ﻟﻰ ا ﻟﻨﱠْﺒﺮ ﻓﻲ ا ﻟﻤﻘﺎ طﻊ ا ﻟﺘﻲ ﺗﺤﺘﻮ ي ﻋﻠﻰ‬
ّ‫أﺣﺮف ﻣﺪ‬
Purpose
To provide learners with practice to associate lexical/word stress with vowel length.
Learners of Arabic, especially English speakers, often mistake short vowels for
 Listening techniques 11

long vowels and long vowels for short. However, training learners to pay attention
to lexical/word stress can help learners distinguish between short and long vowels
in multisyllabic words, since stress in Arabic is usually associated with long vow-
els. Arabic word stress has many rules, but this one rule is the most helpful to know
at this basic level for the purpose stated above. It requires little preparation and
takes about 5–10 minutes to execute.

Procedure
1. Read to your students bisyllabic and trisyllabic words containing one long syl-
lable, with stress on the long syllable to demonstrate long vowels versus short
vowels (i.e., syllables containing long vowels vs. syllables containing short
vowels) such as the following samples:

Sample 1 ْ ‫ﻋ‬
‫ﻄﺸﺎن‬ َ ‫ﻗَﺮﯾﺐ‬ ‫ﺑُﯿﻮت‬ ‫ﻋﻠﻮم‬
ُ ‫ﻋﺎﻟَﻢ‬ ‫طﺎﻟﺐ‬
ِ ←
Bisyllabic words:

Sample 2 ‫ﻘﺎﺑﻞ‬
ِ ُ‫ﯾ‬ ‫ﺸﺎھﺪ‬
ِ ُ‫ﯾ‬ ‫ﻗِﺪّﯾﺴﺔ‬ ‫ﺳﯿّﺎر ة‬
َ ‫ﻧَﻮاﻓِﺬ‬ ‫ﺪارس‬
ِ ‫َﻣ‬ ←
Trisyllabic words:

2. Have your students repeat after you (they can look at you or at the words away
from you).
3. After reading each word, ask your students how many syllables the word consists of.
4. Then, ask your students where the stress falls by underlining or highlighting the
appropriate syllable (i.e., containing ’alif, waa, or yaa’).

Variations
a. You can skip Stage 2 (i.e., not ask your students to repeat after you).
b. You can pair words, especially those derived from the same root, which will add
to the complexity of the task a little as in the following sample words (these can
be bisyllabic, trisyllabic, or mixed):

Sample 1: ‫ﺿﺤﻮك‬
َ ‫ﺿﺎﺣﻚ‬
ِ ‫ﻗﺎدم‬
ِ ‫ﻗَﺪﯾﻢ‬ ‫ﻋﺎﻟﻢ‬
ِ ‫ﻋﻠﯿﻢ‬
َ ←

Sample 2: ‫ﺿﺤﻮﻛﺔ‬
َ ‫ﺿﺎﺣﻜﺔ‬
ِ ‫ﻗﺎدﻣﺔ‬
ِ ‫ﻗَﺪﯾﻤﺔ‬ ‫طﺎوﻟﺔ‬
ِ َ
‫طﻮﯾﻠﺔ‬ ←

Sample 3: ‫ﺿﺤﻮك‬
َ ‫ﺿﺎﺣﻜﺔ‬
ِ ‫ﻗﺎدﻣﺔ‬
ِ ‫ﻗَﺪﯾﻢ‬ ‫طﺎوﻟﺔ‬
ِ َ
‫طﻮﯾﻞ‬ ←

c. Have your students raise their hands as they hear the syllable with the long
vowel.
12 Listening techniques

d. You can raise your hand with them to show them or guide them in the first read-
ing and later offer feedback/correction with your hand as well.
e. Alternatively, students can be asked to mark (in writing) where they heard stress
within a word.

7. How many words in an utterance? ‫ﻛﻢ ﻛﻠﻤﺔ ﻓﻲ ا ﻟﻠﻔﻆ ؟‬

Purpose
To provide learners with practice to identify word boundaries and identify separate
words within an utterance. In particular, the activity provides learners with practice
to identify definite words versus indefinite words and where words involve the
eliding of the light hamza when a definite word is preceded by a word that ends
with a vowel, short or long. It requires little preparation and takes about 5–10 min-
utes to execute.

Procedure
1. Read to your students utterances containing two and three words or more defi-
nite phrases containing sun and moon letters such as the following sample:

Sample: ‫ﺖ ﱠ‬
‫اﻟﺸْﻤﺲ‬ َ ‫ﺗ َْﺤ‬ ‫ﻓﻲ ْاﻟﺒَْﯿﺖ‬ ‫ﻒ‬
ّ ‫اﻟﺼ‬
‫ﻓﻲ ﱠ‬ ُ ‫ﻋ‬
‫ﻠﯿﻜﻢ‬ َ ‫ﻼم‬
ُ ‫اﻟﺴ‬
‫ﱠ‬ ‫ﺑﺎب ْاﻟﺒَْﯿﺖ‬
ُ ←

2. Ask your students how many words are in each utterance.

3. Alert your students to the clue of the shadda in the middle of the utterance,
signaling the presence of a sun letter, versus the absence of the shadda and the
presence of the [l] sound to indicate the utterance is definite.

Variations
a. Start the drill by reading to your students indefinite phrases so they get to be
prepared for the subsequent definite phrases.
b. Alternatively, the phrases you read can be a mix of definite and indefinite
phrases.

8. Listen and identify the letters of each word ‫ا ﺳﺘﻤﻌﻮ ا‬

‫ﺣﺪ دوا أﺣﺮف ﻛّﻞ ﻛﻠﻤﺔ‬
ّ ‫و‬

Purpose
To provide learners with practice to identify word boundaries and identify sepa-
rate words within an utterance. In particular, the activity provides learners with
additional exposure to what counts as separate words (including particles such as
 Listening techniques 13

prepositions, conjunctions, pronouns, etc.). It requires little preparation and takes

about 5–10 minutes to execute.

Procedure
1. Provide your students with a passage of nonconnected letters with equal letter
spacing among letters and words (written in a handout, on the board, screen, or
via a document projector) such as the following sample:

Sample: ‫أنامنمدينةواشنطنفيالولايات‬ ←
‫المتحدةفيأمريكاأعملفيمكتب‬
‫ة ا ل ج ا م ع ة ھـ ذ ا ع م ل ي ا ل ج د ي د ل ك ن أ ح‬
.‫ب ع م ل ي ال ق د ي م أ ك ث ر‬

2. Read and have your students draw a vertical line after each word until you com-
plete reading the entire passage.
3. Divide students into dyads and have them briefly discuss their responses.
4. Go over your students’ responses as a whole class.

Variation
Integrate this activity with the reading skill by having your students read the con-
nected words after the activity is completed, with each student reading one sen-
tence in a chain fashion so that all students get to read the words.

9. Brief dictation ‫إ ﻣﻼ ء ﻗﺼﯿﺮ‬

Purpose
To provide learners with practice to perceive sounds and words accurately. At
the novice level, to control for the level of difficulty (since learners at this level
are still learning how to write), listening is limited to utterances containing one
or two words and to reproducing them (in writing) accurately so that the empha-
sis is placed on the learner’s perception of sounds and words. It is important to
provide instant feedback on the dictated items, right after the teacher finishes
the dictation. It requires little preparation and takes about 5–10 minutes to
execute.

Procedure
1. Come up with a list of 6–8 words or phrases, containing sounds that students
have learned recently and those that are similar or challenging to them (i.e.,
14 Listening techniques

emphatic vs. nonemphatic sounds and short vs. long vowels); such words may
or may not be minimal pairs such as in the following sample:

Sample: ‫ﺳﺤﺎب‬َ 2. ‫ﺻﺒﺎح‬

َ 1. ←

‫ أَﺑَﺪ‬4. َ 3.
‫ﻋﺒَﺪ‬
َ 6.
‫ﻏﺮﯾﺐ‬ ‫ َﺧﺮﯾﻒ‬5.
َ ‫ ﺻﺎروخ‬8.
‫ﺻﻐﯿﺮ‬ ‫ ﺳﻮر ﻗَﺼﯿﺮ‬7.
2. Ask your students to number their responses in writing accordingly.
3. Tell your students that you will be reading each utterance three times and that
you will be exaggerating the reading the first time, less so the second time, and
naturally the third time.
4. Instruct your students to write down all that they hear, including short and long
vowels.
5. Have your students write down what you dictate in pencil so that they can cor-
rect a given response as they listen to it the second and third times.
6. Go over your students’ responses as a whole class, by eliciting one word at a
time and writing it down on the board as you heard it from students and then
elicit corrections from other students.

Variations
a. Dictated items can be phrases or short sentences, depending on the need and
level of your students.
b. Instead of repeating each item three times, repetition can be limited 1–2 times.
c. A student can dictate the words; corrections can then be made according to how
the student has just read the items to class.
d. Have your students copy their responses on the board (with each student writing
one item) and then elicit corrections from the whole class.
e. Alternatively, display via a document projector the written responses of a student
or one response from one student at a time and go over them as a whole class.

10. True/false comprehension questions ‫ﺻﻮاب أم ﺧﻄﺄ‬

Purpose
To provide learners with practice to listen for meaning and develop their listen-
ing comprehension ability. Learners respond briefly and minimally through yes/no
answers to short statements (recorded or read) about a short text, famous people,
word meanings, or a picture. It requires little preparation and takes about 5–10
minutes to execute.
 Listening techniques 15

Procedure
1. Prepare short statements (recorded or read) about a short text or content of a
lesson your students have recently covered, general facts, word meanings (e.g.,
synonyms, antonyms, plural forms, etc.), or a picture (such as the one displayed
as Figure 1).
2. Provide your students with a sheet of paper with a blank column numbered
according to the statements to which they will listen, each row containing a box
for the true response and another for the false response to be checked where
appropriate as in the following samples:

Sample 1: Students’ Responses Statements on Text ←

☑ َ ‫َﺧ‬
‫ﻄﺄ‬ ☐ ‫ﺻﻮاب‬
َ 1. .‫ُﻣﻨﻰ ِﻓﻠَﺴﻄﯿﻨِﯿﱠﺔ‬ 1.
☐ ‫ﻄﺄ‬َ ‫َﺧ‬ ☑ ‫ﺻﻮاب‬
َ 2. .‫ُﻣﻨﻰ ﺗ َْﺪُرس اﻷدَب‬ 2.
☑ َ ‫َﺧ‬
‫ﻄﺄ‬ ☐ ‫ﺻﻮاب‬
َ 3. .‫ﺼِﺮﯾﱠﺔ‬
ْ ‫واﻟﺪَة ُﻣﻨﻰ ِﻣ‬ ِ 3.
☑ ‫ﻄﺄ‬َ ‫َﺧ‬ ☐ ‫ﺻﻮاب‬
َ 4. .‫واﻟﺪ ُﻣﻨﻰ أ ُْﺳﺘﺎذ‬
ِ 4.
☐ َ ‫َﺧ‬
‫ﻄﺄ‬ ☑ ‫ﺻﻮاب‬
َ 5. ِ ‫واﻟﺪَة ُﻣﻨﻰ ﺗ َْﻌَﻤﻞ ﻓﻲ‬
.‫ﺟﺎﻣﻌﺔ‬ ِ 5.

Sample 2: Students’ Responses Statements on Facts ←

and Word Meanings
☑ َ ‫َﺧ‬
‫ﻄﺄ‬ ☐ ‫ﺻﻮاب‬
َ 1. .‫ﺑﺎرد‬
ِ ‫اﻟﺼﯿﻒ‬
‫ﺲ ﻓﻲ ﱠ‬ ‫ﱠ‬
ُ ‫اﻟﻄْﻘ‬ 1.
☑ ‫ﻄﺄ‬َ ‫َﺧ‬ ☐ ‫ﺻﻮاب‬
َ 2. َ ٌ‫ﺷﯿﻜﺎﻏﻮ َﻣﺪﯾﻨﺔ‬
.‫ﺻﻐﯿﺮة‬ 2.
☑ َ ‫َﺧ‬
‫ﻄﺄ‬ ☐ ‫ﺻﻮاب‬
َ 3. ‫ـﺎﻣــﻌــﺔُ ھــــﺎْرﻓَــــﺮد ﻓﻲ‬
ِ ‫ﺟـ‬ 3.
.‫واﺷْﻨﻄﻦ‬ِ
☐ ‫ﻄﺄ‬َ ‫َﺧ‬ ☑ ‫ﺻﻮاب‬
َ 4. .‫ﺲ َرﺧﯿﺺ‬ ُ ‫ﻋْﻜ‬
َ ‫ﻏﺎل‬
ٍ 4.
☐ َ ‫َﺧ‬
‫ﻄﺄ‬ ☑ ‫ﺻﻮاب‬
َ 5. ُ
.‫ﺷﺒّﺎك ﯾَﻌﻨﻲ ﻧﺎﻓِﺬة‬ 5.
☑ َ ‫َﺧ‬
‫ﻄﺄ‬ ☐ ‫ﺻﻮاب‬
َ 6. .‫َﻣﺪﯾﻨﺔ َﺟ ْﻤﻌُﮭﺎ َﻣﺪﯾﻨﺎت‬ 6.

Sample 3: Students’ Responses Statements Describing ←

a Picture (Figure 1)
☑ ‫ﻄﺄ‬َ ‫َﺧ‬ ☐ ‫ﺻﻮاب‬
َ 1. ‫َرُﺟﻞ واﻗِﻒ‬ 1.
☐ َ ‫َﺧ‬
‫ﻄﺄ‬ ☑ ‫ﺻﻮاب‬
َ 2. ‫اﻣﺮأة ﺗ َﻤﺸﻲ‬ 2.
☑ َ ‫َﺧ‬
‫ﻄﺄ‬ ☐ ‫ﺻﻮاب‬
َ 3. ‫ﻓﻲ اﻟﻠﱠﯿﻞ‬ 3.
☑ ‫ﻄﺄ‬َ ‫َﺧ‬ ☐ ‫ﺻﻮاب‬
َ 4. ‫ﻣﺪﯾﻨﺔ ﻗَﺪﯾﻤﺔ‬ 4.
16 Listening techniques

Figure 1 © Shutterstock

3. Ask your students to check the appropriate box upon hearing each statement.
4. Follow the preceding step until your students have listened and responded to all
the statements.
5. Go over the responses as a whole class or later by providing written feedback.

Variations
a. The format of the questions can alternatively be given as yes/no comprehension
questions as in the following sample:

Sample: Students’ Statements on Text ←

Responses
☑ ‫ﻻ‬ ☐ ‫ﻧَﻌَﻢ‬ 1. ‫ﺴﻄﯿﻨﯿﱠﺔ؟‬
ِ َ‫َھْﻞ ُﻣﻨﻰ ﻓِﻠ‬ 1.
☐ ‫ﻻ‬ ☑ ‫ﻧَﻌَﻢ‬ 2. ‫َھْﻞ ﺗ َْﺪُرس ُﻣﻨﻰ اﻷدَب؟‬ 2.
☑ ‫ﻻ‬ ☐ ‫ﻧَﻌَﻢ‬ 3. ‫ﺼِﺮﯾﱠﺔ؟‬ ِ ‫َھْﻞ‬
ْ ‫واﻟﺪَة ُﻣﻨﻰ ِﻣ‬ 3.
☑ ‫ﻻ‬ ☐ ‫ﻧَﻌَﻢ‬ 4. ‫واﻟﺪ ُﻣﻨﻰ أ ُْﺳﺘﺎذ؟‬
ِ ‫َھْﻞ‬ 4.
☐ ‫ﻻ‬ ☑ ‫ﻧَﻌَﻢ‬ 5. ‫ﺟﺎﻣﻌﺔ؟‬ ِ ‫َھْﻞ ﺗ َْﻌَﻤُﻞ‬
ِ ‫واﻟﺪَة ُﻣﻨﻰ ﻓﻲ‬ 5.

b. Responses can be given by students verbally.

c. Go over your students’ responses as a whole class and elicit corrections from all
students.
 Listening techniques 17

2. Developing listening at the intermediate level

At the intermediate level, listening is pitched at the sentence and simple speech/
paragraph level. At this stage, learners of Arabic will benefit greatly from continued
listening practice in isolation. However, it may also be useful to sometimes imple-
ment techniques that integrate listening with one or more skills such as speaking
and writing as is suggested in some of the techniques here. A listening technique
is usually implemented as a pre-listening, during-, post-listening activity, or all
of these combined. Activities used during the pre-listening activities are usually
referred to as “advanced organizers.”

11. Taking messages over the phone ‫ﺗﻠﻘّﻲ اﻟﺮﺳﺎﺋﻞ‬

‫ﺑﺎ ﻟﮭﺎ ﺗﻒ‬

P urpose
To provide learners with practice to perceive words, phrases, and sentences accu-
rately. This activity encourages learners to develop self-confidence, as it encour-
ages them to use Arabic outside of the classroom and employ it meaningfully. It
requires little preparation and takes about 5 minutes to execute.

P rocedure
1. Prepare a sentence for each of your students in the class and have them call you
within a time frame that suits you and your students.
2. The sentences can be about anything and unrelated, or they can be related to a
short story such as in the following sample sentences:

Sample: .‫ﺳﻠﻤﻰ‬ْ َ ‫ﺻﺪﯾﻘﺘﻲ‬ َ َ ‫اﻟﺨﻤﯿﺲ ِاﺗ ﱠ‬

َ ‫ﺼﻠﺖ ﺑﻲ‬ َ ‫ﺴﺎء‬
َ ‫َﻣ‬ 1.
ّ ‫اﻟﺴﺎﻋﺔ‬
.‫اﻟﺜﺎﻧﯿﺔ‬ ِ ّ ‫اﻟﺠﺎﻣﻌﺔ ﻓﻲ‬
ِ ‫ﻣﺤﺎﺿﺮاﺗﮭﺎ ﻓﻲ‬
ِ َ ُ ‫ﺖ ﻣﻦ‬ َ َ ْ ‫ﻗﺎﻟَﺖ ﻟﻲ ﱠإﻧﮭﺎ‬
ْ ‫اﻧﺘﮭ‬ 2.

.‫ﺑﺎﻟﺴﯿّﺎرة‬ ِ ْ َ ‫ت أ َن ﺗ َ ْﺮ ِﺟﻊ إﻟﻰ‬

‫ﺑﯿﺘﮭﺎ ﱠ‬ ْ َ‫أراد‬ 3.

.‫ﺎرع‬ ّ ‫ﺣﺎدث ﻛﺒﯿﺮ ﻓﻲ‬

ِ ‫اﻟﺸ‬ ِ ‫ﺑﺴﺒﺐ‬
ِ ‫ﺳﯿّﺎرﺗ َﮭﺎ‬ ْ ‫ﺖ‬
َ ‫أن ﺗ َﺴﻮق‬ ْ ‫ﻄﺎﻋ‬ ‫ِﱠ‬
َ َ ‫ﻟﻜﻨﮭﺎ ﻣﺎ اﺳﺘ‬ 4.

ْ ‫ت‬
.‫أن ﺗ َ ْﻤﺸﻲ إﻟﻰ اﻟﺒﯿﺖ‬ ْ ‫َﻓﻘَ ﱠﺮ َر‬ 5.

ِ ‫أﺳ َﻮأ َﻗﺮار ﻓﻲ‬

.‫ﺣﯿﺎﺗﮭﺎ‬ ْ ‫ﻛﺎن ھﺬا‬
َ 6.

3. Instruct your students to exchange the greetings with you in Arabic and then
memorize or write down the sentence you read to them.
4. For each student who calls, read a sentence to them only once unless the student
asks you to repeat it or asks you for any clarification (in Arabic) about a word or
phrase
5. Have your students bring the sentences to class for feedback and discussion.
18 Listening techniques

Variations
a. You can choose to read each sentence to two students, especially if the class has
many students.
b. In class later, have each pair of students who listened to the same sentence find each
other to discuss their sentence before you go over the sentences as a whole class.
c. If the sentences are related such as having been taken from a story, have your
students arrange their scrambled sentences into a meaningful story.
d. This variation will allow you to integrate the development of more than one
skill: listening with speaking.
(See also Ur 1984)

12. Total physical response and carrying out commands

‫ا ﻻ ﺳﺘﺠﺎ ﺑﺔ ا ﻟﺠﺴﺪ ﯾﺔ ا ﻟﻜﺎ ﻣﻠﺔ و ﺗﻨﻔﯿﺬ اﻷواﻣﺮ‬

Purpose
Total physical response is sometimes referred to as an approach in its own right, but
it is used here as a technique. It allows learners to attend to meaning and to show
comprehension through their physical (nonverbal) execution of the commands they
are told to perform. The comprehension check in this case is the correct (physical)
execution of a given command. This type of activity can range from very basic
commands, suitable for the novice level, to more complex commands, appropri-
ate for the intermediate level. The activity can bring a lot of energy and fun to
the classroom. The only possible disadvantage of this technique is that it is more
suitable for young learners. For older learners, more appropriate commands can be
designed to fit certain needs such as learning the numbers, for example, “open the
book on page 35,” “open the book on page 68,” “open the book on page 11,” and
so on. It requires little to no preparation and takes about 10 minutes to execute.

Procedure
1. Give 1–3 physical commands to a student and have the student execute the com-
mands in front of the class such as in the following sample commands:

Sample: .‫ﺗ َﻌﺎﻟَﻲ إﻟﻰ ُھﻨﺎ‬/‫ﻌﺎل‬

َ َ‫ﺗ‬
.‫ِاذھﺒﻲ إﻟﻰ ھﻨﺎك‬/‫ِاذھﺐ‬
.‫ﺿﻌﯿﮫ ﻋﻠﻰ اﻟﻄﺎوﻟﺔ‬/‫أﺣﻀﺮي ﻛﺘﺎﺑﻚ وﺿﻌﮫ‬/‫أﺣﻀﺮ‬
.‫أﻏﻠﻘﻲ اﻟﻜﺘﺎب‬/‫ أﻏﻠﻖ‬.173 ‫ِاﻓﺘﺤﻲ اﻟﻜﺘﺎب ﻋﻠﻰ اﻟﺼﻔﺤﺔ‬/‫ِاﻓﺘﺢ‬
.‫ﺿﻌﯿﮭﺎ ﻋﻠﻰ رأﺳﻚ‬/‫ِارﻓﻌﻲ ﯾﺪك وﺿﻌﮭﺎ‬/‫ِارﻓﻊ‬
.‫ِارﻓﻌﻲ ﯾﺪك اﻟﯿﻤﻨﻰ ورﺟﻠﻚ اﻟﯿﺴﺮى‬/‫ِارﻓﻊ‬
.‫ﻗﻔﻲ ھﻨﺎك‬/‫ِاﻣﺸﻲ إﻟﻰ اﻟﺸﺒّﺎك وﻗﻒ‬/‫ﻣﺶ‬
ِ ‫ِا‬
 Listening techniques 19

2. The commands should be based on verbs and vocabulary appropriate to the

level of your students.
3. For feedback or correction of an execution of a command, have another student
execute the same command.

Variations
a. Prepare written commands on index cards/sheets of paper and place the stash of
commands in a basket or bag.
b. Give your students commands according to what you draw from the stash of
commands.
c. Have a student draw 3–5 cards and give commands to another student as
you did.
d. The student should give the correct command inflected for the proper gender to
fit the student executing the command (second-person singular masculine vs.
second-person singular feminine); this variation has the advantage of integrat-
ing listening comprehension with the reading and speaking skills.
(See also Krashen and Terrell 1983.)

13. Guessing game: what is it? ‫ ﻣﺎ ا ﻟﺸﻲ ء ؟‬: ‫ﻟﻌﺒﺔ ا ﻟﺘﺨﻤﯿﻦ‬

Purpose
To provide learners with practice to attend to meaning. Additionally, it allows inte-
grating listening with speaking and allows for interaction in a meaningful and fun
way. In this activity, the teacher describes something, and the learners guess what
is being described. The description begins with the teacher giving only a little bit
of information and then gradually revealing more and more information. It requires
little preparation and takes about 5–10 minutes to execute.

Procedure
1. Come up with 5–10 salient description traits or clues of an object for guessing;
the object of guessing can be a character, historical figure, thing, action, and so
on such as in the following sample:

Sample: (‫ ﻣﺎ ھﻮ؟ )ﻛﻠﺐ‬:‫َﺧ ِ ّﻤﻨﻮا‬

.‫ﯾﺴﻜﻦ ﻓﻲ اﻟﺒﯿﺖ وﺧﺎرﺟﮫ‬ 1.

.‫ﯾﻤﺸﻲ ﻋﻠﻰ أرﺑﻊ‬ 2.

.‫ﻟﮫ ذﯾﻞ طﻮﯾﻞ‬ 3.

.‫ﯾﺄﻛﻞ اﻟﻠﺤﻢ وأﺷﯿﺎء أﺧﺮى‬ 4.

.‫ﻟﮫ أذﻧﺎن ﻛﺒﯿﺮﺗﺎن وﻓﻢ ﻛﺒﯿﺮ‬ 5.

20 Listening techniques

2. Allow time after each trait for your students to write down the information if
they choose to.
3. Your students can guess whenever they feel they have been given enough
information.
4. Reward the student who guesses the most items correctly.

Variations
a. Have your students prepare the 5–10 traits (about a character, historical figure,
thing, or action) in class or outside of the classroom; this has the added advan-
tage of integrating writing in addition to listening and speaking.
b. Have each student read the traits one at a time and follow the preceding steps.
c. Read the traits all at once and ask your students to refrain from guessing until
they have heard all the traits.
(See also Ur 1984)

14. Aural dictation cloze ‫ﺺ اﻻﺳﺘﻤﺎع‬

ّ ‫ﻣﻞء ﻓﺮاﻏﺎت ﻧ‬

Purpose
To provide learners with practice to perceive words, phrases, and sentences accu-
rately as well as listen for meaning. This is in a form of a cloze test or a short text
with blanks to be filled in. To avoid making this activity too demanding, there
should not be too many blanks (no more than one blank in each sentence or every
5th–7th word) and blanks should be confined to key vocabulary or new vocabulary
of a given lesson. One added advantage of this activity is that it integrates speak-
ing with reading. It requires little preparation and takes about 10–15 minutes to
execute.

Procedure
1. Provide your students with a short, written text, containing blanks to be filled
out such as in the following sample (with the underlined words representing the
blanks):

Sample: ‫ﺖ‬ُ ‫ ِاْﻟﺘ ََﺤْﻘ‬.‫ﻄﺮ‬

َ َ‫ﺠﺎﻣﻌَﺔ ﻗ‬
ِ ‫ﯿﺎﺳﯿﱠﺔ ِﺑ‬ ّ ِ ‫طﺎﻟﺐ ﻓﻲ ُﻛِﻠّﯿﱠﺔ اﻟﻌُﻠﻮم‬
ِ ‫اﻟﺴ‬ ِ ،‫أَﻧﺎ َﺧﻠﯿﻞ أﺣﻤﺪ ﻋﻠﻲ‬
ْ َ
‫ ِﻋﻨﺪي‬.‫ وأْدُرس ِﻟﻠُﺤﺼﻮل ﻋﻠﻰ ﺷﮭﺎدةِ اﻟﺒﻜﺎﻟﻮرﯾﻮس‬.‫ِﺑﮭﺎ ُﻣْﻨﺬُ ﺛ َﻼث ﺳﻨﻮات‬
ْ
‫اﻵن ِﻷ َﱠن اﻟﺪراﺳﺔ ﻓﻲ ُﻛِﻠّﯿ ِﱠﺘﻨﺎ‬
َ ‫ وﻻ أ َْﻋَﻤﻞ‬.‫ﺤﺎﺿﺮات ﻓﻲ اﻷﺳﺒﻮع‬ َ ‫ﺛ َﻤﺎﻧﻲ ُﻣ‬
.‫ﯾﻮم اﻻﺛﻨﯿﻦ‬ ْ
َ ‫اﻟﺠﻤﻌﺔ وﺗ َﻨﺘ َﮭﻲ‬ ُ ‫ﯾﻮم‬ ُ ُ
َ ‫ﻋﻄﻠﺘﻨﺎ اﻷﺳﺒﻮﻋﯿﺔ ﺗ َْﺒﺪأ‬ َ ْ ً
ُ .‫ﺻْﻌﺒﺔ ِﺟﺪّا‬
َ
2. Read the passage to your students and pause naturally at the end of each
sentence.
 Listening techniques 21

3. Read the text a second time to allow students to correct their responses and/or
catch up on what they may have missed.
4. Go over your students’ answers as a whole class.
(See also Ur and Wright 1992.)

Variations
a. A recording of the text can be played instead of the teacher reading the text.
b. The first reading can be slightly exaggerated, but the second reading should be
natural both in terms of pronunciation and speed.
c. You can pause a little before each blank to allow your students to guess the miss-
ing word.
d. A recording of a song or music or people talking can be played during the teach-
er’s reading to create the effect of background noise to train students to get used
to listening with background noise.
(See also Ur 1984.)

15. Detecting errors: what are they? ‫ ﻣﺎ ھﻲ ؟‬: ‫ﺗﻤﯿﯿﺰ ا ﻷ ﺧﻄﺎ ء‬

Purpose
To provide learners with practice to listen for meaning. This is similar to the pre-
vious activity, but, instead of blanks, wrong words are provided, and students are
asked to detect such words, depending on their understanding of a story in a lesson
or a text in a given lesson. One added advantage of this activity is that it integrates
speaking with reading. It requires little preparation and takes about 10–15 minutes
to execute.

Procedure
1. Provide your students with a short, written text of a (recent) lesson, containing
wrong words which are not marked in any way such as in the following sample
(with the underlined words representing the errors):

Sample: .‫ﻄﺮ‬ َ َ‫ﺠﺎﻣﻌَﺔ ﻗ‬

ِ ‫ﯿﺎﺳﯿﱠﺔ ِﺑ‬ ّ ِ ‫طﺎﻟﺐ ﻓﻲ َﻣْﺪرﺳﺔ اﻟﻌُﻠﻮم‬
ِ ‫اﻟﺴ‬ ِ ،‫أَﻧﺎ َﺧﻠﯿﻞ أﺣﻤﺪ ﻋﻠﻲ‬
.‫ﺷﮭﺎدة اﻟﻤﺎﺟﺴﺘﯿﺮ‬ِ ‫ وأ َْدُرس ِﻟ ْﻠُﺤﺼﻮل ﻋﻠﻰ‬.‫ﺖ ﻓﯿﮭﺎ ُﻣْﻨﺬُ ﺛ َﻼث ﺳﻨﻮات‬ ُ ‫ﺗ ََﺨﱠﺮْﺟ‬
ّ َ
‫اﻵن ِﻷﱠن اﻟﺪراﺳﺔ ﻓﻲ ُﻛِﻠﯿﱠِﺘﻨﺎ‬ َ
َ ‫ وﻻ أْﻋَﻤﻞ‬.‫ﻌﺎﻣﻼت ﻓﻲ اﻷﺳﺒﻮع‬ َ ‫ِﻋْﻨﺪي ﺛ َﻤﺎﻧﻲ ُﻣ‬
.‫ﯾﻮم اﻻﺛﻨﯿﻦ‬ ‫ﺮ‬
َ ّ ِ ‫َﻤ‬ ‫ﺘ‬‫َﺴ‬
ْ ‫ﺗ‬ ‫و‬ ‫ﻤﻌﺔ‬ ‫اﻟﺠ‬
ُ َ ‫ﯾﻮم‬ ُ ‫ﺪأ‬‫َْﺒ‬ ‫ﺗ‬ ‫اﻷﺳﺒﻮﻋﯿﺔ‬ ‫ﻨﺎ‬ ْ ‫ﻋ‬
ُ ‫ﻄﻠَﺘ‬ ُ .ً ‫ﺳْﮭﻠﺔ ِﺟﺪّا‬
َ
2. Ask your students to cross out the wrong word and write the correct one
above it.
3. Read the passage to your students and pause naturally at the end of each sentence.
4. Go over your students’ answers as a whole class.
22 Listening techniques

Variations
a. A recording of the text can be played instead of the teacher reading the text.
b. A recording of a song or music or people talking can be played during the teach-
er’s reading to create the effect of background noise to train students to get used
to listening with background noise.
c. Feedback can be given at the end of the reading or upon hearing the wrong word
and students’ responding to it with the correct word.
(See also Ur 1984.)

16. Filling turns in a dialogue ‫ﻣﻞء أدوار ﺣﻮار‬

Purpose
To provide learners with practice to perceive a complete stretch of a turn in a con-
versation. It also allows students to attend to meaning, since it orients them to
missing turns in a dialogue and/or predicting the missing utterances. The activity
allows the integration of listening with reading. It requires little preparation and
takes about 15 minutes to execute.

Procedure
1. Prepare and type a level-appropriate dialogue for your students or adapt one
from their textbooks, containing questions and answers, leaving the latter blank,
such as in the following sample:

Sample: ‫ﻀﻞ؟‬ ُ ‫ﺻﺪﯾﻘَُﻚ‬

‫اﻟﻤﻔَ ﱠ‬ َ ‫َﻣْﻦ‬ :‫ﻧﻮر‬
. :‫ﻣﺎﯾﻜﻞ‬
َ ‫َﻣﺘﻰ ﺗ َﻌَﱠﺮْﻓ‬
‫ﺖ إﻟﯿﮫ؟‬ :‫ﻧﻮر‬
. :‫ﻣﺎﯾﻜﻞ‬
َ ‫ﻒ ﺗ َﻌَﱠﺮْﻓ‬
‫ﺖ إﻟﯿﮫ؟‬ َ ‫َﻛْﯿ‬ :‫ﻧﻮر‬
. :‫ﻣﺎﯾﻜﻞ‬
ِ ‫َﻛْﻢ َﻣﱠﺮة ً ﻓﻲ اﻷ ُ ْﺳﺒﻮع ﺗ َْﺠِﻠ‬
‫ﺴﺎن َﻣﻌًﺎ؟‬ :‫ﻧﻮر‬
. :‫ﻣﺎﯾﻜﻞ‬
ِ ‫ﻋﱠﻢ ﺗ َﺘ ََﻜﻠﱠ‬
‫ﻤﺎن؟‬ َ :‫ﻧﻮر‬
. :‫ﻣﺎﯾﻜﻞ‬
2. Read the dialogue to your students or prerecord it (reflecting the different voices
of characters in the dialogue) and play it to the class.
 Listening techniques 23

3. Read or play the recording no more than twice and have your students write
down the words of the missing turns.
4. Go over the dialogue as a whole class after the second listening (while prefer-
ably displaying it to the class via the document projector) by having one student
at a time provide their response to a missing turn and eliciting corrections from
other students in the class.

Variations
a. Instead of the answer turns in the dialogue being the target of the dictation activ-
ity, provide your students with the questions as the missing information to be
filled in as in the following sample:

Sample: ‫؟‬ :‫ﻧﻮر‬

‫اﻟﻤﻔَ ﱠ‬
.‫ﻀﻞ‬ ُ ‫ﺻﺪﯾﻘﻲ‬
َ ‫روﺑﺮت‬
ْ :‫ﻣﺎﯾﻜﻞ‬
‫؟‬ :‫ﻧﻮر‬
.‫اﻟﺴﻨﺔ اﻷوﻟﻰ‬ ُ ‫ ِﻋْﻨﺪَﻣﺎ ُﻛْﻨ‬،‫اﻟﺠﺎﻣﻌﺔ‬
‫ﺖ ﻓﻲ ﱠ‬ ِ ُ ‫ﺗ َﻌَ ﱠﺮْﻓ‬
‫ﺖ إﻟﯿﮫ ﻓﻲ‬ :‫ﻣﺎﯾﻜﻞ‬
‫؟‬ :‫ﻧﻮر‬
‫ﺖ إﻟﯿﮫ ﻓﻲ َﺣْﻔﻠَﺔ ِﻟ ﱡ‬
.‫ﻠﻄّﻼب‬ ُ ‫ﺗ َﻌَ ﱠﺮْﻓ‬ :‫ﻣﺎﯾﻜﻞ‬
‫؟‬ :‫ﻧﻮر‬
.‫ﻼث َﻣﱠﺮات ﻓﻲ اﻷ ُ ْﺳﺒﻮع‬
َ َ ‫ﺲ َﻣﻌًﺎ ﺛ‬
ُ ‫ﻧَْﺠِﻠ‬ :‫ﻣﺎﯾﻜﻞ‬
‫؟‬ :‫ﻧﻮر‬
َ ‫ﻼﻗﺎﺗﻨﺎ ِﺑ‬
.‫ﺎﻵﺧﺮﯾﻦ‬ ِ ‫وﻋ‬ َ ‫واﻟﻤْﺴﺘ َْﻘﺒَﻞ‬
ُ ‫واﻟﻮاﺟﺒﺎت‬
ِ ِ ‫ﻧَﺘ َ َﻜﻠﱠ ُﻢ ﻋﻠﻰ‬
‫اﻟﺪّراﺳﺔ‬ :‫ﻣﺎﯾﻜﻞ‬
b. Have your students work in groups of dyads to reconstruct the missing turns.
c. Provide the full dialogue to your students to have them check their responses
outside of the classroom.

17. Dictation of a text ‫ﺺ‬

ّ ‫إﻣﻼء ﻧ‬

Purpose
To provide learners with practice to perceive a slightly long stretch of discourse
such as a short paragraph. It is more effective if feedback on this dictation activity
is given immediately after the teacher finishes the dictation. The activity allows for
listening to be integrated the writing and reading skills. It requires little preparation
and takes about 10–15 minutes to execute.
24 Listening techniques

Procedure
1. Prepare a short paragraph appropriate to your students’ level.
2. Ask your students simply to listen during the first (naturally paced) reading of
the text.
3. During a second reading, read at a slower speed and ask your students to write
down exactly what they hear on a blank lined paper.
4. Read the text a third time at a slightly slower pace than the first reading but
faster than the second one and have your students check what they wrote from
the second reading.
5. Go over the dictation afterward as a whole class, checking what your students
may have missed or misspelled and eliciting corrections from all the class.

Variations
a. The three readings can be prerecorded with a voice other than yours with a
pause of 10 seconds after each reading.
b. Instead of going over the dictation as a whole class after the third reading, pair
your students up (in dyads) to discuss their responses and make corrections in a
different color pen; this has the added advantage of integrating the listening skill
with that of speaking.
c. Alternatively, give your students the dictated text to compare their responses
with the text outside of the classroom.

18. Picture ordering ‫إﻋﺎدة ﺗﺮ ﺗﯿﺐ ا ﻟﺼﻮر‬

Purpose
To provide learners with practice to listen for meaning. The teacher reads a story
and students are asked to arrange a set of individual pictures sequentially according
to how the teacher narrated the events. It requires little preparation and takes about
10 minutes to execute.

Procedure
1. Find a story appropriate to your students’ level, preferably a story with which
they are familiar.
2. Provide your students with a set of discrete pictures related to the events of the
story.
3. Ask your students to arrange the pictures according to the events of the story as
they listen to you narrating the story.
4. Slow down as you read the story and/or allow your students to listen to a second
reading.
 Listening techniques 25

Variations
a. Students can listen to a recording of the story.
b. The same pictures can be used for a different story (i.e., if the story is narrated
with a different sequence of events).
c. Students can listen to the story a third time, as needed, or depending on the
degree of difficulty of vocabulary and events of the story.
(See also Flenley 1982.)

19. Get the gist of the text ‫ﻟﻨﺺ ا ﻟﺮ ﺋﯿﺴﺔ‬

ّ ‫ا ﺳﺘﺨﺮ ﺟﻮ ا أ ﻓﻜﺎ ر ا‬

Purpose
To provide learners with practice to listen for meaning at the global level. Global
comprehension questions usually relate to who, what, when, where, why, and how.
A suitable text can be similar in size and content of news sub-headlines and similar
clearly structured text (i.e., with no implied main idea of the text). It requires little
preparation and takes about 10–15 minutes to execute.

Procedure
1. Find a short text appropriate to your students’ level such as in the following text.
2. Provide your students with key questions relating to the who, what, when,
where, why, and how of the text such as in the following questions.
3. Read or play a recording of the text (do not provide the written text).
4. Provide the written questions to your students and have them go over them
before they listen to the text.
5. Have your students listen to the text again and allow them to correct or complete
the answers they supplied upon the first listening.

Sample: ‫← ﻗﺎل وزﯾﺮ اﻟﺘﻌﻠﯿﻢ ﻛﺮﯾﻢ اﻟﺴﻌﯿﺪ اﻟﯿﻮم إن ﻣﻮﻋﺪ إﻋﻼن ﻧﺘﺎﺋﺞ اﻣﺘﺤﺎن‬
‫ وأﺿﺎف‬.‫اﻟﺜﺎﻧﻮﯾﺔ اﻟﻌﺎﻣﺔ ﻟﮭﺬه اﻟﺴﻨﺔ ﻟﻦ ﯾﻜﻮن ﻗﺒﻞ ﺷﮭﺮﯾﻦ ﻣﻦ اﻵن‬
‫أن ذﻟﻚ ﺿﺮوري ﻣﻦ أﺟﻞ اﻟﺘﻨﺴﯿﻖ ﻣﻊ وزارة اﻟﺘﻌﻠﯿﻢ اﻟﻌﺎﻟﻲ وﺗﺤﺪﯾﺪ‬
‫وﺳﺘﻌﻠﻦ اﻟﻮزارة ﻋﻦ اﻟﻨﺘﺎﺋﺞ ﻋﻨﺪﺋﺬ ﻓﻲ‬
ِ .‫ﻋﻼﻣﺎت اﻟﻘﺒﻮل ﻓﻲ اﻟﺠﺎﻣﻌﺎت‬
.‫اﻟﻤﺪارس اﻟﺜﺎﻧﻮﯾﺔ‬

:‫اﻷﺳﺌﻠﺔ‬
‫اﻟﻨﺺ؟‬
ّ ‫ﻣﺎ ﻣﻮﺿﻮع‬ 1.

‫اﻟﻨﺺ؟‬
ّ ‫اﻟﻤﺘ ََﻜِﻠّﻢ ﻓﻲ‬
ُ ‫َﻣﻦ‬ 2.
26 Listening techniques

‫اﻟﻌﺎﻣﺔ؟‬
ّ ‫ﺳﺘﻈﮭﺮ ﻧﺘﺎﺋﺞ اﻟﺜﺎﻧﻮﯾﺔ‬
َ ‫َﻣﺘﻰ‬ 3.

‫اﻟﻌﺎﻣﺔ؟‬
ّ ‫ﺳﺘﻈﮭﺮ ﻧﺘﺎﺋﺞ اﻟﺜﺎﻧﻮﯾﺔ‬ َ ‫أﯾﻦ‬ 4.

‫اﻟﻌﺎﻣﺔ اﻟﯿﻮم؟‬
ّ ‫ِﻟﻤﺎذا ﻟَ ْﻦ ﺗﻈﮭﺮ ﻧﺘﺎﺋﺞ اﻟﺜﺎﻧﻮﯾﺔ‬ 5.

Variations
a. You can choose not to provide the questions to your students before the first lis-
tening; however, providing the comprehension questions has the added advan-
tage of focusing students’ attention on the specific targeted information.
b. To mirror the structure of the text and make the activity easier, order the ques-
tions according to their sequence in the text (i.e., Question 2 before Question 1
and Question 5 before Question 4); however, this may make the comprehension
questions too predictable and too easy to figure out.
c. Provide the comprehension questions out of order, although this may make the
activity more challenging.
d. If a third listening is necessary, allow it; this will allow students to build more
self-confidence and lower their anxiety.

20. Complete the story: what will happen next? ‫أ ﻛﻤﻠﻮ ا‬

‫ ﻣﺎ ا ﻟﺬ ي ﺳﯿﺤﺪ ث ﻓﯿﻤﺎ ﺑﻌﺪ ؟‬: ‫ا ﻟﻘﺼﺔ‬

Purpose
To provide learners with practice to attend to meaning and integrate listening with
the writing skill. In this activity, students listen to an incomplete story and are asked
to complete it. To ensure students attend to the meaning of the dictated text, they
must show (in their completed written portion) enough details related to the dic-
tated text. It requires little preparation and takes about 20–25 minutes to execute.

Procedure
1. Find a short story or come up with a beginning part of a story.
2. Read the text of an incomplete story or beginning part twice and then ask your
students to complete the text in their own way, linking the completion portion
to as many details of the story they heard as possible (in about 10–15 minutes),
such as in the following sample:

Sample: ‫ﻟﻠﺠَﻤﻞ؟‬
َ ‫ﻣﺎذا ﺳﯿﺤﺪث‬
‫ وﻛﺎن ﻟﮫ‬،‫أن أﺳﺪا ً ﻛﺎن ﻓﻲ ﻏﺎﺑﺔ ﻣﺠﺎورة ﻟﻄﺮﯾﻖ ﻣﻦ طﺮق اﻟﻨﺎس‬ ّ ‫زﻋﻤﻮا‬
.‫ﻣﺮوا ﺑﺬﻟﻚ اﻟﻄﺮﯾﻖ‬
ّ ‫وأن رﻋﺎة‬ّ ،‫ ذﺋﺐ وﻏﺮاب واﺑﻦ آوى‬:‫أﺻﺤﺎب ﺛﻼﺛﺔ‬
. . . ‫وﺗﺠﻮل ﻓﯿﮭﺎ ﺣﺘﻰ رآه اﻷﺳﺪ‬
ّ ‫ﻓﺘﺨﻠّﻒ ﺟﻤﻞ ﻓﺪﺧﻞ اﻟﻐﺎﺑﺔ‬
3. Do not provide the dictated part/beginning part of the story written.
 Listening techniques 27

4. Ask your students to add a title to the text.

5. Go over your students’ responses as a whole class and reward students with the
completed story that exhibits as much logical sequence of the plot of events and
shows a connection to the details with the dictated part.

Variations
a. Prerecord the text, preferably with a different voice than yours, and play it twice.
b. Before going over your students’ responses as a whole class, have your students
work in groups of dyads to discuss their responses to give the chance to each
student to refine their response; this has the added advantage of integrating lis-
tening with speaking and writing.

3. Developing listening at the advanced level

At the advanced level and beyond, listening is pitched at the paragraph and
extended discourse level, where listening is primarily focused on meaning and con-
tent. At this stage, the more advanced the level of the learner, the more effective
and practical (given time constraints and proficiency development considerations)
implementing techniques that integrate listening with one or more skills, rather
than focus on listening comprehension as an isolated skill, is. While getting expo-
sure to a form or function through a skill, learners can activate it through another
and achieve control or automaticity through others. In addition to the techniques
included here, some of the techniques in the intermediate section can be used for
the advanced level when the texts and topics used are suitable for the advanced
level. A listening technique is usually implemented as a pre-listening, during-lis-
tening, post-listening activity, or all of these combined. Activities used during the
pre-listening activities are usually referred to as “advanced organizers.”

21. Dictogloss “ ‫إ ﻣﻼ ء ” ا ﻟﺪ ﯾﻜﺘﻮ ﻏﻠﻮ س‬

Purpose
To provide learners with practice to perceive sounds, words, phrases, and sentences
in real time. The activity does also allow one to attend to meaning, since the activ-
ity requires the learner to reproduce the exact text which requires a certain degree
of attending to or knowledge of meaning. In addition, it allows the integration of
listening with speaking and writing. It requires little preparation and takes about
10–15 minutes to execute.

Procedure
1. Prepare a long sentence or short text at the level of vocabulary and structure of
your students about a topic related to what they have covered in their textbook.
2. Read the long sentence or short text one time.
28 Listening techniques

3. Divide your students into dyads and have them reconstruct what they exactly
heard (in about 10 minutes).
4. Go over your students’ responses as a whole class and have your students com-
pare their answers with what you dictated by displaying it on a screen or via a
document projector.

Variations
a. If a short text is the content of the activity, read the short text twice, allowing
your students to take notes of key words during the second reading to help them
reconstruct the text.
b. To allow your students to reconstruct the dictated text faster, divide them into
groups of 4 or more.
c. Alternatively, have one student come to the board and write the dictated text
with help from all students in the class.
(See also Davis and Rinvolucri 1988.)

22. ّ
Summarize in your own words ‫ﻟﺨﺼﻮ ا ﺑﻜﻠﻤﺎ ت ﻣﻦ ﻋﻨﺪ ﻛﻢ‬

Purpose
To provide learners with practice to primarily attend to meaning, as learners are
required to provide a summary of their understanding of a text (as an audio or
video recording). It allows the integration of listening with the writing skill so
that learners can receive feedback on their comprehension as well as writing. The
technique mimics real-life situations in which we often need to know the gist of
what we hear or watch. It requires little preparation and takes about 20 minutes
to execute.

Procedure
1. Prepare a level-appropriate text for your students or select one from their text-
book and record it preferably using someone else’s voice, or find a listening text
or video clip appropriate to their level or from their textbook.
2. Ask your students to listen to the audio recording of the text or video clip 2–3
times.
3. Allow your students to take notes of the most important details.
4. At the end of the second or third listening, ask your students to transform their
notes into a short paragraph summary of what they heard (in about 10 minutes).
5. Ask your students to also come up with a title of the text.
6. Go over a sample of your students’ summaries (by displaying each via a docu-
ment projector) as a whole class and offer feedback and corrections as a whole
class.
 Listening techniques 29

Variations
a. At the end of the listening part, have your students work on constructing the
summary in groups of dyads.
b. Have groups exchange their final summaries so that each group will attempt to
provide feedback and corrections to both factual as well as writing accuracy of
the paragraph of at least another group.
(See also Ur 1984.)

23. Jigsaw listening: listen and collaborate ‫اﻻﺳﺘﻤﺎع‬

‫ ا ﺳﺘﻤﻌﻮ ا و ﺗﻌﺎ و ﻧﻮ ا‬: ‫ا ﻟﻤﺠﺘﺰ أ‬

Purpose
To provide learners with practice to primarily attend to meaning, as learners are
required to listen in carefully (through an audio or video recording) and then iden-
tify the missing information or piece together the full story verbally or in writing.
Accordingly, it allows the integration of listening with speaking and writing, as stu-
dents are required to collaborate together to complete the task of piecing together
a full summary of a story, a full general idea about a topic, or a reconstruction of a
dialogue in the logical order. It requires little preparation and takes about 25 min-
utes to execute.

Procedure
1. Divide your students into dyads.
2. Provide each group with an audio recording that represents a part of a story or
text about a topic; the sum of all the recordings tells a full story, full texts about
a topic, or full dialogue.
3. Ask your students to take notes while they listen to their portion of the story.
4. Instruct your students to listen to their recording no more than 2–3 times.
5. At the end of the listening and notetaking stages, redivide the students into
groups of four or more to piece together a summary of the full story, a full gen-
eral idea about the topic, or the full dialogue in the logical order, much like a
jigsaw puzzle.
6. Go over samples of your students’ responses, inviting corrections from all stu-
dents in the class.

Variations
a. If it is not possible for all groups to listen to their respective recordings (such as
when not all of them have computers, smartphones, or headphones), assign some
groups to listen to their recordings outside of the classroom or in different locations.
30 Listening techniques

b. Go over your students’ responses as a whole class by delegating a student to

come to the board and have all students from all groups help the student write a
summary of the full story, text about the topic, or dialogue in the logical order.
(See also Ur 1984.)

24. Comprehending the listening text in stages ‫ﻟﻨﺺ‬

ّ ‫ﻓﮭﻢ ا‬
‫ا ﻟﻤﺴﻤﻮ ع ﻋﻠﻰ ﻣﺮ ا ﺣﻞ‬

Purpose
To provide learners with practice to attend to meaning by attempting to understand
an audio or video recording (which can be a self-contained video clip, such as a
short documentary film about a certain topic or a historical event). Understanding
can include key ideas about its content and context at a global/broad level or at a
subtler level. The technique allows for the integration of listening with speaking,
as students are required to work in groups and then report and discuss their specific
responses. Additionally, the technique exposes students to some strategies of how
to approach such a text and attempt to decode its main meanings. It requires little
preparation and takes about 40 minutes to execute.

Procedure
1. Pre-listening/pre-viewing (advanced organizers):
a. State the topic of the clip by means of one word (e.g., You are going to watch
a video about ‫اﻟﺘﻠﻮث‬
ّ “pollution,” if the video clips is a documentary film).
b. Brainstorm with your students what they know about pollution and write
their main ideas on the board (in 3–5 minutes).
c. Brainstorm what words they expect to hear associated with “pollution” (in
3–5 minutes).
d. Point out vocabulary (including new vocabulary) critical to the text that your
students may have missed (in 3–5 minutes).
2. First listening/viewing:
a. Play the video one time.
b. Divide your students into groups of dyads and have them answer general
questions (e.g., What is the purpose of the video? Where was the video pro-
duced? When was the video produced?; in about 3–5 minutes).
c. Have your students refer to the board and whether their answers correspond
to the ideas on the board.
d. Have the groups report to the class and discuss their answers with the class.
3. Second listening/viewing:
a. Provide a few specific questions that require subtler or more deductive
answers (e.g., To whom is the video relevant? What are the most important
 Listening techniques 31

messages of the video? Was the video successful in conveying its message?
Why?/Why not?).
b. Play the video for a second time.
c. Divide your students in groups and have them answer the questions for the
second listening (in about 5–7 minutes).
d. Have the groups report to the class and discuss their answers with the class.
e. Responses are acceptable so long as your students are able to substantiate
them from the video.
4. Post-listening/post-viewing:
a. Focus on the form and function of new vocabulary and (cultural) expressions.
b. Go over the new words and expressions your students may have inferred
from the text.
c. Elicit your students’ responses at guessing the meaning of new words and
expressions you have preselected by playing and pausing the video around
their respective contexts.

Variations
a. You may choose not to point out vocabulary (including new vocabulary) critical
to the text that students may have missed in the pre-listening activities (and rely
alone on the words and expressions that your students will come up with) and
allow your students to infer them from the first and second listening/viewing.
b. As part of the pre-listening activities/advanced organizers, your students can
look at the general questions prior to the first listening/viewing.
c. Play the audio/video a third time, if time permits for a third listening/viewing,
depending on your students’ responses and needs.
(See also Field 2008.)

25. Make up your own questions ‫ﻟﻨﺺ ﺑﺄ ﻧﻔﺴﻜﻢ‬

ّ ‫ﺿﻌﻮ ا أ ﺳﺌﻠﺔ ﻋﻦ ا‬

Purpose
To provide learners with practice to attend to meaning by attempting to understand
a short audio or video recording about any topic appropriate to the level, interests,
relevance, and needs of the learners. It allows for the integration of listening with
speaking, as students are asked to work in groups to make up their own questions
and discuss answers to questions made by other groups. It requires little prepara-
tion and takes about 40 minutes to execute.

Procedure
1. First listening/viewing:
a. Play the short (2–3 minute) audio or video one time.
32 Listening techniques

b. Discuss as a whole class the general topic of the audio/video; that is, what
topic is it about? (in about 3–5 minutes).
c. Divide your students into groups of dyads and have them come up with their
own questions, 1–2 questions by each group; the questions can be general
(such as those related to what, where, when, why, how, etc.) or more specific
ones (in about 7–9 minutes).
2. Second listening/viewing:
a. Play the video for a second time.
b. Divide your students into the same groups and have them fine-tune their
questions (in about 5–7 minutes).
c. Have each group ask the next group a question in a chain fashion so that
groups can rotate in asking and answering questions.
d. Invite other students from other groups to help answer a question if a group
cannot.
3. Third listening/viewing:
a. Play the audio or video 30 seconds at a time.
b. If none of the groups asked a relevant question on the segment, assign groups
to make up one question each and call back the groups to ask each other as
done before.
4. Post-listening/viewing:
a. Focus on the form and function of new vocabulary and (cultural) expressions.
b. Go over the new words and expressions your students may have inferred
from the text.
c. Elicit your students’ responses at guessing the meaning of new words and
expressions you have preselected by playing and pausing the video around
their respective contexts.

Variations
a. Depending on how your students respond to the activity, you may need to guide
your students initially suggesting questions (such as the general and specific
questions suggested in the previous technique).
b. Alternatively, if there are speakers or characters and interactions among them
in the audio/video clip, invite your students to make interpretations about the
speakers’ personalities and relationships where they can share their beliefs and
opinions about various issues and debate with their classmates about new ideas
or controversial social trends. This has the advantage to pitch the discussion at
even a higher proficiency level.
(See also Field 2008.)
Chapter 2

Speaking techniques

1. Developing speaking at the novice level

Speaking is viewed here in terms of the ability to produce language to meet com-
municative functional needs (of interpersonal communication) at the word, phrase,
and memorized chunk levels. At the novice high level, speaking is also pitched (a
little higher than the ACTFL guidelines) at the sentence level. At higher subsequent
levels, it involves communication at the sentence, paragraph, and then extended
discourse levels and ranges from the use of high-frequency vocabulary and struc-
tures to the use of low-frequency (and specialized) vocabulary and (more complex)
structures (along ACTFL’s proficiency guidelines, 2012). With the implementa-
tion of the various techniques along the proficiency scale, the development of the
speaking skill should take into account a gradual increase in fluency, complexity,
and accuracy (of pronunciation and grammar) of the learner’s production.

1. Chain introductions and greetings ‫ا ﻟﺘﻌﺎ ر ف ا ﻟﺘﺴﻠﺴﻠﻲ‬

‫و ﺗﺒﺎ د ل ا ﻟﺘﺤﺎ ﯾﺎ‬

Purpose
To provide learners with practice speaking and developing fluency. It also helps
them develop basic interaction and functional abilities, such as introducing oneself
and exchanging greetings. It requires little to no preparation and takes about 5–10
minutes to execute, depending on the number of students in the class.

Procedure
1. Arrange the seats in class in a semicircle (or two semicircles one behind the
other, depending on the number of students in the class).
2. Stand or sit where the right end of the semicircle is to your right and the left end
to your left.

DOI: 10.4324/9781315686677-3
34 Speaking techniques

3. Turn to the student to your right or left; if turning to the student to your right,
model the exchange of introductions or greetings; for example, turn to the stu-
dent to your right and say ‫“ اﺳﻤﻲ ﻣﺤﻤﺪ‬My name is Mohammad” and elicit the
response ‫ﺗﺸﺮﻓﻨﺎ‬ ً
ّ “I am honored” or ‫وﺳﮭﻼ‬ ً “Welcome.”
‫أھﻼ‬
4. The student turns to the student to their right and follows the same modeling
by saying: ‫“ اﺳﻤﻲ آدم‬My name is Adam” and receives the response ‫ﺗﺸﺮﻓﻨﺎ‬ ّ “I am
ً
honored” or ‫وﺳﮭﻼ‬ ً
‫“ أھﻼ‬Welcome” from that student.
5. The chain of exchanges continues in the same fashion until each student in class
has responded to the introduction with the previous student and introduced
themselves to the next one to their right.
6. In addition to exchanging introductions, any form of greeting can be exchanged
and practiced in the same way as in the following examples:

Sample introduction َ ‫أ َ ْھًﻼ َو‬/‫ﺗ ََﺸﱠﺮْﻓﻨﺎ‬

‫ﺳْﮭًﻼ‬ ← ‫ِاْﺳﻤﻲ ﺟﻮن‬
and greetings:
‫اﻟﻨّﻮر‬/‫اﻟﺨْﯿﺮ‬
َ ‫ﺒﺎح‬
ُ ‫ﺻ‬
َ ← َ ‫ﺒﺎح‬
‫اﻟﺨْﯿﺮ‬ ُ ‫ﺻ‬
َ
‫اﻟﻨّﻮر‬/‫اﻟﺨْﯿﺮ‬
َ ‫ﺴﺎء‬
ُ ‫َﻣ‬ ← ‫اﻟﺨْﯿﺮ‬َ ‫ﺴﺎء‬
ُ ‫َﻣ‬
‫وﻋﻠَْﯿُﻜُﻢ ﱠ‬
‫اﻟﺴﻼم‬ َ ← ‫ﻋﻠَْﯿُﻜﻢ‬َ ‫ﻼم‬
ُ ‫اﻟﺴ‬
‫ﱠ‬
‫اﻟﺤْﻤﺪُ ﻟﻠﮫ‬
َ ،‫ ِﺑَﺨْﯿﺮ‬/‫ِﺑَﺨْﯿﺮ‬/‫اﻟﺤْﻤﺪُ ﻟﻠﮫ‬
َ ← َ ‫َﻛْﯿ‬
‫ﻒ اﻟﺤﺎل؟‬
‫اﻟﺴﻼﻣﺔ‬
‫َﻣَﻊ ﱠ‬ ← ‫اﻟﺴﻼﻣﺔ‬
‫َﻣَﻊ ﱠ‬

Variations
a. This technique can be used when teaching a new greeting or reviewing all the
greetings students have so far learned, one greeting at a time goes through the
chain.
b. If using the activity to review all the greetings, when you initiate the second
greeting, start with the second student (rather than the first student again) and
the third greeting with the third student and so on so that you can avoid starting
with the same student each time.
c. For young learners (to make the activity more fun), bring a ball with you and
toss it to the student to your left or right (with whom you model your statement
and response) as you say ‫“ ﺻﺒﺎح اﻟﺨﯿﺮ‬Good morning” and elicit from them the
response ‫ ﺻﺒﺎح اﻟﻨﻮر‬or ‫“ ﺻﺒﺎح اﻟﺨﯿﺮ‬Good morning” when they catch it.
d. The student who receives the ball turns to the next student and says ‫ﺻﺒﺎح اﻟﺨﯿﺮ‬
“Good morning” as they toss the ball to them, and the latter should respond back
‫ ﺻﺒﺎح اﻟﻨﻮر‬or ‫“ ﺻﺒﺎح اﻟﺨﯿﺮ‬Good morning.”
e. The chain of exchanges continues in the same fashion until each student in class
has responded to the greeting with the previous student and initiated it with the
next one.
 Speaking techniques 35

2. Name tags ‫ﺷﺎرات اﻷﺳﻤﺎء‬

Purpose
To provide learners with practice speaking and developing fluency mimicking
a real-life situation. It also helps them develop basic interaction and functional
abilities such as, introducing oneself and exchanging greetings. It requires little
preparation and takes about 15–20 minutes to execute, depending on the number of
students in the class to prepare the name tags for all students.

Procedure
1. Prepare name tags in Arabic for all students in class and have your students
attach tags to themselves.
2. Have all students get up from their seats and walk around to mingle and intro-
duce themselves to others individually.
3. When two students meet, one introduces themselves by stating their name and
states a couple of things about themselves, such as the following: ‫ اﺳﻤﻲ‬. . . “My
name is . . .,” ‫ أﻧﺎ ﻣﻦ‬. . . “I am from . . .,” and ‫ أدرس‬. . . “I study . . .”
4. Pre-teach your students the vocabulary they need to express themselves before
they start this activity.
5. Each student should try to talk to at least five students.

Variations
a. Have your students make their own name tags (in Arabic) on sheets of paper but
provide tapes to them.
b. Students can read each other’s name tags and initiate the introductions by means
of rising intonation and asking a couple of additional questions, such as the fol-
lowing: ‫ ؟‬. . . ‫“ اﺳﻤﻚ‬Your name is . . . ?” ‫“ ﻣﻦ أﯾﻦ أﻧﺖ؟‬Where are you from?” and
‫ﺗﺪرﺳﯿﻦ؟‬/‫“ ﻣﺎذا ﺗﺪرس‬What do you study?”
(See also Klippel 1984.)

3. Match up ‫ا ﺑﺤﺜﻮ ا ﻋﻦ ﻗﺮ ﻧﺎ ﺋﻜﻢ‬

Purpose
To provide learners with practice to improve their fluency in speaking. It also helps
them develop basic interaction and functional abilities, such as exchanging greet-
ings. It requires little preparation and takes about 10 minutes to execute.

Procedure
1. Prepare cards (or sheets of paper) containing matching expressions.
2. Hand out the cards to all students in class, one each.
36 Speaking techniques

3. Students must keep their card hidden and find their other half (carrying their
matching expression) by walking about in class asking for it (initiating short
dialogues) or simply saying their expression to each one they meet and figuring
out their matching expression in the process.
4. Once your students find their other half, each pair exchange the expressions in
front of the class.

Sample: ‫ﺒﺎح اﻟﻨّﻮر‬

ُ ‫ﺻ‬ َ ← َ ‫ﺒﺎح‬
‫اﻟﺨْﯿﺮ‬ ُ ‫ﺻ‬ َ
‫وﻋﻠَْﯿُﻜُﻢ ﱠ‬
‫اﻟﺴﻼم‬ َ ← ‫ﻋﻠَْﯿُﻜﻢ‬
َ ‫ﻼم‬
ُ ‫اﻟﺴ‬
‫ﱠ‬
‫ﺴﺎء اﻟﻨّﻮر‬
ُ ‫َﻣ‬ ← َ ‫ﺴﺎء‬
‫اﻟﺨْﯿﺮ‬ ُ ‫َﻣ‬
‫ﺗ ََﺸﱠﺮْﻓﻨﺎ‬ ← ‫ِاْﺳﻤﻲ ﺟﻮن‬
‫اﻟﺤْﻤﺪُ ﻟﻠﮫ‬
َ ← َ ‫َﻛْﯿ‬
‫ﻒ اﻟﺤﺎل؟‬
‫اﻟﺴﻼﻣﺔ‬
‫َﻣَﻊ ﱠ‬ ← ‫اﻟﺴﻼﻣﺔ‬
‫َﻣَﻊ ﱠ‬

Variations
a. Instead of using matching expressions, the technique can be used as a vocabu-
lary activity using words and phrases.
b. It can be used as a vocabulary activity on single words, with one set of cards
containing the (single) words in Arabic and the other set containing matching
pictures or meanings of words in English, just as in splitting flash cards.
c. It can be used as an activity on phrases, with one set of cards containing nouns
and the other set containing matching nouns as second terms of ’idaafa or adjec-
tives as in the following sample.

Sample: ‫اﻟ َﺨ ْﯿﺮ‬ ← ‫ﺻﺒﺎ ُح‬َ

‫اﻷ ُ ْﺳﺒﻮع‬ ← ْ
‫ﻋﻄﻠﺔ‬ ُ
‫ﺗ ُ ْﺮ ِﻛﯿّﺔ‬ ← ‫ﻗَ ْﮭﻮة‬
‫ﻋ َﺮﺑﻲ‬
َ ← ‫ُﺧ ْﺒﺰ‬
‫وا ِﺳﻊ‬ ← ‫ﺑَ ْﯿﺖ‬
‫ﻗَﺼﯿﺮ‬ ← ‫َر ُﺟﻞ‬

4. Identity cards ‫ا ﻟﺒﻄﺎ ﻗﺎ ت ا ﻟﺸﺨﺼﯿﺔ‬

Purpose
To provide learners with practice speaking and developing fluency. It also helps
them develop basic functional abilities of asking simple questions and getting to
 Speaking techniques 37

know others and interacting with them. It requires little preparation and takes about
10 minutes to execute.

Procedure
1. Prepare index cards for your students to fill out with basic personal information
about their classmates (e.g., their name, where they come from, where they live,
their hobby, etc.) such as the following:

:‫ِاﻻ ْﺳﻢ‬
:‫اﻟﻮﻻﯾَﺔ‬
ِ
:‫ﺴ َﻜﻦ‬
‫اﻟ ﱠ‬
:‫اﻟ ِﮭﻮاﯾَﺔ‬
2. Divide your students into dyads and distribute a card to each student and ask
each student to get to know at least one classmate by means of interviewing/
meeting them and filling out the card in 3–4 minutes.
3. If your students have not learned question words, pre-teach question words/
particles such as ‫“ ﻣﺎ‬what,” ‫“ ﻣﻦ أﯾﻦ‬where from,” and ‫“ أﯾﻦ‬where” or instruct and
demonstrate to them to simply use rising intonation.
4. Have each student introduce their classmate to the class from the information
they gathered from the card.

Variations
a. Ask your students to get up from their seats and intermingle.
b. Distribute three cards to each student to fill them out from three different
classmates.
(See also Klippel 1984.)

5. Describe the picture ‫ﺻﻔﻮا ا ﻟﺼﻮرة‬

ِ
Purpose
To provide learners with practice speaking. It allows participation with the least
anxiety and pressure on a particular student due to the collaborative nature of the
activity. It requires little preparation and takes about 10 minutes to execute.

Procedure
1. Come up with a picture for your students to describe, requiring vocabulary they
have recently covered and appropriate to their level.
38 Speaking techniques

2. Display the picture to the whole class on a screen or via a document projector.
3. Allow 1–2 minutes for your students to look at the picture and think of 2–3
things with which to describe it.
4. Ask your students what they simply see, allowing one student at a time to say
one thing about it, in a chain fashion so that each student eventually participates.
5. Allow your students to respond with one word, if that is all they can do, but urge
them to use at least two words.
6. Provide error corrections by means of recasting after each student describes the
picture and produces an error in pronunciation or grammar.

Variations
a. To make the activity less threatening, have your students write 2–3 statements
that they want to use to describe the picture.
b. Allow your students to consult their books or notes.
c. Collect what your students have written and provide feedback and corrections
later.

6. ّ
My favorite day of the week ‫ﻟﻤﻔﻀﻞ ﻓﻲ اﻷﺳﺒﻮع‬ ‫ﯾﻮ ﻣﻲ ا‬

Purpose
To provide learners with practice speaking and developing fluency. It also helps
them develop basic interaction and functional abilities of expressing likes and dis-
likes and providing simple reasons or explanations. The activity allows the integra-
tion of speaking with possibly the writing skill. It requires little to no preparation
and takes about 15 minutes to execute.

Procedure
1. Model for your students your favorite day of the week and then list (on the board
or screen or via a document projector) other days in order of your preference
such as the following:

‫ ﯾَ ْﻮﻣﻲ اﻟ ُﻤﻔَ ﱠ‬:‫اﻟ ُﺠﻤﻌﺔ‬

‫ﻀﻞ‬ 1.

‫اﻷ َ َﺣﺪ‬ 2.

‫ﺴ ْﺒﺖ‬
‫اﻟ ﱠ‬ 3.

‫اﻟ َﺨﻤﯿﺲ‬ 4.

‫اﻷ َ ْرﺑِﻌﺎء‬ 5.

‫اﻟﺜﻼﺛﺎء‬ ‫ﱡ‬ 6.

‫ِاﻻﺛْﻨَ ْﯿﻦ‬ 7.
 Speaking techniques 39

2. Ask your students what their favorite days of the week and make a similar list in
no more than 2 minutes.
3. Divide your students into dyads and ask them to discuss their rankings and pro-
vide reasons for their rankings or why they typically like or do not like certain
days in no more than 4 minutes.
4. Ideally, implement the activity when your students have learned how to express
providing explanations or reasons; if not, pre-teach them key expressions, such
‫“ ﱠ‬because” and ‫ﺴﺒَﺐ‬
as ‫ﻷن‬ َ ِ‫“ ﺑ‬because of” and how to use them.
5. Go over sample responses of your students by having groups delegate a group
member to report to class their group’s rankings and reasons.

Variations
a. If time permits, have all groups delegate a group member from each group to
report to class their group’s rankings and reasons.
b. Following the conclusion of the speaking activity, have each student write a
statement or two about each day, stating why a certain day is their favorite day
and why they typically like or do not like certain days.
c. Collect the statements for feedback and corrections later.

7. Group interviews ‫ﻣﻘﺎ ﺑﻼ ت ﺟﻤﺎ ﻋﯿﺔ‬

Purpose
To provide learners with practice speaking and developing fluency. It also helps
them develop basic interaction and functional abilities such as asking simple ques-
tions to elicit simple information. It requires little to no preparation and takes about
10–15 minutes to execute.

Procedure
1. Write on the board (or display on the screen or via a document projector) the
question particles/words ‫“ َﻣﻦ‬who,” ‫ﻣﺎذا‬/‫“ ﻣﺎ‬what,” ‫“ أﯾﻦ‬where,” ‫“ ﻣﺘﻰ‬when,” ‫ﻛﻢ‬
“how many,” ‫“ ﻛﯿﻒ‬how,” and ‫“ ﻟﻤﺎذا‬why.”
2. Divide your students into groups of 4–6 students.
3. Have each group delegate the role of the interviewee to one of them, with the
rest being interviewers.
4. Allow interviewers 2–3 minutes to write as many personal questions (at least
6) as they can (by using the words on the board fronting their questions) about
the interviewee, such as place of origin, number of family members, place of
residence, hobbies, interests, favorite foods, and so on.
5. Have your students within each group alternate in asking the interviewee their
questions in 5–6 minutes.
40 Speaking techniques

6. Each group delegates a group member to report to the class the information
gathered about the interviewee.
7. Offer feedback and corrections on any patterns of errors students have made
forming questions and statements/responses, eliciting corrections from class
first.

Variations
a. Instead of having all groups ask personal questions, have each group ask a dif-
ferent set of questions such as those pertaining to the interviewee’s house/apart-
ment, car, job, hobby, and so on.
b. Allow your students to also include yes/no questions.
c, Allow your students to write at least six questions and the interviewee’s
responses to them.
d. Go over sample written interviews (containing questions and responses) by dis-
playing them via a document projector and work on the identification and cor-
rection of errors collectively from all students in class.
(See also Klippel 1984.)

8. Who am I? ‫ﻣﻦ أﻧﺎ؟‬

Purpose
To provide learners with practice speaking and improve their fluency. It also helps
them develop their interaction and basic functional ability to ask yes/no questions.
It requires little preparation and takes about 10–15 minutes to execute.

Procedure
1. Prepare some cards or sheets of paper, each containing the name of a famous
person whom most students in the class can recognize (e.g., an actor, politician,
student, etc.).
2. Give each card to a student who will assume the name of the person on the card
and who will start the activity by asking: ‫ﻣﻦ أﻧﺎ؟‬.
3. All other students in class ask the student with the card yes/no questions to fig-
ure out the name of the person in the card
4. Students continue to ask questions until they are able to guess the name.

Variations
a. You can assume the name of the person on a given card.
b. A student gets a response only if he/she asked the question correctly.
c. Alternatively, you may ask your students to prepare cards (outside of the class-
room) with names of famous persons for use in a subsequent class.
(See also Sepulveda 2012.)
 Speaking techniques 41

9. Describing family members ‫وﺻﻒ أﻓﺮاد ا ﻟﻌﺎ ﺋﻠﺔ‬

Purpose
To provide learners with practice speaking and develop basic functional abilities
of asking simple questions and soliciting basic information. It also helps them
improve their fluency, as it allows them to think of and rehearse what they want to
talk about before the actual task. It requires little to no preparation and takes about
10–15 minutes to execute, depending on the number of students in the class.

Procedure
1. Have your students bring three pictures of their family members each.
2. In class, each student describes their family members (portrayed in the pictures)
to the class.
3. The student describing the pictures is not allowed to read from notes.
4. After each student completes their description of their three family members,
students in class ask the student questions (each student is required to ask at
least one question) soliciting more information about their family members they
have just described, such as the following:

‫ھﺎ؟‬/‫ﻛﻢ ﻋﻤﺮه‬ •
‫ﺗﺴﻜﻦ؟‬/‫أﯾﻦ ﯾﺴﻜﻦ‬ •
‫ﺗﺪرس؟‬/‫ﻣﺎذا ﯾﺪرس‬ •
‫ﺗﺪرس؟‬/‫أﯾﻦ ﯾﺪرس‬ •
‫ﺗﻌﻤﻞ؟‬/‫ﻣﺎذا ﯾﻌﻤﻞ‬ •
‫ﺗﻌﻤﻞ؟‬/‫أﯾﻦ ﯾﻌﻤﻞ‬ •
‫ھﻮاﯾﺘﮭﺎ؟‬/‫ﻣﺎ ھﻮاﯾﺘﮫ‬ •
‫أﻛﻠﺘﮭﺎ اﻟﻤﻔﻀﻠﺔ؟‬/‫ﻣﺎ أﻛﻠﺘﮫ‬ •
‫ﺗﺘﻜﻠﻢ؟‬/‫ﻛﻢ ﻟﻐﺔ ﯾﺘﻜﻠﻢ؟‬ •

Variations
a. Depending on the level of your students in class, prepare, if necessary, the ques-
tions for your students on cards to use in their questioning.
b. Students can also ask yes/no questions.

10. Fill in the blanks to personalize students in class

‫ﻟﺼﻒ‬
ّ ‫ﻣﻞ ء ا ﻟﻔﺮ ا ﻏﺎ ت ﻟﺸﺨﺼﻨﺔ طﻼ ب ا‬

Purpose
To provide learners with practice speaking as well as improve their fluency, as it
allows them to translate what the teacher is prompting them by modifying each
42 Speaking techniques

fill-in-the-blank statement to personalize them in the drill while paying attention

to both pronunciation and grammar. It requires little to no preparation and takes
about 10–15 minutes to execute, depending on the number of questions in the
fill-in-the-blank drill in the textbook. This also makes such a mechanical drill
engaging and fun.

Procedure
1. Use any fill-in-the-blank drill in your students’ textbook, preferably after having
assigned it as a homework assignment, such as the following:

.‫ اﺳﻤﮫ ﺟﻮن‬.____________ ‫ ﻟﻲ أخ واﺣﺪ‬.‫ أﺳﺮﺗﻲ ﺻﻐﯿﺮة‬1.

.‫اﻻزدﺣﺎم‬
ِ ____________ ‫ ﻻ أﺣﺐ ھﺬه اﻟﻤﺪﯾﻨﺔ‬2.
‫ ﻓﻲ ﻓﻠﻮرﯾﺪا اﻟﻄﻘﺲ ____________ ﻓﻲ اﻟﺸﺘﺎء و____________ ﻓﻲ‬3.
.‫اﻟﺼﯿﻒ‬
‫ أﺣﺐ ﱠ‬4.
. ____________ ‫اﻟﺴﻔﺮ إﻟﻰ ﻣﯿﺸﯿﻐﺎن ﻓﻲ اﻟﺼﯿﻒ ﺑﺴﺒﺐ اﻟﻄﻘﺲ اﻟـ‬
. ____________ ‫ ﺳﺎﻓﺮ واﻟﺪھﺎ إﻟﻰ اﻟﻤﻐﺮب؛ ﻓﮭﻲ ﺗﺸﻌﺮ ﺑـ‬5.
2. Start by having a student read out the entire first statement with the missing
word supplied.
3. If the supplied word is not the right one, elicit correction from other students in
class.
4. Personalize the statement by making all possible (gradual) modifications to the
original one and recycling recently learned words to be about some of the stu-
dents or elsewhere as applicable by asking all class to translate aloud in unison,
including you, the English version of how you are recasting it to be about spe-
cific students or other referents, as in the following examples of the first three
statements of the drill (note: you can invent certain things, such as names of
students’ relatives):

Said by the Teacher Said by all students and the teacher in

unison
:‫ﻛﯿﻒ ﻧﻘﻮل‬ → .‫ ﻟﮭﺎ أخ واﺣﺪ ﻓﻘﻂ‬.‫أﺳﺮة ﺟﺴﯿﻜﺎ ﺻﻐﯿﺮة‬ 1.
Jessica’s family is small. She .‫اﺳﻤﮫ ﺟﻮن‬
has one brother only. His
name is John.
:‫ﻛﯿﻒ ﻧﻘﻮل‬ → .‫ ﻟﮫ أﺧﺖ واﺣﺪة ﻓﻘﻂ‬.‫أﺳﺮة داود ﺻﻐﯿﺮة‬
David’s family is small. He .‫اﺳﻤﮭﺎ ﺳﺎﻟﻲ‬
has one sister only. Her name
is Sally.
 Speaking techniques 43

:‫ﻛﯿﻒ ﻧﻘﻮل‬ → ‫ اﺳﻤﮭﺎ‬.‫ ﻟﻨﺎ ﻋﻤﺔ واﺣﺪة ﻓﻘﻂ‬.‫أﺳﺮﺗﻨﺎ ﺻﻐﯿﺮة‬

Our family is small. We have .‫ﻛﯿﻠﻲ‬
one paternal aunt only. Her
name is Kelley.
:‫ﻛﯿﻒ ﻧﻘﻮل‬ → .‫ ﻟﮭﻢ ﺧﺎل واﺣــﺪة ﻓﻘﻂ‬.‫أﺳﺮﺗﮭﻢ ﺻﻐﯿﺮة‬
Their family is small. They .‫اﺳﻤﮫ ﺟﻮ‬
have one maternal uncle
only. His name is Joe.
:‫ﻛﯿﻒ ﻧﻘﻮل‬ → ‫ اﺳﻤﮫ‬.‫ ﻟﻲ ﺟﺪ واﺣﺪ ﻓﻘﻂ‬.‫أﺳﺮﺗﻲ ﺻﻐﯿﺮة‬
My family is small. I have .‫ﺳﺎم‬
one grandfather only. His
name is Sam.
:‫ﻛﯿﻒ ﻧﻘﻮل‬ → .‫اﻻزدﺣﺎم‬
ِ ‫ﻻ ﯾﺤﺐ ﺟﺎك ھﺬه اﻟﻤﺪﯾﻨﺔ ﺑﺴﺒﺐ‬ 2.
Jack doesn’t like this city
because of the crowded
traffic.
:‫ﻛﯿﻒ ﻧﻘﻮل‬ → .‫اﻻزدﺣﺎم‬
ِ ‫ﻻ ﺗﺤﺐ ﺳﺎﻟﻲ ھﺬه اﻟﻤﺪﯾﻨﺔ ﺑﺴﺒﺐ‬
Sally doesn’t like this city
because of the crowded
traffic.

:‫ﻛﯿﻒ ﻧﻘﻮل‬ → .‫ﻻ ﻧﺤﺐ ھﺬه اﻟﻤﺪﯾﻨﺔ ﺑﺴﺒﺐ اﻟﻄﻘﺲ‬

We don’t like this city
because of the weather.
:‫ﻛﯿﻒ ﻧﻘﻮل‬ → .‫ﻻ ﯾﺤﺒﻮن ھﺬه اﻟﻤﺪﯾﻨﺔ ﺑﺴﺒﺐ اﻟﺮطﻮﺑﺔ‬
They don’t like this city
because of the humidity.
:‫ﻛﯿﻒ ﻧﻘﻮل‬ → .‫ﻻ ﺗﺤﺒﻮن ھﺬه اﻟﻤﺪﯾﻨﺔ ﺑﺴﺒﺐ اﻟﻄﻘﺲ اﻟﺒﺎرد‬
You all don’t like this city
because of the cold weather.
:‫ﻛﯿﻒ ﻧﻘﻮل‬ → ‫ﻓﻲ أرﯾﺰوﻧﺎ اﻟﻄﻘﺲ داﻓﺊ ﻓﻲ اﻟﺸﺘﺎء وﺣﺎر‬ 3.
In Arizona the weather is .‫ﻓﻲ اﻟﺼﯿﻒ‬
warm in Winter and hot in
the Summer.
:‫ﻛﯿﻒ ﻧﻘﻮل‬ → ‫ﻓﻲ ﺗﻜﺴﺎس اﻟﻄﻘﺲ ﺑﺎرد ﻓﻲ اﻟﺸﺘﺎء ورطﺐ‬
In Texas the weather is cold .‫ﻓﻲ اﻟﺼﯿﻒ‬
in Winter and humid in the
Summer.
44 Speaking techniques

:‫ﻛﯿﻒ ﻧﻘﻮل‬ → ‫ﻓﻲ ﺳﻮرﯾﺔ اﻟﻄﻘﺲ ﺑﺎرد ﻓﻲ اﻟﺸﺘﺎء وﺣﺎر‬

In Syria the weather is cold .‫ﻓﻲ اﻟﺼﯿﻒ‬
in Winter and hot in the
Summer.
:‫ﻛﯿﻒ ﻧﻘﻮل‬ → ‫ﻓﻲ ﻣﯿﺸﯿﻐﺎن اﻟﻄﻘﺲ ﺑــﺎرد ﻓﻲ اﻟﺸﺘﺎء‬
In Michigan the weather is .‫وﻣﻌﺘﺪل ﻓﻲ اﻟﺼﯿﻒ‬
cold in Winter and moderate
in the Summer.
:‫ﻛﯿﻒ ﻧﻘﻮل‬ → ‫ﻓﻲ اﻟﺼﺤﺮاء اﻟﻄﻘﺲ ﺣﺎر ﻓﻲ اﻟﻨﮭﺎر وﺑﺎرد‬
In the desert the weather is hot .‫ﻓﻲ اﻟﻠﯿﻞ‬
in the day and cold in the night.

Variations
a. Display the English statements (on slides or via a document projector) so your
students can also see each statement written while they attempt at translating it
into Arabic.
b. To make the class more energetic and to integrate writing into the activity, prior
to the activity divide the board into columns according to the number of the
questions of the fill-in-the-blanks drill.
c. Have a similar number of students go to the board so that each will write the
missing word in the blank for a given question.
d. If there is any correction, write the correct word next to the wrong word in its proper
column on the board, after eliciting the correction from other students in class.
e. Repeat this activity once every lesson or unit or when there is a fill-in-the-blank
drill to activate the new vocabulary.

2. Developing speaking at the intermediate level

At the intermediate level, speaking involves communication at the sentence and
paragraph levels. At the intermediate stage, learners of Arabic will benefit greatly
from continued speaking practice in isolation. However, it may also be useful at
times to implement techniques that integrate speaking with one or more skills as is
done in some of the techniques here.

11. Memory chain ‫ا ﻟﺬ ا ﻛﺮ ة ا ﻟﺘﺴﻠﺴﻠﯿﺔ‬

Purpose
To provide learners with practice speaking. It also allows learners to improve
their fluency as well as accuracy by allowing them to repeat previously produced
 Speaking techniques 45

sentences and focus on grammatical accuracy. Teachers (and other students in the
class) are able to provide instant feedback and error correction through recasting
(i.e., by reproducing the erroneous utterance without the errors). It requires little
to no preparation and takes about 15 minutes to execute. The technique allows
the integration of speaking with the listening (as well as possibly the writing)
skills, as students are required to listen carefully to and repeat what their class-
mates have said.

Procedure
1. Prepare a list of vocabulary items selected from recent lessons or new vocabu-
lary list from a recently completed lesson from your students’ textbook so that
your students can make up a story (based on the provided words) about anyone
(i.e., anyone imagined or real, in class or outside of the class).
2. Display the list to the class on a screen or via a document projector and hide
the list, showing one word at a time when each student attempts to use that
word in a sentence to contribute to the collective story.
3. Start by asking a student to make up a sentence based on the first word on top
of the list you show to start the first sentence of a story about anyone (i.e., the
first student can determine whom the story will be about).
4. Ask a second student sitting next to the previous one (in a chain fashion) to
repeat the sentence that the previous student produced, and then uncover the
word down the list so the current student will make up a sentence based on the
shown word to further contribute to making up the story.
5. Ask a third student next to the second student to repeat the sentences produced
by the first student and that by the second student (in the same order), and then
uncover the third word down the list so the third student can make up their own
sentence to further contribute to the same story.
6. Follow the same previous steps until all words are covered and your students
have made a sentence on each word on the list.
7. Help the student make up their sentence by completing part of the sentence or
soliciting other students to help and using recasting to provide the student with
corrections to their sentence.
8. To control the pace of the activity, for each subsequent student, start by cover-
ing the whole list and uncover one word at a time so that you can refocus on
each word and your students can repeat the previous sentences made up by
their classmates and then make up their own.
9. To further facilitate the pace of the activity and keep all students on task, have
your students who constructed their own sentences be attentive and responsi-
ble for helping the student performing their turn to recall their sentences.
10. Students are not allowed to take notes or write anything; if they have not heard
a student well, they need to relisten as each sentence will be repeated more
than once later.
46 Speaking techniques

Sample: .‫ ← ﻟﯿﻠﻰ ﺳﻮرﯾّﺔ‬Student 1 ‫ﺳﻮري‬

ّ ←

.‫ ← ﻟﯿﻠﻰ ﺳﻮرﯾّﺔ‬Student 2 ‫أﺳﻜﻦ‬

ْ َ‫ﺗ‬
.‫ﺴُﻜﻦ ﻓﻲ ﻣﺪﯾﻨﺔ دﯾﺘﺮوﯾﺖ ﻓﻲ ِوﻻﯾﺔ ﻣﯿﺸﯿﻐﺎن‬
.‫ ← ﻟﯿﻠﻰ ﺳﻮرﯾّﺔ‬Student 3 ‫واﻟﺪي‬
ِ
.‫ﺗ َْﺴُﻜﻦ ﻓﻲ ﻣﺪﯾﻨﺔ دﯾﺘﺮوﯾﺖ ﻓﻲ ِوﻻﯾﺔ ﻣﯿﺸﯿﻐﺎن‬
.‫واﻟﺪ ﻟﯿﻨﺎ أ ُﺳﺘﺎذ‬
.‫ ← ﻟﯿﻠﻰ ﺳﻮرﯾّﺔ‬Student 4 ‫ﯾَ ْﻌَﻤﻞ‬
.‫ﺗ َْﺴُﻜﻦ ﻓﻲ ﻣﺪﯾﻨﺔ دﯾﺘﺮوﯾﺖ ﻓﻲ ِوﻻﯾﺔ ﻣﯿﺸﯿﻐﺎن‬
.‫واﻟﺪ ﻟﯿﻨﺎ أ ُﺳﺘﺎذ‬
.‫ﯾَْﻌَﻤﻞ ﻓﻲ ﺟﺎﻣﻌﺔ ﻣﯿﺸﯿﻐﺎن‬
. . . ← Student 5 ‫ﻓﻲ‬
. . . ← Student 6 ‫واﻟﺪَﺗﻲ‬
ِ
. . . ← Student 7 ‫ﺗ َْﻌَﻤﻞ‬
. . . ← Student 8 ‫أ َ ْدُرس‬
. . . ← Student 9 ‫ﻧَْﻔﺲ اﻟـ‬

Variations
a. If the list is too long, break it up into two lists so that students can make up two
separate stories; this will also make the activity go faster.
b. After the activity is concluded, divide your students into groups and have them
recall and write down their story in no more than 5–7 minutes.
c. Alternatively, have each student recall and write down the story to be collected
for written feedback and corrections later.

12. Role-play ‫ﺗﻤﺜﯿﻞ أدوار‬

Purpose
To provide learners with practice speaking and develop their speaking fluency as
they are required to rehearse their acting roles for actual interaction later. It requires
no preparation and takes about 20–25 minutes to execute. It allows for the integra-
tion of speaking with listening, since it requires an interlocutor with whom to speak.

P rocedure
1. Assign a dialogue covered in class recently in the textbook.
2. Divide your students into groups according to the number of characters in the
dialogue.
 Speaking techniques 47

3. Ask your students to modify the dialogue as they wish and ask them to practice
their dialogues within their groups (in 10 minutes).
4. Rotate among the groups and provide help as necessary and recast errors if
heard.
5. Have the groups perform their dialogues in front of the class without reading
from notes.
6. Reserve feedback and corrections of group performance until after the groups
performed their dialogue skits and do so indirectly (going over errors you
heard).

Variations
a. If there is no dialogue in a given lesson, choose a narrative text and ask your stu-
dents to transform the text into a dialogue at home (i.e., as a homework assign-
ment). In class, divide your students into groups and have them rehearse the
dialogues they had worked on at home (in 5–7 minutes) before performing them
in front of the class.
b. If there is a dialogue-related activity such as “Ask your classmates,” have your
students transform the activity into a meaningful, coherent dialogue, making
changes where necessary, and follow the same procedure.

13. Guess what the teacher wrote

‫ﺧﻤﻨﻮا ﻣﺎذا ﻛﺘﺐ اﻷﺳﺘﺎذ‬
ّ
Purpose
To provide learners with practice speaking. It requires no preparation and
takes about 5–10 minutes to execute. It allows for the integration of speaking
with listening, as it requires interaction between a student, on one hand, and
all other students in class, on the other. It is a confidence builder as the focus
is on communication to figure out the thing and not on the person speaking
per se.

Procedure
1. Call on a student or for a volunteer to stand in front of the class with their back
to the board.
2. Write something on the board, such as the name of a famous person (e.g., an
actor or politician), an object (e.g., a car, a table, a building), or a vocabulary
item (e.g., a verb or an adjective).
3. Students in the class help the student identify the object by giving the student
clues.
4. The student can also ask the class yes/no questions to help them identify the
object.
5. Reserve feedback and corrections until after the activity is completed.
48 Speaking techniques

Variations
a. Prepare clues on cards and hand them out to your students to help speed up the
pace of the activity.
b. To ensure all students participate in the activity, have your students offer their
clues in a chain one after the other.
(See also Ur and Wright 1992; Sepulveda 2012.)

14. What will you bring? ‫ﺳﺘﺤﻀﺮون؟‬

ِ ‫ﻣﺎذا‬

Purpose
To provide learners with practice speaking. It also allows the improvement of flu-
ency and lowers anxiety, as learners find themselves distracted by focusing on the
task at hand and what they need to bring with them to a pleasurable trip. It requires
little preparation and takes about 15 minutes to execute.

Procedure
1. Come up with a specific scenario for a trip to a specific location such as students
are about to make a trip to the mountains, a trip to the beach, or a trip to the
desert, among others.
2. Prepare a set of pictures of items that can be brought on such a trip.
3. Divide your students into groups.
4. Ask your students to select five pictures.
5. Have your students within each group describe the pictures of the items and
their reasons for selecting them.
6. Have a student of each group report to the class the choice of their group’s selec-
tion of the five items and the reasons for their selection.
7. Reserve feedback and corrections until after the activity is completed.

Variations
a. Include pictures of items that won’t be helpful to bring to the trip.
b. Ask your students to select three pictures of items they will need to bring with
them and three pictures of items they won’t need on the trip.
c. Have your students within each group describe the pictures of the items and
their reasons for selecting to bring the three items and reasons for not bringing
the other three items.
d. Discuss and vote as a whole class for the group with the most successful choice
for inclusion and exclusion of the items.
e. You can also ask your students to rank order the items in importance and pro-
vide reasons why.
 Speaking techniques 49

15. ‫ُﻣْﻨﻘَِﻄﻊ ا ﱡ‬
Marooned ‫ﻟﺴﺒُﻞ‬

Purpose
To provide learners with practice speaking. It also allows the improvement of flu-
ency and lowers anxiety, as learners find themselves distracted by focusing on the
task at hand while they think of a solution to a situation and provide reasons why
they have chosen a particular solution. It requires little to no preparation and takes
about 15 minutes to execute.

Procedure
1. Come up with a task-based topic, such as asking your students:
• If you were to be marooned on an island, what are five items you would bring
with you, and why?
• If you were to be lost in the desert, what are five items you would bring with
you, and why?
• If you were to leave for a trip to the mountains and camp there, what are five
items you would bring with you, and why?
• If you were to leave for a trip to the beach, what are five items you would
bring with you, and why?
• if you were to listen to three types of music, what would these be, and why?
2. Divide your students into groups of 3–5 and have them within each group dis-
cuss the items and come up with a consensus as a group.
3. Redivide your students into groups of 3–5 comprising one member of the previous
groups and have them compare what their previous groups have chosen and why.
4. Reserve feedback and corrections until after the activity is completed.

Variations
a. Implement this technique after you have taught the conditional sentences.
b. Alternatively, pre-teach the conditional sentences before you implement this
technique and have your students observe use of the proper conditional sentence
structure.
c. Discus and vote as a whole class on the most important five items.
d. You can also ask your students to rank order the items in importance and pro-
vide reasons why.
(See also Klippel 1984; Vernon 2012.)

16. Interviews ‫ﻣﻘﺎﺑﻼت‬

Purpose
To provide learners with practice speaking and improving fluency, as they engage
in rehearsal for interaction in real-life contexts. It allows for the integration of
50 Speaking techniques

speaking with listening and writing, as it requires learners to listen when being
asked and write up the questions in preparation for conducting the interview. It
requires little to no preparation. Each interview takes about 5 minutes to execute.

Procedure
1. Assign your students a topic for an interview as a homework assignment, such
as interviewing a job candidate, interviewing a famous person, and getting to
know their attitudes toward things (i.e., likes and dislikes), interviewing a stu-
dent for admission, and so on.
2. Students should already be familiar with key vocabulary pertaining to the topic
of the interview. If not, provide your students with a supplemental vocabulary
of key words. For example, if the topic is to interview a job candidate, they
should know words such as ‫“ ﺷﺮﻛﺔ‬company,” ‫“ وظﯿﻔﺔ‬job,” ‫ﯾﺘﻘﺪم ﺑﻄﻠﺐ ﻟﻠﺤﺼﻮل‬
‫“ ﻋﻠﻰ وظﯿﻔﺔ‬apply for a job,” ‫“ ﻣﺆھﻼت‬qualifications,” and ‫“ ﺧﺒﺮة‬experience.”
3. Ask each student to prepare a list of the questions to use (as the interviewer)
with another student in class during the interview, which may include answers
to what, who, when, where, how, and why.
4. Ask your students to rehearse possible answers for their questions so that they
are ready to answer similar questions posed by their classmates when they are
interviewees.
5. In class, divide your students into dyads and allow them to practice their inter-
views before conducting the interviews (within their own groups) in front of the
class (in 5 minutes).
6. Collect the interview questions for correction and grading.

Sample: َ ‫أ َ ْھًﻼ َو‬

.‫ ِاْﺳﻤﻲ ﺟﻮن ﺳﻤﯿﺚ‬.‫ﺳْﮭًﻼ‬ 1.

‫ھﺬِه ﱠ‬
‫اﻟﺸِﺮﻛﺔ؟‬ ِ ‫ﻟﻠﺤﺼﻮل ﻋﻠﻰ َوظﯿﻔﺔ ﻓﻲ‬ ُ ‫أﻧﺖ ُھﻨﺎ‬
ُ ‫ﻟﻠﻤﻘﺎﺑَﻠﺔ‬ َ (‫)ھﻞ‬ 2.

‫أﯾﻦ دَ َرْﺳﺖ وﻣﺘﻰ ﺗ ََﺨﱠﺮْﺟﺖ؟‬ 3.

‫ﻣﺎ ُﻣَﺆ ِ ّھﻼﺗ ُﻚ اﻷ ُ ْﺧﺮى؟‬ 4.

‫ﻣﺎ ِﺧْﺒَﺮﺗُﻚ؟‬ 5.

‫ﻋِﻤْﻠﺖ ﻓﻲ اﻟﻤﺎﺿﻲ وﻣﺎذا ﺗ َْﻌَﻤﻞ اﻵن؟‬

َ ‫ﻣﺎذا‬ 6.

‫ﺷِﺮَﻛِﺘﻨﺎ؟‬
َ ‫اﻟﺤﺼﻮل ﻋﻠﻰ َوظﯿﻔﺔ ﻓﻲ‬ َ ‫ﻟﻤﺎذا ﺗ َْﺮ‬
ُ ‫ﻏﺐ ﻓﻲ‬ 7.

َ ‫ﻋَﺮْﻓﺖ ﻋﻦ‬
‫اﻟﻮظﯿﻔﺔ؟‬ َ ‫َﻛْﯿ‬
َ ‫ﻒ‬ 8.

‫ )ھﻞ( ِﻋْﻨﺪَك أ َ ْﺳﺌﻠﺔ ﻟﻨﺎ؟‬.‫ﺷْﻜ ًﺮا‬

ُ 9.
 Speaking techniques 51

Variations
a. Have your students write up answers to their interview questions (based on the
outcome of the interviews with their classmates) next to the questions and col-
lect the interview questions and answers for correction and feedback.
b. Vote for the best interview.
c. Make this activity take place entirely in the classroom by having prepared a list
of interview questions for students to choose from—with each group/dyad (con-
sisting of an interviewer and interviewee) choosing 5–7 questions—and follow
the same procedure.

17. My ideal day ‫ﯾﻮ ﻣﻲ ا ﻟﻤﺜﺎ ﻟﻲ‬

Purpose
To provide learners with practice speaking and allow them to improve their speak-
ing fluency as they rehearse before they speak. It allows for speaking to be inte-
grated with the writing skill. It requires no preparation and takes about 35 minutes
to execute, depending on the number of students in the class.

Procedure
1. Ask each student to write down the daily routine of their ideal day from the
morning when they wake up to the evening when they sleep (8–10 activities; in
8–10 minutes).
2. Divide your students into dyads to discuss the similarities and differences
between their ideal days (in 10 minutes).
3. Have each group report their findings to the class: one student reports the simi-
larities, and the other reports the differences.

Variations
a. Other topics include the ideal car, the ideal house, the ideal, university, the ideal
friend, and so on.
b. Instead of having groups report their discussions to class, redivide your students
into groups so that each student partners with a new student to discuss the simi-
larities and differences of the daily ideal daily routine (in 5 minutes).
c. Repeat the process one more time so that each student has discussed their ideal
daily routine with three students.
d. Have each student finalize a written narrative of their ideal daily routine in a
paragraph (about 150 words), using different connectors, not just the conjunc-
tion ‫“ و‬and” (in 8–10 minutes).
e. Collect the written paragraphs for feedback and corrections later.
52 Speaking techniques

18. Discuss and share ‫ﺗﻨﺎ ﻗﺸﻮ ا و ﺗﺸﺎ ر ﻛﻮ ا‬

Purpose
To provide learners with practice speaking. It also allows learners to improve their
speaking fluency and lower anxiety, as learners are able to rehearse what they
want to talk about quickly when engaging in a meaningful, real-life situation. In
addition, it allows for speaking to be possibly integrated with the writing skill. It
requires little preparation and takes about 15–20 minutes to execute.

Procedure
1. Hand out cards or sheets of paper and have your students each write down (a)
one learning strategy that they have found helpful in learning Arabic and why
and (b) one challenging aspect of learning the language and why (in 5 minutes).
2. Ask each student to find a partner with whom to discuss and share their learn-
ing strategy and challenging aspect of learning the language in no more than 3
minutes.
3. Once done, ask each student to find a new partner to discuss and share with
them the same in no more than 3 minutes.
4. Repeat the process one more time so that each student has paired with three dif-
ferent groups.
5. Call on some volunteers to share what they have learned from their partners.

Variations
a. As a follow-up, redivide your students into groups and have them write a com-
position on five challenging aspects of learning Arabic and five learning strate-
gies to best overcome them (in 10 minutes).
b. Collect the assignments for feedback and corrections later.
c. Alternatively, the composition can be assigned individually as an assignment
outside of class.

19. What is the truth? ‫ﻣﺎ ا ﻟﺤﻘﯿﻘﺔ ؟‬

Purpose
To provide learners with practice speaking and develop some analytical abilities
when speaking. It requires no preparation and takes about 15 minutes to execute. It
allows for the integration of speaking with the listening skill, as it requires listen-
ing carefully to the choices and subsequent focused interaction on what is true and
what is false.
 Speaking techniques 53

Procedure
1. Ask your students to take 2–3 minutes and write down four statements about
anything, one of which is true and the rest are false.
2. Divide your students into dyads and have each student share their statements
with their partner.
3. Each partner has up to 4 minutes to ask questions (1 minute per statement) to
help them determine the true statement.
4. Allow one additional minute for the partner to decide which statement is the
true one.
5. The partner takes their turn in sharing their four statements and follows the same
steps.
6. Rotate among the groups and note down errors you may overhear your students
making.
7. Upon concluding the activity, go over the errors and discuss them as a whole
class.

Variations
a. Instead of pair work, implement the technique as a whole-class activity.
b. Have the student with the statements face their classmates and either share the
statements verbally or on the board (or via a document projector).
c. Have other classmates take turns (in a chain fashion) asking questions about the
statements for up to 4 minutes.
d. Allow your students to vote on the true statement.
(See also Bolen 2015.)

20. َ ‫ﺗﻜﻠّﻤﻮا أ ﺳَﺮ ع ﻓﺄ‬

120/90/60 or 4/3/2 ‫ﺳﺮ ع‬

Purpose
To provide learners with practice to improve their fluency in speaking. By reducing
speech time each time they speak on the same topic, it trains learners to eliminate or
reduce their speech pauses and use more than one style and structure for their sen-
tences by attempting to reformulate their sentences to be shorter. It may be challeng-
ing to implement the first time, but learners will get used to it later. It requires little
to no preparation and takes about 15 minutes to execute. It allows for the integration
of speaking with listening, as it requires a listener in all its three stages.

Procedure
1. Come up with a set of well-known topics with which your students are familiar
and at their level.
54 Speaking techniques

2. Allow your students 3–5 minutes for each to prepare to talk about any of the
designated topics in no more than 120 seconds (i.e., 2 minutes).
3. Allow your students to take notes containing key words but not sentences.
4. Divide your students into dyads and have each student talk about their topic to
their partner in no more than 120 seconds.
5. Redivide your students into different dyads (so that each student will have a
different partner in a new group) and have each student talk about their topic to
their partner in no more than 90 seconds.
6. Divide your students a third time into different dyads (so that each student will
have a different partner in a new group) and have each student talk about their
topic to their partner in no more than 60 seconds.
7. In the second and third stages, your students should talk about the same infor-
mation they did in the first stage.
8. Rotate among the groups and note down errors you may hear your students
making.
9. Upon concluding the activity, go over the errors and correct them as a whole
class.

Variations
a. Instead of the stages over 120, 90, and 60 seconds, allow for the transition along
the three stages to be 4 minutes, then 3 minutes, and then 2 minutes; this allows
students more time for each stage.
b. For students whose proficiency level is at the intermediate middle, allow them
to take notes comprising sentences and allow them to revise their notes each
time they work with a new group,
(See also Nation 2009; Yang 2014.)

3. Developing speaking at the advanced level

At the advanced level, speaking involves communication at the paragraph and
extended discourse levels and ranges from the use of high-frequency vocabu-
lary and structures to the use of low-frequency (and specialized) vocabulary and
(more complex) structures. At this stage, for pedagogical reasons and to reflect
real life situations, it is expected to implement techniques that integrate speaking
with one or more skills in addition to those that focus on speaking as an isolated
skill. While using a form or function through a skill, learners can activate it or
recycle it through another and achieve control and automaticity through others.
In addition to the techniques that follow, some of the techniques in the intermedi-
ate section can be used for the advanced level when the texts and topics used are
suitable for the advanced level.
 Speaking techniques 55

21. Picture-based story ‫ﻣﺼﻮ رة‬

ّ ‫ﻗﺼﺺ‬

Purpose
To provide learners with practice speaking at the paragraph level. It allows for the
integration of speaking with possibly the writing skill, as it requires learners to
write a story before presenting it. It requires little preparation and takes about 20
minutes to execute.

Procedure
1. Prepare three pictures: the first one about a person, the second contains objects
related to the person, and the third contains additional objects or things related
to the person.
2. Divide your students into dyads, hand them out the first picture, and have each
group create a background story about the person (such as who this person is
and how they might relate to him) in 4 minutes; students can take down notes.
3. Hand out the second picture to the groups to have them create a story about the
person (the objects in the pictures can relate to the person in positive or negative
ways) in 4 minutes.
4. Hand out the third picture to the groups to have them complete the story about
the person (the objects in the pictures can relate to the person in positive or
negative ways) in 4 minutes.
5. Remind your students to use connectors to connect the sentences and parts of
the story (the background, story, conclusion).
6. Redivide your students into groups of 4 comprising one member of the previous
groups and have each group member tell their previous group’s version of the story
to the group in no more than 2 minutes so that it will take the group 8 minutes.

Variations
a. At the end of the activity, the dyads can be reconstituted to write down their
story and fine-tune it if necessary (in about 7–10 minutes).
b. The written stories can be collected by the teacher for written feedback and cor-
rections later.
(See also Sepulveda 2012.)

22. News reports ‫ﺗﻘﺪ ﯾﻤﺎ ت ﻋﻦ ﻣﻘﺘﻄﻔﺎ ت إ ﺧﺒﺎ ر ﯾﺔ‬

Purpose
To provide learners with practice speaking at the paragraph level. It allows for
the integration of speaking with listening or reading, and possibly writing, as it
56 Speaking techniques

requires learners to listen to or read the news or source of current issues and write
a summary before presenting it in class. It requires no preparation and takes about
15 minutes to execute.

Procedure
1. Assign your students to report on a piece of news or a current (social or politi-
cal) issue.
2. Ask your students to limit the homework assignment to certain topics of your
choice (depending on student needs in class), such as politics, business, com-
munication, transportation, science, and so on.
3. Have each student stand in front of the class to present the information they
had worked on in no more than 2–3 minutes; the information presented should
include the author’s name, the news organization, and information that answers
what, who, when, where, how, and why.
4. The student should not read (but can glance at notes) and should be prepared to
answer questions from the class on the content of the presentation.

Variations
a. Before they present their news reports, divide your students into dyads to
rehearse their presentations in 5 minutes.
b. Other topics include reports about a book/article your students have read or a
film they have watched.
c. The written summary reports can be collected for correction and grading as
written composition assignments.

23. Group trip ‫ر ﺣﻠﺔ ﺟﻤﺎ ﻋﯿﺔ‬

Purpose
To provide learners with practice speaking and allow for improving on fluency at
the extended discourse level of discussing pros and cons or advantages and disad-
vantages. The technique allows for the integration of speaking with possibly the
writing skill. It takes little preparation and takes about 20–30 minutes to execute,
depending on the number of students in class.

Procedure
1. Prepare a list of 3–5 possible destinations on index cards or sheets of paper, such
as vacation resorts, tourist sites, historical sites, national monuments, foreign
cities, summer-abroad programs, and so on.
2. Distribute a card to each student and divide your students into groups of 2–4.
 Speaking techniques 57

3. Ask each group to discuss and decide on their selection of one destination based
on a collective decision, taking into account the pros and cons of the listed des-
tinations, in 8–10 minutes.
4. Through a reporter delegated by the group, each group reports on their selection
and the pros and cons that they considered in their decision.
5. Other students in the class can ask questions or comment on the pros and cons
considered.

Variations
a. Instead of choosing one single destination, ask each group to rank order the
listed destination according to the group members’ preferences.
b. In addition to considering the pros and cons or advantages and disadvantages,
each group can take other reasons into consideration such as how group mem-
bers will spend their time there.
c. Upon concluding the activity, and if time permits, ask each group to write three
short paragraphs: one in which they describe the advantages of the destinations,
another in which they describe the disadvantages of the destination, and a third
in which they describe their final decision and why.
d. Collect the written paragraphs for feedback and corrections later.
e. Alternatively, the written part can be assigned as a homework assignment out-
side of the class.

24. Optimists and pessimists ‫ﻣﺘﺸﺎ ﺋﻤﻮ ن و ﻣﺘﻔﺎ ﺋﻠﻮ ن‬

Purpose
To provide learners with practice speaking and promote fluency at the extended
discourse level of defending an opinion with different arguments. The technique
allows for the integration of speaking with possibly the writing skill. It requires lit-
tle to no preparation and takes about 20–30 minutes to execute, depending on the
number of students in class.

Procedure
1. Prepare a topic on an issue that people may have two opposite perspectives,
such as ‫“ اﻟﺮﯾﺎﺿﺔ‬sport,” ‫“ اﻟﺘﻜﻨﻮﻟﻮﺟﯿﺎ‬technology,” ‫وﺳﺎﺋﻞ اﻟﺘﻮاﺻﻞ اﻻﺟﺘﻤﺎﻋﻲ‬
“social media,” and ‫“ اﻟﺴﻜﻦ ﻓﻲ اﻟﻤﺪﯾﻨﺔ‬living in the city,” among others.
2. Divide the class into two groups: an optimistic group adopting a positive atti-
tude towards the topic and a pessimistic group adopting a negative attitude.
3. Elicit an optimistic statement from the optimist group on the topic such as “sport
is good for one’s health.”
58 Speaking techniques

4. Elicit an opposite response from the pessimist group such as “some sports are
harmful to one’s health.”
5. Repeat the process back and forth and have them provide reasons for their state-
ments until the two groups have exhausted all their statements and arguments
and all the students in each group have participated.
6. Discuss with the class if either of the two groups was more convincing and why.
7. Offer feedback and corrections on any patterns of errors students have made.

Variations
a. Upon concluding the activity, redivide your students into groups of dyads (one
from the optimist group and one from the pessimist group) and have them write
two paragraphs one on each attitude by couching the two attitudes in terms of
the advantages and disadvantages or pros and cons of the topic discussed (in 10
minutes).
b. Limit the advantages and disadvantages to three arguments each.
c. Remind your students to use connecters so that their sentences and paragraphs
are coherent and connected.
d. Collect the written responses for feedback and corrections later.

25. Debating ‫إﺟﺮاء ﻣﻨﺎظﺮة‬

Purpose
To provide learners with practice speaking at the extended discourse level of
defending an opinion with multiple arguments. The technique allows for the inte-
gration of speaking with reading and writing, as it requires learners to research the
topic and read about it and then write down groups’ specific arguments. It requires
no preparation and takes about 20–30 minutes to execute, depending on the number
of students in class.

Procedure

1. Assign a debate assignment on a current, controversial topic such as ‫اﻟﮭﺠﺮة‬

“immigration” and ask your students to prepare six arguments for a subsequent
class.
2. Divide your students into groups of 3 to work on the assignment as follows: two
as the researchers and one as the presenter.
3. On the due date of the assignment, allow each presenter to present the group’s
arguments (in 6 minutes).
4. Following the presentation of arguments of a group, open the floor for discus-
sion, where students in the class can ask questions and any of the group mem-
bers (i.e., the presenter or researchers) can answer.
 Speaking techniques 59

Variations
a. To provide students with practice to improvise their response to the function of
defending an opinion, allow for the entire activity to be conducted in class.
b. Divide the class into groups of 3, all of whom will be presenters.
c. Assign groups to either in favor or against stance with respect to the controver-
sial topic.
d. Ask each group member to come up with one argument for or against, depend-
ing on their group membership.
e. Have two sets of groups (one for and one against) at a time to debate the topic
in front of the class.
f. Following the presentations of the arguments by the two groups, open the floor
for discussion in which students in the class can ask questions pertaining to
either stance and members of a group respond to the questions, depending on
their stance.
g. Alternatively, allow group members of the opposing stance to ask the other
group questions that will challenge the latter’s stance.
Chapter 3

Reading techniques

1. Developing reading at the novice level

It is widely acknowledged that a number of subskills are involved in reading in
general, whether in first- or second-language reading. However, the focus here
is on developing reading fluency and reading comprehension skills, along with
implementing bottom-up (by decoding the text at the word and sentence level) and
top-down (by activating background knowledge and conceptual schemata) pro-
cessing as well as strategies of figuring out the meanings of words from the context
as well as roots and patterns. At the novice level, reading encompasses the ability
to recognize written Arabic at the letter, morpheme, word, memorized chunks, and
phrase levels and toward the novice high (to pitch it a little higher than ACTFL
guidelines) at the sentence and simple text levels of basic everyday life topics.
For the development of reading fluency at the letter, morpheme, word, memorized
chunks, and phrase levels, most techniques included in the listening section of the
novice level can be used here as well. These are not included here to avoid repeti-
tion. A reading technique is usually implemented as a pre-reading, during-reading,
post-reading activity, or all these combined.

1. Spot the words ‫ا ﻟﺒﺤﺚ ﻋﻦ ا ﻟﻜﻠﻤﺎ ت‬

Purpose
To provide learners with practice recognizing familiar words in texts which they
have already studied or in novel texts at the same level. It requires little to no prepa-
ration and takes about 5–10 minutes to execute.

Procedure
1. Find a simple text that contains words with which your students are familiar or
preselect a text from your students’ textbook that they have covered in class or
have not but remain within their level.
2. Preselect such words or phrases and ask your students to spot them in the text by
underlining or drawing a circle around them after you read them.

DOI: 10.4324/9781315686677-4
 Reading techniques 61

3. If the text consists of more than one paragraph, identify the paragraph to make
it easy for them to spot the words.
4. Go over your students’ responses in class along with the phrases and sentences
with which they occur and have your students read them.

Variations
a. Check if your students know the meanings of the words by asking them to write
their meanings in English, their synonyms, or their antonyms.
b. Reward students who spot words the soonest.

2. Sorting out words into lists ‫ﺗﺼﻨﯿﻒ ا ﻟﻜﻠﻤﺎ ت ﻓﻲ ﻗﻮ ا ﺋﻢ‬

Purpose
To provide learners with practice recognizing familiar words and sorting them into
their superordinate categories. It requires little preparation and takes about 5–10
minutes to execute.

Procedure
1. Prepare a list of 10 words belonging to two categories (such as food and cloth-
ing) either typed on a handout or written on the board (or displayed on a screen
or via a document projector) in random order.
2. Ask your students to group the words under two categories: ‫“ ﻣﺄﻛﻮﻻت‬food” and
‫“ ﻣﻼﺑﺲ‬clothing” (in 4–5 minutes).
3. Go over 2–3 samples of students’ lists by having students read their lists.
4. Allow other students to provide corrections.

Variations
a. To make the activity a little more challenging, increase the number of words to
be sorted out to 15–20 words.
b. Ask your students to label the categories to which the words belong.
c. Modify the activity so that instead of grouping words together, students are
required to tell the odd member out (i.e., by flagging out the word or words that
do not belong to the words).

3. “Bingo” “ ‫ﺳﺒﺎ ق ” ا ﻟﺒﻨﻐﻮ‬

Purpose
To provide learners with practice recognizing familiar words in texts that they have
studied. It requires little to no preparation and takes about 5 minutes to execute.
62 Reading techniques

Procedure
1. Write on the board (or display on a screen or via a document projector) a list of
15–20 words that occurred in a recent text or texts covered in class.
2. Ask your students to write down six words that they recognize and know their
meanings.
3. Read aloud six words that you have predetermined with short pauses between
them.
4. When a student hears a word that they had written down, they should cross it out
and once they cross out all six words, the student must say “bingo.”
5. Reward students who cross out all six words the soonest.

Variations
a. Identify a text or 2 and have your students spot six of the words you listed on the
board.
b. Reward the one who spots six words the soonest.
(See also Ur and Wright 1992.)

4. Role-play ‫ﺗﻤﺜﯿﻞ أدوار‬

Purpose
To provide learners with practice to develop their reading comprehension and rec-
ognize words from texts and contexts. It allows for the integration between reading
comprehension and the speaking skill. It requires little preparation and takes about
10–15 minutes to execute.

Procedure
1. Find (through searching online) a level-appropriate text, such as a restaurant
menu of Arabic food, preferably with pictures next to items and with three main
sections including ‫“ ُﻣﻘَ ِﺒّﻼت‬appetizers,” ‫“ أطﺒﺎق‬entrees,” and ‫“ ﻣﺸﺮوﺑﺎت‬drinks”
(other appropriate texts can be flight schedules, weather forecast lists, catalog
price lists, etc.).
2. Divide your students into groups of 2–5, acting as clients in a restaurant.
3. Assign yourself the role of the waiter.
4. Go around and distribute copies of the menu to students in each group (after
greeting them) and offer them to look at the menu for a couple of minutes before
ordering.
5. In the meantime, move to another group to do the same and so on.
6. Return to the first group and elicit from each group member what they would
like to order from each of the three sections of the menu ‫“ ُﻣﻘَِﺒّﻼت‬appetizers,”
‫“ أطﺒﺎق‬entrees,” and ‫“ ﻣﺸﺮوﺑﺎت‬drinks” just as a waiter normally does.
 Reading techniques 63

7. Continue on and repeat the process with each group until each student has
placed their order from the menu.
8. Provide definitions or explanations of items on the menu if necessary.

Variations
a. A student or several students can be assigned the role of waiters instead of the
teacher.
b. Repeat the activity each time with a restaurant menu of food from a different
region in the Arab world.
c. For role-play involving students recognizing and telling flight times and desti-
nations, divide your students into clients and travel agents or travelers reading
flight schedules and asking each other.

5. Repeated reading aloud ‫ا ﻟﻘﺮاءة ا ﻟﺠﮭﺮ ﯾﺔ ﻣﻊ ا ﻟﺘﱠﻜﺮار‬

Purpose
To provide learners with practice to develop reading fluency, as it raises their aware-
ness of how words are connected at the phrase and sentence level together with follow-
ing the rules for reading in Arabic. It also builds self-confidence, especially in more
timid learners. It allows for the integration of reading with speaking, as it focuses on
pronunciation. It requires little to no preparation and takes about 5 minutes to execute.

Procedure
1. Upon completing a given lesson or unit in the textbook, prepare typed copies of
a text (e.g., of a dialogue or monologue) if a reading text is not available within
the lesson.
2. Modify the text slightly so that the sentences are not too long and all internal
short-vowel diacritics are placed, such as the following:

‫ أ َ ْﺳُﻜﻦ ﻓﻲ َﻣﺪﯾﻨﺔ دﯾﺘﺮوﯾﺖ ﻓﻲ ِوﻻﯾﺔ‬.‫ﺳﻮري‬

ّ ‫ﺻﻞ‬ ْ َ ‫ﺮﯾﻜﻲ ِﻣْﻦ أ‬
ّ ‫ أَﻧﺎ أ َ ْﻣ‬.‫اﻟﺸﺎﻣﻲ‬
ّ ‫ِاْﺳﻤﻲ أ َ ْﺣَﻤﺪ‬
‫واﻟﺪي أ ُ ْﺳﺘﺎذ ﻓﻲ‬ ِ ‫ أ َ ْدُرس اﻟﻠﱡﻐﺔ اﻟﻌََﺮِﺑﯿّﺔ ﻓﻲ‬.‫ﻣﯿﺸﯿﻐﺎن‬
ِ .ً‫ﺟﺎﻣﻌﺔ ﻓﻲ ِوﻻﯾﺔ ﻣﯿﺸﯿﻐﺎن أ َ ْﯾﻀﺎ‬
َ ‫وواﻟﺪَﺗﻲ‬
.‫طﺒﯿﺒﺔ ﺗ َْﻌَﻤﻞ ﻓﻲ َﻣﺪﯾﻨﺔ دﯾﺮﺑﻮرن‬ ِ .‫اﻟﺠﺎﻣﻌﺔ‬
ِ ‫ﻧَْﻔﺲ‬

3. Ask your students to repeat after you in unison (i.e., as a whole class).
4. Start by reading at the phrase or chunk level one phrase/chunk at a time and
your students repeat after you.
5. Read and have your students repeat each phrase/chunk 1–3 times as needed,
depending on how well you hear your student are imitating you and pronouncing
words correctly.
64 Reading techniques

6. You can exaggerate your pronunciation the first 1–2 time you read but adjust
your reading to be normal in pronunciation and pace in the third time.
7. Do not move to the next phrase/chunk until you hear your students have imi-
tated you well or reasonably well.
8. You may need to read and have your students repeat certain words in isolation
if you hear them struggling with such words.
9. Once you have covered all the phrases/chunks of a sentence, read the whole
sentence all at once 1–3 times and have your students repeat after you the
whole sentence.
10. Repeat the same steps when you move to the second sentence and so on.
11. After you have completed reading the whole text, following the preceding
procedure, tell your students you will now read the text one more time (and
they will repeat after you) at the sentence level, but you will read only once
and, therefore, encourage them to do their best.
12. Have each student read one sentence, the next student the next sentence, and
so on until every student has read a sentence (you may need to repeat the text
more than once so that all students have read) and provide correction when
needed to each student misreading or mispronouncing any word or chunk.

Variations
a. Implement the same activity upon the completion of every lesson in the textbook.
b. Read and have your students repeat the texts of the previous lessons (one lesson
at a time sequentially either in ascending or descending order) before or after
reading and repeating the current text, but read the previous texts only once and
do so at the sentence level.
c. Allow your students to audio record the activity, if they wish, so they can prac-
tice and work on their pronunciation and fluency outside of the classroom.

6. Fast reading ‫ا ﻟﻘﺮاءة ا ﻟﺴﺮ ﯾﻌﺔ‬

Purpose
To provide learners with practice to develop reading fluency, as it requires the
repetition of the reading of a text with speed as a main factor and builds self-
confidence in them. It also allows some focus on pronunciation. It requires little to
no preparation and takes about 20 minutes to execute.

Procedure
1. Find a text such as the one in the previous activity from your students’ textbook
upon completing the lesson/unit.
2. Divide your students into two groups: readers and listeners.
3. Divide your students into dyads consisting of a reader and a listener.
 Reading techniques 65

4. Have the readers read the text to their listening partners in 4 minutes (by timing
them, saying ‫“ اﺑﺪؤوا‬Go” at the beginning and ‫“ ﺗﻮﻗﻔﻮا‬stop” at the end) and mark
where each stopped (and urge readers not to compromise pronunciation and
intelligibility).
5. Redivide your students into different dyads where readers have different listen-
ers and have readers read the text in 3 minutes, following the same procedure
(and urge readers not to compromise pronunciation and intelligibility).
6. Redivide your students into different dyads again where readers have differ-
ent listeners (than the two previous dyads) and have readers read the text in 2
minutes, following the same procedure (and urge readers not to compromise
pronunciation and intelligibility).
7. Readers can see now where they each time stopped and are expected to show
improvement in reading speed.
8. Have your students exchange roles so that previous readers are now listeners
and previous listeners are now readers.
9. Repeat the preceding process so that readers read the text to different listening
partners in three steps: in 4 minutes, then in 3 minutes, and then in 2 minutes.

Variations
a. Provide an accuracy measure such as by rewarding the reader who makes the
fewest errors in pronunciation and intelligibility in general.
b. A new level-appropriate text (containing previously known vocabulary and
structures) can also be used, which will make the activity more interesting,
and students can also develop their reading comprehension by attending to
meaning.
(See also Nation 2009.)

7. Sentence simplification ‫ﺗﺴﮭﯿﻞ ا ﻟﺠﻤﻞ‬

Purpose
To provide learners with practice to develop reading comprehension and proper
sentence processing by breaking up long or nested sentences that may otherwise be
confusing to them or may not enable them to get the full meaning. It requires little
to no preparation and takes about 15–20 minutes to execute.

Procedure
1. Find a level-appropriate text of a short paragraph or select one from your stu-
dents’ textbook.
2. Have your students work individually or in groups of dyads to unpack the sen-
tences into short ones (whether they are verbal or verbless) by placing a line at
the end of each sentence (in 10 minutes) as in the following sample:
66 Reading techniques

ِ ‫اﻟﻄْﻘﺲ‬
‫ﺑﺎرد‬ ‫ﻷن ﱠ‬ ّ ‫ﻟﻜﻨّﻲ ﻻ أ ُ ِﺣ‬
‫ ﱠ‬/‫ﺐ َﻣﺪﯾﻨَﺘﻲ‬ ِ /‫وﻟَﮫُ َﺣﺪﯾﻘﺔ َﻛﺒﯿﺮة‬/‫ﻷﻧّﮫ َﻛﺒﯿﺮ‬/ً‫ﺐ ﺑَْﯿﺘﻲ ﻛﺜﯿﺮا‬ ّ ‫أ ُ ِﺣ‬
‫ﺲ‬َ ‫ﻟَ ْﯿ‬/ ً ‫ﺻﻐﯿﺮة ِﺟﺪّا‬
َ ‫اﻟﻤﺪﯾﻨﺔ‬
َ ‫ھﺬِه‬
ِ ./ ‫اﻟﺼْﯿﻒ‬‫ﻋﺎﻟﯿﺔ ﻓﻲ ﱠ‬ ِ ‫طﻮﺑﺔ‬ ُ ‫اﻟﺮ‬ ّ ِ ‫داﺋﻤﺎ ً ﻓﻲ‬
‫ ودَ َرﺟﺔ ﱡ‬//‫اﻟﺸﺘﺎء‬
ْ
‫طﺎﻟﺐ ﻓﻲ ﻧَﻔﺲ‬ ِ ‫وھﻮ‬/ ‫ِاْﺳُﻤﮫ ﻋﺎدل‬/‫واﺣﺪ ﻓَﻘَﻂ‬ ِ ‫ﺻﺪﯾﻖ‬ َ ‫ ﻟﻲ‬./‫ﻋﺎﻣﺔ َﻛﺜﯿﺮة‬ ّ ‫ﻓﯿﮭﺎ َﺣﺪاﺋﻖ‬
./‫ ﯾَ ْﺪُرس ﻓﯿﮭﺎ اﻟﺘﺎرﯾﺦ‬/‫اﻟﺠﺎﻣﻌﺔ‬
ِ
3. Go over your students’ responses by having each student read a sentence.

Variations
a. Repeat this technique often and from early on until your students are able to
quickly identify the beginning and end of a sentence.
b. At a little later stage, develop this reading technique into a grammar technique
in which students receive practice to distinguish between verbal and verbless
sentences, identify the subject and object of the verb (in the verbal sentence),
and identify the subject and predicate (in the verbless sentence; see the section
of grammar techniques).
c. If grammatical (case and mood) endings are taught from early on, teach such
endings as part of the explanation of the verbal and verbless sentence.
(See also Nation 2009.)

8. Guessing then confirming ‫ا ﻟﺘﺨﻤﯿﻦ ﺛﻢ ا ﻟﺘﺄ ّﻛﺪ‬

Purpose
To provide learners with practice to develop reading fluency and reading com-
prehension as well as to develop top-down and bottom-up processing strategies
of reading. It requires little to no preparation and takes about 15–20 minutes to
execute, depending on the length of the text.

Procedure
1. Find a level-appropriate text of one short paragraph or select one from your
students’ textbook.
2. Read the text aloud once.
3. Have your students follow with their eyes as you read and ask them to try to
understand the text as much as they can by relying on words they know and
skipping words they do not know or recognize.
4. Elicit short responses from your students about what they understood from the
text.
5. Have them read the text individually to themselves and ask them to underline
five words that they do not know or recognize and would like you to explain.
6. Write the words on the board and go over them as a whole class, providing their
meanings, synonyms, or antonyms.
 Reading techniques 67

7. Have them read the text a third time individually.

8. Elicit short responses from your students about what they understood from the
text.

Variations
a. Have a student who can read well read the text aloud instead of you.
b. Instead of having your students read the text individually, divide the class into
dyads and have them read the text to each other.
(See also Clark 1980.)

9. True/false comprehension questions ‫ﺻﻮاب أم ﺧﻄﺄ‬

Purpose
To provide learners with practice to read for meaning and develop their reading com-
prehension ability at the global level of getting the main ideas of a reading text. This
can be in the form of short statements about the reading text whether they are true or
false about general facts or the main ideas of a text. It requires little preparation and
is executed as a post-reading activity. It takes about 20–30 minutes to execute.

P rocedure
1. Upon reading a level-appropriate text (such as the text in the first activity
above), provide your students with a sheet of paper with a blank column num-
bered according to the reading comprehension questions, each row containing a
box for the true response and another for the false response to be checked when
appropriate.
2. To make students focus on meaning, and not just guess the answers from the
sequence of information in the text, change the order of some of the questions.
3. Divide your students into dyads and have them discuss and check the appropri-
ate box based on their understanding of the text.
4. Go over your students’ responses as a whole class.

Sample 1: Students’ Responses True/False Statements 

☑ ‫ﻄﺄ‬َ ‫ﺻﻮاب ☐ َﺧ‬ َ 1. ‫ﺳﻮري‬
ّ ‫ھﻮ‬ 1.
☑ ‫ﻄﺄ‬ َ ‫ﺻﻮاب ☐ َﺧ‬ َ 2. ‫ﻻ ﯾَْﺪُرس اﻟﻠﱡﻐﺔ اﻟﻌََﺮﺑﯿّﺔ‬ 2.
☐ ‫ﻄﺄ‬ َ ‫ﺻﻮاب ☑ َﺧ‬ َ 3. .‫طﺒﯿﺒﺔ‬َ ُ‫واﻟﺪﺗُﮫ‬ ِ 3.
☐ َ‫ﺻﻮاب ☑ َﺧﻄﺄ‬ َ 4. .‫واﻟﺪُهُ أ ُ ْﺳﺘﺎذ‬
ِ 4.
☑ َ ‫ﺻﻮاب ☐ َﺧ‬
‫ﻄﺄ‬ َ 5. .‫اﻟﺠﺎﻣﻌﺔ‬
ِ ‫واﻟﺪَﺗُﮫُ ﺗ َْﻌَﻤﻞ ﻓﻲ‬
ِ 5.
68 Reading techniques

Variation
The format of the questions can alternatively be given as yes/no comprehension
questions as in Sample 2.

Sample 2: Students’ Responses Yes/No questions on Text 

☑ ‫ﻻ‬ ☐ ‫ﻧَﻌَﻢ‬ 1. ‫ﺳﻮري؟‬
ّ ‫َھْﻞ ھﻮ‬ 1.
☐ ‫ﻻ‬ ☑ ‫ﻧَﻌَﻢ‬ 2. ‫َھْﻞ ﯾَْﺪُرس اﻟﻠﱡﻐﺔ اﻟﻌََﺮﺑﯿّﺔ؟‬ 2.
☐ ‫ﻻ‬ ☑ ‫ﻧَﻌَﻢ‬ 3. َ ُ‫واﻟﺪﺗُﮫ‬
‫طﺒﯿﺒﺔ؟‬ ِ ‫َھْﻞ‬ 3.
☐ ‫ﻻ‬ ☑ ‫ﻧَﻌَﻢ‬ 4. ‫واﻟﺪُهُ أ ُْﺳﺘﺎذ؟‬
ِ ‫َھْﻞ‬ 4.
☑ ‫ﻻ‬ ☐ ‫ﻧَﻌَﻢ‬ 5. ‫اﻟﺠﺎﻣﻌﺔ؟‬
ِ ‫واﻟﺪَﺗُﮫُ ﺗ َْﻌَﻤﻞ ﻓﻲ‬
ِ ‫َھْﻞ‬ 5.

10. Rearranging scrambled sentences ‫إﻋﺎدة ﺗﺮ ﺗﯿﺐ ا ﻟﺠﻤﻞ‬

‫ا ﻟﻤﺒﻌﺜﺮ ة‬

Purpose
To provide learners with practice to develop their reading fluency at the sen-
tence level and attend to the meaning and relationships among ideas or state-
ments in a text. It requires little preparation and takes about 10 minutes to
execute.

Procedure
1. Find a level-appropriate text of a short paragraph or select one from your stu-
dents’ textbook that you have recently covered.
2. Type the sentences occurring in the text, placing them scrambled randomly one
sentence on a separate line, as illustrated in the following scrambled sentences
of a text:

.‫أ َ ْﺳُﻜﻦ ﻓﻲ َﻣﺪﯾﻨﺔ دﯾﺘﺮوﯾﺖ ﻓﻲ ِوﻻﯾﺔ ﻣﯿﺸﯿﻐﺎن‬ .‫أ‬

.‫اﻟﺸﺎﻣﻲ‬ ّ ‫ِاْﺳﻤﻲ أ َ ْﺣَﻤﺪ‬ .‫ب‬
.ً ‫ﺟﺎﻣﻌﺔ ﻓﻲ وﻻﯾﺔ ﻣﯿﺸﯿﻐﺎن أ َ ْﯾﻀﺎ‬ ِ ‫أ َ ْد ُرس اﻟﻠﱡﻐﺔ اﻟﻌَ َﺮِﺑﯿّﺔ ﻓﻲ‬ .‫ج‬
.‫ﺳﻮري‬
ّ ْ َ ‫ﺮﯾﻜﻲ ِﻣْﻦ أ‬
‫ﺻﻞ‬ ّ ‫أَﻧﺎ أ َ ْﻣ‬ .‫د‬
.‫طﺒﯿﺒﺔ ﺗ َْﻌَﻤﻞ ﻓﻲ َﻣﺪﯾﻨﺔ دﯾﺮﺑﻮرن‬ َ ‫وواﻟﺪَﺗﻲ‬
ِ .‫ھـ‬
.‫اﻟﺠﺎﻣﻌﺔ‬
ِ ْ ُ
‫واﻟﺪي أْﺳﺘﺎذ ﻓﻲ ﻧَﻔﺲ‬ ِ .‫و‬
3. Ask your students to read the sentences and arrange them into a coherent para-
graph; no modification of any word is needed.
 Reading techniques 69

4. Go over your students’ responses as a whole class (e.g., by displaying a student’s

response via a document projector) and having a student read one sentence at a
time and inviting class to confirm or disconfirm its right order.
5. Allow a different order of sentences if the order is appropriate.

Variations
a. Instead of rewriting the sentences, have your students number the sentences as
they should occur in a paragraph by placing the number of each sentence to its
right.
b. Divide your students into dyads and have them discuss and reorder the sen-
tences in groups.

2. Developing reading at the intermediate level

At the intermediate level, reading is focused on simple texts about personal inter-
ests and familiar topics. At this stage, learners of Arabic will benefit greatly from
continued reading practice in isolation. However, it may also be useful at times to
implement techniques that integrate speaking with one or more skills as is done in
the techniques that follow. A reading technique is usually implemented as a pre-
reading, during-reading, post-reading activity, or all of these combined.

11. Getting the gist of the text ‫ﻟﻨﺺ‬

ّ ‫ا ﻟﻤﻌﻠﻮ ﻣﺎ ت ا ﻟﺮ ﺋﯿﺴﺔ ﻣﻦ ا‬
‫ا ﺳﺘﺨﺮ ا ج‬

Purpose
To provide learners with practice to comprehend a reading text at the global level.
Global comprehension questions usually relate to who, what, when, where, why,
and how. A suitable text can be similar in size and content of news sub-headlines
and similar clearly structured text (i.e., with no implied main idea of the text). It
requires little preparation and takes about 20–25 minutes to execute.

Procedure
1. Find a level-appropriate text of interest or relevance to your students or use a
text in their textbook which is clearly structured such as the following sample
text.
2. Before reading the text, ask your students to process the text in terms of the six
global comprehension question types: ‫“ ﻣﻦ‬who,” ‫ ﻣﺎذا‬/‫“ ﻣﺎ‬what,” ‫“ ﻣﺘﻰ‬when,”
‫“ أﯾﻦ‬where,” ‫“ ﻟﻤﺎذا‬why,” and ‫“ ﻛﯿﻒ‬how” such as the questions in the following
text:
70 Reading techniques

Sample: ‫ﻣﻮﻋﺪ إﻋﻼن ﻧﺘﯿﺠﺔ اﻟﺜﺎﻧﻮﯾﺔ اﻟﻌﺎﻣﺔ‬

‫ﻗﺎل وزﯾﺮ اﻟﺘﺮﺑﯿﺔ واﻟﺘﻌﻠﯿﻢ ﻛﺮﯾﻢ اﻟﺴﻌﯿﺪ إن ﻧﺘﯿﺠﺔ اﻣﺘﺤﺎﻧﺎت اﻟﺜﺎﻧﻮﯾﺔ اﻟﻌﺎﻣﺔ‬
‫آب‬/‫ أﻏﺴﻄﺲ‬20 ‫ﻟﮭﺬه اﻟﺴﻨﺔ ﻟﻦ ﺗﻈﮭﺮ ﻗﺒﻞ ﺷﮭﺮﯾﻦ ﻣﻦ اﻵن أي ﻗﺒﻞ‬
‫ ورﺑﻤﺎ ﺗﺘﺄﺧﺮ أﻛﺜﺮ وذﻟﻚ ﻟﻠﺘﻨﺴﯿﻖ ﻣﻊ وزارة اﻟﺘﻌﻠﯿﻢ اﻟﻌﺎﻟﻲ ﻣﻦ‬،‫اﻟﺠﺎري‬
.‫أﺟﻞ ﺗﺤﺪﯾﺪ ﻋﻼﻣﺎت اﻟﻘﺒﻮل ﻓﻲ اﻟﺠﺎﻣﻌﺎت ﻓﻲ اﻻﺧﺘﺼﺎﺻﺎت اﻟﻤﺨﺘﻠﻔﺔ‬
‫ وﯾﻨﺘﻈﺮ ﻣﺌﺎت‬.‫وﺳﺘﻌﻠﻦ اﻟﻮزارة ﻋﻦ اﻟﻨﺘﺎﺋﺞ ﻋﻨﺪﺋﺬ ﻓﻲ اﻟﻤﺪارس اﻟﺜﺎﻧﻮﯾﺔ‬
‫اﻵﻻف ﻣﻦ اﻟﻄﻼب وأوﻟﯿﺎء اﻷﻣﻮر ﺑﺸﻮق ظﮭﻮر ﻧﺘﯿﺠﺔ اﻟﺜﺎﻧﻮﯾﺔ اﻟﻌﺎﻣﺔ‬
.‫ﻟﮭﺬا اﻟﻌﺎم‬
:‫اﻷﺳﺌﻠﺔ‬
‫اﻟﻨﺺ؟‬
ّ ‫ ﻣﺎ ﻣﻮﺿﻮع‬1.
‫اﻟﻨﺺ؟‬
ّ ‫اﻟﻤﺘ َ َﻜ ِﻠّﻢ ﻓﻲ‬
ُ ‫ َﻣﻦ‬2.
‫اﻟﻌﺎﻣﺔ؟‬
ّ ‫ﺳﺘﻈﮭﺮ ﻧﺘﺎﺋﺞ اﻟﺜﺎﻧﻮﯾﺔ‬
َ ‫َﻣﺘﻰ‬ 3.

‫ﺳﺘﻈﮭﺮ ﻧﺘﺎﺋﺞ اﻟﺜﺎﻧﻮﯾﺔ اﻟﻌﺎ ّﻣﺔ؟‬ َ ‫ أﯾﻦ‬4.

‫اﻟﻌﺎﻣﺔ اﻟﯿﻮم؟‬
ّ ‫ ِﻟﻤﺎذا ﻟَ ْﻦ ﺗﻈﮭﺮ ﻧﺘﺎﺋﺞ اﻟﺜﺎﻧﻮﯾﺔ‬5.
‫ﻛﯿﻒ ﯾﻨﺘﻈﺮ اﻟﻄﻼب ﻧﺘﺎﺋﺠﮭﻢ؟‬ 6.

3. Have your students read the text individually (silently) once or twice or in
groups of dyads, each reading the text to their partner once (in 5 minutes).
4. Prepare 5–6 global comprehension question types appropriate to the text and
have your students answer the questions in pairs (in 5–7 minutes).
5. Go over the answers to the questions as a whole class, with each pair addressing
one question (where one reads the question and the other answers it).
6. Have students from other groups validate the correct answers or provide corrections.

Variations
a. After your students get used to the format of this activity, have them come up
with the global 5–6 set of questions in pairs (after having read the text).
b. Go over the formed question as a whole class.
c. Redistribute the groups of dyads so that each student will have a different part-
ner from the previous group.

12. The comprehension race ‫ﺳﺒﺎ ق ا ﻟﻔﮭﻢ‬

Purpose
To provide learners with practice to develop their reading comprehension by attend-
ing to meaning, in particular scanning texts for specific information, as a post-reading
activity. It requires little preparation and livens up the classroom environment by
 Reading techniques 71

having students move around. One possible disadvantage of this technique is that
because of getting involved in a race and moving around to answer comprehension
questions, it may be more suitable for young learners. It takes about 30 minutes to
execute.

Procedure
1. Find a level-appropriate text of interest or relevance to your students or use a
text in their textbook.
2. Prepare comprehension questions in strips and place them randomly in a pile.
3. Divide your students into two or more competing teams.
4. Upon reading the text, a runner from each team runs to a pile, picks up a strip/
question, and takes it to the team to find the answer.
5. Once the team finds the answer, the runner takes the answer to the teacher, picks
up the next question from the pile, and so on.
6. Go over the questions and answers as a whole class.
7. Reward the team which has the most accurate answers.

Variations
a. Divide the strips/questions equally among the teams and ask them to begin dis-
cussing and answering the questions at the same time.
b. The team that answers all the questions the sooner determines the end of the race
and is declared the winner if they have the most correct answers.
(See also Day and Park 2005.)

13. Guess the comprehension questions ‫ﺧﻤﻨﻮ ا أ ﺳﺌﻠﺔ ا ﻟﻔﮭﻢ‬

ّ
Purpose
To provide learners with practice to develop their reading comprehension by
attending to meaning and to promote bottom-up and top-down processing of the
text. It requires little preparation and takes about 35 minutes to execute.

Procedure
1. Find a level-appropriate text of interest or relevance to your students or use a
text in their textbook.
2. Inform your students of the topic of the text.
3. Write a list of key words of the text on the board (or display them on a screen or
via a document projector) and tell your students the words will be part of ques-
tions on the text.
4. Read the words aloud and have your students repeat after you chorally.
5. Go over words that your students do not recognize.
72 Reading techniques

6. Have your students read the text individually and ask them to guess and form the
questions (based on the key words you provided) and provide answers to them
in 15–20 minutes.
7. Go over your students’ responses as a whole class whether they guessed the
right questions and reveal the questions to them one by one (in 10 minutes).
8. Have your students ask each other the questions in a chain fashion.

Variations
a. Have your students work on the reading and the questions within groups of
dyads.
b. Have dyads report to class first the questions they guessed and reward the groups
that guessed most of the right questions or closest versions to them.
c. As a whole-class activity, have groups ask each other the questions and answer
them in a chain fashion, 1 group asking the next one and so on.
(See also Nation 2009.)

14. Guess the text ‫ﻟﻨﺺ‬

ّ ‫ﺧﻤﻨﻮ ا ا‬
ّ
Purpose
To provide learners with practice to develop their reading comprehension by attend-
ing to meaning and interacting creatively with meaning. It allows for the integra-
tion of reading comprehension with the writing and speaking skills. It requires little
preparation and takes about 40 minutes to execute.

Procedure
1. Find a level-appropriate text of interest or relevance to your students or use a
text in their textbook.
2. Write a list of key words of the text on the board (or display them on a screen
or via a document projector) vertically and according to their occurrence in the
text.
3. Read the words aloud and have your students repeat after you chorally.
4. Go over words that your students do not recognize.
5. Divide your students into dyads and have each group write a short paragraph,
using the key words, guessing the meaning of the content of the text to be read
(in about 10–15 minutes).
6. Have your students within their groups read the text and modify the guesses that
they made about the text to match the factual content of the text (in about 10–15
minutes).
7. Go over 1–3 samples of your students’ responses as a whole class, eliciting fur-
ther modifications from the class to match the actual text content.
 Reading techniques 73

Variation
As a follow-up post-reading activity, if time permits, invite your students to ask
language-related questions (i.e., vocabulary and grammar) that they may have
about the text and/or any difficult part of the text they may have encountered. (See
also Fisher et al. 2011.)

15. ّ
Recap and discuss more ‫ﻟﺨﺼﻮ ا و ﺗﻨﺎ ﻗﺸﻮ ا أ ﻛﺜﺮ‬

Purpose
To provide learners with practice to develop their reading comprehension by attend-
ing to meaning as a second layer of analysis of the text and zeroing in on its main
as well as secondary ideas. It allows for the integration of reading comprehension
with the speaking skill. It is mainly used as a post-reading activity and requires no
preparation. It takes about 15–20 minutes to execute.

Procedure
1. Upon reading a text (from your students’ textbook or from outside the book)
and answering comprehension questions on it, elicit a summary of the text from
the whole class (orally) by having each student contribute a part of it in a chain
fashion (in 5–10 minutes).
2. Provide feedback by means of recasting your students’ responses or inviting
corrections from other students.
3. After your students provide a full summary of the text, invite them to ask any
questions they have about the text or questions raised by the text, taking into
account other aspects of the text; that is, those not included in the comprehen-
sion questions that they have already answered (in about 5–10 minutes).
4. Each student should ask the next student (or class) at least 1 question.

Variations
a. Have questions already prepared to ask your students to address other aspects
of the texts not included in the comprehension questions and distribute 1 or 2 to
each student so they can use them to ask.
b. As a final stage, invite your students to ask language-related questions (i.e.,
vocabulary and grammar) that they may have about the text.
(See also Fisher et al. 2011.)

16. Reading fast ‫ا ﻟﻘﺮاءة ا ﻟﺴﺮ ﯾﻌﺔ‬

Purpose
To provide learners with practice to develop their reading fluency and skimming
ability to get a quick overview of the text. It also serves as a confidence booster and
74 Reading techniques

is mainly used as an activity during reading. It requires little to no preparation and

takes about 15–20 minutes to execute.

Procedure
1. Inform your students of the topic of the text and provide them with any neces-
sary background or contextual information helpful to understand the text.
2. Inform your students they will be engaged in a speed reading of the text and inform
them of the activity’s main reading rules including skipping words they do not know
and not using any outside sources (e.g., their notes, their textbook, or a dictionary).
3. Distribute copies of the text to your students on the back side and ask them to
watch your signal to start reading fast for 2 minutes and stop after that.
4. Instruct them to mark down where they have reached.
5. Elicit short responses from them about what they have read and understood (in
3–5 minutes).
6. Instruct them to complete reading the text.
7. Have them work on the comprehension questions using any post-reading technique.

Variations
a. Reward students who read more than others within the 2 minutes.
b. Repeat the process of having your students read fast at 2-minute intervals and
elicit from them short responses about what they have read and understood after
each time.
(See also Labmeier and Vockell 1971; Macalister 2010.)

17. What is the advertisement for? ‫ﻋﱠﻢ اﻹﻋﻼن؟‬

َ
Purpose
To provide learners with practice to develop their reading comprehension by attend-
ing to meeting. It requires some preparation in finding some advertisements that can
be searched online. It allows for the integration of reading comprehension with the
speaking skill and takes about 30–40 minutes to execute.

Procedure
1. Prepare a number of advertisements printed on paper on each of which the name
of what is advertised is removed.
2. Divide your students into dyads and distribute an advertisement to each pair to
discuss and identify what the advertisement is about and why in 8–10 minutes.
If the dyad is uncertain, they can offer three possible matches.
3. Exchange two advertisements between two dyads to discuss and identify what
the advertisement is about and why in 8–10 minutes.
 Reading techniques 75

4. Each dyad shows and discusses one advertisement with the class and offers the
dyad’s possible match or matches and why.
5. Other dyads who worked on the same advertisements are allowed to agree or
disagree and present their reasons.
6. Other students in the class are also invited to share their views.

Variations
a. Depending on class time, allow the exchange of advertisements among dyads
2–3 times or more so that each time a dyad discusses a different advertisement,
depending on the number of advertisements used.
b. Have your students find similar advertisements or make their own and bring
them to class for a similar class activity.

18. Information gap ‫ﻧﻘﺺ ﻓﻲ ا ﻟﻤﻌﻠﻮ ﻣﺎ ت‬

Purpose
To provide learners with practice to develop their reading comprehension by
attending to meeting. It requires little preparation in finding a level-appropriate
text about a topic of interest or relevance to students. It allows for the integration
of reading comprehension with the speaking skill and takes about 25–30 minutes
to execute.

Procedure
1. Find a level-appropriate text on a topic of interest or relevance to your students
and print multiple copies.
2. Remove some information from each copy. For example, if the text is about
a trip, one copy contains all the information about the trip except the place;
another copy contains all the information except the transportation method; one
copy contains all the information except the date and so on.
3. Divide your students into groups according to the number of information gaps in
the text. Thus, if the text contains three information gaps, divide your students
into groups of 3.
4. Ask your students to read the text to each other and discuss it among themselves
to find the missing information (in 15 minutes).
5. Go over the missing information in the text as a whole class.

Variations
a. As a follow-up, have your students come up with the best possible title of the
text that represents the main idea of the text.
76 Reading techniques

b. Have your students first discuss the best possible title in different groups (of 3s)
and why.
c. Have each group report to the class their best matching title and provide their
reasons.

19. ّ
3/2/1 ‫ﻟﺨﺼﻮا و ﻋﺒِّﺮوا واﺳﺄﻟﻮا‬

Purpose
To provide learners with practice to develop their reading comprehension by
attending to meaning with some focus on grammar and structure. It requires little
preparation and takes about to 35 minutes to execute. It allows for the integration
of reading comprehension with the speaking skill.

Procedure
1. Find a level-appropriate text on a topic of interest or relevance to your students
and print multiple copies.
2. Ask your students to read the text individually and come up with three main ideas
about the text, two sentences that they liked in the text, and one question they have
about the text in about 15 minutes, depending on the length of the text or parts of the
text on which you are working on one part at a time; distribute a handout of what is
required in which they can fill out the information, along the following outline:

. . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .:‫اﻟﻔﻜﺮة اﻷوﻟﻰ‬ • 3
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .:‫اﻟﻔﻜﺮة اﻟﺜﺎﻧﯿﺔ‬ •
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .:‫اﻟﻔﻜﺮة اﻟﺜﺎﻟﺜﺔ‬ •
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .:‫اﻟﺠﻤﻠﺔ اﻷوﻟﻰ‬ • 2
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .:‫اﻟﺠﻤﻠﺔ اﻟﺜﺎﻧﯿﺔ‬ •
. . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .:‫اﻟﺴﺆال‬ • 1

3. Divide your students into groups of three and have them discuss the three main
ideas of the text that each has come up with and have them refine or agree on the
three main ideas of the text (in 7 minutes).
4. Discuss as a whole class or between groups the three main ideas of the text.
5. Redivide the class into dyads and have each group discuss the two sentences
that each student liked and why (in 5 minutes).
6. Discuss as a whole class the sentences that your students liked.
7. Have your students ask each other (in a chain fashion) their questions about the text.
 Reading techniques 77

Variations
a. Instead of discussing the main ideas as a whole class, redivide the class into two
groups and have them come up each with a summary of the text not to exceed
25 words.
b. Go over the two summaries in class.
(See also Faber 2015.)

20. Come up with the questions or summarize the text

‫ﻟﻨﺺ‬ ّ ِ ‫ﺿﻌﻮ ا أ ﺳﺌﻠﺔ ا ﻟﻔﮭﻢ أ و‬
ّ ‫ﻟﺨﺼﻮ ا ا‬

Purpose
To provide learners with practice to develop their reading comprehension by
attending to meaning. It allows the integration of reading comprehension with the
speaking skill. It requires little preparation and takes about 30–40 minutes to exe-
cute, depending on the length of the text.

Procedure
1. Find a level-appropriate text on a topic of interest or relevance to your students
(1–2 paragraphs) or use a text in their textbook.
2. Divide your students into groups of dyads.
3. Have half the groups read and discuss the text and come up with a summary of
the main ideas of the text (in 15 minutes).
4. Have the other half of the groups read and discuss the text and come up with
comprehension questions (4–5 questions) about what they have read (in 15
minutes).
5. Have the summary dyads each report their summary to the class (in 10
minutes).
6. Have the questions dyads ask the summary dyads their comprehension ques-
tions about the text (in 10 minutes).

Variations
a. If the text consists of more than one paragraph, follow the procedure one para-
graph at a time.
b. Allow for some scaffolding for the summarizing groups (by asking them to
come up with 3–5 statements limited to 25 words) and the questions groups
(by providing them with key words of the text on which they should base their
questions).
78 Reading techniques

3. Developing reading at the advanced level

At the advanced level, reading is focused on the paragraph and extended discourse
levels about general and professional topics that are familiar or unfamiliar. At this stage,
for pedagogical reasons and to reflect real-life situations, it is expected to implement
techniques that integrate reading with one or more skills in addition to those which
focus on reading as an isolated skill. While using a form or function through one skill,
learners can activate it or recycle it through another and achieve control and automatic-
ity through others. In addition to the techniques included here, some of the techniques
in the intermediate section can be used for the advanced level when the texts and topics
used are suitable for the advanced level. A reading technique is usually implemented as
a pre-reading, during-reading, post-reading activity, or all of these combined.

21. Summarize in your own way ‫ص‬ ّ

ّ ‫ﻟﺨﺼﻮ ا ﺑﺄ ﺳﻠﻮ ﺑﻜﻢ ا ﻟﺨﺎ‬
Purpose
To provide learners with practice to primarily develop their reading comprehension
by attending to meaning, as learners are required to provide a summary of their
understanding of a text (narrative or expository), in particular their ability to gist
texts by identifying main ideas and key concepts of a text and its most important
parts. It allows for the integration of reading comprehension with the writing skill
(and possibly the speaking skill) so that learners can receive feedback on their com-
prehension as well as writing. The technique mimics real-life situations in which
we often need to know the gist of what we read. It requires little to no preparation
and, depending on the length of the text, takes about 30–45 minutes to execute.

Procedure
1. Find a level-appropriate text on a topic of interest or relevance to your students
or use a text in their textbook of 3–5 paragraphs.
2. Divide your students into dyads and ask them to read the text to each other, pay-
ing extra attention to the title, headings, beginning, middle, and end of the text.
3. Limit the number of sentences or words that your students can use in summariz-
ing the text (e.g., three sentences per paragraph not to exceed 25 words).
4. Ask your students to come up with a title or heading for each paragraph if there
are no such headings.
5. Ask your students to combine the sentences to write up a short summary and elim-
inate any redundant words after incorporating the headings into the sentences.
6. Go over 1–2 sample summaries (depending on time available) as a whole class,
displaying them to class (e.g., via a document projector) and inviting more
refined suggestions and corrections.
7. Collect all summaries to provide feedback on factual and writing accuracy later
outside of class.
 Reading techniques 79

Variations
a. Preassign the text to be read outside of the classroom before class so that stu-
dents will take less time reading the text and the activity will mainly be a post-
reading activity.
b. Have the groups of dyads exchange their summaries so that each group will
attempt to provide feedback and corrections to both factual and writing accu-
racy of the paragraph of another group.
c. Have your students incorporate the feedback and collect the summaries to pro-
vide feedback later.

22. Retell a summary of the text ‫ﻟﻠﻨﺺ‬

ّ ‫ﺗﺒﺎ د ﻟﻮ ا ﻣﻠﺨﺼﺎ ﺗﻜﻢ‬

Purpose
To provide learners with practice to primarily develop their reading comprehen-
sion by attending to meaning, as learners are required to provide a summary of their
understanding of a text (narrative or expository), in particular their ability to gist texts
by identifying main ideas and key concepts of a text. It allows for the integration of
reading comprehension with the speaking skill (and possibly the writing skill) so that
learners need to retell a summary of the text. The technique mimics real-life situations
in which we often need to know the gist of what we read. It requires some preparation
and, depending on the length of the text, takes about 30–45 minutes to execute.

Procedure
1. Find a level-appropriate text on a topic of interest or relevance to your students
or use a text in their textbook of 3–5 paragraphs.
2. Divide your students into dyads and divide the texts into 3–5 parts, depending
on the number of paragraphs.
3. Assign different students to read different parts or paragraphs of the text and
encourage them to take (2–3) notes about the main ideas and most important
information (in 10–15 minutes) and instruct them they will need to report a sum-
mary of what they have read to other students in class.
4. Divide your students who have read the same parts or paragraphs to discuss
what they have read and compare their notes (in 10 minutes).
5. Redivide your students into new dyads pairing students who read different parts
or paragraphs of the text and have each student report the summary to their part-
ner (in 10 minutes).
6. Redivide your students into different dyads so students can continue to report
their summaries to new partners.
7. Rotate between groups to ensure your students are reporting actual summaries,
not just random comments or disconnected statements.
80 Reading techniques

Variations
a. Preassign the text to be read outside of the classroom before class so that stu-
dents will take less time reading the text and the activity will mainly be a post-
reading activity.
b. After your students report their summaries to their partners within dyads, redi-
vide students into larger groups so that each group comprises one student of
each of the first dyads so that one student is responsible for a summary/part of
the text. Have your students collaborate to write a summary of the full text.
c. Collect the written summaries of the text to provide feedback later.

23. Comparing texts ‫ﻣﻘﺎ ر ﻧﺔ ﺑﯿﻦ ا ﻟﻨﺼﻮ ص‬

Purpose
To provide learners with practice to develop their reading comprehension by
attending to meaning and reading texts critically by comparing different points
of view. It allows for the integration of reading comprehension with the speaking
skill. It requires some preparation and, depending on the length of the texts used,
takes about 35–45 minutes to execute.

Procedure
1. Find (e.g., by searching online for) three texts of similar length on a similar topic
such as a recent event in the news or a current issue (social, political, economic,
etc.) of interest to your students. If the topic is related to an event reported in the
news, choose the texts from three competing (Arabic) media platforms, such as
Al Jazjeera, Al Arabiya, and the BBC.
2. Divide your students into groups of 3. Each group is given a different text and
is asked to discuss the main ideas of the text in 10–15 minutes.
3. Redivide your students into groups of 3, consisting of students who read all
three texts.
4. Have your students discuss the three texts, paying attention to three types of
differences between the three texts: (a) in terms of content (i.e., at the level of
details and whether some information is present in one text but not in the other
two texts), (b) point of view (i.e., which one is likely biased or unbiased), and
(c) style (which one is easiest to understand) and how (in 15 minutes).
5. Have three sample groups report to the class the outcomes of their discussion,
each group reporting on one type of difference and their reasons, and allow other
groups to agree or disagree by providing their reasons (in about 10–15 minutes).

Variations
a. Depending on the texts found and/or time constraints, focus can be exclusively
on only one of the three differences: content, point of view, or style.
 Reading techniques 81

b. Alternatively, the technique can be limited to two texts and students in this case
can be divided into dyads.
(See also Watkins 2018.)

24. Relating background knowledge and personal

experiences ‫ا ﻟﺮ ﺑﻂ ﺑﺎ ﻟﻤﻌﺮ ﻓﺔ ا ﻟﺴﺎ ﺑﻘﺔ و ا ﻟﺨﺒﺮ ا ت ا ﻟﺸﺨﺼﯿﺔ‬

Purpose
To provide learners with practice to develop their reading comprehension by
attending to meaning and relating the reading to their background knowledge and
personal experiences. It allows for the integration of reading comprehension with
the speaking skill. It requires little preparation and, depending on the length of
the texts used, takes about 40–45 minutes to execute. The technique fits as a pre-
reading, during-reading, and post-reading activity.

Procedure
1. Find a level-appropriate text of 3–5 paragraphs (on a topic of a recent event,
an issue of common interest, or an issue that can be conveyed from different
perspectives) or use a text in your students’ textbook.
2. Prior to reading the text, introduce the topic of the text to your students.
3. Elicit (in a chain fashion) 1–2 responses from each student of “what they already
know about the topic” ‫ﻣﺎذا ﯾﻌﺮﻓﻮن ﻋﻦ اﻟﻤﻮﺿﻮع‬
4. Elicit (in a chain fashion) 1–2 responses from each student of “what they would
like to know about the topic” ‫ﻣﺎذا ﯾﺤﺒﻮن أن ﯾﻌﺮﻓﻮا ﻋﻦ اﻟﻤﻮﺿﻮع‬
5. Divide your students into dyads and have them read and discuss the text (in 20
minutes) and have them each agree to 3–5 statements of what they have learned
about the topic.
6. Have each group report to the class what they have learned.
7. Have each student (in a chain fashion) relate some information in the text to
their own personal experiences or life or those whom they know.

Variations
a. In the pre-reading stage, have each student write down 4–5 statements of what
they already know about the topic and 4–5 statements of what they would like
to know about it.
b. During the reading stage, have each student write 4–5 statements of what they
learned from the text.
c. In the post-reading stage, divide your students into dyads to discuss with their
partner how some of information of the text relates to their personal experiences
or lives.
82 Reading techniques

d. Transition the activity into a writing activity assignment (outside of class) to

combine the statements they wrote into a composition describing the topic,
what they know about it, and how some of its content relates to their personal
experiences.
(See also Watkins 2018.)

25. I agree and do not agree ‫أﺗّﻔﻖ وﻻ أﺗّﻔﻖ‬

Purpose
To provide learners with practice to develop their reading comprehension by attend-
ing to meaning, reading texts critically, and exploring ways to support an opinion
on a controversial issue or an issue of general interest. It allows for the integration
of reading comprehension with speaking and (possibly) writing skills. It requires
little preparation and, depending on the length of the texts used, takes about 40–45
minutes to execute. The technique fits as a pre-reading, during-reading, and post-
reading activity.

Procedure
1. Find a level-appropriate text or use a text in your students’ textbook of 3–5
paragraphs on a topic such as ‫“ اﻟﺮﯾﺎﺿﺔ اﻻﺣﺘﺮاﻓﯿﺔ‬professional sport,” ‫اﻟﺘﻜﻨﻮﻟﻮﺟﯿﺎ‬
“technology,” ‫“ وﺳﺎﺋﻞ اﻟﺘﻮاﺻﻞ اﻻﺟﺘﻤﺎﻋﯿﺔ‬social media,” ‫“ اﻟﺒﯿﺌﺔ‬the environment,”
and so on.
2. Prior to reading the text, introduce the topic of the text to your students.
3. Using their background knowledge and personal experience on the topic,
have each student complete three stem statements starting with: ‫“ أﺗﻔﻖ‬I
agree” and three stem statements, starting with ‫“ ﻻ أﺗّﻔﻖ‬I do not agree” (in
5–7 minutes) in relation to the topic.
5. Divide your students into dyads and have them read and discuss the text (in
20–25 minutes).
6. Ask each student to revise or confirm their six statements based on their reading
of the text and the perspectives of the text, providing reasons.
7. Have each student express to the class three statements expressing agreement
with the perspective of the text and three opposing ones and provide reasons.

Variations
a. Depending on the level of your students, provide some scaffolding by making
stem sentences (in a handout) that are more detailed, along with the following,
ّ ‫اﻟﻨﺺ‬
if the topic is on professional sport: ‫أن‬ ّ ‫ أﺗﻔﻖ ﻣﻊ ﻛﺎﺗﺐ‬. . . “I agree with the
ّ ‫اﻟﻨﺺ‬
writer of the text that . . .” and ‫أن‬ ّ ‫ ﻻ أﺗﻔﻖ ﻣﻊ ﻛﺎﺗﺐ‬. . . “I do not agree with
the writer of the text that . . .”
 Reading techniques 83

b. Instead of the “I agree” and “I do not agree” statements, ask students to list 3
‫“ ﻣﺤﺎﺳﻦ‬advantages” and 3 ‫ ﻣﺴﺎوئ‬disadvantages of the topic, providing reasons
briefly.
c. Transition the activity into a writing activity where students (in groups) are
asked to write 2 paragraphs on the topic by incorporating their statements and
providing reasons.
d. Collect your students’ writings for feedback later.
(See also Faber 2015.)
Chapter 4

Writing techniques

1. Developing writing at the novice level

Writing is viewed here in terms of the ability to produce written language to meet
functional needs at the word, phrase, and memorized chunk levels. At the novice high
level, speaking is also pitched (a little higher than the ACTFL guidelines) at the sen-
tence level. At higher subsequent levels, it involves production at the sentence, para-
graph, and then extended discourse levels and ranges from the use of high-frequency
vocabulary and structures to the use of low-frequency (and specialized) vocabu-
lary and (more complex) structures (along ACTFL’s proficiency guidelines, 2012).
With the implementation of the various techniques along the proficiency scale, the
development of the writing skill takes into account writing fluency, complexity, and
accuracy (of spelling, word choice, and grammar) of the learner’s production and is
one that is viewed (beyond the early stages) as a process rather than a product. To
simplify things, a writing technique can be implemented as a pre-drafting, during-
drafting, post-drafting activity, or all of these combined. Techniques included here
are beyond those related specifically to the script and writing at the letter level.

1. Writing lists ‫ﻛﺘﺎ ﺑﺔ ﻗﻮ ا ﺋﻢ‬

Purpose
To provide learners with practice writing at the word level. It requires little to no
preparation and takes about 15 minutes to execute.

Procedure
1. Come up with a different everyday topic each time you want to use this tech-
nique, such as things your students need to shop for today or this week, different
dishes they would like to eat during this week, or things they need to take with
them on a trip.
2. Ask your students to write down a list of six items they need to shop for today
or this week (such as food or clothing items) in 3–5 minutes.

DOI: 10.4324/9781315686677-5
 Writing techniques 85

3. Divide the board into five columns and have five students come to the board and
write down their lists of words.
4. Have each student read their list and elicit corrections of misspellings from all
students in the class.
5. Repeat the process until all students have gone to the board and shared their lists
with the class.
6. Invite students to ask questions about words they do not recognize or do not know.

Variations
a. Ask students to rank order the items in order of importance.
b. Instead of having your students write their lists on the board, display their lists
via a document projector; have each student read their list off the document
projector and go over them as a whole class.

2. Fast copying ‫ا ﻟﻨﺴﺦ ا ﻟﺴﺮ ﯾﻊ‬

Purpose
To provide learners with practice writing at the word and phrase levels and pay
attention to accurate writing and spelling. It requires little to no preparation and
takes about 10 minutes to execute.

Procedure
1. Write on the board (or display via a screen or a document projector) 5–7 words
and phrases that your students already know, in particular those that may be
confusing for learners at this level or which they find challenging and are likely
not to spell correctly, such as ‫“ ﺷﻮارع‬streets,” ‫ﻣﺘﺨﺼﺺ‬ ّ “specialized,” ‫طﺎوﻟﺔ‬
‫“ ﻛﺒﯿﺮة‬big table,” ‫“ ﺑﻨﺖ طﻮﯾﻠﺔ‬tall girl,” ‫“ ﺑﯿﺖ ﺟﻤﯿﻞ‬beautiful house”, ‫ﻏﺮﻓﺔ واﺳﻌﺔ‬
“spacious room,” and others.
2. Instruct your students to look at the words and phrases on the board carefully
before you will erase them in 30 seconds and that they will need to copy them
(in no particular order) after you erase them at the 30-second mark.
3. Divide the boards into 3–5 columns and have students come to the board and
write the words as they copied them.
4. Go over the words on the board as a whole class and elicit confirmation or cor-
rections from all students in class.

Variations
a. To make the activity a little more challenging, include diacritics of internal short
vowels and the shadda “geminate consonant symbol” and request students to
copy all such diacritics along with the words.
86 Writing techniques

b. Give your students another chance to look at the words or to make corrections
before going over their responses as a whole class by rewriting them on the board
(or displaying them on a screen or via a document projector) and erasing them
after 20 seconds.
(See also Harmer 2004.)

3. Planning an itinerary ‫ا ﻟﺘﺨﻄﯿﻂ ﻟﺮ ﺣﻠﺔ‬

Purpose
To provide learners with practice writing at the word and phrase levels. It allows
for possibly integrating writing with reading and speaking. It requires little to no
preparation and takes about 15 minutes to execute.

Procedure
1. Instruct your students that they will be going on a trip to five cities or states over
a week or a 6-month period.
2. Ask them to plan their trip by day (or more specific time) or month and destina-
tion chronologically.
3. Divide your students into groups of dyads and have them exchange their itiner-
aries to ask questions or offer corrections.
4. Have each student present their itinerary or have their partner do so for them.
5. Elicit corrections from the whole class for errors with the order of the days/
months and/or geographical locations of the cities/states.

Variations
a. Another suitable topic is to have your students write the weather forecast (using
the Internet) over the coming days of the week.
b. Pre-teach your students key words related to the task if they do not know them.
c. Divide your students into groups of dyads and have them compare their fore-
casts for accuracy.

4. Sentence modeling ‫ا ﻟﻨﺴﺞ ﻋﻠﻰ ﻣﻨﻮ ا ل ا ﻟﺠﻤﻞ‬

Purpose
To provide learners with practice writing at the sentence level and promote writing
fluency. It requires little to no preparation and takes about 15 minutes to execute.

Procedure
1. Prepare 1–2 typical sentences occurring in a given lesson at a time and ask your
students to make up three sentences following the same pattern/structure and by
 Writing techniques 87

following the frames provided underneath each sentence (in 5–7 minutes) such
as in the following samples:

.‫ﺮاد ﻓﻲ اﻟﻌﺎﺋِﻠﺔ‬ َ َ ‫ ﻻ ﺗ َﺘ َﺬَ ﱠﻛُﺮ أ‬،‫اﻟﺤﻘﯿﻘﺔ‬

ِ ‫ﺳﻤﺎء ُﻛ ِّﻞ اﻷ َ ْﻓ‬ َ ‫ ﻓﻲ‬.‫أ‬
.__________ ‫ﻤﺎء ُﻛ ِّﻞ __________ ﻓﻲ‬َ ‫ ﻻ __________أ َ ْﺳ‬،‫اﻟﺤﻘﯿﻘﺔ‬ َ ‫—ﻓﻲ‬1
َ ‫ ﻻ __________أ َ ْﺳ‬،‫اﻟﺤﻘﯿﻘﺔ‬
.__________ ‫ﻤﺎء ُﻛ ِّﻞ __________ ﻓﻲ‬ َ ‫—ﻓﻲ‬2
.__________ ‫ﻤﺎء ُﻛ ِّﻞ __________ ﻓﻲ‬ َ
َ ‫ ﻻ __________أ ْﺳ‬،‫اﻟﺤﻘﯿﻘﺔ‬ َ ‫—ﻓﻲ‬3
.‫اﻟﺼﯿﻒ‬
‫اﻟﺤﺎر ﻓﻲ ﱠ‬ ِّ ‫اﻟﺠﻮ‬
ِّ ‫ﺐ‬ِ َ ‫ﺴﺒ‬ ‫ ﻻ ﺗ ُ ِﺤ ﱡ‬.‫ب‬
َ ِ‫ﺐ ھﯿﻮﺳﺘﻦ ﺑ‬
._________ ‫اﻟﺠﻮ _________ ﻓﻲ‬
ِّ ‫ﺐ‬ ِ َ ‫ﺴﺒ‬ َ ‫ ﻻ _________ _________ ِﺑ‬-1
._________ ‫اﻟﺠﻮ _________ ﻓﻲ‬
ِّ ‫ﺐ‬ ِ َ ‫ﺴﺒ‬َ ‫ ﻻ _________ _________ ِﺑ‬-2
._________ ‫اﻟﺠﻮ _________ ﻓﻲ‬
ِّ ‫ﺐ‬ ِ َ‫ﺴﺒ‬َ ِ‫ ﻻ _________ _________ ﺑ‬-3
2. Go over sample responses (one from each student) as a whole class and elicit
corrections from all students
3. Collect your students’ sentences for feedback and corrections later.

Variations
a. Include more sentence to be modeled, limiting the frames to be filled to one
for each sentence and including fewer words within a frame as in the following
samples:

. ‫ﺮاد ﻓﻲ اﻟﻌﺎﺋِﻠﺔ‬ َ َ ‫ ﻻ ﺗ َﺘ َﺬَ ﱠﻛُﺮ أ‬،‫اﻟﺤﻘﯿﻘﺔ‬

ِ ‫ﺳﻤﺎء ُﻛِّﻞ اﻷ َْﻓ‬ َ ‫ ﻓﻲ‬-1
._________ ‫ﻤﺎء _________ ________ ﻓﻲ‬ َ ‫ َﻻ _________أ َ ْﺳ‬،‫اﻟﺤﻘﯿﻘﺔ‬ َ ‫ﻓﻲ‬
.‫اﻟﺼﯿﻒ‬
‫اﻟﺤﺎر ﻓﻲ ﱠ‬
ِّ ‫اﻟﺠﻮ‬
ِّ ‫ﺐ‬ ِ َ ‫ﺴﺒ‬
َ ‫ﺐ ھﯿﻮﺳﺘﻦ ِﺑ‬ ‫ ﻻ ﺗ ُ ِﺤ ﱡ‬-2
._________ ‫ﺐ ________ _______ ﻓﻲ‬ ِ َ ‫ﺴﺒ‬
َ ‫ﻻ _________ _________ ِﺑ‬
ُ ‫واﺷ‬
. ‫ﻨﻄﻦ‬ ِ ‫ﺧﺎﻟﺪ ﯾَ ْﺴُﻜُﻦ ﻓﻲ َﻣﺪﯾﻨﺔ‬ ِ ُ‫ﻋﱞﻢ ِاْﺳُﻤﮫ‬
َ ‫ ﻟﻲ‬-3
._________ _________ ‫ﻋّﻤﺔٌ _________ ________________ ﻓﻲ‬ َ ‫ﻟﻲ‬

b. Instruct your students that they may have to make any necessary (grammatical)
changes if the resulting frames allow for the possibility of different pronouns
and/or verb conjugations (i.e., not simply copying the words from the model
sentence, as in Sentence 3).
c. Divide your students into dyads and have them discuss their sentences and
incorporate their partners’ comments if they agree before going over the sen-
tences as a whole class.
88 Writing techniques

5. Writing a long sentence ‫إ ﻧﺸﺎ ء ﺟﻤﻠﺔ طﻮ ﯾﻠﺔ‬

Purpose
To provide learners with practice writing at the sentence level and promote writing
fluency. It allows for the integration of writing with, possibly, reading and listening.
It requires no preparation and takes about 10–15 minutes to execute, depending on
the number of students in the class.

Procedure
1. Have students seated in a semicircle.
2. Instruct your students they are to collectively write a sentence and make it as
long as they possibly can with each student contributing one word (which can
be a verb, a noun, a pronoun, a preposition, etc.) in a chain fashion.
3. The first student (to the right or to the left) can name any person or thing as the
first part of the sentence and write it on a sheet of paper and then passes it on to
the next student.
4. The next student adds a word and passes the sheet of paper to the next student
and so on.
5. Once a sentence reaches the limit and your students cannot make it longer, start
over with another sentence so that all students can contribute to constructing a
long sentence.
6. Once all students contributed to the construction of one or more sentences, go
over the long sentence(s) as a whole class (e.g., by displaying each sentence to
the class on the board, screen or via a document projector) and eliciting correc-
tions from all students.

Variations
a. Instead of writing the words (making up a long sentence) on a sheet of paper,
have a student come to the board and write the words as they heard them until a
long sentence is completed.
b. Delegate another student to write the words on the board to make up the next
sentence and so on.
c. All other students help the student writing on the board with writing and spell-
ing errors.

6. Creative dictation ‫اﻹﻣﻼء اﻹﺑﺪاﻋﻲ‬

Purpose
To provide learners with practice writing at the sentence level and promote writ-
ing fluency. It allows for the integration of writing with listening. It requires little
preparation and takes about 10–15 minutes to execute.
 Writing techniques 89

Procedure
1. Prepare 4–5 typical sentences from a given lesson or ones containing vocabu-
lary and structure which your students have already covered.
2. Instruct your students that they are to hear a dictation of 4–5 sentences that they
are required to write down correctly and are allowed to replace a few words with
ones to refer to them personally or to fit new possible and meaningful adapta-
tions of the original dictated sentences but without changing the structure/pat-
tern of the sentences, such as replacing some or all of the underlined words in
the following sample sentences:

َ َ ‫ ﻻ ﺗ َﺘ َﺬَ ﱠﻛُﺮ أ‬،‫اﻟﺤﻘﯿﻘﺔ‬

.‫ﺳﻤﺎء ُﻛِّﻞ اﻷ َْﻓﺮادِ ﻓﻲ اﻟﻌﺎﺋِﻠﺔ‬ َ ‫ ﻓﻲ‬-1
.‫اﻟﺼﻒ‬‫ﺮاد ﻓﻲ ﱠ‬ ْ َ
ِ ‫ﺳﻤﺎء ُﻛ ِّﻞ اﻷﻓ‬
َ َ َ
‫ ﻻ أﺗﺬَ ﱠﻛُﺮ أ‬،‫اﻟﺤﻘﯿﻘﺔ‬
َ ‫ﻓﻲ‬
.‫اﻟﺼﯿﻒ‬
‫اﻟﺤﺎر ﻓﻲ ﱠ‬ ِّ ‫اﻟﺠﻮ‬
ِّ ‫ﺐ‬ ِ َ ‫ﺴﺒ‬
َ ‫ﺐ ھﯿﻮﺳﺘﻦ ِﺑ‬ ‫ ﻻ ﺗ ُ ِﺤ ﱡ‬-2
ّ ِ ‫اﻟﺒﺎرِد ﻓﻲ‬
.‫اﻟﺸﺘﺎء‬ ِ ‫اﻟﺠﻮ‬
ِّ ‫ﺐ‬ ِ َ ‫ﺴﺒ‬
َ ِ‫ﺐ ﺑﻮﺳﻄﻦ ﺑ‬ ‫ﻻ ﻧُ ِﺤ ﱡ‬
ُ ‫واﺷ‬
.‫ﻨﻄﻦ‬ ِ ‫ﺧﺎﻟﺪ ﯾَ ْﺴُﻜُﻦ ﻓﻲ َﻣﺪﯾﻨﺔ‬ِ ُ‫ﻋﱞﻢ ا ِْﺳُﻤﮫ‬
َ ‫ ِﻟﻲ‬-3
.‫ﻋّﻤﺔٌ ِاْﺳُﻤﮭﺎ ﻛﯿﻠﻲ ﺗ َْﺴُﻜُﻦ ﻓﻲ َﻣﺪﯾﻨﺔ ﺑﻮﻓﺎﻟﻮ‬ َ ‫ِﻟﻲ‬
3. Instruct your students that when they replace anything, they should check if they
need to make any additional necessary changes so that the new version of the
sentence is grammatically correct.
4. Allow enough time between sentences for your students to hear the sentences,
replace some or all of the target words, and make any additional required changes.
5. Go over your students’ sentences (sentence by sentence) by having each student
write the sentence on the board and elicit confirmation and corrections from all
students in the class.

Variations
a. To save time, display the sentences of each student via a document projector
and have the student writer read their sentences (sentence by sentence) and elicit
confirmation or corrections from all class.
b. If time does not permit going over all students’ dictations, go over a few sample
dictations and collect your students’ written dictations for grading and/or cor-
rections later.
(See also Brookes and Grundy 1998.)

7. Sentence completion ‫إ ﻛﻤﺎ ل ا ﻟﺠﻤﻞ‬

Purpose
To provide learners with practice writing at the sentence level and promote
writing fluency of sentential structure. It allows for the integration of writing
90 Writing techniques

with reading. It requires little preparation and takes about 15 minutes to

execute.

Procedure
1. Prepare 4–5 typical sentences occurring in a current lesson and use them as a
basis for providing incomplete sentences for your students to complete as in the
following sample sentences:

.___________________________________________ ‫ أ َ ْدُرس‬-1
.________________________________________ ‫واﻟﺪي ﯾَْﻌَﻤﻞ‬
ِ -2
.__________________________________________ ‫واﻟﺪَﺗﻲ‬
ِ —3
.__________________________________________ ‫—ِﻟﻲ َﺧﺎﻟﺔ‬4
.__________________________________________ ‫—أَﻧﺎ ِﻓْﻌًﻼ‬5
2. Instruct your students to complete the words provided into complete sentences
with any number of words, including the use of one word so long as the out-
comes are full meaningful sentences (in 8–10 minutes).
3. Instruct your students not to change the order of the words provided (i.e., to
keep the words in the beginning of the sentences).
4. Go over the sentences as a whole class, with students reading their sentences
(one sentence at a time in a chain fashion), and provide corrections as needed.
5. This can also be implemented as a dictation activity in which you dictate the
beginning part and your students complete them into sentences.

Variations
a. Divide your students into groups of dyads and have them read and discuss their
sentences with their partners.
b. Include a word count or range of words needed to complete the sentences, either
one for each sentence or one for all the sentences across the board.

8. Rearranging scrambled words within sentences

‫إﻋﺎدة ﺗﺮ ﺗﯿﺐ ا ﻟﻜﻠﻤﺎ ت ا ﻟﻤﺒﻌﺜﺮ ة ﻓﻲ ﺟﻤﻞ‬

Purpose
To provide learners with practice writing at the sentence level and promote writ-
ing fluency of sentential structure. It requires little preparation and takes about 15
minutes to execute.

Procedure
1. Upon completing a lesson or unit in your students’ textbook, prepare 4–5 typical
sentences occurring in the lesson after modifying them slightly and scrambling
 Writing techniques 91

the order of words within the sentences such as in the following sample
sentences:

.‫ﺐ—ﻻ—ِاﻻْزِدﺣﺎم—ھﯿﻮﺳﺘﻦ‬ ‫ﺴﺒَﺐ—َﻣﺪﯾﻨﺔ—أ ُِﺣ ﱡ‬ َ ‫—ِﺑ‬1

.ً ‫ﺣﺎر—ِﺟﺪّا‬ ّ — ‫ﻓﻲ‬ — ‫ﻮ‬
َّ‫اﻟﺠ‬ —‫ﻒ‬ ‫ﯿ‬
ْ ‫—اﻟﺼ‬
‫ﱠ‬ 2
.‫ﺎﻟﻨّْﺴﺒﺔ‬
ِ ‫اﻟﺨﺮﯾﻒ—ِﺑ‬ َ —‫ﺴﻦ‬ َ
َ ‫ﺼﻞ—أ ْﺣ‬ ْ َ‫—ﻟﮫُ—ُھَﻮ—ﻓ‬3 َ
.‫ﺎﻟﻮْﺣﺪة‬
ِ ِ ‫ﺑ‬ — ‫ﻻ‬ – ً ‫ﯿﺎﻧﺎ‬ ‫ﺣ‬ْ َ ‫أ‬— ‫ﺮ‬
ُُ ‫ﻌ‬ ْ
‫ﺷ‬ َ ‫أ‬ — ‫ﺒﯿﺮة‬ َ
‫اﻟﻜ‬ — ‫ه‬
ِ ‫ھﺬ‬
ِ — ‫اﻟﻤﺪﯾﻨﺔ‬
َ —‫—ﻓﻲ‬4
َ
.‫ﺻﻞ—ِﻣْﻦ—أ ْﻣﺮﯾﻜﯿّﺔ‬ َ
ْ ‫إﯾﻄﺎﻟﻲ—إﻟﯿﺰاﺑﯿﺚ– أ‬ ّ —5

2. Distribute copies of a handout containing the sentences and ask your stu-
dents to individually rearrange the words into sentences appropriately (in 8
minutes).
3. Divide your students into groups of dyads and have them discuss their reordered
sentences and make any changes if they agree with their partners, although they
do not always have to agree (in 4 minutes).
4. Go over the sentences as a whole class, with each group reading a sentence and
students from other groups providing corrections.

Variations
a. Instead of groups reading their sentences, divide the board into five columns
(and number them accordingly) and have each group delegate a student to go to
the board and write one of the sentences.
b. Prepare a teacher’s copy of the sentences where the correct sentences are pro-
vided underneath their respective scrambled sentences to display via a docu-
ment project to confirm students’ responses.

9. Similar and dissimilar ‫ﻣﺘﺸﺎ ﺑﮭﺎ ن و ﻣﺨﺘﻠﻔﺎ ن‬

Purpose
To provide learners with practice writing and improve their writing fluency, as they
are required to write instantly about what they are presented. It allows for writing
to be integrated with, possibly, the speaking skill. It requires little preparation and
takes about 25 minutes to execute.

Procedure
1. Prepare a series of pictures of two separate daily routines of a female and a male
sharing similar activities in some and differing in others, such as the samples
displayed as in Figures 2–3:
92 Writing techniques

Figure 2 © Mohammed Alshehri

Figure 3 © Mohammed Alshehri

 Writing techniques 93

2. Divide students into dyads and have one partner write down 3–4 activities (in com-
plete sentences) that the two characters share in common and the other partner write
down 3–4 activities in which they differ, adding all details available (in 6–8 minutes).
3. Ask partners within their groups to discuss their sentences and agree on their
written responses (in 5–7 minutes).
4. As a whole class, go over the sample responses (as many as time permits) and
invite further refinement or corrections from all students in class.
5. Collect your students’ drafts for feedback and corrections later.

Variations
a. Pictures can also be presented as discrete ones, and students are then asked to
put them chronologically in the right order and write a sentence on each one.
b. Another topic can be past events (if students have learned the past tense) in
which a male and a female character went on a trip during the last 1–2 weeks,
such as the samples displayed in Figures 4–5:

Figure 4 (Adapted from Going Places, Burton and Maharg 1995, 141, 159)
94 Writing techniques

Figure 5 (Adapted from Going Places, Burton and Maharg 1995, 141, 159)

10. Likes and dislikes ‫ﻣﺮﻏﻮﺑﺎت وﻣﻜﺮوھﺎت‬

Purpose
To provide learners with practice writing and improve their writing fluency, as they
are required to write instantly and convey in writing basic functions of expressing
likes and dislikes about topics of immediate interest. It allows for writing to be
integrated with, possibly, speaking and reading. It requires no preparation and takes
about 25 minutes to execute.

Procedure
1. Ask your students to select a topic of immediate interest to them such as food,
traveling, sports, and so on.
2. Divide students into dyads and have one partner write four sentences (two long
and two short) of what they like about the topic and the other write four sentences
 Writing techniques 95

(two long and two short) of what they dislike about it; limit the short sentence to
3–5 words and the long sentence to more than 5 words (in 8 minutes).
3. Ask partners within their groups to discuss their sentences, allowing them to
offer their feedback and comments (in 6–8 minutes).
4. Allow everyone to incorporate their partners’ feedback and comments.
5. Have each student read out the long sentence and the short sentence written by
their partner that they liked the most.
6. Collect your students’ writings for feedback and corrections later.

Variations
a. Have each student write four short sentences (3–5 words) of likes and four short
sentences of dislikes.
b. Divide your students into dyads and have partners discuss their sentences and
make 4 of their 8 sentences they wrote to be long (more than 5 words).
(Brookes and Grundy 1998)

2. Developing writing at the intermediate level

At the intermediate level, writing involves production at the sentence and paragraph
levels. At the intermediate level, learners of Arabic will benefit greatly from continued
writing practice in isolation. However, it may also be useful at sometimes to imple-
ment techniques that integrate writing with one or more skills as is done in some of
the techniques included here. Nonetheless, writing is viewed as a process rather than a
product. To simplify things, a writing technique can be implemented as a pre-drafting,
during drafting, post-drafting activity, or all of these combined. To provide feedback
and corrections to students at the intermediate level, it is best if students are enabled to
identify the corrections needed by using correction symbols and providing them with
a simplified list of correction symbols such as the one in Appendix A.

11. Rearranging and modifying scrambled sentences ‫إﻋﺎدة‬

‫ﺗﺮ ﺗﯿﺐ ا ﻟﺠﻤﻞ ا ﻟﻤﺒﻌﺜﺮ ة ﻣﻊ ﺗﻐﯿﯿﺮ ﻣﺎ ﯾﻠﺰ م‬
Purpose
To provide learners with practice to develop their writing at the sentence and para-
graph levels and promote their writing fluency of connecting basic ideas and state-
ments in a text. It allows for the integration of writing with reading. It requires little
preparation and takes about 20–25 minutes to execute.

Procedure
1. Find a level-appropriate text of a short paragraph of interest or relevance to your
students or select one from your students’ textbook which they have recently
covered such as the following text:
96 Writing techniques

.‫ﺖ ﻓﯿﮭﺎ اﻟﻠﱡﻐﺔ اﻟﻔَ َﺮْﻧِﺴﯿّﺔ‬ ْ ‫ﺳ‬ َ ‫ ودَ َر‬،‫اﻟﻘﺎھﺮة‬

ِ ‫ﺠﺎﻣﻌﺔ‬ ِ ‫ﺖ ِﺑ‬ ْ َ‫ ِاْﻟﺘ ََﺤﻘ‬.‫ﺼِﺮﯾّﺔ‬
ْ ‫ﺳﻤﯿﺮة اﻟﻨﱠ ّﺠﺎر ِﻣ‬ َ ‫اﻷ ُ ْﺳﺘﺎذة‬
.‫اﻟﺴﯿﺎﺣﺔ‬ ّ ِ ‫ﻋﻠﻰ َوظﯿﻔﺔ ُﻣﺘ َْﺮِﺟﻢ ﻓﻲ ِوزارة‬ َ ‫ﺼﻮﻟﮭﺎ‬ ِ ‫ﺖ ﺑَ ْﻌﺪَ ُﺣ‬ ْ ‫ ﺗ ََﺰﱠوَﺟ‬.‫ﺖ ُﻣﺘ َْﺮِﺟﻤﺔ‬ ْ َ ‫ﺛ ُ ﱠﻢ أ‬
ْ ‫ﺻﺒَ َﺤ‬
،‫اﻟﺠﺎﻣﻌﺔ‬
ِ ‫اﻟﻤﺎﺟْﺴﺘﯿﺮ ﻓﻲ‬ ِ ‫ﻀُﺮ ِﻟﺸﮭﺎدة‬ َ
ّ ِ ‫اﻟﻜﺒﯿﺮ أ ْﺣَﻤﺪ ﯾَُﺤ‬ َ
َ ‫ ِاْﺑﻨُﮭﺎ‬.‫ﺖ َوﻟﺪَ ْﯾﻦ‬ َ
ْ َ‫واﺟﮭﺎ أ ْﻧَﺠﺒ‬ ِ ‫ﺑﻌﺪ َز‬
‫ﺼﺺ‬ َ ‫ﻗ‬
ِ ‫ﺮاءة‬ ‫ﻗ‬
ِ ‫ﺐ‬
‫ﱡ‬ ‫ﺤ‬
ِ ُ ‫ﯾ‬ ‫ﺪ‬ ‫ﻤ‬
َ ‫ﺣ‬
ْ َ ‫أ‬ . ‫ﺪادي‬ ‫اﻹﻋ‬
ْ ‫ﺎﻧﻲ‬ ّ ‫اﻟﺜ‬ ‫ﻒ‬ ‫اﻟﺼ‬
‫ﱠ‬ ‫ﻓﻲ‬ ‫ﺐ‬ ‫طﺎﻟ‬
ِ ‫ﻢ‬ ‫ﺳﺎﻟ‬
ِ ‫ﻐﯿﺮ‬ ‫اﻟﺼ‬
‫ﱠ‬ ‫واﺑﻨُﮭﺎ‬
ْ
َ ْ
.‫اﻟﺮﯾﺎﺿﺔ أﻛﺜﺮ‬ َ ِّ ‫ﺐ‬‫ﻟﻜﻨﱠﮫُ ﯾ ُِﺤ ﱡ‬ ً َ
ِ ،‫ﺑﺎﻟﻘﺮاءة أْﯾﻀﺎ‬ ِ ‫ﻤﺘُﻊ‬ ِ َ ‫وﺳﺎﻟﻢ ﯾَْﺴﺘ‬
ِ .‫ﻐﺎﻣﺮات‬ َ ‫اﻟﻤ‬ ُ

2. Type the sentences occurring in the text, placing them scrambled randomly one
sentence on a separate line, adding redundant elements such as repeating the
subjects of (verbal) sentences, and replacing pronouns with nouns as illustrated
in the scrambled sentences of the following text:

.‫اﻟﻘﺎھﺮة اﻟﻠﱡﻐﺔ اﻟﻔَ َﺮْﻧِﺴﯿّﺔ‬

ِ ‫ﺟﺎﻣﻌﺔ‬
ِ ‫ﺳﻤﯿﺮة ﻓﻲ‬ َ ‫ﺖ‬ْ ‫ﺳ‬
َ ‫دَ َر‬ .1
.‫اﻟﻘﺎھﺮة‬
ِ ‫ﺠﺎﻣﻌﺔ‬
ِ ‫ﺳﻤﯿﺮة ِﺑ‬
َ ‫ﺖ‬ْ َ‫ِاْﻟﺘ ََﺤﻘ‬ .2
.‫اﻟﺮﯾﺎﺿﺔ أ َ ْﻛﺜَﺮ‬ ِّ ‫ﺐ‬ ‫ﺳﺎﻟﻢ ﯾُِﺤ ﱡ‬ ِ ‫ﻟﻜﻦ‬ ِ .3
ْ َ‫واﺟﮭﺎ أ َ ْﻧَﺠﺒ‬
.‫ﺖ َوﻟَﺪَ ْﯾﻦ‬ ِ ‫ﺑﻌﺪ َز‬ .4
.‫ﻐﺎﻣﺮات‬
َ ‫اﻟﻤ‬ ُ ‫ﺼﺺ‬ َ ِ‫ﺐ ِﻗﺮاءة ﻗ‬ ‫أ َ ْﺣَﻤﺪ ﯾ ُِﺤ ﱡ‬ .5
ْ ‫ﺳﻤﯿﺮة اﻟﻨﱠّﺠﺎر ِﻣ‬
.‫ﺼِﺮﯾّﺔ‬ َ ‫اﻷ ُْﺳﺘﺎذة‬ .6
.‫اﻟﺴﯿﺎﺣﺔ‬
ّ ِ ‫ﺼﻮﻟﮭﺎ ﻋﻠﻰ َوظﯿﻔﺔ ُﻣﺘ َْﺮِﺟﻢ ﻓﻲ ِوزارة‬
ِ ‫ﺳﻤﯿﺮة ﺑﻌﺪ ُﺣ‬ َ ‫ﺖ‬ْ ‫ﺗ ََﺰﱠوَﺟ‬ .7
.‫ﺳﻤﯿﺮة ُﻣﺘ َْﺮِﺟﻤﺔ‬
َ ‫ﺖ‬ ْ َ‫أ‬
ْ ‫ﺻﺒََﺤ‬ .8
ْ ‫ﻒ اﻟﺜ ّﺎﻧﻲ‬
.‫اﻹﻋﺪادي‬ ّ ‫اﻟﺼ‬
‫طﺎﻟﺐ ﻓﻲ ﱠ‬
ِ ‫ﺳﺎﻟﻢ‬ ِ ‫اﻟﺼﻐﯿﺮ‬ ‫ﺳﻤﯿﺮة ﱠ‬ َ ‫ِاْﺑﻦ‬ .9
.ً ‫ﺑﺎﻟﻘﺮاءة أ َ ْﯾﻀﺎ‬
ِ ‫َﻤﺘُﻊ‬
ِ ‫ﺳﺎﻟﻢ ﯾَْﺴﺘ‬
ِ .10
.‫اﻟﺠﺎﻣﻌﺔ‬
ِ ‫اﻟﻤﺎﺟْﺴﺘﯿﺮ ﻓﻲ‬
ِ ّ ِ ‫اﻟﻜﺒﯿﺮ أ َ ْﺣَﻤﺪ ﯾ َُﺤ‬
‫ﻀُﺮ ِﻟﺸﮭﺎدة‬ َ ‫ﺳﻤﯿﺮة‬
َ ‫ِاْﺑﻦ‬ .11

3. Ask your students to individually read the sentences and arrange them into a
coherent paragraph, making any necessary changes, such as deleting all redun-
dant subject nouns and replacing others with pronouns, and adding any appropri-
ate connectors such as ‫“ ﺛ ُ ﱠﻢ‬then” and ‫“ و‬and” when necessary (12–15 minutes).
4. Divide your students into dyads and have them discuss their responses (6–8
minutes).
5. Go over your students’ responses as a whole class by having, for example, each
sentence read by a different student or group and inviting other students to con-
firm or disconfirm if the sentence is in the right order as well as the proper
choice of verb conjugation.
6. Allow a different order of sentences or a different connector if the order or con-
nector is appropriate.
 Writing techniques 97

Variations
a. Divide your students into dyads from the beginning to collaborate on putting
the sentences in the right order, making all necessary changes, and adding an
appropriate connector when necessary.
b. Pre-teach basic punctuation rules involving the use of the period and comma if
your students do not already know them.
c. Another suitable topic is to have the sentences of a cooking recipe scrambled,
but since this has to do with a process and specific vocabulary, it can be best
given to students at a higher level.

12. Brainstorming and fast drafting ‫ا ﺳﺘﺜﺎ رة اﻷﻓﻜﺎر واﻹﻧﺸﺎء‬

‫ا ﻟﺴﺮ ﯾﻊ‬

Purpose
To provide learners with practice to develop their writing at the sentence and
paragraph levels and promote their writing fluency of connecting basic ideas
and statements in a text. It allows for the integration of writing with reading
and speaking. It requires no preparation and takes about 25–30 minutes to
execute.

Procedure
1. Come up with a topic of interest or relevance to your students, such as food,
sports, friendship, living in a big city, traveling, and so on; you can make any
of these topics more tangible and specific by asking your students to each, for
example, come up with a reason why people like or need food, why people like
sports, why people prefer to live in a big city rather than a small city, why trave-
ling is enjoyable, and so on.
2. Ask your students to individually write one idea on the topic on a sheet of paper
(5 minutes).
3. Collect the sheets in a bag or box and shuffle them.
4. Divide your students into groups of 5.
5. Ask each group to pick up five sheets (each containing one idea) and work as a
group to combine the ideas into a short coherent paragraph, making all needed
changes and adding appropriate connectors such as ‫“ ﺛ ُﱠﻢ‬then” and ‫“ و‬and” (10–
15 minutes).
6. Go over each group’s draft as a whole class by displaying each draft via a docu-
ment projector and having one student delegated by the group read the para-
graph to the class.
7. Elicit corrections from all students in class when needed.
8. Collect the groups’ drafts for additional comments and corrections later.
98 Writing techniques

Variations
a. Have each student write their idea on the board and number the ideas so it is
easy to divide them among the students.
b. Don’t allow any previously written idea on the board to be repeated.
c. Divide the ideas among the groups of 5, with 5 ideas each.
d. Have groups exchange their drafts with at least another group to receive feed-
back and comments.
e. Allow time (5 minutes) for each group to incorporate the feedback and com-
ments they received from other groups.
(See also Harmer 2004.)

13. Transforming a dialogue into a narrative paragraph

‫ﺮدي‬
ّ ‫ﺺ ﺳ‬
ّ ‫ﺗﺤﻮ ﯾﻞ ﺣﻮار إﻟﻰ ﻧ‬
Purpose
To provide learners with practice to develop their writing at the sentence and para-
graph levels and promote their writing fluency of moving between dialogue and
direct speech into narrative, indirect/reported speech. It allows for the integration
of writing with reading and speaking. It requires little to no preparation and takes
about 30–35 minutes to execute.

Procedure
1. Find an appropriate-level dialogue (about 1 page) of interest or relevance to
your students or select one from your students’ textbook.
2. Go over key vocabulary such as ‫إن‬ َ . . . “he said that,”‫ـﮭﺎ ھﻞ‬/‫ ﺳﺄﻟَﮫ‬. . . “he
‫ﻗﺎل ﱠ‬
ّ ‫أﺿﺎف‬
asked him/her if,” ‫أن‬ َ “he added that,” and so on.
3. Divide your students into dyads.
4. Instruct your students within groups to transform the dialogue into a narrative
paragraph by converting each turn of the dialogue into reported speech (15–20
minutes).
5. Go over sample drafts of your students’narrative paragraphs as a whole class by del-
egating a student from each group to read the paragraph (while displaying it to the
class via a document projector) and eliciting corrections from all students in class.

Variations
a. Instruct your students to summarize the dialogue in their own words in 40–50
words as a way to get the gist of the dialogue to report it to a third party.
b. Have groups exchange their drafted paragraphs to provide comments and cor-
rections at least once with another group.
 Writing techniques 99

c. Allow your students time to incorporate the comments and corrections received
from another group before going over the drafts as a whole class.
d. Instead of converting a dialogue into a narrative paragraph, have your students
convert a suitable narrative text into a dialogue.

14. My daily routine ‫ﻧﺸﺎ طﺎ ﺗﻲ ا ﻟﯿﻮ ﻣﯿﺔ‬

Purpose
To provide learners with practice writing at the sentence and paragraph levels and
improve their writing fluency, as they are required to write within a limited time. It
allows for writing to be integrated with the speaking skill. It requires no prepara-
tion and takes about 30–35 minutes to execute.

Procedure
1. Ask each student to write down the activities of their daily routine (consisting
of 8–10 habitual activities) from the morning when they wake up to the evening
when they go to sleep in no more than 8–10 minutes.
2. Divide students into dyads to discuss their daily routine with each other and
write down the activities of their partner that they do not do in 8–10 minutes
(this will allow them to express negation in the present tense).
3. Have each student finalize a written narrative of their daily routine in a short
paragraph (about 150 words), including those that they do and those that they
ً
do not do, unlike their partners, and adding adverbial expressions (‫ﻓﻲ اﻟﺒﺪاﯾﺔ‬/‫أوﻻ‬
“at first,” ‫“ ﻓﻲ اﻟﺼﺒﺎح‬in the morning,” ‫“ﻋﻨﺪ اﻟﻈﮭﺮ‬at noon,” ‫“ ﺑﻌﺪ اﻟﻈﮭﺮ‬after
noon,” ‫“ ﻓﻲ اﻟﻤﺴﺎء‬in the evening,” ً ‫“ أﺧﯿﺮا‬at last,” etc.) as well as connectors to
introduce their sentences (‫“ و‬and,” ‫ﺛﻢ‬ّ “then,” ‫“ ﺑﻌﺪ ذﻟﻚ‬after that,” etc.) in 8–10
minutes.
4. Go over in class 1–2 good sample responses and invite further refinement or
correction from class.
5. Collect your students’ drafts for feedback and corrections later.

Variations
a. Another topic can be how they spent the previous weekend (Saturday or Sun-
day) or a recent trip they had out of town.
b. Accordingly, the ultimate written paragraph will be about past events that they
did and did not do; that is, in comparison with those of their partners within
dyads (this will allow them to express negation in the past tense).
c. If time permits, or in a subsequent class, have each student present what they
wrote orally, allowing them to glance at what they wrote occasionally.
100 Writing techniques

15. Personal letters, notes, and postcards ‫ﻛﺘﺎ ﺑﺔ ر ﺳﺎ ﺋﻞ‬

‫ﺧﺎ ﺻﺔ و ﻣﻠﺤﻮ ظﺎ ت و ﺑﻄﺎ ﻗﺎ ت ﺑﺮ ﯾﺪ ﯾﺔ‬

Purpose
To provide learners with practice writing and improve their writing fluency, as they
are encouraged to communicate quickly and informally via email and other means
about personal matters, mimicking real-life situations. These situations include
writing personal letters/emails, postcards, and notes. It requires no preparation and
allows possibly for the integration of writing with reading and speaking. It takes
about 20–25 minutes to execute.

Procedure
1. Each time you implement this technique, come up with a different practical reason
for writing personal letters/emails/texts (e.g., to invite a friend to dinner, watch a
movie together, or to inform them about an important decision they have made),
notes (e.g., as thank-you notes for a gift they have sent them, for visiting them
while they were sick, or for their well-wishes; as actual notes for their roommate
that they have left the house to go shopping, to give a friend a ride somewhere,
or to pick up someone from the airport), and postcards (e.g., to mail to friends or
family members while traveling to a resort, historical site, or abroad).
2. Your students should bring their laptops or smartphones to class (or they can use
paper and pencil).
3. Come up with a defined topic such as writing an email to a friend to invite them
to dinner.
4. Go over some key vocabulary for the task if necessary.
5. Divide your students into dyads so they can write the letters to each other, pre-
tending they are friends in real life.
6. Ask your students to write the personal letter/email/text taking all the compo-
nents of the letter into account, such as salutation, invitation statement (along
with the time and place), concluding statement or question, and concluding
salutation (in 8–10 minutes)
7. Each student reads their partner’s letter/email/text and responds by accepting or
declining the invitation (in 5 minutes).
8. Go over as a whole class samples of your students’ letters and responses and
elicit from students of other groups suggestions and corrections.
9. Have your students send you their email drafts for feedback and corrections later.

Variations
a. If computers and smartphones are not available, students can draft their corre-
spondence via paper and pencil.
b. Limit the letter to a certain number of words (e.g., 25–30 words).
 Writing techniques 101

16. Sum it up ‫ا ﻛﺘﺒﻮ ا ا ﻟﺨﻼ ﺻﺔ‬

Purpose
To provide learners with practice writing and improve their writing fluency at the
sentence and paragraph levels. It allows for the integration of writing with speaking.
It requires no preparation and takes about 30–35 minutes to execute.

Procedure
1. Upon reading a text (from your students’ textbook or from outside the book) and
answering comprehension questions on it, divide your students into two groups
and have them sit in a semicircle.
2. Instruct each group to come up with a summary of the text by having each stu-
dent within a group contribute an idea or sentence (in 10–15 minutes) by writing
it down on a separate sheet and passing it on to another partner to do the same
and so on.
3. Once all students within a group have contributed to the summary and have
exhausted all the ideas in the text, have them refine their sentences into a sum-
mary and make any final changes and modifications, including adding neces-
sary connectors (in 5 minutes).
4. Have each group present their draft of the summary by delegating a student to
read it (while displaying it via a document projector).
5. Allow students from other groups to provide comments or corrections.
6. Invite your students to ask any questions they have about the text or questions
raised by the text or newly drafted summaries.

Variations
a. Allow the groups to exchange their drafts to provide and receive comments and
corrections from at least one other group.
b. Allow groups to incorporate comments and corrections received from other
groups before going over the drafted summaries as a whole class.
c. Have an all-class vote on the best summary.

17. Reconstructing a story ‫إﻋﺎدة إ ﻧﺸﺎء ﻗﺼﺔ‬

Purpose
To provide learners with practice to develop their writing and promote their
writing fluency at the sentence and paragraph levels and connect their sentences
within a paragraph. It allows for the integration of writing with reading, listen-
ing, and speaking. It requires little preparation and takes about 35–40 minutes to
execute.
102 Writing techniques

Procedure
1. Prepare a story outline of a known short story for your students, consisting of
five correctly (chronologically) ordered sections.
2. Distribute a copy of the outline to each student.
3. Divide your students into dyads and assign each a specific part of the outline.
4. Instruct groups to reconstruct their parts of the story with a word limit of 40–50
words each (in 15 minutes).
5. Have sets of five dyads discuss their parts and work on connecting their recon-
structed parts together, adding necessary connectors (in 10–15 minutes).
6. Have each set of five groups present their draft of the reconstructed story by
delegating a student to read it (while displaying it via a document projector).
7. Allow other students from other groups to provide comments or corrections.

Variations
a. To make the activity a little more challenging, scramble the order of the sections
within the outline and have each set of groups of 5 work on connecting their
parts as well as putting them in the right order.
b. Reward the groups that provided a more accurate reconstruction of the story and
fewest writing and grammatical errors.
(See also Brookes and Grundy 1998.)

18. Completing a story ‫ﺼﺔ‬

ّ ‫إ ﻛﻤﺎ ل ِﻗ‬
Purpose
To provide learners with practice to develop their writing and promote their writing
fluency at the sentence and paragraph levels. It allows for the integration of writing
with, possibly, reading, listening, and speaking. It requires little preparation and
takes about 30–35 minutes to execute.

Procedure
1. Prepare a short paragraph or a long sentence introducing the first part of a short
story, omitting the second part/ending; the beginning should end with a proper
cliff-hanger such as in the following sample:

‫ﺤﺎب‬
ٌ ‫ﺻ‬ ْ َ ‫وﻛﺎن ﻟَﮫُ أ‬
َ ،‫ق اﻟﻨّﺎس‬ ُ ‫ﺮﯾﻖ ِﻣْﻦ‬
ِ ‫طُﺮ‬ ٍ ‫ﻄ‬ َ ‫ﺠﺎوَرٍة ِﻟ‬ َ ً ‫ﺳﺪا‬
ِ ‫ﻛﺎن ﻓﻲ ﻏﺎﺑَ ٍﺔ ُﻣ‬ َ َ ‫ﻋﻤﻮا أ َ ﱠن أ‬َ ‫َز‬
‫ وﻟَْﻢ‬،‫ﻒ َﺟَﻤٌﻞ‬ ‫ﱠ‬ ‫ﱠ‬
َ ‫ ﻓَﺘ ََﺨﻠ‬.‫ﺬﻟﻚ اﻟﻄﺮﯾﻖ‬ َ
َ ‫ وأ ﱠن ُرﻋﺎة ً َﻣﱡﺮوا ِﺑ‬،‫واﺑُﻦ َآوى‬ ْ ‫ﺮاب‬ٌ ‫وﻏ‬ ُ ‫ﺐ‬ ٌ
ٌ ْ‫ ِذﺋ‬:‫ﺛَﻼﺛَﺔ‬
. . . ‫ﺳﺪ‬ َ َ
َ ‫ ودَ َﺧَﻞ ﻏﺎﺑَﺔ اﻷ‬،‫ﺐ‬ ْ َ ‫ف ِﻣْﻦ‬
ُ ‫أﯾﻦ ﯾَﺬَھ‬ ْ ‫ﻌﺮ‬ِ َ‫ﯾ‬
2. Instruct your students to individually write a paragraph (around 75 words) con-
cluding the story of what, for example, will happen to the camel, in this case (in
 Writing techniques 103

15 minutes); the concluding part should be logical and follow naturally from the
beginning part as much as possible.
3. Divide your students into dyads and have each student read their draft to their
partner (in 10 minutes).
4. Allow partners to ask questions or provide comments or corrections.
5. Go over in class sample drafts (by having each student read their paragraph
while displaying it via a document projector) and elicit comments and correc-
tions from all students in class.
6. Collect your students’ drafts for feedback and corrections later.

Variations
a. Instead of having students complete the last part of the story, omit the first part
of the story and present them with the second/last part and ask them to write a
beginning part of the story.
b. Have students work on drafting the paragraphs in dyads.
c. Reward the writer(s) of the draft with the most logical conclusion (or beginning
part) and fewest writing and grammatical errors.

19. Paraphrasing a text to simplify it ‫ﺺ‬

ّ ‫ﺻﻮغ ﻧ‬
َ ‫إﻋﺎدة‬
‫ﻟﺘﺴﮭﯿﻠﮫ‬

Purpose
To provide learners with practice writing and improve their writing fluency. It
allows for writing to be integrated, possibly, with speaking and reading. It requires
little to no preparation and takes about 30–35 minutes to execute.

Procedure
1. Select a text in your students’ textbook or a text which you have recently cov-
ered in class and your students have understood its content and intent; if the text
consists of more than one paragraph, select one paragraph.
2. Divide your students into 1–3 groups, each group consisting of a number of
students equivalent to the number of sentences in the paragraph.
3. Ask groups to paraphrase the text with each student responsible for paraphras-
ing one sentence in their own words so that students at a level below theirs can
understand it (in 10 minutes).
4. Have each group discuss their paraphrased sentences collectively and mold
them into one paragraph, making all changes that they agree on (in 10 minutes).
5. Have each group report their paraphrased version to class, inviting any follow-
up questions or comments from other groups (in 10–15 minutes).
6. Reward the group whose version is the closest to the original text.
7. Collect your students’ responses for further feedback and corrections.
104 Writing techniques

Variations
a. Prepare your own version paraphrasing the text and use it as a baseline against
which to evaluate your students’ responses.
b. Display your version to class on a screen or via the document projector.
c. Exchange students’ versions among groups (for feedback and comments) before
going over them as a whole class; allow groups time to incorporate other groups’
comments and corrections.
d. Have your students vote on which version is closest to yours.
(See also Brookes and Grundy 1998.)

20. Discussing job announcements/advertisements ‫ﻣﻨﺎ ﻗﺸﺔ‬

‫إﻋﻼﻧﺎت و ظﺎ ﺋﻒ‬

Purpose
To provide learners with practice writing and improve their writing fluency, as they
are encouraged to communicate quickly and informally via email. It requires lit-
tle preparation and allows possibly for the integration of writing with reading and
speaking. It takes about 40 minutes to execute.

Procedure
1. Prepare two job announcements/advertisements, such as working as a translator,
working at the library, working at an office as a secretary, working at a restau-
rant, and the like.
2. Your students should bring their laptops or smartphones to class (or prearrange
for your students to attend class in a computer lab).
3. Distribute copies of the two job advertisements.
4. Go over some key vocabulary in the two job advertisements that your students
may not know.
5. Divide your students into dyads and have each write two short paragraphs—one
about the similarities and one about the differences of the two job advertise-
ments (in terms of working hours, suitability, location, pay, benefits, etc.)—and
email it to their partner (in 15 minutes).
6. Each student reads their partner’s paragraphs and responds via email if their
partner missed any of the similarities or differences and adds other comments or
any issues with the job advertisements (in 10 minutes).
7. Each student incorporates their partners’ comments which they agree on (in 5
minutes).
8. Go over in class 1–2 good sample responses and invite comments from students
of other groups.
9. Have your students send you their email drafts for feedback and corrections
later.
 Writing techniques 105

Variations
a. If computers and smartphones are not available, your students can use paper and
pencil and exchange them with their partners.
b. The writing can be limited to one paragraph in the form of advice where a student
starts their draft by informing their partner (in writing) which job is more suita-
ble (for them or for their partner) and then explains why. The “why” part should
focus on the similarities and differences between the two job advertisements.

3. Developing writing at the advanced level

At the advanced level, writing involves production at the paragraph and extended
discourse levels and ranges from the use of high-frequency vocabulary and struc-
tures to the use of low-frequency (and specialized) vocabulary and (more com-
plex) structures. At this stage, for pedagogical reasons and to maximize classroom
time for language development, techniques used are expected to integrate writing
with one or more skills in addition to those which focus on writing in isolation.
While using a form or function through a skill, learners can activate it or recycle it
through another and achieve control and automaticity through others. Writing here
is viewed as a process rather than a product. To simplify things, a writing technique
can be implemented as a pre-drafting, during-drafting, post-drafting activity, or all
of these combined. To provide feedback and corrections to students at the advanced
level, it is best if students are enabled to identify the corrections needed by using
correction symbols and providing them with a list of correction symbols such as
the one in Appendix B.

21. Applying for a job in response to a job advertisement

‫ﺎء ﻋﻠﻰ إ ﻋﻼ ن ﻟﻮ ظﯿﻔﺔ‬
ً ‫ﻟﺘﻘﺪ م إﻟﻰ ﻋﻤﻞ ﺑﻨ‬
ّ ‫ا‬
Purpose
To provide learners with practice writing and improve their writing fluency, as they
are encouraged to communicate quickly and as accurately as possible to get the job.
It requires little preparation and allows possibly for the integration of writing with
reading and speaking. It takes about 30–40 minutes to execute.

Procedure
1. Prepare a job announcement/advertisement that requires academic and profes-
sional qualifications and experience; an Arabic job advertisement may include
several different positions.
2. Go over the main components of a formal job letter in Arabic (including the
addresses of the sender and addressee, a salutation, an introductory statement
stating the sender is applying for a particular job, a paragraph stating the reason
106 Writing techniques

for application along with the qualifications and experience, a closing statement
of thanking the addressee for considering the application, and a concluding salu-
tation followed by the signature and name).
3. Go over any additional key vocabulary in the job advertisement.
4. Distribute copies of the job advertisement to your students.
5. Have each student write a job letter in response to the advertisement and, if the
advertisement includes several positions, state for which position the applica-
tion letter is in about 100 words (in 15 minutes).
6. Go over in class a few sample drafts and invite corrections with respect to any
missing components, missing information, and writing and style errors.
7. Reward the writer of the most complete draft with the fewest style and writing
errors.

Variations
a. Divide your students into dyads and have them present the letter to their part-
ners, inviting feedback and corrections.
b. Allow your students to incorporate their partners’ comments and corrections.

22. Writing under time pressure ‫ا ﻟﻜﺘﺎ ﺑﺔ ﺗﺤﺖ ﺗﺄ ﺛﯿﺮ ﺿﻐﻂ‬

‫ا ﻟﻮ ﻗﺖ‬
Purpose
To provide learners with practice writing and improve their writing fluency, as they
are requested to write within a time limit. It boosts self-confidence, as it provides
concrete guidelines for how to draft a paragraph while managing their time to com-
plete the activity. It requires no preparation and takes about 30–40 minutes to execute.

Procedure
1. Ask your students to select a topic of interest such as sports, friendship, success,
the environment, traveling, and so on.
2. Ask your students to define their selected topic in a well-organized paragraph,
using proper connectors between sentences (i.e., beyond using the basic con-
junction ‫“ و‬and”) in 20 minutes.
3. Instruct your students to start by brainstorming for ideas and how to organize
them (in 3–5 minutes) and allow an equal amount of time to double-check and
edit their writing at the end.
4. Ask your students to provide specific examples to support their definitions
within 5–7 sentences during the remaining time (10 minutes).
5. Divide students into dyads and have partners exchange their writings to read and
provide feedback and comments (10 minutes).
 Writing techniques 107

6. Allow everyone to incorporate their partners’ feedback and comments.

7. Collect your students’ drafts for feedback and corrections later.

Variations
a. Start the whole activity by dividing your students into dyads and have them
brainstorm a topic of interest and agree on one to write about.
b. Have groups exchange their written paragraphs so that each group can receive
at least one set of feedback and comments from one group.
c. If time permits, repeat the preceding step so that each group can receive more
than one set of feedback and comments from other groups.
d. Allow each group enough time to read and incorporate other groups’ feedback
and comments.
(See also Oshima and Hogue 2006.)

23. Differences and similarities ‫أ و ﺟﮫ ا ﻟﺸﺒﮫ واﻻﺧﺘﻼف‬

Purpose
To provide learners with practice writing and improve their writing fluency beyond
a paragraph, as they are requested to compare and contrast between two figures or
entities. It requires little preparation and allows possibly for the integration of writ-
ing with reading and speaking. It takes about 40–45 minutes to execute.

Procedure
1. Come up with two biographies (2–3 paragraphs long or 1 page long each) of two
historical or contemporary figures (statespersons, leaders, politicians, inventors,
philosophers, thinkers, activists, writers, etc.).
2. Distribute copies of the biographies to each student.
3. Go over key vocabulary in the two biographical texts.
4. Divide your students into dyads and have them go over the two biographies and
have one student write a list of (5–7) similarities and their partner write a list of
(5–7) differences between the two figures (in 15–20 minutes).
5. Ask each student to expand their list into a coherent paragraph, using proper
connectors to introduce their sentences and connect them with previous ones (in
about 10 minutes).
6. Have each group discuss their two paragraphs for accuracy in content and form
and incorporate them into one draft with the appropriate connector between the
two paragraphs (in about 10 minutes).
7. Go over as a whole class a few sample drafts and elicit corrections for errors
from students of other groups.
8. Collect your students’ drafts for feedback and corrections later.
108 Writing techniques

Variations
a. Instead of comparing and contrasting between two figures, two entities (such as
organizations, companies, universities, cities, etc.), two things (dishes, movies,
books, sports, systems, policies, philosophies, etc.), or events (such as wars,
disasters, revolutions, etc.) can be used.
b. If time permits, exchange drafts between groups and invite comments and cor-
rections by other groups.
(See also Blanchard and Root 2010.)

24. Reconstructing the article from article outline ‫إﻋﺎدة‬

‫ﺻﻮ غ ا ﻟﻤﻘﺎ ل ﻣﻦ ﻣﺨﻄﻂ ا ﻟﻤﻘﺎ ل‬
َ
Purpose
To provide learners with practice writing and improve their writing fluency at the
extended discourse level. It requires little to no preparation and allows possibly for
the integration of writing with reading and speaking. It takes about 50–60 minutes
to execute.

Procedure
1. Find an article (3–6 paragraphs) of interest or relevance to your students or
select a text from their own textbooks which contains three obvious parts an
introduction, a body, and a conclusion.
2. Divide your students into groups of 3 to go over the article and make a sum-
mary outline consisting of an introduction, a body, and a conclusion (in 15–20
minutes).
3. Ask each group to reconstruct the article based on their outline; each student
within a group can be responsible for reconstructing a sub-component part so
that one can work on the introduction, another on the body, and the third on the
conclusion (in about 10 minutes).
4. Although students within each group can divide up the task of reconstructing
the draft from the three component parts of the outline among themselves, the
group is responsible collectively for the accuracy of the entire reconstructed
draft; therefore, allow time for the group to edit their draft collectively (10
minutes).
5. Exchange drafts between groups and invite comments and corrections by other
groups at least once (10–15 minutes).
6. Allow groups to consider the comments and corrections they received from
another group as a second round for editing their draft (10 minutes).
7. Collect your students’ drafts for feedback and corrections later.
 Writing techniques 109

Variations
a. Due to time constraints, it is best if this technique is implemented as a post-
reading activity (whether it is based on a text from your students’ textbook or
outside of it) and you have already gone over it along with its comprehension
questions and related activities.
b. After edits are made following your own feedback, have groups present their
work in a subsequent class and compare their drafts with the original one.
c. Reward the group which reconstructed the closest draft to the original.
(See also Oshima and Hogue 2006.)

25. Whole-class collaborative writing ‫ا ﻟﻜﺘﺎ ﺑﺔ ا ﻟﺘﻌﺎ و ﻧﯿﺔ ﻋﻠﻰ‬

‫ﻒ‬
ّ ‫ﻣﺴﺘﻮ ى ا ﻟﺼ‬
Purpose
To provide learners with practice writing and improve their writing fluency at the
extended discourse level, including expressing (in writing) the functions of com-
paring and contrasting and supporting an opinion. It is best implemented as a pre-
drafting and during-drafting activity. It requires little to no preparation and allows
possibly for the integration of all skills: writing, reading, speaking, and listening. It
takes about 50–60 minutes to execute.

Procedure
1. Come up with a topic of interest or relevance to your students such as using
email for personal letters
2. As a warm-up, pre-drafting activity, ask class 3–5 general but guided questions,
such as whether they use regular mail or email for their personal letters, when
was the last time they wrote a letter through email, how long it took them to
write that letter, whether they received a response yet, and whether they have a
copy of the letter they sent, among others (in 5 minutes).
3. Divide the board into two columns/halves and label the right one ‫ﻣﺤﺎﺳﻦ اﺳﺘﺨﺪام‬
‫“ اﻟﺒﺮﯾﺪ اﻹﻟﻜﺘﺮوﻧﻲ ﻟﻠﺮﺳﺎﺋﻞ اﻟﺸﺨﺼﯿﺔ‬the advantages of using email for personal
letters.”
4. Elicit from the whole class three advantages of using email for personal letters
and write them on the board (in 5 minutes).
5. Label the left column/half of the board ‫ﻣﺴﺎوئ اﺳﺘﺨﺪام اﻟﺒﺮﯾﺪ اﻹﻟﻜﺘﺮوﻧﻲ ﻟﻠﺮﺳﺎﺋﻞ‬
‫“ اﻟﺸﺨﺼﯿﺔ‬the disadvantages of using email for personal letters.”
6. Elicit from the whole class three disadvantages of using email for personal let-
ters and write them on the board (in 5 minutes).
7. Divide your students into groups of 3–5 students.
8. Have each group brainstorm for three additional advantages and three additional
disadvantages (in 10 minutes).
110 Writing techniques

9. Each group delegates a student to read their list of three advantages and list of
three disadvantages aloud and another one to write them and add them to the
lists on the board; the one writing on the board is not permitted to copy the
group’s lists from written notes but from listening to their partner who is read-
ing the group’s lists.
10. Groups are not allowed to repeat items already on the board.
11. The whole class is allowed to correct the student writing on the board.
12. Instruct groups that they are to write an outline of a composition topic of
whether they prefer to use email for personal letters and why, brainstorming
immediately, and using any of the items on the board (in 10 minutes).
13. Instruct your students to write their first draft consisting of two paragraphs
(one on the advantages and the other on the disadvantages) based on the out-
line they made and ideas that they have just brainstormed (15–20 minutes).
14. Collect your students’ drafts for feedback and corrections later.

Variations
a. If time permits, allow groups to exchange their drafts with other groups at least
once, inviting comments and corrections.
b. Allow groups to incorporate other groups’ comments and corrections into their
drafts before submitting them.
Chapter 5

Gra mmar techniques

1. Developing grammatical competence at the

novice level
While techniques for developing the four language skills and entailed functional
abilities are essential for developing communicative competence within the com-
municative language teaching approach, techniques aimed to provide deliberate
and purposeful practice for developing grammatical competence are equally impor-
tant. Grammar techniques included in the novice level focus on grammatical forms
(along with the meanings and functions that they entail) at the word (i.e., morpho-
logical), phrase, and sentence (syntactic and morphosyntactic) levels, which aim at
developing grammar knowledge of the most basic and high-frequency forms. It is
important whenever possible to integrate grammar techniques with those intended
for developing language skills. Doing so has many added benefits including driv-
ing boredom out of the teaching of grammar, demonstrating to learners the impor-
tant role of grammar in carrying meanings, and optimizing classroom time by also
developing other skills.

1. Chain question formation ‫ﺗﺴﻠﺴﻠﯿﺎ‬

' ‫ﺻﻮغ اﻟﺴﺆال‬
َ
Purpose
To provide deliberate practice in question formation, in particular questions involv-
ing ‫“ ﻣﺎ‬what,” ‫“ ﻣﻦ‬who,” ‫“ ﻛﯿﻒ‬how,” ‫“ أﯾﻦ‬where,” and ‫“ ﻣﻦ أﯾﻦ‬where from.” It
allows for the integration of deliberate grammar practice with the speaking skill. It
requires little to no preparation and takes about 15 minutes to execute.

Procedure
1. Arrange classroom seats in a semicircle (or two semicircles one behind the
other, depending on the number of students in the class).
2. Stand or sit where the right end of the semicircle is to your right and the left end
to your left.

DOI: 10.4324/9781315686677-6
112 Grammar techniques

3. Turn to the student to your right or left; if turning to the student to your right,
model the question with ‫“ ﻣﺎ‬what” by pointing to any object of the class; for
example, point to a book in from of you, ask ‫“ ﻣﺎ ھﺬا؟‬What is this?” and elicit
the response ‫“ ھﺬا ِﻛﺘﺎب‬This is a book.”
4. Provide error correction by means of recast if a student, for example, produces
the feminine form of the demonstrative rather than the masculine form or vice
versa.
5. That student turns to the student to their right and asks them the same form of
the question by pointing to a different object in the class.
6. The chain of questions continues in the same fashion until each student in the
class has responded to the question of the previous student and asked the next
student a question.
7. Reinforce the rule of question formation by writing 2–3 questions (or having
some students write the questions they had produced) on the board and inviting
any questions your students may have.
8. In the same way, question formation involving other question words/particles can
be presented and practiced by modeling the following example of questions: ‫أﻧﺎ‬
ِ ‫أ َ ْﻧ‬/‫أﻧﺖ‬
‫ﺖ؟‬ َ ‫ َﻣْﻦ‬،‫“ ﻣﺤﻤﺪ‬I am Muhammad; who are you?” ‫اﻟﻤﺪرﺳﺔ‬/‫اﻟﺪراﺳﺔ‬/‫ﻛﯿﻒ اﻟﺤﺎل‬
‫ ؟‬. . . “How are you/how is studying/school . . .?” ‫ ؟‬. . . ‫اﻟﻘﻠﻢ‬/‫اﻟﺪﻓﺘﺮ‬/‫أﯾﻦ اﻟﻜﺘﺎب‬
“Where is the book/notebook/pen . . .?” ‫أﻧﺖ؟‬
ِ /‫أﻧﺖ‬
َ ‫“ ﻣﻦ أﯾﻦ‬Where are you from?”
9. Use of the question ‫“ أﯾﻦ‬where” presupposes knowledge of some prepositions
and adverbs of time; therefore, pre-teach such vocabulary when presenting and
practicing question formation involving this particle.

Variations
a. This technique can be used to teach or review question words/particles one at a
time.
b. Other question types using question words/particles such as ‫“ أي‬which,” ‫ﻛﻢ‬
“how many,” and ‫ﻟﻤﺎذا‬/‫“ ِﻟَﻢ‬why” can be used toward the upper end of this level
when each can be preceded by a yes/no question; thus, for example, the chain
of question formation activity here (consisting of two sub-questions) starts with
‫ﺗﺤﺒّﯿﻦ اﻷﻓﻼم؟‬/‫ﺗﺤﺐ‬
ّ (‫“ )ھﻞ‬Do you like movies?” (using ‫ ھﻞ‬as the yes/no question
particle or rising intonation) and upon answering in the affirmative, the follow-
up question can be ‫ﺗﺤﺒّﯿﻦ؟‬/‫ﺗﺤﺐ‬
ّ ‫أي اﻷﻓﻼم‬
ّ “Which movies do you like?” or “How
many movies do you watch per week?”; if the answer is in the negative, the
follow-up question can be ‫ﺗﺤﺒّﯿﻦ اﻷﻓﻼم(؟‬ ِ /‫ﺗﺤﺐ‬
ّ ‫ﻟﻤﺎذا )ﻻ‬/‫“ ِﻟَﻢ‬Why (don’t you like
movies)?”
c. Use pictures or slides containing pictures (with objects located in different
places) that you display one by one and have students point to the objects in the
pictures when asking each other.
 Grammar techniques 113

d. Use a picture with objects located in different places together with a list of the
objects below the picture and make copies for all students so students can make
questions on all the items by turn.
e. Instead of pointing (whether to a real object or a picture of an object), hold
an object (such as a book, notebook, a piece of paper, card, etc.) and place it
somewhere and ask the next student where it is; after the student responds, hand
them the object to place it anywhere they want in preparation of asking the next
student where it is and so on.

2. Describing pictures using noun-adjective phrases ‫و ﺻﻒ‬

‫ا ﻟﺼﻮ ر ﺑﺎ ﺳﺘﺨﺪ ا م ا ﻟﺼﻔﺔ و ا ﻟﻤﻮ ﺻﻮ ف‬

Purpose
To provide deliberate practice in phrasal (noun–adjective) structure formation and
involved agreement in gender, number, definiteness, and case. It allows for the
integration of deliberate grammar practice with, possibly, the writing and speaking
skills. It is best implemented after learners have already been presented with the
construction. It requires little to no preparation and takes about 15–20 minutes to
execute.

Procedure
1. Prepare 1–3 pictures with objects or persons with distinct attributes to be dis-
played on the board, screen, or via a document projector
2. Divide your students into dyads and ask each group to write down as many com-
plete sentences as possible, using noun-adjective phrases at least 2 sentences (in
about 5 minutes).
3. Go over students’ written sentences as a whole class by having each group first
write their sentences on the board (or displaying them via a document projector)
and then reading them.
4. Invite students from other groups to provide corrections.

Variations
a. Provide each group with a different picture so that your students can generate
many different sentences.
b. Alternatively, prepare a set of two similar pictures wherein objects can be read-
ily compared and contrasted.
c. Instead of pictures, request each student/group to find a specific item in the
classroom and make up 1–2 complete sentences, using proper attributive adjec-
tives of the item (within noun–adjective phrases).
114 Grammar techniques

3. Find the relations between words ‫ا ﺑﺤﺜﻮ ا ﻋﻦ ا ﻟﻌﻼ ﻗﺎ ت ﺑﯿﻦ‬

‫ا ﻟﻜﻠﻤﺎ ت‬

Purpose
To provide deliberate practice in ’idāfa structure formation and the possessed–pos-
sessor relationship between referents of words in this construction. It allows for the
integration of deliberate grammar practice with, possibly, the speaking skill. It is best
implemented after learners have already been presented with the ’idāfa construction.
It requires little to no preparation and takes about 5–10 minutes to execute.

Procedure
1. Prepare 2–3 ’idāfa phrases consisting of 5–8 words each, such as the following:
a. key, door, car, couch, team, football, and university to form
‫ﻣﺪرب ﻓﺮﯾﻖ ﻛﺮة ﻗﺪم ﺟﺎﻣﻌﺔ‬
ّ ‫ﻣﻔﺘﺎح ﺑﺎب ﺳﯿﺎرة‬
b. drawer, table, office, secretary, school, and languages to form
‫دُرج طﺎوﻟﺔ ﻣﻜﺘﺐ ﺳﻜﺮﺗﯿﺮة ﻣﺪرﺳﺔ ﻟﻐﺎت‬
c. parking, cars, employees, company, and telephones to form
‫ھﻮاﺗﻒ‬/‫ﻣﻮﻗﻒ ﺳﯿﺎرات ﻣﻮظﻔﻲ ﺷﺮﻛﺔ ﺗﻠﻔﻮﻧﺎت‬
2. Include each word (in Arabic) on an index card on one side and a picture of it on
the other side.
3. Divide your students into groups of 5–8 reflecting the number of words in the
’idāfa phrases you had prepared on the index cards and have them assemble the
words in the right order, reflecting a possessed–possessor relation from right to
left (in 3 minutes).
4. Go over your students’ responses as a whole class after each group delegates a
student to write the phrase on the board.
5. Reinforce two of the rules of the ’idāfa structure by asking your students why the
sound masculine plural word did not occur as ‫ﻮظﻔﻮن‬ ّ ‫“ ﻣ‬employees” but occurred
ّ
here as ‫( ﻣﻮظﻔﻲ‬i.e., with the genitive case ending and final consonant [n] deleted).
6. Ask each group to make their phrase definite according to the rules of ’idāfa that
they have learned (i.e., by making the last noun definite or adding a proper name
at the end of the phrase such as “Michigan” to phrase [a] above) in no more than
30 seconds.
7. Go over your students’ responses as a whole class, eliciting corrections from
students in other groups.

Variations
a. Provide words in each phrase together scrambled randomly (on a handout or
displayed on the board, screen, or via a document projector) so that phrase
 Grammar techniques 115

(a) above would look like the following: ‫ﻣﻔﺘﺎح—ﺑﺎب—ﻛﺮة ﻗﺪم—ﺳﯿﺎرة—ﻓﺮﯾﻖ‬

‫ﻣﺪرب‬
ّ —‫ ﺟﺎﻣﻌﺔ‬-
b. Pre-teach any vocabulary item(s) that your students may not know.
c. To be sure your students understood the concept of ’idāfa structure well, ask
them to demonstrate the notion of possessed–possessor relations by asking each
group to line up in front of the class in the correct order (e.g., from left to right
with the one immediately possessed/owned by the other to stand to their left or
vice versa), with each one stating (starting from the one standing to the far left)
‫“ ﻋﻨﺪي‬I have” so that for phrase (a), for example, the student who has the “uni-
versity” card would say ‫“ ﻋﻨﺪي ﻓﺮﯾﻖ ﻛﺮة ﻗﺪم‬I have a football team,” the one who
has the card of the “football team” would say ‫ﻣﺪرب‬ ّ ‫“ﻋﻨﺪي‬I have a couch,” the
student who has the “couch” card would say ‫“ ﻋﻨﺪي ﺳﯿّﺎرة‬I have a car,” and so on.

4. Chain question formation and the use of adverbials

‫ﺗﺴﻠﺴﻠﯿﺎ واﺳﺘﺨﺪام اﻟﻈﺮوف‬
' ‫ﺻﻮغ اﻟﺴﺆال‬
َ
Purpose

To provide deliberate practice in question formation involving ‫“ َﻣﺘﻰ‬when” and the

use of adverbials of time and place in the responses. It allows for the integration
of deliberate grammar practice with the speaking skill. It requires little preparation
and takes about 15 minutes to execute.

Procedure

1. Pre-teach adverbs of time using ‫“ ﺗﻨﻮﯾﻦ اﻟﻨﺼﺐ‬nunation of the accusative case”

such as ً ‫“ ﺻﺒﺎﺣﺎ‬in the morning,” ً ‫“ ظﮭﺮا‬noon,” ‫ﻣﺴﺎء‬ً “in the evening,” ً ‫ﯾﻮﻣﯿّﺎ‬
ً ً
“daily,” ‫“ أﺳﺒﻮﻋﯿّﺎ‬weekly,” ‫“ ﺷﮭﺮﯾّﺎ‬monthly,” and so on and some equivalent
phrases using the preposition ‫“ ﻓﻲ‬in” for adverbs such as ‫“ ﻓﻲ اﻟﺼﺒﺎح‬in the
morning,” ‫“ ﻓﻲ اﻟﻤﺴﺎء‬in the evening.”
2. Arrange the seats in class in a semicircle (or two semicircles one behind the
other, depending on the number of students in the class).
3. Stand or sit where the right end of the semicircle is to your right and the left end
to your left.
4. Turn to the student to your right or left; if turning to the student to your right,
model the question with ‫“ َﻣﺘﻰ‬when” by stating ‫“ أﻧﺎ أﺷﺮب اﻟﻘﮭﻮة ﻓﻲ اﻟﺼﺒﺎح‬I drink
coffee in the morning” and then asking ‫ﺗﺸﺮﺑﯿﻦ اﻟﻘﮭﻮة؟‬/‫“ ﻣﺘﻰ ﺗﺸﺮب‬When do you
drink coffee?”
5. That student turns to the student to their right and asks them a similar question
using ‫“ َﻣﺘﻰ‬when” about anything else.
116 Grammar techniques

6. The chain of questions continues in the same fashion until each student in the
class has responded to the question of the previous student and asked the next
student a similar question.
7. Reinforce the rule of question formation by writing 2–3 questions (or having
some students write the questions they had produced) on the board and inviting
any questions your students may have.

Variations
a. Prepare a series of pictures (to use on slides/screen or via a document projec-
tor) of individuals conducting daily activities at a certain time of the day or on
certain occasions.
b. Pre-teach telling the time, at least the basic forms, if you indicate the time of the
activity in the picture as an optionally additional time reference your students
can use.

5. Find related words by root and pattern ‫ِا ﺑﺤﺜﻮ ا ﻋﻦ‬

‫ا ﻟﻜﻠﻤﺎ ت ا ﻟﻤﺸﺘﻘﺔ ﻣﻦ ا ﻟﺠﺬر واﻟﻮزن ﻧﻔﺴﯿﮭﻤﺎ‬

Purpose
To provide learners with deliberate practice in identifying words that share the
same roots and patterns to help them guess word meanings (as a robust strategy
with which the strategy of guessing word meanings from context can be combined)
in order to promote their bottom-up processing of texts. It allows for the integration
of deliberate grammar practice with the reading skill. It requires little preparation
and takes about 15 minutes to execute.

Procedure
1. Find a level-appropriate text or a little higher (of one short paragraph) or select
one from your students’ textbook such as the following text:

‫ﺖ ِﺗْﻠَﻚ‬ ْ َ‫ ﻛﺎﻧ‬.‫ﺟﺎﻣﻌﺔ ِدَﻣْﺸﻖ‬

ِ ‫اﻟﻄﺐ ﻓﻲ‬ ّ ِ ‫ﺖ ُﻛِﻠّﯿّﺔ‬ ُ ‫ﺸﺮ دََﺧْﻠ‬ َ ‫ﻋ‬َ ‫ﻒ اﻟﺜﺎﻧﻲ‬ ّ ‫اﻟﺼ‬
‫ﱠ‬ ‫ﺑَْﻌﺪَ ﻧَﺠﺎﺣﻲ ﻓﻲ‬
ّ
‫ﻟﻜﻨﱠﮫ ﻟﻢ ﯾَ ْﺮﻓُﺾ دُﺧﻮﻟﻲ ُﻛ ِﻠﯿّﺔ‬ِ ‫اﻟﺘ ّﺠﺎرة‬ ّ
ِ ‫ﻛﺎن ﯾُﺮﯾﺪُﻧﻲ أن أ َ ْد ُﺧﻞ ُﻛ ِﻠﯿّﺔ‬ َ ‫واﻟﺪي‬ ِ .ً‫َر ْﻏﺒَﺘﻲ داﺋﻤﺎ‬
.‫وﻣﺜْﻞ َﺟﺪّي‬ ِ ‫طﺒﯿﺒﺔ ِﻣﺜْﻠَﮭﺎ‬
َ ‫اﻟﻄﺐ َِﻷﻛﻮن‬ ُ ‫ﻏﺐ ﻓﻲ ِاْﻟِﺘﺤﺎﻗﻲ‬
ّ ِ ‫ﺑﻜِﻠّﯿّﺔ‬ َ ‫ﺖ ﺗ َْﺮ‬ ْ َ‫واﻟﺪَﺗﻲ ﻛﺎﻧ‬
ِ .‫اﻟﻄﺐ‬ ِّ
،‫ ﺑﻌﺪ ﺗ ََﺨﱡﺮﺟﻲ‬.‫اﻟﺪّراﺳﺔ‬ ِ ‫طﻮﯾﻠﺔ ِﻣﻦ‬َ ‫ﺳﻨَﻮات‬ َ ‫ﺳْﺒﻊ‬ َ َ‫ﺖ ﻋﻠﻰ ﺗ َْﻘﺪﯾﺮ َﺟِﯿّﺪ ﺑَْﻌﺪ‬ ْ
ُ ‫ﺼﻠ‬َ ‫وﺣ‬َ ‫ﺖ‬ ُ ‫ﺗ ََﺨﱠﺮْﺟ‬
‫واﻻﻧِﺘﺴﺎب‬ ْ ِ ‫اﻟﺮازي‬ ْ
ّ ‫ﻋَﻤﻞ َﻣﻌَﮭﺎ ﻓﻲ َﻣﺸﻔﻰ‬ َ ‫اﻟﺤﺼﻮل ﻋﻠﻰ‬ ُ ‫واﻟﺪَﺗﻲ ﻓﻲ‬ ِ ‫ﺻﺪﯾﻘﺔ‬ َ ‫ﺳﺎﻋﺪَﺗْﻨﻲ‬
َ
.‫اﻟﺴﻮرﯾﯿﻦ‬ َ
ّ ‫إﻟﻰ َﺟ ْﻤ ِﻌﯿّﺔ اﻷ ِطﺒّﺎء‬
 Grammar techniques 117

2. Prepare a (blank) table with a main label/row for words sharing the same roots
and another label/row for words sharing the same patterns in the text such as in
the one that follows:

‫ﻛﻠﻤﺎت ﻣﻦ ﻧﻔﺲ اﻟﺠﺬر‬

‫ن—ج—ح‬  ُ‫ﻧَ َﺠﺤْ ﺖ‬ ‫ﻧَﺠﺎﺣﻲ‬ 

‫د—خ—ل‬  ‫دُﺧﻮﻟﻲ‬ ُ‫دَﺧ َْﻠﺖ‬

‫ج—م—ع‬  ‫ﺟﻤﻌﯿﺔ‬ ‫ﺟﺎﻣﻌﺔ‬
ِ 

‫ك—و—ن‬  ‫أَﻛﻮن‬ ‫ﻛﺎن‬ ْ ‫ﻛﺎﻧ‬

‫َﺖ‬ 

‫ غ—ب‬-‫ر‬  ‫ﺗ َْﺮﻏَﺐ‬ ‫َر ْﻏﺒﺘﻲ‬ 

‫و—ل—د‬  ‫وا ِﻟﺪة‬ ‫وا ِﻟﺪ‬ 

‫ط—ب—ب‬  ‫اﻷطﺒّﺎء‬
ِ َ
‫طﺒﯿﺒﺔ‬ ِّ
‫اﻟﻄﺐ‬ 

‫خ—ر—ج‬  ‫ﺗَﺨ ﱡَﺮﺟﻲ‬ ُ‫ﺗَﺨ ﱠَﺮﺟْ ﺖ‬ 

‫ح—ص—ل‬  ‫ُﺣﺼﻮل‬ ُ‫ﺼ ْﻠﺖ‬

َ ‫َﺣ‬ 

‫ﻛﻠﻤﺎت ﻣﻦ ﻧﻔﺲ اﻟﻮزن‬

‫دِراﺳﺔ‬ ‫ﺗِﺠﺎرة‬ 

‫ُﺣﺼﻮل‬ ‫دُﺧﻮل‬ 

‫اِ ْﻧ ِﺘﺴﺎب‬ ‫ا ِْﻟ ِﺘﺤﺎق‬ 

‫ﺼ َﻞ‬
َ ‫َﺣ‬ ‫دَ َﺧ َﻞ‬ 

‫ﺻﺪﯾﻖ‬
َ َ
‫طﺒﯿﺐ‬ 

3. Divide your students into groups of dyads and ask them to identify the words by
completing the table (in 10 minutes).
4. Go over your students’ responses, for example, by displaying a sample com-
pleted table via a document projector and eliciting corrections from all students
in class.
5. This activity presupposes knowledge of how to reduce words to their root con-
sonants as well as knowledge of some patterns, but since reducing a word to its
root is a skill in and of itself, always review the rules as a whole class.
6. Go over root and pattern meanings.
7. Explain to the class the benefits of this activity in guessing and understanding
word meanings and, in turn, helping with comprehending the text.
118 Grammar techniques

Variations
a. Start the activity by identifying some of the words that share the same roots and
patterns and elicit students’ responses if they are able to guess the meanings of
such words from context alone; this should show that relying on the concepts of
root and pattern is more robust and more reliable than guessing meanings from
context alone.
b. To control for the time spent on the activity, specify the number of words you require
your students to find in the text in each of the two categories (e.g., 3–5 each).

6. Supply the definite article if necessary ‫أ ﺿﯿﻔﻮ ا ا ﻟـ ا ﻟﺘﻌﺮ ﯾﻒ‬

‫ﻓﻲ ا ﻟﻔﺮ ا غ و ﻓﻖ ﻣﺎ ﯾﻠﺰ م‬
Purpose
To provide learners with deliberate practice in manipulating definiteness and the
rules governing the use of nouns and noun (noun–adjective and ’idāfa) phrases
occurring with or without the definite article. It allows for the integration of delib-
erate grammar practice with the reading skill. It requires little preparation and takes
about 15 minutes to execute.

Procedure
1. Prepare a short, level-appropriate text or select one from your students’ text-
book, remove all the definite articles, and replace them with blank spaces as in
the following sample:

ِ ___ ‫ ___ﺑَْﯿﺖ ﻗﺮﯾﺐ ﻣﻦ‬.‫ﺳﻜﻦ ﻓﻲ ___ﺑَ ْﯿﺖ ___ﻗَﺪﯾﻢ‬

‫ﺟﺎﻣﻌﺔ‬ ُ َ ‫ أ‬،‫ﻓﻲ ھﺬا___ ﻓﺼﻞ‬
‫ﻏﺮﻓﺔ ___ﻧﻮم‬ ُ .‫ﻏﺮﻓﺔ ___ُﺟﻠﻮس‬ ُ ___‫ﻏﺮﻓﺔ ___ﻧﻮم و‬ ُ ___ ‫ ﻓﯿﮫ‬.‫___ﻣﯿﺸﯿﻐﺎن‬
.‫ ___طﺎوﻟﺔ ﻗﺪﯾﻤﺔ ﻟﻜﻨﮭﺎ ﺟﻤﯿﻠﺔ‬.‫ﺻﻐﯿﺮة‬ َ ___ ‫ﺳﺮﯾﺮ ___َﻛﺒﯿﺮ و___طﺎوﻟﺔ‬ َ ___ ‫ﻓﯿﮭﺎ‬
‫ﺻﻔﻮﻓﻲ‬ُ ___ ‫ﺐ‬ ّ ‫أﺣ‬
ِ .‫ﺷﻤﺲ‬ َ ___ ‫ﻏﺮﻓﺔ ___ُﺟﻠﻮس ﺑﺴﺒﺐ‬ ُ ___ ‫ﺐ ___ﻗﺮاءة ﻓﻲ‬ ّ ‫أ ُِﺣ‬
‫ﻷن ___أﺳﺘﺎذ ___ﻣﺤﻤﺪ‬ ّ ‫ﻋَﺮﺑﯿّﺔ‬
َ ___ ‫وأﺣﺐ ___ِدراﺳﺔ ___ﻟﻐﺔ‬ ِ ،‫ﺟﺎﻣﻌﺔ‬
ِ ___ ‫ﻓﻲ‬
ُ ___ ‫ ِﻋﻨﺪي‬.ً‫أ ُْﺳﺘﺎذ َﺟﯿّﺪ ِﺟﺪّا‬
. ‫ﺻﻔﻮف ﻓﻲ أﯾّﺎم ___ِاﺛْﻨَْﯿﻦ و___ﺛ ُﻼﺛﺎء و___أ َْرِﺑﻌﺎء‬
‫ﺻﺒﺎح وﺗﻨﺘﮭﻲ ___ﺳﺎﻋﺔ‬ َ ___ ‫ﺻﻔﻮف ﺗ َْﺒﺪَأ ﻓﻲ ___ﺳﺎﻋﺔ ___ﺳﺎﺑﻌﺔ ﻓﻲ‬ ُ ___
.‫___ﺗﺎﺳﻌﺔ ﻓﻲ ___ﻣﺴﺎء‬
2. If you teach case (and mood) endings from this elementary level, and you prefer
to make the activity a little challenging, do not provide case endings so you can
avoid giving your student additional clues of whether or not a definite article
is needed; however, you may want to leave the predicate of verbless sentences
without a blank so you can avoid making the activity too challenging, as is dem-
onstrated in the sample text.
 Grammar techniques 119

3. Review or go over the definiteness rules briefly where nouns and phrases
(whether in the plural or singular and whether concrete or abstract) occur with-
out the definite article if they are introduced in the discourse/text for the first
time or if they are proper names and occur otherwise with the definite article
(i.e., upon their second mention in the discourse/text, if they are unique nouns,
if they are titles, if they involve shared knowledge with readers/interlocuters,
or if they refer to entity/entities in general); remind your students also of the
special definiteness rule of the ’idāfa phrase, which is marked definite only
through the second/last noun of the construction or if that noun is a proper
name.
4. Go over any vocabulary items that your students do not know.
5. Distribute copies of the text to your students.
6. Divide your students into dyads and ask them to read the text to each other and
write the definite article in the blanks where necessary (in 10 minutes).
7. Go over the sentences as a whole class one sentence at a time by having each
group delegate a student to read the sentence aloud to the class and invite stu-
dents from other groups to provide corrections.
8. Invite your students to ask any questions about the text or the rules involved in
the definiteness use.

Variations
a. Instead of using a short text, especially if the text does not cover all or most of
the instances of definiteness use, prepare 5–10 short sentences, replacing the
definite articles with blank spaces as in the following sample:

ْ َ‫أ َﺧﻲ ___ﻟ‬

.‫ﺤﻢ‬ ‫ﺐ‬‫—ﻻ ﯾ ُِﺤ ﱡ‬1
.‫ﻞ ﯾَ ْﻮم‬‫آﻛُﻞ ___َﻣْﻮزة ُﻛ ﱠ‬ ُ —2
.‫ﻮن ___ُﻛﺮة ___ﻗَﺪَم‬ َ ّ‫—ﻻ ﯾ ُِﺤﺒ‬3
.‫ﺳﺒﺎﺣﺔ‬ ِ ___ ‫—ِھﻮاﯾﺘﻲ‬4
.‫ﺻﻐﯿﺮة‬ َ ___ ‫ﻏْﺮﻓﺔ ___ﻧَْﻮم‬ ُ ___ ‫—ﻓﻲ ﺑَْﯿﺘﻲ‬5
.‫ﻋَﺮﺑﯿّﺔ أ َ ْﻣﺲ‬َ ___ ‫واﺟﺐ‬ ِ ___ ‫ﺖ‬ ُ ‫—َﻛﺘ َْﺒ‬6
.‫ج ِﻣﻦ ___ﺑَْﯿﺖ ___ﺳﺎﻋﺔ ___ﺗﺎﺳﻌﺔ‬ ُ ‫ أ َ ْﺧُﺮ‬،ٍ‫ﺻﺒﺎح‬ َ ‫—ُﻛﱠﻞ‬7
.‫ﻦ ﻓﻲ ھﺬا ___ﺑَْﯿﺖ‬ ُ ‫—___دﻛﺘﻮر ___ﺟﯿﻤﺲ ﺳﻤﯿﺚ ﯾَْﺴُﻜ‬8
.‫ﺷﺘﺎء‬ ِ ___ ‫ﺑﺎرد ِﺟﺪّا ً ﻓﻲ‬ ِ ‫طْﻘﺲ ُھﻨﺎ‬ َ ___—9
.ً ‫َﺄﺧﺮا‬
ّ ِ ‫ﺟﺎﻣﻌﺔ ُﻣﺘ‬ِ ___ ‫ﺐ ___ُوﺻﻮل إﻟﻰ‬ ‫—ﻻ أ ُ ِﺣ ﱡ‬10
b. Have your students first work individually on the sentences, then divide them
into dyads to discuss their responses before going over the sentences as a whole
class.
(See Alhawary 2016.)
120 Grammar techniques

7. Rearranging the scrambled words and making

necessar y changes ‫إﻋﺎدة ﺗﺮ ﺗﯿﺐ ا ﻟﻜﻠﻤﺎ ت ا ﻟﻤﺒﻌﺜﺮ ة ﻣﻊ ﺗﻐﯿﯿﺮ‬
‫ﻣﺎ ﯾﻠﺰ م‬

Purpose
To provide learners with deliberate practice in the use of basic sentence structure,
including agreement (e.g., verbal and nominal agreement) as well as appropriate pro-
noun use. It allows for the integration of deliberate grammar practice with the reading
and speaking skills. It requires little preparation and takes about 15 minutes to execute.

Procedure
1. Prepare 4–5 typical sentences at your students’ level after modifying them slightly,
scrambling their word order, and allowing your students to make changes in verbal
and nominal agreement and anaphoric pronouns (you may need to leave some words
unscrambled so that you allow your students to immediately recognize the appropri-
ate agreement and pronouns involved) such as the following sample sentences:

.‫ﺳُﻤﮭﺎ—ﻓﻲ‬ ُ ‫ﻋﻢ—َﻣﺪﯾﻨﺔ—ﺗ‬
ْ ‫َﺴﻜُﻦ—ِا‬ ّ ‫ﻨﻄﻦ—ﻣﺎﯾﻜﻞ—ﻟﻲ‬ ُ ‫واﺷ‬
ِ —1
.‫—َوﺣﯿﺪ—ِﻓْﻌًﻼ—ھﻲ‬2
ِ —‫ﻓﺎطﻤﺔ—أ َﺧﺘﻲ‬
.‫ﺟﺎﻣﻌﺔ‬ ِ —‫س—ﻛﺎﻟﯿﻔﻮرﻧﯿﺎ—ﻓﻲ‬ ُ ‫—اﻵن—ﯾُﺪَ ِ ّر‬3
‫ﻮظﻒ—َو—ُﻣ ﱠ‬
.‫ﻮظﻒ—َوِاﻟﺪﺗﻲ‬ ‫—أ َﯾﻀﺎ ً—َوِاﻟﺪي—ُﻣ ﱠ‬4
.‫ﺻﻮرة‬
ُ —‫ﻋَﻤﺮ—َھﺬا—ﺧﺎﻟﻲ‬ ُ —5
2. Distribute copies of a handout containing the sentences and ask your students to
individually rearrange the words into sentences appropriately while making all
necessary changes (in 8 minutes).
3. Divide your students into groups of dyads and have them discuss their reordered
sentences and make any changes if they agree with their partners, although they
do not always have to agree (in 4 minutes).
4. Go over the sentences as a whole class, with each group reading a sentence and
students from other groups providing corrections.

Variations
a. Instead of the groups reading their sentences, divide the board into five columns
(and number them accordingly) and have each group delegate a student to go to
the board and write one of the sentences.
b. Prepare a teacher’s copy of the sentences where the correct sentences are pro-
vided underneath their respective scrambled sentences to display on a screen or
via a document project to verify students’ responses quickly.
 Grammar techniques 121

8. Translate the sentences into Arabic ‫ﺗﺮ ﺟﻤﻮ ا ا ﻟﺠﻤﻞ إ ﻟﻰ‬

‫ا ﻟﻌﺮ ﺑﯿﺔ‬

Purpose
To provide learners with deliberate practice in the use of one particular gram-
matical form, such as basic nominal/verbless sentential structure, and serve as a
comprehension check of their understating of such a structure and their entailed
understanding of phrasal structure (such as noun–adjective and ’idāfa phrases)
and definiteness (i.e., what constitutes a sentence versus a phrase) rules. Thus, the
activity is not really about developing translation skills per se. It allows for the
integration of deliberate grammar practice with the writing, reading, and speak-
ing skills. It requires little preparation and takes about 25 minutes to execute.

Procedure
1. Using simple vocabulary items (which you can also recycle in subsequent sen-
tences), prepare 5–10 sentences in English to reflect verbless sentences contain-
ing demonstrative pronouns, possessive pronouns, proper names, and definite
and indefinite noun–adjective and ’idāfa phrases such as the following sample
sentences:

1. This is a tall woman.

2. This woman is tall.
3. This tall woman is in my class.
4. The University of Michigan has many big buildings.
5. This big building has the big library in it.
6. Cairo is an Egyptian city.
7. The picture of the Canadian city is in his house.
8. My office table is very small.
9. There is an office table in this class.
10. The United States of America is a big country.

2. Divide your students into dyads and assign each student to translate five sen-
tences (such as assigning one the first half of the sentences and the other the
second half or assigning one the odd numbers and the other the even numbers)
and then discuss their sentences together (in 15 minutes).
3. Divide the board into 10 numbered columns (or 5 columns at a time) and have
each group delegate a student to write one of the sentences (if there are 10 stu-
dents in class, each group can write two sentences, with each student writing a
sentence).
4. Go over the sentences as a whole group by having each group read their sen-
tence and invite corrections from students of other groups.
122 Grammar techniques

Variations
a. If time is an issue, instead of asking students to write their translated sentences
on the board, display students’ written translations via a document projector one
sentence at a time.
b. Alternatively, if time is not an issue, have groups exchange their written translated
sentences and distribute to them a handout of the correct translations beforehand
to use as a model in providing corrections and comments to other groups.
(See also Alhawary 2016.)

9. Sentence parsing ‫ﻧﻮﻋﻲ اﻟﺠﻤﻞ وﺗﺤﻠﯿﻠﮭﺎ‬

َ ‫ﺗﺤﺪﯾﺪ‬

P urpose
To provide learners with deliberate practice to parse the two main types of Arabic
sentences along with their main constituents by breaking up long or nested sen-
tences that may otherwise be confusing to them or may not enable them to get the
full meaning. It allows for the integration of deliberate grammar practice with the
reading skill. It requires little preparation and takes 15–20 minutes to execute.

P rocedure
1. Find a level-appropriate text of a short paragraph or select one from your stu-
dents’ textbook.
2. Have your students work in groups of dyads to unpack the sentences into short
ones by identifying whether a sentence is verbal or verbless, placing a line or
forward slash at the end of each sentence, drawing a circle around the verb in
verbal sentences, and separating between the two parts of the verbless sentence
(‫“ اﻟﻤﺒﺘﺪأ‬the subject” and ‫“ اﻟﺨﺒﺮ‬the predicate”) by underlining each part sepa-
rately (in 10 minutes) as in the following sample:

ِ ‫اﻟﻄْﻘﺲ‬
‫ﺑﺎرد‬ ‫ﻷن ﱠ‬ ِ ُ ‫ﻟﻜْﻦ ﻻ‬
‫ ﱠ‬/‫أﺣﺐّ َﻣﺪﯾﻨَﺘﻲ‬ ِ /‫وﻟَﮫُ َﺣﺪﯾﻘﺔ َﻛﺒﯿﺮة‬/ ‫ﻷﻧّﮫ َﻛﺒﯿﺮ‬/ ً ‫أﺣﺐّ ﺑَْﯿﺘﻲ ﻛﺜﯿﺮا‬ ُِ
‫ﺲ‬َ ‫ﻟَْﯿ‬/ ً ‫ﺻﻐﯿﺮة ِﺟﺪّا‬
َ ‫اﻟﻤﺪﯾﻨﺔ‬
َ ‫ھﺬِه‬
ِ ./ ‫اﻟﺼْﯿﻒ‬
‫ﻋﺎﻟﯿَﺔ ﻓﻲ ﱠ‬ِ ‫اﻟﺮطﻮﺑَﺔ‬ُ ً
ّ ِ ‫داﺋﻤﺎ ﻓﻲ‬
‫ ودَ َرَﺟﺔ ﱡ‬/‫اﻟﺸﺘﺎء‬
./‫ﻋﺎﻣﺔ َﻛﺜﯿﺮة‬ ّ ‫ﻓﯿﮭﺎ َﺣﺪاﺋﻖ‬
‫ ﯾَﺪ ُْرس ﻓﯿﮭﺎ‬/‫وھﻮ طﺎِﻟﺐ ﻓﻲ ﻧَْﻔﺲ اﻟﺠﺎﻣﻌﺔ‬/ ‫ِاْﺳُﻤﮫ ﻋﺎِدل‬/‫واﺣﺪَ ﻓَﻘَﻂ‬ ِ ‫ﺻِﺪﯾﻖ‬ َ ‫ﻟﻲ‬
./ ‫ا ﻟﺘّﺎ ر ﯾﺦ‬
3. Go over your students’ responses as a whole class by having each group del-
egate a member to read a sentence and identify its type (whether verbal or verb-
less); if verbless, identify its two parts; if verbal, identify the verb, the subject/
doer (and the object/doee if the verb is transitive), and its tense (past or present).
4. Elicit corrections from students of other groups.
 Grammar techniques 123

5. Use appropriate language and grammar resources to guide your explanations

and illustrations before and after this activity, since identifying the two parts of
the verbal sentence is based on definiteness use.
(For example, see Alhawary 2011, 2016.)

Variations
a. Repeat this technique often and from early on until students are able to quickly
distinguish between verbal and verbless sentences and identify/look for the sub-
ject and object of the verb (in the verbal sentence) and the subject and predicate
(in the verbless sentence).
b. If grammatical endings are taught from early on, teach such endings as part of
the explanation of the verbal and verbless sentence.

10. Identify the error, if any, and correct it ‫ﺣﺪ دوا ا ﻟﺨﻄﺄ إ ن‬
ّ
‫ﺻﺤﺤﻮه‬
ّ ‫ُو ﺟﺪ و‬
Purpose
To provide learners with deliberate practice in the use of a basic construction such
as the noun phrase (i.e., noun–adjective and ’idāfa phrases) and serve as a com-
prehension check of their understating of such a structure along with its use with
adjectives, pronouns, and definiteness. The activity allows for the integration of
deliberate grammar practice with, possibly, the speaking skill. It requires little
preparation and takes about 20 minutes to execute.

Procedure
1. Using simple vocabulary, prepare 5–10 sentences in Arabic, some of which con-
tain common errors made by Arabic learners in noun–adjective and ’idāfa phrases
such as those involving gender, definiteness, possessive pronoun use, word order,
and case endings (if case endings are presented at this level; otherwise, do not
provide sentences with case endings) such as in the following sample sentences:

ِ ٌ‫اﻟﻘﺎھﺮة ُﻣْﺰدَ ِﺣﻤﺔ‬

.______________________________ .ً ‫داﺋﻤﺎ‬ ِ ُ‫—َﻣﺪﯾﻨﺔ‬1
.____________________________________ .‫ﺳﺔ‬ ٍ ‫—ھﻮ أ ُ ْﺳﺘﺎذٌ َﻣْﺪَر‬2
ْ َ‫ﺻﺪﯾﻘَﺘﻲ ﻟُﻐَﺔ‬
.______________________________ .‫اﻹﺳﺒﺎﻧﯿﱠِﺔ‬ َ ‫—ﺗ َﺘ ََﻜﻠﱠُﻢ‬3
._______________________________ .‫اﻟﻮﻻﯾَ ِﺔ ﻓﯿﺮﺟﯿﻨﯿﺎ‬ ِ ‫—أ َ ْﺳُﻜُﻦ ﻓﻲ‬4
.__________________________________ .ٌ ‫ﺻﻐﯿﺮة‬ َ ‫ﻏْﺮﻓَﺘﻲ ﻧَْﻮٍم‬ ُ —5
124 Grammar techniques

.________________________________ .‫ﺳﺔ‬ ِ ‫اﻟﻤْﺪَر‬َ ‫ﺳﯿﻦ‬َ ‫ﺐ ُﻣﺪَ ِ ّر‬ ‫—ﻧُ ِﺤ ﱡ‬6

________ .‫ﺳﯿﺎﺳٍﺔ‬
َ ‫ﺳِﻂ‬ َ
َ ‫ق اﻷ ْو‬ ‫ﺺ ﻓﻲ ﱠ‬
ِ ‫اﻟﺸْﺮ‬ ‫ﻄﻔَﻰ ِﻟﻠﺘ ﱠ َﺨ ﱡ‬
ِ ‫ﺼ‬ َ ‫ﺼ‬ ْ ‫ﺻﺪﯾﻘﻲ ُﻣ‬ َ ‫س‬ ُ ‫—ﯾَْﺪُر‬7
.____________________________
._________________________ .‫ﺪﯾﻨﺔ‬ ِ ‫اﻟﻤ‬
َ ِ‫اﻟﺸﻮارع‬ ‫ﺣﺎم ﻓﻲ ﱠ‬ َ ‫ﺐ ِاﻻْزِد‬ ‫—ﻻ ﻧُ ِﺤ ﱡ‬8
.______________________________ .‫ﺪﯾﻢ ﺟﯿﻔﺮي‬ ِ َ‫ﺪﯾﻘﮫ اﻟﻘ‬
ِ ‫ﺻ‬ َ ُ‫واﻟﺪ‬ ِ ‫—ھﻮ‬9
.______________________________ .ٌ‫طﺒﯿﺒﺔ‬ َ ‫ﺪﯾﺪ‬
ٍ ‫ﺘﺎذﻧﺎ َﺟ‬ ُ
ِ ‫—َزْوَﺟﺔُ أْﺳ‬10

2. A few of the sentences (e.g., 1 and 9) should be error-free so that your stu-
dents are also able to recognize correct grammatical structures, that they do not
assume automatically all sentences contain errors, and that they give the activity
their full attention in activating their grammatical rule application abilities; be
sure to tell your students that not all sentences contain errors.
3. Ask your students to individually read the sentences and identify the errors by
underlining them or drawing a circle around them (in 5 minutes).
4. Divide your students into dyads and ask them to collaborate in correcting the errors
by writing the corrections above the errors or to the left of the sentence; instruct
your students not to copy the entire sentence in fixing the errors (8 minutes).
5. Go over the sentences as a whole class one sentence at a time by having each
group delegate a student to read the sentence aloud to the class and (a) confirm
whether a sentence is grammatically accurate, (b) identify the errors if the sen-
tence is not grammatically accurate, and (c) suggest corrections.
6. Invite students from other groups to help with any of the three (a–c) required actions.
7. Invite students to ask any questions related to the sentences or target structures
of this activity.

Variations
a. Other grammatical points can be the target of this activity, such as verbal agree-
ment (between the subject and the verb), gender and number agreement (between
the noun and attributive adjective or between the subject and predicate of the nomi-
nal/verbless sentence), and mood endings (on verbs) if presented at this level.
b. For the sentences that are error-free, ask your students to introduce an error or
errors that they would usually make.
(See also Alhawary 2016.)

2. Developing grammatical competence at the

intermediate level
While techniques for developing the four language skills and entailed functional
abilities are essential for developing communicative competence within the com-
municative language teaching approach, techniques aimed to provide deliberate and
purposeful practice for developing grammatical competence are equally important.
 Grammar techniques 125

Grammar techniques included in the intermediate level continue to focus on basic

grammatical structures at the word, phrase, and sentence levels. It is important when-
ever possible to integrate grammar techniques with those intended for developing
language skills. Doing so has many added benefits, including driving boredom out of
the teaching of grammar, demonstrating to learners the important role of grammar in
carrying meanings, and optimizing classroom time by also developing other skills.

11. Using the imperative and negative imperative ‫ا ﺳﺘﺨﺪ ا م‬

‫ﺻﯿﻐﺘَﻲ اﻷﻣﺮ واﻟﻨﮭﻲ‬

Purpose
To provide learners with deliberate practice in the use of the imperative and nega-
tive imperative constructions. It allows for the integration of deliberate grammar
practice with possibly the speaking and writing skills. The activity is best used after
students are presented with the rules of the imperative in the different verb forms (I–
VIII and X) and different persons (second-person singular, dual, and plural for both
genders). It requires little preparation and takes about 15–20 minutes to execute.

Procedure
1. Provide pictures of different persons (one male, one female, two males, two
females, three males, and three females) doing various activities, such as eating
drinking, writing, reading, teaching, helping, traveling, cooking/preparing, talk-
ing (on the phone), sleeping, walking, buying, giving, smoking, burning, etc.).
2. Add a check mark to the picture to indicate the verb to be formed should be in
the imperative and an “X” for the verb to be formed in the negative imperative.
3. Display the pictures one at a time on the board, screen, or via a document projector.
4. Ask one student at a time in a chain fashion to form the imperative or negative
imperative inflected for the proper person as indicated next to the picture.
5. If a student is not able to form the correct verb (in the imperative or negative
imperative), skip them and go to the next student, skip that student to the next
one, and so on until a student forms the correct verb.
6. For the next picture/verb, start with the student who could not form the previous
verb and repeat the preceding step.
7. If all students could not figure out a certain verb, offer students some clues or
model for them a verb of the same pattern and elicit the correct form of the verb
in question.

Variations
a. If finding pictures for use in the dual and the plural is difficult, prepare pictures for
at least a male and a female person and make three duplicate copies of each and
add to each the number 1, 2, or 3, signifying singular, dual, and plural, respectively.
126 Grammar techniques

b. Divide students into groups of 3 and distribute to each 3–6 pictures (1–2 per
student) and allow them to write the imperative and/or negative imperfective
relevant to the pictures they have (3–6 minutes).
c. Upon displaying a picture, ask the group who has the identical picture to pro-
duce (aloud) the imperative or negative imperative.
d. Elicit corrections from students in other groups.
e. The activity can use both sound and weak verbs, but preferably when first
implemented, the activity is better employed with sound verbs alone and later
with weak (and sound) verbs.

12. Find your classmates according to their actions ‫ا ﺑﺤﺜﻮ ا‬

‫ﻋﻦ ز ﻣﻼ ﺋﻜﻢ و ﻓﻖ أ ﻓﻌﺎ ﻟﮭﻢ‬

Purpose
To provide learners with deliberate practice in the use of verb tenses, especially
past, present, and future tenses, and their negation forms. It allows for the integra-
tion of deliberate grammar practice with the writing, listening, and speaking skills.
It requires little preparation and takes about 20 minutes to execute.

Procedure
1. Using index cards or sheets of paper, prepare three sets of questions (one for
the past tense, another for the present tense, and a third for the future tense),
with each set consisting of 3–5 questions for your students to use in asking their
classmates, such as “who traveled to a foreign country” for the past tense, “who
plays tennis” for the present tense, and “who will travel to a foreign country this
summer” for the future tense, as in the following samples:

:‫اﺑﺤﺜﻮا ﻋﻦ زﻣﻼﺋﻜﻢ‬
‫—ﻣﻦ ﻣﻨﮭﻢ ﺳﺎﻓﺮ إﻟﻰ ﺑﻠﺪ أﺟﻨﺒﻲ؟‬1
‫—ﻣﻦ ﻣﻨﮭﻢ ﻗﺮأ ﻛﺘﺎب أﻟﻒ ﻟﯿﻠﺔ وﻟﯿﻠﺔ؟‬2
‫—ﻣﻦ ﻣﻨﮭﻢ ﻗﺎﺑﻞ ﺷﺨﺼﯿﺔ ﻣﺸﮭﻮرة؟‬3

:‫اﺑﺤﺜﻮا ﻋﻦ زﻣﻼﺋﻜﻢ‬
‫—ﻣﻦ ﻣﻨﮭﻢ ﯾﻠﻌﺐ اﻟﺘﻨﺲ؟‬1
‫—ﻣﻦ ﻣﻨﮭﻢ ﯾﺪرس ﻓﻲ اﻟﺒﯿﺖ؟‬2
‫—ﻣﻦ ﻣﻨﮭﻢ ﯾﻌﻤﻞ ﻓﻲ ﻣﻜﺘﺒﺔ اﻟﺠﺎﻣﻌﺔ؟‬3

:‫اﺑﺤﺜﻮا ﻋﻦ زﻣﻼﺋﻜﻢ‬
‫—ﻣﻦ ﻣﻨﮭﻢ ﺳﯿﺴﻜﻦ ﻣﻊ أﺳﺮﺗﮫ ﻓﻲ اﻟﺼﯿﻒ اﻟﻘﺎدم؟‬1
‫—ﻣﻦ ﻣﻨﮭﻢ ﺳﯿﺴﺎﻓﺮ إﻟﻰ ﺑﻠﺪ أﺟﻨﺒﻲ ﻓﻲ اﻟﺼﯿﻒ اﻟﻘﺎدم؟‬2
‫—ﻣﻦ ﻣﻨﮭﻢ ﺳﯿﻘﺮأ ﻛﺘﺎب أﻟﻒ ﻟﯿﻠﺔ وﻟﯿﻠﺔ ﻓﻲ اﻟﺼﯿﻒ اﻟﻘﺎدم؟‬3
 Grammar techniques 127

2. Make duplicate copies of the cards/sheets to reflect the number of your students
in class so that if you have 12 students, you need to have 4 copies of each and
so on.
3. Divide your students into groups of 3 and give each student a different set of
questions.
4. Ask students within each group to take turns in asking each other the questions
they have.
5. Instruct your students that they are to ask each other, using direct questions such
as ‫ﺳﺎﻓﺮت إﻟﻰ ﺑﻠﺪ أﺟﻨﺒﻲ؟‬
ِ /‫ﺳﺎﻓﺮت‬
َ ‫“ ھﻞ‬Did you travel to a foreign country,” and
that they are to write down the answer to each question in a complete sentence
whether the answer is in the affirmative (e.g., ‫“ ﺟﻮن ﺳﺎﻓﺮ إﻟﻰ اﻟﻤﻐﺮب‬John trave-
led to Morocco”) or in the negative (e.g., ‫“ ﺟﻮن ﻟﻢ ﯾﺴﺎﻓﺮ إﻟﻰ ﺑﻠﺪ أﺟﻨﺒﻲ‬John did not
travel to a foreign country”).
6. Go over your students’ responses as a whole class, with each student reporting
on what they found out about the other two members of the group.
7. Elicit corrections from students of other groups.
8. Reinforce the grammatical points related to tense and negation by writing the
common errors on the board with an additional explanation or a brief review of
the rules.

Variations
a. Distribute the three sets of questions to your students one for each, evenly if
possible.
b. Instruct your students to go around individually and ask at least three other stu-
dents randomly.
c. Go over sample responses, 1–2 samples of each of the three sets of questions.
d. Other Arabic tenses and their negation forms (for an exhaustive list and explana-
tion of Arabic tenses, see Alhawary 2011), adverbs, or negation of the verbless
sentence can be practiced by implementing the same technique.
(See also Ur 2009.)

13. Compare yourselves ‫ﻗﺎ ر ﻧﻮ ا ﺑﯿﻦ أ ﻧﻔﺴﻜﻢ‬

Purpose

To provide learners with deliberate practice in using the ‫ أﻓﻌﻞ‬pattern to express the
comparative and superlative degrees of adjectives derived from triliteral form I
verbs. It allows for the integration of deliberate grammar practice with the speak-
ing and possibly writing skills. The activity is best implemented after students are
presented with the ‫ أﻓﻌﻞ‬pattern rules. It requires little preparation and takes about
20–25 minutes to execute.
128 Grammar techniques

Procedure
1. Prepare a list of adjectives derived from triliteral form I verbs as many as there
are students, with one adjective on a separate index card/sheet of paper, many
of which should pertain to obvious physical attributes as much as possible and
avoid negatively perceived attributes such as in the following list:

‫طﻮﯾﻞ‬ َ
‫ﻗَﺼﯿﺮ‬
‫ﻛﺒﯿﺮ‬
‫ﺻﻐﯿﺮ‬ َ
‫ﻧَﺤﯿﻒ‬
‫َﺧﻔﯿﻒ‬
‫َﻛﺮﯾﻢ‬
‫ﺳﺮﯾﻊ‬ َ
ّ َ‫ﻗ‬
‫ﻮي‬
‫ﻨﻲ‬
ّ ‫ﻏ‬َ
2. Divide your students into groups of 3 and distribute three cards to each group.
3. Ask members in each group to compare themselves with each other with respect
to the three adjectives that they received in the cards, with a total of nine sen-
tences (in 6–9 minutes); for example, in the group that received the card contain-
ing the adjective ‫طﻮﯾﻞ‬َ “tall,” one member is tall or not tall → ‫ﻏﯿﺮ‬/‫طﻮﯾﻠﺔ‬ َ ‫إﻟﯿﺰاﺑﯿﺚ‬
‫ ;طﻮﯾﻠﺔ‬another member is taller than another → ‫ﺟﯿﻤﺲ أطﻮل ﻣﻦ إﻟﯿﺰاﺑﯿﺚ‬, and a
third member is the tallest → ‫طﺎﻟﺒﺔ‬/‫ﺟﻮﻟﯿﺎ أطﻮل اﻟﻄﻼب‬
4. Ask each group to prepare/write three sets of three statements, using one adjec-
tive in each set of three statements.
5. Go over your students’ responses as a whole class, with each group member
reporting to the class a set of three statements pertaining to one adjective compar-
ing the three group members, with each group reporting a total of nine statements.
6. Elicit corrections from students of other groups.
7. Invite your students to ask questions about this structure and related ones.

Variations
a. Provide copies of the entire list to each student and ask each group to select
three adjectives from the list.
b. Divide groups to consist of only males or only females so that the full range of
gender use with the structure can be practiced and can be more evident.
c. Have a group exchange their statements with at least another group for correc-
tions and comments.
d. Allow time for each group to incorporate the comments and corrections.
 Grammar techniques 129

14. Using the passive voice ‫ا ﺳﺘﺨﺪ ا م ا ﻟﻔﻌﻞ ا ﻟﻤﺒﻨﻲ ﻟﻠﻤﺠﮭﻮ ل‬

Purpose
To provide learners with deliberate practice in using the active and passive voice
constructions. It allows for the integration of deliberate grammar practice with the
writing, reading, and speaking skills. The activity is best implemented after stu-
dents are presented with the rules of passive voice derivation in the different verb
forms (in particular, I–VI, VIII, and X). It requires little preparation and takes about
15–20 minutes to execute.

Procedure
1. Prepare index cards/sheets of paper, each containing an ’idāfa phrase with the first
noun being a verbal noun such as ‫“ اﺳﺘﺨﺪام اﻟﻤﺎء‬the use of water” so your students
can form a meaningful sentence in the active voice (containing minimally a subject/
‫س اﻟﻤﺎَء ﱠ‬
doer, a verb, and object/doee) as in ‫ﻛﻞ ﯾﻮم‬ ُ ‫َﺨﺪُم اﻟﻨﺎ‬ِ ‫“ ﯾَﺴﺘ‬People use water every
day” and another in the passive as in ‫ﻛﻞ ﯾﻮم‬‫“ ﯾُﺴﺘ َﺨﺪَ ُم اﻟﻤﺎُء ﱠ‬Water is used every day”;
the instances of the verbal nouns used should reflect the different verb forms used
in the passive voice (i.e., forms I–VI, VIII, and X), with preferably all belonging to
sound verbs when this activity is used for the first time, as in the following list:

‫ﻛﺘﺎﺑﺔ اﻟﺮﺳﺎﺋﻞ‬
‫ﺗﻌﻠﯿﻢ اﻟﻠﻐﺎت اﻷﺟﻨﺒﯿﺔ‬
‫ﻣﺴﺎﻋﺪة اﻟﻨﺎس‬
‫اﻟﻀﯿﻒ‬
‫إﻛﺮام ﱠ‬
‫ﺗﻘﺒّﻞ اﻟﻌﻤﻞ‬
‫ﻣﻘﺎﺑﻠﺔ اﻟﻤﺪﯾﺮ‬
‫اﺧﺘﺮاع اﻟﮭﺎﺗﻒ اﻟﺬﻛﻲ‬
‫اﺳﺘﺨﺪام اﻟﺤﺎﺳﻮب‬
2. Distribute 1–2 cards/sheets to each student and instruct them to individually
make up a sentence out of the phrase (consisting minimally of a subject/doer, a
verb, and an object/doee) in the active voice and to write it down on the card/
sheet of paper; the verb form to be used should match that of the verbal noun
given in the phrase (in 2–4 minutes).
3. Divide your students into dyads and ask your students to exchange the cards/
sheets with their partners and write/transform the sentence into passive voice,
paying attention to what needs to be deleted and the change in grammatical end-
ings, and discuss them with each other (in 4–6 minutes).
4. Go over your students’ sentences as a whole class, by first having dyads write
their sentences on the board (or displaying them via the document projector) and
reading their sentences out to the class.
5. Elicit corrections from other students in other groups.
130 Grammar techniques

Variations
a. Either as a follow-up activity or within the same activity, include instances of
assimilated, hollow, and defective verbal nouns so students can practice deriv-
ing passive voice of such forms.
b. Ask each student to add/make up their own sentence in the passive voice to
share with the class.

15. Nominal sentence parsing ‫ﺗﺤﺪ ﯾﺪ ا ﻟﺠﻤﻞ ا ﻻ ﺳﻤﯿﺔ و ﺗﻤﯿﯿﺰ‬

‫ُر ﻛﻨَﯿﮭﺎ ﻣﻊ اﻹﻋﺮاب‬

Purpose
To provide learners with deliberate practice to parse Arabic nominal sentences
along with their two constituent parts occurring with ’inna and its sisters and kāna
and its sisters together with their grammatical (case) endings. It allows for the inte-
gration of deliberate grammar practice with the reading skill. It requires little to no
preparation and takes about 30–35 minutes to execute.

Procedure
1. Prepare a level-appropriate text of interest or relevant to your students or use
one from your students’ textbook, containing nominal sentences occurring with
and without ’inna and its sisters and kāna and its sisters, such as in the following
text (from Hanan Al-Sheikh’s novel My Story is a Long Explanation) without
case endings:

‫ﻷن‬ ‫و ﱠ‬/‫ﯿﻦ ﯾﺘﻘﺎﺗﻠﻮن‬ َ ّ‫اﻟﻤﺴﻠﻤﯿﻦ واﻟﻤﺴﯿﺤﯿ‬ َ ‫ ﱠ‬/‫ﺑﺎﻟﻐﻀﺐ‬

‫ﻷن‬ ِ ٌ ‫ ﻣﻤﻠﻮءة‬،ٌ‫وأﻧﺎ ﻣﺼﻌﻮﻗﺔ‬/ ‫أﻏﺎدر اﻟﺒﻠﺪ‬
‫ﺣﺰ ﺑﻘﻠﺒﻲ‬ ّ ‫واﻟﺬي‬/.‫اﻟﺼﺤﻒ ﻣﻦ اﻷوﻻد اﻟﺼﻐﺎر‬ ِ ‫اﻟﺠﺴﺮ ﺑﺎﺋﻌﻲ‬
ِ ‫اﻟﺠﺜﺚ ﻋﻨﺪ‬ ِ ‫ﺑﯿﻦ‬
ِ ‫ﻣﻦ‬
‫وإذا‬/ ‫ﻓﺄطﻤﺌﻦ ﻋﻠﯿﮭﺎ وﻋﻠﻰ ﻋﺎﺋﻠﺘﮭﺎ‬ ّ ّ
/‫ﻓﻨﺰور ﻛﻠﻨﺎ ﺻﺪﯾﻘﺘﻲ‬/‫ذھﺎﺑﻲ إﻟﻰ اﻟﻤﺼﯿﻒ ﻧﻔﺴﮫ‬
‫ﻓﺄﻋﺾ ﻋﻠﻰ‬ّ / ‫ﻓﻠﺴﻄﯿﻨﻲ‬
‫ﱞ‬ ُ ‫ﮫ‬ ‫ﱠ‬ ‫ﻷﻧ‬ / ‫اﺑﻨﺘﻲ‬ ‫ﻛﻨﺖ أﻣﺎزﺣﮫ ﻗﺒﻞ أﺷﮭﺮ ﯾﻄﺮد زوج‬ ُ ‫ﺑﺎﺑﻨﮭﺎ اﻟﺬي‬
‫وأﻧﺎ ﺑﻌﯿﺪة ٌ ﻋﻦ‬/-‫ أﻛﺘﺸﻒ‬. . ./ ‫ﺲ وھﻤﺎ‬ ً َ ‫وﻟَْﯿ‬/ ‫واﻗﻊ‬
ٌ ُ
‫ﯾﺤﺪث ھﻮ‬ ‫أن ﻣﺎ‬ ‫ ﱠ‬/‫إﺻﺒﻌﻲ ﻷﺻﺪّق‬
‫ﺿﻤﻦ‬
َ ‫ﻛﻮن‬
َ ‫أ‬/ ‫ﻓﺄﻧﺎ ﻗﺪ اﻋﺘﺪت ﻋﻠﻰ أن‬/.‫ﺳﺮ ﺿﯿﺎﻋﻲ ﺑﺪل ﻓﺮﺣﺘﻲ‬ ّ -/‫اﻟﺤﺮب‬ ِ ‫أﺟﻮاء‬
ِ
‫وھﻨﺎك ﺗﻘﺘﻞ‬/ ‫اﻟﻜﻮﯾﺖ‬ ِ ‫َﺖ إﻟﻰ‬ ْ ‫رﺣﻠﺘﻲ اﻷوﻟﻰ ﻛﺎﻧ‬/ .‫اﻟﺠﻠﺴﺔ‬ ِ ‫ﻟﻮﻟﺐ‬
َ ‫ﻛﻮن‬
َ ‫أ‬/‫ وأن‬/‫ﻣﺠﻤﻮﻋﺔ‬ ٍ
‫ وﻻ ﯾﻨﺸﺮح ﺻﺪري ّإﻻ ﺣﯿﻦ‬/‫ وﻋﺪم ﺗﺄﻗﻠﻤﻲ ﻣﻌﮫ‬،‫ طﻘﺴﮭﺎ‬.‫اﻟﻜﻮﯾﺖ ﻧﻔﺴﯿّﺘﻲ ﺑﻘﺴﻮة‬
‫اﻟﻄﺒﯿﻌﻲ ﻻ ھﻮاء‬ّ ‫ﻓﺄﻓﺘﺢ زﺟﺎج اﻟﻨﺎﻓﺬة ﺣﺘّﻰ أﺗﻨﻔّﺲ اﻟﮭﻮاء‬/ ‫ﺗﮭﺐ اﻟﺮﯾﺎح ذات ﻣﺴﺎء‬ ّ
‫ﺖ ﻗﺒﻞ‬ ْ ‫وﺗﺮﻛ‬
َ / ‫ﺖ ﺑﺎﻟﻄﺤﯿﻦ‬ ْ ‫ﺴ‬ َ ‫ﻏﻄ‬ّ /ٌ ‫ﺳﻤﻜﺔ‬ ‫ﻲ‬ ّ ‫ﻛﺄﻧ‬ ‫و‬ / . . . ‫ﺒﺎح‬
ِ ‫ﱠ‬ ‫اﻟﺼ‬ ‫ﻓﻲ‬ ‫أﻧﮭﺾ‬
ُ ‫ﻲ‬ ّ ‫ﻨ‬ ‫ﻟﻜ‬
ِ / ‫ﻒ‬ ّ ‫اﻟﻤﻜﯿ‬
‫ﺑﯿﺖ‬
َ ‫ﻛﺄن‬ ‫و ﱠ‬/ ‫ ﺷﻌﺮت‬/‫وﻟﻤﺎ ﻟﻢ ﻧﺠﻠﺲ ﻋﻠﻰ اﻟﺸﺮﻓﺎت‬ ّ ./‫أن ﺗﺮﻣﻰ ﻓﻲ اﻟﻤﻘﻠﻰ‬
‫أن ﯾﺪﻋﻮ زوج اﺑﻨﺘﻲ‬/ ‫ أﻋﺪّ أﺻﻨﺎف اﻟﻄﻌﺎم ﻣﻦ أﺟﻞ‬/.ً‫ﺲ ّإﻻ ﺳﺠﻨﺎ‬ َ ‫اﻟﺠﻤﯿﻞ ﻟَْﯿ‬
َ ‫اﺑﻨﺘﻲ‬
ُ
‫أﺻﺒﺤﺖ‬ ‫ﻗﺪ‬/... ‫ﻤﻦ‬ ّ
ٍّ ‫وﻛﻠﻲ ﺗـ‬/ ‫ﻟﻤﮭﻤﺘﻲ اﻟﺠﺪﯾﺪة‬ ّ ‫أﺗﺤﻤﺲ ﺑﺎدئ اﻷﻣﺮ‬ ّ /.‫زﻣﻼءه ﻓﻲ اﻟﻌﻤﻞ‬
.ً‫أ ُ ّﻣﺎ ً وﺟﺪّة ً ﻣﺜﺎﻟﯿّﺔ‬
2. Draw your students’ attention (initially) to the presence of ’inna and kāna or any
of their sisters by marking them such as placing them in bold.
 Grammar techniques 131

3. Have your students work in groups of dyads to unpack the text (consisting of
no fewer than 32 sentences) into short ones by identifying whether a sentence
is verbal or nominal, placing a line or forward slash at the end of each sentence,
and indicating the two parts of the nominal sentence (‫“ اﻟﻤﺒﺘﺪأ‬the subject” and
‫“ اﻟﺨﺒﺮ‬the predicate”) by underlining the subject (whether a noun or a pronoun)
and placing a double underline under the predicate, whether or not preceded by
’inna and and kāna and their sisters (in 10–12 minutes).
4. Go over your students’ responses as a whole class by having each group del-
egate a member to read a nominal sentence (leaving verbal sentences identified
but not the target of this main activity).
5. Elicit corrections from students of other groups.
6. Redivide your students into new dyads and have them work on the case endings
of the subjects and predicates, observing the rules of accusative markings of the
subject and predicate occurring without or with ’inna and its sisters versus kāna
and its sisters and when the verb occurs as a predicate (i.e., following its own rules
of mood marking) as well as the occurrence of a word both as a predicate to a
preceding subject and a subject to a following predicate (which occurs twice in the
above sample text as indicated in the double non-straight lines; in 8–10 minutes).
7. Go over your students’ responses as a whole class by having each group del-
egate a member to read a nominal sentence fully vocalized.
8. Elicit corrections from students of other groups.
9. It is fine to skip a related grammatical form in the text that is above your stu-
dents’ level.

Variations
a. Repeat this technique until students are able to quickly distinguish between ver-
bal and nominal sentences and their constituent parts.
b. As a follow-up activity, and following the same procedure, have your students
work on identifying the subject/doer, verb, and object/doee of each of the verbal
sentences.
c. A table consisting of 3 columns such as the following one can be used in which
students are asked to write the different constituent parts of each of the nominal
sentences found in the text (see also Alhawary 2016):

‫اﻟﺨﺒﺮ‬ ‫اﻟﻤﺒﺘﺪأ‬ . . . /‫ﻛﺎ َن‬/ ّ‫إن‬

16. Provide your reasons ‫ﻋِﻠّﻠﻮ ا أ ﺳﺒﺎ ﺑﻜﻢ‬

َ
Purpose
To provide learners with deliberate practice in constructing complex sentences
ّ “because” used to
with embedded clauses, especially with the complementizer ‫ﻷن‬
132 Grammar techniques

provide elaborations or reasoning. It allows for the integration of deliberate gram-

mar practice possibly with the writing and speaking skills. It requires little prepara-
tion and takes about 20 minutes to execute.

Procedure

1. Prepare a list of 10–20 everyday items, such as ‫“ ﺣﺎﺳﻮب‬computer,” ‫ﺳﺎﻋﺔ‬

“watch,” ‫دراﺟﺔ‬ّ “bicycle,” ‫“ ﺳﯿّﺎرة‬car,” ‫“ ﺗﻠﻔﺎز‬television,” ‫رادﯾﻮ‬/‫“ ﻣﺬﯾﺎع‬radio,”
‫“ ﺣﺬاء‬shoes,” ‫“ ﻣﻼﺑﺲ‬clothes,” ‫“ ﻋﻄﺮ‬perfume,” and ‫ﻧﻈﺎرات ﺷﻤﺴﯿﺔ‬ ّ “sunglasses.”
2. Distribute copies or display the list on the board, screen, or via a document
projector.
3. Arrange your students’ seats in a semicircle.
4. Ask each student to choose two items, one that they “need” and another that
they “do not need,” and provide a valid reason why in one long sentence in each
case, with one student making one statement at a time in a chain fashion.
5. Provide correction by means of recasting, elicit corrections from other students,
or take notes of relevant errors and work on them as a whole class at the end of
the activity.

Variations
a. Instead of items of words, provide pictures on index cards of famous person-
alities, different types of foods, vegetables or fruits, different places, different
universities, and so on.
b. Have each student pick a picture of an object or person that they “like” and
another they “do not like” or “prefer” and do “not prefer” and provide a reason
why in one long sentence in each case.
c. Have students rehearse their sentences in groups of dyads before working on the
sentences as a whole class.

17. Collapse into one sentence ‫ا د ﻣﺠﻮ ا ﻛﻞ ﺟﻤﻠﺘﯿﻦ ﻓﻲ ﺟﻤﻠﺔ‬

‫واﺣﺪة‬

Purpose
To provide learners with deliberate practice in constructing complex sentences
with embedded clauses, using relative pronouns that are inflected for gender and
number. It allows for the integration of deliberate grammar practice possibly with
the writing, reading, and speaking skills. It requires little preparation and takes
about 20 minutes to execute.

Procedure
1. Prepare 5–10 pairs of sentences that can be collapsed into one by using a relative
pronoun if necessary (i.e., only when the modified noun/noun phrase is definite)
 Grammar techniques 133

and making any necessary changes such as eliminating redundant words such as
in the following sample sentences:

.‫ ﺗﻌﻤﻞ ﻣﺪﯾﺮة اﻟﻤﻜﺘﺐ ھﻨﺎ‬.‫وﺻﻠﺖ ﻣﺪﯾﺮة اﻟﻤﻜﺘﺐ‬ْ —1

.‫اﻟﺮﻛﺎب اﻟﻘﺎدﻣﯿﻦ ﻣﻦ ﻣﺪﯾﻨﺔ طﻨﺠﺔ‬ّ ‫ ﯾﻨﻘﻞ اﻟﻘﻄﺎر‬.‫—وﺻﻞ اﻟﻘﻄﺎر‬2
.‫ ﺟﺎء اﻟﻄﺎﻟﺒﺎن إﻟﻰ اﻟﻤﻜﺘﺒﺔ ﻓﻲ اﻷﺳﺒﻮع اﻟﻤﺎﺿﻲ‬.‫ﻗﺎﺑﻠﺖ اﻟﻄﺎﻟﺒﯿَﻦ‬ ُ —3
.‫ ﺗﺴﻜﻦ ﻗﺮﯾﺒﺘﻲ ﻣﻊ زوﺟﮭﺎ ﻓﻲ ﻣﺪﯾﻨﺔ اﻟﺪوﺣﺔ ﻓﻲ ﻗﻄﺮ‬.‫—ﻟﻲ ﻗﺮﯾﺒﺔ‬4
.‫ ﯾﻌﻤﻞ أﺻﺪﻗﺎء واﻟﺪي ﻓﻲ اﻟﻮزارة‬.‫—ﺟﺎء أﺻﺪﻗﺎء واﻟﺪي إﻟﻰ ﺑﯿﺘﻨﺎ أﻣﺲ‬5
.‫ ﺗﺪرس اﻟﻄﺎﻟﺒﺘﺎن ﻓﻲ ﺟﺎﻣﻌﺘﻨﺎ‬.‫ﻓﺎزت طﺎﻟﺒﺘﺎن ﺑﺎﻟﻤﺴﺎﺑﻘﺔ‬ ْ —6
ً.‫ ﻛﺘﺎب أﺳﺘﺎذك ﯾﻌﺠﺒﻚ ﻛﺜﯿﺮا‬.‫اﺷﺘﺮﯾﺖ ﻛﺘﺎب أﺳﺘﺎذك‬
ُ —7
.‫ ﺗ ُﺤﻀﺮ اﻟﻨﺴﺎء أوﻻدھﻦ ﻟﻠﻌﺐ ﻓﻲ اﻟﺤﺪﯾﻘﺔ اﻟﻌﺎﻣﺔ ﻛﻞ ﯾﻮم‬.‫ﻤﺖ ﻋﻠﻰ اﻟﻨﺴﺎء‬ ُ ّ‫—ﺳﻠ‬8
.‫ ﻟﻮن ﺳﯿّﺎرة ﺻﺪﯾﻘﺘﻲ اﻟﺠﺪﯾﺪة أﺣﻤﺮ‬.‫—ﻋﻨﺪ ﺻﺪﯾﻘﺘﻲ ﺳﯿﺎرة ﺟﺪﯾﺪة‬9
.‫ﺣﺪﺛﺖ اﻟﻘﺼﺔ اﻟﻐﺮﯾﺒﺔ ﻷﺳﺘﺎذﻧﺎ ﻓﻲ ﻓﺮﻧﺴﺎ‬ْ .‫—ﺣﻜﻰ اﻷﺳﺘﺎذ ﻟﻨﺎ ﻗﺼﺔ ﻏﺮﯾﺒﺔ‬10

2. Explain to your students (by way of providing the first pair of sentences as an
example) that they are to combine each pair of sentences into one, using a con-
nector if necessary, and making any other necessary changes so that the first pair
of sentences would be reworded as ‫“ وﺻﻠﺖ ﻣﺪﯾﺮة اﻟﻤﻜﺘﺐ اﻟﺘﻲ ﺗﻌﻤﻞ ھﻨﺎ‬The office
manager who works here arrived.”
3. Divide your students into groups of 3 and have each student within a group
work on 1–3 pairs of sentences and then discuss them with their partners (in
10 minutes).
4. Go over your students’ newly constructed sentences as a group, with each group
delegating a student to read a sentence until all groups have shared at least one
sentence with the class.
5. Elicit corrections from students of other groups.

Variations
a. Ask each group (of 3) to work on only three pairs of sentences and write them
on an index card/sheet of paper and exchange them with another group for
corrections.
b. Allow enough time for groups to make corrections to their sentences before
working on all the sentences as a whole class.
(See Alhawary 2016.)

18. Name the structure in the text ‫ﻟﻨﺺ‬

ّ ‫ﺳﻤﻮ ا ا ﻟﺘﺮ ﻛﯿﺐ ﻓﻲ ا‬
ّ
Purpose
To provide learners with deliberate practice in the use of one particular grammatical
structure (and relevant subtypes) in context. It allows for the integration of deliberate
134 Grammar techniques

grammar practice with the reading and (possibly) speaking skills. It requires little
preparation and takes about 20–25 minutes to execute.

Procedure
1. Prepare a level-appropriate text or select one from your students’ textbook or
from Alhawary (2016) on a particular grammatical structure such as ‫اﻟﺘﻤﯿﯿﺰ‬
“adverb of specification” and mark all instances of the structure (e.g., by under-
lining, bolding highlighting, or drawing a circle around them) as in the follow-
ing text (excerpted from Abdulhakim Qasim’s short novel Al-Mahdi):

ُ‫ ﺗ َْﺰداد‬،‫ت ِاْﻧِﻔﻌًﺎﻻ‬ ِ ‫ﻟﺼْﻮ‬

‫ﺮات ا ﱠ‬ ِ ّ‫ﺮاخ ِﻣْﻦ ُﻣَﻜِﺒ‬ ُ ‫ﻟﺼ‬ ‫ ﯾَْﺰدادُ ا ﱡ‬،ِ‫ب ِﻣَﻦ اﻟﺠﺎِﻣﻊ‬ ُ ‫ﺐ ﯾَْﻘﺘ َِﺮ‬ ُ ‫ﻟﻤْﻮِﻛ‬ َ ‫ا‬
‫ﺎس‬ ّ ً
ُ ‫ واﻟﻨ‬،‫ﻟﺮﺛ ِﺔ َﺣﻤﺎﺳﺎ‬ ‫ﱠ‬ َ
‫ﻟﺠّﻮاﻟِﺔ ﻓﻲ اﻷ ْﺣِﺬﯾَِﺔ ا ﱠ‬ َ َ ‫ﺪام ا‬ ْ َ ْ
ِ ‫ ﯾَﺰدادُ َوﻗُﻊ أﻗ‬،‫ﻋﻨﻔﺎ‬ ْ ً ْ ُ ‫ﻮل‬ ‫ﱡ‬
ِ ‫ﻗَْﺮﻋﺎت اﻟﻄﺒ‬ ُ
‫ﺲ‬ ُ ‫ﺸْﻤ‬ ً
‫ واﻟ ﱠ‬،‫ﺎر ﺗ َْﺰدادُ َﻛﺜﺎﻓﺔ‬ ُ
ِ ‫ﺎﺻﻔﺔ اﻟﻐُﺒ‬ ِ ‫ وﻋ‬،ً‫دادون َﻛﺜﺎﻓﺔ وُﺟﻨﻮﻧﺎ‬ ً َ ‫ﻟﻤﻌَِﻠ ِﻢ ﯾَ ْﺰ‬ ّ ُ ‫ﻟﻤﺤﯿﻄﻮَن ِﺑﺎ‬ ُ ‫ا‬
َْ‫وإذ ﯾُْﻨِﺰﻟﻮﻧَﮫُ ِﻋﻨﺪ‬ ْ ،‫ ﯾَﺘ ََﺮﻧﱠُﺢ ﻋﻠﻰ اﻟﻔََﺮِس‬.‫ﻟﻤﻌَِﻠِّﻢ‬ ُ ‫ﺒﯿﻦ ا‬ ِ ‫ﺎر ﻓﻲ َﺟ‬ ّ ً
ِ ‫ﻣﯿﺮ ُﻣَﺤّﻤﺎة ِﺑﺎﻟﻨ‬ َ ‫ﺗ َﺪُق َﻣﺴﺎ‬ ‫ﱡ‬
‫ﺎر‬ ِ ّ ‫ﻟﻨ‬ ‫ﻛﺎ‬ ‫و‬ . ً ‫ﻣﺎ‬ ‫َﻤﺎ‬ ‫ﺗ‬ “ ‫ي‬ ‫ﺪ‬‫ﮭ‬ْ ‫ﻟﻤ‬
َ ‫ا‬ ‫ﺎت‬َ ‫ﻣ‬ ْ
‫ﺪ‬ َ ‫ﻘ‬ َ ‫ﻟ‬ ” ‫ﻲ‬
ِ َ‫ﻋ‬
ْ ‫ﻟﻮ‬ ‫ا‬ َ ‫ﺪ‬ ‫ﺎﻗ‬
ِ ‫ﻓ‬ ‫ﮫ‬
ِ ‫ﮭ‬ ‫ﺟ‬
ْ
ِ َ ‫و‬ ‫ﻋﻠﻰ‬ ‫ﺊ‬
ُ ‫ﻔ‬ِ َ
‫ﻜ‬ ْ
‫ﻨ‬ َ ‫ﯾ‬ ‫ﺪ‬
ِ ‫ﻟﻤْﺴِﺠ‬
َ ‫ﺎب ا‬ ِ ‫ﺑ‬
ّ
ُ‫ض ﯾَ ُﮭﺰوﻧَﮫ‬ َ
ِ ‫ﺎس َﺣْﻮﻟﮫُ ﯾُْﺠِﻠﺴﻮﻧَﮫُ ﻋﻠﻰ اﻷ ْر‬ َ ّ
ُ ‫ﺻْﺮَﺧﺔ واﻟﻨ‬ ٌ َ ‫ﺎس‬ ّ
ِ ‫ﺸﯿﻢ ﺗ َﻨﻄِﻠﻖ ﻓﻲ اﻟﻨ‬ ُ َ ْ ِ ‫ﻟﮭ‬ َ ‫ﻓﻲ ا‬
.‫دون َﺟْﺪَوى‬ َ ‫ﻏْﯿِﮫ‬ َ ‫ﺻْﺪ‬ ُ ‫ﻮن ﻋﻠﻰ‬ َ ‫وﯾَْﺮِﺑﺘ‬
2. Provide copies of the text or display it on the screen or via a document projector.
3. Ask your students to read the text and name the underlined grammatical struc-
ture individually or in groups of two and what grammatical features distinguish
it as such (in 10 minutes).
4. Go over your students’ responses as a whole class by having each student read
a sentence in a chain fashion; if the sentence contains an underlined word, have
the student name the grammatical structure and the features that distinguish it as
such (i.e., in this case, being singular, indefinite, mostly as a non-derived noun,
with the accusative case ending, and is used to clarify the meaning of the verb
or the verbless sentence with which it occurs in term of quality, quantity, etc.).
5. Elicit corrections from all students in the class.
6. Invite questions from your students about the structure and similar ones (such as
other types of adverbs that may be confused with adverbs of specification).

Variations
a. Instead of providing all instances of the target structure marked in the text,
remove all such markings and ask your students to find all 6 or 5–6 instances of
the structure, in this case, adverb of specification.
b. To make the activity a little more challenging, remove all case (and mood) end-
ings and ask your students to supply case endings on all instances of adverb of
specification after identifying them.
(See Alhawary 2016.)
 Grammar techniques 135

19. Translate into Arabic ‫ﺗﺮ ﺟﻤﻮ ا إ ﻟﻰ ا ﻟﻌﺮ ﺑﯿﺔ‬

Purpose
To provide learners with deliberate practice in reviewing a number of grammatical
structures learners have learned thus far and to serve as a comprehension check of
their understating of such structures and related grammatical points. Thus, the activity
is not really about developing translation skills per se. It allows for the integration of
deliberate grammar practice with, possibly, the writing, reading, and speaking skills. It
requires little preparation and takes about 20–25 minutes to execute.

Procedure
1. Using simple vocabulary items, prepare 5–10 sentences in English to reflect a
selected number of grammatical structures that your students have covered in
class thus far and that you would like to use this activity as a review of such
structures (e.g., indefinite-definite ’idāfa phrase where the first noun is indefi-
nite and the second/last definite, tenses such as the present perfect and future
perfect, adverbs of manner, the number phrase, and conditional sentences) such
as in the following sample sentences:

1. I work in a new Ford office.

2. We drink coffee in a State Street café.
3. The president has just arrived in Paris.
4. By 2025, they will have lived in Detroit for 50 years.
5. They came to me, asking for help.
6. He always comes late to class.
7. She has three houses and twelve cars.
8. Our university has forty thousand students, twenty-five buildings, and
eight libraries.
9. If you work hard, you will get what you want.
10. If I had traveled to Japan, I would have gone to mount Fuji.

2. Divide your students into dyads and assign each student to translate five sen-
tences (such as assigning one the first half of the sentences and the other the
second half or assigning one the odd numbers and the other the even numbers)
and then discuss their sentences together (in 15 minutes).
3. Divide the board into 10 numbered columns (or 5 columns at a time) and have each
group delegate a student to write one of the sentences (if there are 10 students in
class, each group can write two sentences, with each student writing a sentence).
4. Go over the sentences as a whole group by group by having each group read
their sentence and then inviting corrections from students of other groups.
5. Invite your students to ask any questions about the structures and related
ones.
136 Grammar techniques

Variations
a. If time is an issue, instead of asking students to write their translated sentences
on the board, display students’ written translations via a document projector one
sentence at a time.
b. Alternatively, if time is not an issue, have groups exchange their written trans-
lated sentences and distribute to them a handout of the correct translated sen-
tences beforehand to use as a model in providing correction comments on the
translations of other groups.
(See also Alhawary 2016.)

20. Identify the errors, if any, and correct them ‫ﺣﺪ دوا‬
ّ
‫اﻷﺧﻄﺎء إن ُو ﺟﺪت و ﺻّﺤﺤﻮ ھﺎ‬
Purpose
To provide learners with deliberate practice in the use of a number of grammatical
structures learners have covered thus far and to serve as a comprehension check of
their understating of such structures and related grammatical points. The activity
allows for the integration of deliberate grammar practice with possibly the speak-
ing skill. It requires little preparation and takes about 20–25 minutes to execute.

Procedure
1. Using simple vocabulary, prepare 5–10 sentences in Arabic, some of which
contain common errors made by Arabic learners in a number of grammatical
structures that your students have covered thus far, such as those related to ver-
bal agreement forms, case and mood endings, subtle uses of definiteness (such
as indefinite subjects), the number phrase, defective nouns, the five nouns, and
conditional sentences such as in the following sample sentences:

.____________________________ .‫ﺐ‬ َ ‫اﻟﻮاﺟ‬

ِ ‫ﺎﻟﺒﺎت ﻻ ﺗ َْﻜﺘ ُ ْﺒَﻦ‬ ُ ‫اﻟﻄ‬ ّ ‫ھﺬِه‬ ِ —1
.______________________ .‫أﺷﺨﺎص‬ ٍ ‫ﻋﺸﺮة‬
ِ ‫أﻛﺜﺮ ﻣﻦ‬ َ ‫اﻟﺤﺎدث‬ ِ ‫ﻣﺎت ﻓﻲ‬ َ —2
._______________________ .‫اﻟﺠﺰاﺋﺮ‬ ِ ‫ﻣﺪﯾﻨﺔ‬
ِ ‫ﺮون إﻟﻰ‬ َ ‫ﺴﺎﻓ‬ ِ ُ‫ﺮﯾﺪون أن ﯾ‬ْ َ ُ‫—ﯾ‬3
‫ﱠ‬
.________________________ .‫رﺟﻞ دَ َﺧَﻞ ﻋﻠﯿﻨﺎ وﺑﺪأ ﯾﺘﻜﻠ ُﻢ ﺑﺎﻟﻔﺮﻧﺴﯿ ِّﺔ‬ َ ٌ —4
.________________________ .‫ﺟﻤﯿﻠﺔ‬ ٍ ‫ﺣﺪﯾﻘﺔ‬
ٍ ‫أﻓﻀﻞ ﻣﻦ‬ ُ ٌ ٌ
‫—ﻣﺪرﺳﺔ ﻗﺪﯾﻤﺔ‬5
.______________________ .‫ﺑﺎﻟﺠﺎﻣﻌﺔ‬ ِ ٍ
‫ﺳﻮرﯾﺎت‬ ٍ
‫طﺎﻟﺒﺎت‬ ‫ﺧﻤﺲ‬
ُ ‫—ِاْﻟﺘ ََﺤَﻖ‬6
ِ ‫ﻋْﺸَﺮِة ﻣﻦ‬
_______ .‫ﻋﻤﺮِه‬ َ ‫اﻟﺜﺎﻣﻨﺔ‬
ِ ‫اﻵن ﻓﻲ‬ َ ‫أﻛﺜﺮ ﻓﮭﻮ‬ َ ‫ﺑﺤﻜﻤﺔ‬ٍ ِ ُ‫—ﺑﺪأ َ واﻟﺪهُ ﯾ‬7
ُ‫ﻌﺎﻣﻠُﮫ‬
.______________________
._____________________ .‫ﻠﻲ‬ ‫ﻋ ﱠ‬ َ ‫وﺳﻠﱠ َﻢ‬ َ ‫ﺤﺎم‬ ٌ ‫ﺧﻞ ُﻣ‬ َ َ‫دﺧﻠﺖ اﻟﻐﺮﻓﺔَ د‬ ُ ‫—ﺑﻌﺪ أن‬8
.________________ .‫ﺤﻀ ْﺮ‬ ُ َ‫ﺻﺪﯾﻘﻲ ﻟﻢ ﯾ‬ َ ‫أخ‬ ُ ‫وﻟﻜﻦ‬ ‫ﱠ‬ ‫اﻟﺤﻔﻠﺔ‬
ِ ‫ﻀَﺮ أﺧﻲ إﻟﻰ‬ َ ‫—َﺣ‬9
._____________________ .‫اﻟﺠﺎﻣﻌﺔ‬ ِ ‫ﻓﺴﺄدرس ﻓﻲ ھﺬه‬ ُ ‫ﻛﻨﺖ ﻣﻜﺎﻧَﻚ‬ ُ ‫—ﻟﻮ‬10
 Grammar techniques 137

2. A few of the sentences (5 and 6) should be error-free so that your students are
also able to recognize correct grammatical structures, that they do not assume
automatically all sentences contain errors, and that they give the activity their
full attention in activating their grammatical rule application abilities; be sure to
tell your students that not all sentences contain errors.
3. Ask your students to individually read the sentences and identify the errors by
underlining them or drawing a circle around them (in 10 minutes).
4. Divide your students into dyads and ask them to collaborate in correcting the errors
by writing the corrections above the errors or to the left of the sentence; instruct
your students not to copy the entire sentence in fixing the errors (5–7 minutes).
5. Go over the sentences as a whole class one sentence at a time by having each
group delegate a student to read a sentence aloud to the class and (a) confirm
whether the sentence is grammatically correct, (b) identify the errors if the sen-
tence is not grammatically correct, and (c) suggest corrections.
6. Invite students from other groups to help with any of the three (a–c) required actions.
7. Invite students to ask any questions related to the structures and related ones.

Variations
a. Other grammatical points can be the target of this activity as needed and as cov-
ered in class.
b. For the 1–2 sentences that are error-free, ask your students to introduce an error
or errors that they would usually make.
(See also Alhawary 2016.)

3. Developing grammatical competence at the

advanced level
While techniques for developing the four language skills and entailed functional
abilities are essential for developing communicative competence within the com-
municative language teaching approach, techniques aimed to provide deliberate and
purposeful practice for developing grammatical competence are equally important.
Grammar techniques included in the advanced level focus on less basic and more
complex grammatical structures than those in the previous intermediate level. It is
important whenever possible to integrate grammar techniques with those developing
language skills. Doing so has many added benefits including driving boredom out of
the teaching of grammar, demonstrating to learners the important role of grammar in
carrying meanings, and optimizing classroom time by also developing other skills.

21. Dictogloss of a grammar point “ ‫إ ﻣﻼ ء ” ا ﻟﺪ ﯾﻜﺘﻮ ﻏﻠﻮ س‬

‫ﻟﻨﺺ ﯾﺤﺘﻮ ي ﻋﻠﻰ ﺗﺮ ﻛﯿﺐ ﻣﻌﯿّﻦ‬
ّ
Purpose
To provide learners with deliberate practice in the use of a particular grammati-
cal structure and their ability to recognize such a structure as well as recall the
138 Grammar techniques

application of the relevant rules. The activity allows for the integration of deliber-
ate grammar practice with the listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills. It
requires little preparation and takes about 20–25 minutes to execute.

Procedure
1. Prepare a level-appropriate text or select (about 50 words) one from your stu-
dents’ textbook or from Alhawary (2016) containing instances of a particular
grammatical structure such as exclamation as in the following text extracted
from The Arabian Nights:

:‫ ﻓَﻘﺎﻟَﺖ ﻟَﮭﺎ أ ُ ْﺧﺘُﮭﺎ دُﻧﯿﺎ زاد‬.‫ﻟﻤﺒﺎح‬

ُ ‫ﻼم ا‬
ِ ‫ﻟﻜ‬ َ ‫ﻋِﻦ ا‬ َ ‫َﺖ‬ْ ‫ﺴَﻜﺘ‬َ َ‫ ﻓ‬،‫ﻟﺼﺒﺎح‬ ‫ﺷْﮭَﺮزادَ ا ﱠ‬ َ ‫وأ َ ْدَرَك‬
‫ وأﯾَﻦ ھﺬا ِﻣّﻤﺎ‬:‫ﺷْﮭَﺮزاد‬ ْ َ ‫ ﻣﺎ أ َ ْﺣﻠَﻰ َﺣﺪﯾﺜ َ َﻚ وأ‬،‫ﯾﺎ أ ُ ْﺧﺘﻲ‬
َ ‫طﯿَﺒَﮫُ وأَﻟَﺬﱠهُ وأ َ ْﻋﺬَﺑَﮫ! ﻓَﻘﺎﻟَﺖ‬
‫ﻟﻠﮫ ﻻ أ َ ْﻗﺘُﻠُﮭﺎ َﺣﺘﱠﻰ‬
ِ ‫ وا‬:‫ﻟﻤِﻠﻚ‬ َ ‫ﺖ َوأ َ ْﺑﻘﺎﻧﻲ ا‬
َ ‫ ﻓﻘﺎَل ا‬.‫ﻟﻤِﻠﻚ‬ ُ ‫إن ِﻋْﺸ‬ ُ ‫ﺳﺄ ُ َﺣِﺪّﺛ ُ ُﻜﻢ ﺑِﮫ اﻟﻠﱠْﯿﻠَﺔَ ا‬
ْ َ‫ﻟﻤْﻘِﺒﻠَﺔ‬ َ
. . . ‫ﻋﺠﯿﺐ‬ َ ُ‫أ َ ْﺳَﻤَﻊ َﺣﺪﯾﺜَﮭﺎ ﻷﻧﱠﮫ‬
2. Read the text once to your student at normal speed.
3. Allow your students to take notes.
4. Divide your students into groups of 3 (the more students, the easier the task will
be) and ask them to reconstruct the text with all grammatical case (and mood)
endings based on what they have just heard and their written notes (in 8 minutes,
2 minutes per sentence).
5. Collapse two groups into one group and allow your students one more chance to
reconstruct the text along with case and mood endings (in about 8 minutes).
6. Go over your students’ responses by having each group present their text by
delegating a student to read it while preferably displaying it to the class via a
document projector.
7. Invite your students to ask questions about the target structure and related ones.

Variations
a. Instead of collapsing each two groups into one, distribute copies of the written
text without supplying case (and mood) endings.
b. Other grammatical structures can be the target of this activity, such as the num-
ber phrase, conditional sentences, the exceptive phrase, the apposition phrase,
and the diptote.
(For texts of different structures, see Alhawary 2011.)

22. Complete the speculations ‫ﻟﺘﻜﮭﻨﺎت‬

ّ ‫أ ﻛﻤﻠﻮ ا ا‬
Purpose
To provide deliberate practice in the use of conditional sentences, in particular the three
types: the possible/probable by using particles such as ‫“ إذا‬if” and ‫“ إن‬if,” the improbable
 Grammar techniques 139

by using ‫“ ﻟﻮ‬if ” or ‫“ ﻟﻮﻻ‬where it not for,” and the impossible by using ‫“ ﻟﻮ‬if/had.” It
allows for the integration of deliberate grammar practice with the speaking or writing
skill. It requires little to no preparation and takes about 15–20 minutes to execute.

Procedure
1. Go over the meaning and rules of forming the type of conditional sentence
that you want to provide your students with deliberate practice in, such as the
improbable sentence involving the use of ‫“ ﻟﻮ‬if.”
2. Explain to your students that each one is to use the second part of the conditional
sentence constructed by a previous student as their first part.
3. Arrange the seats in class in a semicircle (or two semicircles one behind the
other, depending on the number of students).
4. Stand or sit where the right end of the semicircle is to your right and the left end
to your left.
5. Turn to the student to your right or left; if turning to the student to your right,
model the conditional sentence by stating ‫ ﻟﻜﻨﺖ ﻓﻲ طﻮﻛﯿﻮ اﻵن‬،‫ﻏﻨﻲ‬ ّ ‫“ ﻟﻮ أﻧﺎ‬If I
were rich, I would be in Tokyo now.”
6. Using the second part of your sentence as their part, that student should respond
with a sentence such as ‫“ ﻟﻮ أﻧﺎ ﻓﻲ طﻮﻛﯿﻮ اﻵن ﻟَﺬھﺒﺖ إﻟﻰ ﻣﻄﻌﻢ ﺳﻮﺷﻲ‬If I were in
Tokyo now, I would go to a sushi restaurant.”
7. The next student should use the second part of the conditional sentence as their
first part and so on.
8. The chain of speculations about students’ wishes continues in the same fashion
until each student in the class has constructed a conditional sentence of the same
type, recycling the second part of the sentence of a previous student.
9. Reinforce the rules involved by writing 2–3 conditional sentences (or having
some students write the sentences they have produced) on the board, inviting
any questions your students may have, and correcting errors that students may
have produced during the activity.

Variations
a. A series of pictures (presented on slides/screen or via a document projector)
of different activities or locations can be presented for students to use in their
second part of the conditional sentence.
b. Index cards or sheets of paper can be used containing the first part of one of the
types of the conditional sentences that students can select (1–3 each) randomly
(such as ‫ﺗﺨﺮﺟﺖ ھﺬه اﻟﺴﻨﺔ؟‬ّ ‫إن‬/‫“ ﻣﺎذا ﺳﺘﻔﻌﻞ إذا‬What will you do if you graduate
this year?,” ‫“ ﻣﺎذا ﻛﻨﺖ ﺗﻔﻌﻞ ﻟﻮ )ﻛﺎن( ﻋﻨﺪك ﻣﻠﯿﻮن دوﻻر‬What would you do if you
had a million dollars?,” and ‫ﻣﺎذا ﻛﻨﺖ ﺗﻔﻌﻞ ﻟﻮ ﺳﺎﻓﺮت إﻟﻰ ﺳﻮرﯾﺔ اﻟﺴﻨﺔ اﻟﻤﺎﺿﯿﺔ؟‬
“What would you have done if you had traveled to Syria last year?”) and then
ask the student next to them in the chain one question at a time.
140 Grammar techniques

c. Instead of constructing the conditional sentences verbally, have students write

their sentences on a sheet of paper to be passed from one student to another.
d. Display the written sentence on the board or via a document projector and
go over the chain of sentences as a whole class, inviting corrections from
everyone.
(See also Ur 2009.)

23. Identify your errors and correct them ‫ﺣﺪ دوا أ ﺧﻄﺎءﻛﻢ‬
ّ
‫ﺻﺤﺤﻮ ھﺎ‬
ّ ‫و‬
Purpose
To provide learners with deliberate practice in the use of grammatical structures
that they have learned but are still making errors in producing them in their class-
room speech and writing assignments. Instead of providing direct or indirect
error corrections during communicative activities, addressing error corrections
during this activity allows learners to engage in communicative activities freely
without being interrupted by the teacher, which may otherwise hinder their devel-
opment of speaking fluency and/or disrupt the pace of communicative activities
in which they engage. The activity allows for the integration of deliberate gram-
mar practice with the speaking skill. It requires little preparation and takes about
25 minutes to execute.

Procedure
1. On a biweekly (or as often as needed) basis, prepare a list of 10–30 common
or frequent errors that your students have been making during communicative
(speaking) activities and in their writing assignments; such a list can be arranged
in a table and contain purely grammatical errors, errors due to wrong choice of
word (nominal, verbal, adjectival) patterns, errors due to the wrong selection or
absence of a preposition, and errors related to style such as the sample of errors
in the following table:

‫أﺧﻄﺎء ﻓﻲ اﻷوزان أو أﺧﻄﺎء ﻓﻲ اﻷﺳﻠﻮب‬ ‫اﻟﻨﺤﻮﯾﺔ‬

ْ ‫اﻷﺧﻄﺎء‬
‫ﺣﺮوف اﻟﺠﺮ‬

‫ﺗﻮﻗﻌﺎﺗﮫ ﻟﯿﺴﺖ اﻟﻮاﻗﻊ‬ ‫اﻷﻗﻮى ﺑﻼد ﺳﺘﺴﯿﻄﺮ ﻋﻠﻰ ﻻ ﺷﻲء ﻗﺪ ﻏﯿﱠﺮ‬ -1

‫اﻵﺧﺮﯾﻦ‬

‫ﻣـــﻦ طــﺒــﻘــﺔ اﺟــﺘــﻤــﺎﻋــﻲ‬ ِّ

‫ﯾﺤﺪﺛﻮن ﻋﻦ أﺷﯿﺎء‬ ‫ﻻ ﺗﺸﺠﻊ اﻟﻨﺎس اﻟﻄﯿﺒﻮن‬ -2
‫اﻟﻤﻮظﻔﯿﻦ‬
 Grammar techniques 141

‫ﻻ ﺗﺸﺠﻊ اﻟﻨﺎس اﻟﻄﯿﺒﯿﻦ‬ ‫ﯾﻌﺮف اﻟﻤﻮاطﻨﻮن أن ﻗﺎدﺗﮭﻢ ﯾﮭﺘﻤﻮن ﻋﻦ اﻟﻌﻤﻞ‬ -3

‫ﻟﯿﺲ ﻣﻌﺼﻮم ﻋﻦ اﻟﺨﻄﺄ‬

. . . ‫ِﻣﺜ َﻞ ﻗﺎل أرﯾﺪ‬ ‫أواﻓﻖ ﻣﻊ اﻟﻜﺎﺗﺐ‬ ‫اﻟﺤﯿﺎة ﻟﯿﺲ ﻋﺎدﻟﺔ‬ -4

‫ﻋﻨﺪه اﻟﺬﻛﺮﯾﺎت ﻋﻦ ﺑﺪاﯾﺔ‬ ‫ﻣﻌﻈﻢ اﻟــﻤــﻮظــﻔــﻮن ﻏﯿﺮ أواﻓﻖ ﻣﻊ ھﺬا اﻟﻜﻼم‬ -5

‫ﻋﻤﻠﮫ‬ ‫طﯿﺒﻮن‬

‫ﺑﻌﺾ ﻣﻦ اﻟﻨﺎس ﯾﻘﻮﻟﻮن‬ ‫ﱠأﺛﺮت ﺑﺄﺳﻠﻮب اﻟﻜﺎﺗﺐ‬ .‫ﯾﻌﺘﻘﺪ أن ھﺬا اﻟﻈﻠﻢ‬ -6

‫إن ﻟﯿﺲ ﻓﻲ ﻣﻜﺎن ﻟﻠﺪﯾﻦ ﻓﻲ‬
‫اﻟﺪوﻟﺔ اﻟﻤﺪﻧﯿﺔ‬

ً ‫ﯾﺆﺛﺮ ﻋﻠﻰ اﻟﻌﺎﺋﻠﺔ ﺑﻠﯿﻐﺎ‬ ‫ﯾﺰوج‬

ِ ّ ‫ﻋﻨﺪه اﻟﺬﻛﺮﯾﺎت ﻋﻦ ﺑﺪاﯾﺔ ﯾﺮﯾﺪ أن‬ -7
‫ﻋﻤﻠﮫ‬

‫ﻋﻨﺪﻣﺎ ﯾﺼﻞ ﻓﻲ اﻟﻌﻤﻞ ﯾﻄﻠﺒﻮن ﺣﻘﻮﻗﮭﻢ وﺣﺮﯾﺎﺗﮭﻢ‬ ‫ﻟﯿﺲ ﻛﺎنَ ﻋﻨﺪھﻢ وﺣﺪة‬ -8

‫ﺗﻌﺮﻓﺖ ﻋﻠﻰ اﻟﺸﺎب ﻣﻦ‬ّ ‫ﺳﯿﺸﻌﺮون راﺣﺔ ﻛﺜﯿﺮة‬ ‫ﯾﺠﻌﻠﮫ أن ﯾﻤﺜﻞ دور اﻷب‬ -9
‫ﺗﺰوج ﺻﺪﯾﻘﺘﻲ‬
ّ

‫ﯾــﺠــﺐ أن اﻷم واﻷب اﻟــﺪول اﻟﻌﺮﺑﯿﺔ ﻋﻨﺪھﺎ ﻟـــﻢ ﯾــﺠــﺪ ﻓـــﻲ اﻟــﺘــﺎرﯾــﺦ‬ -10
‫ﻋﺪد ﻛﺒﯿﺮ ﻣﻦ اﻟﺒﺎﺣﺜﯿﻦ اﻹﺳﻼﻣﻲ ھﺬا اﻟﻤﻔﮭﻮم‬ ‫ﯾﻌﻤﻠﻮن‬
2. Inform your students that these are their own errors that they have made recently
either in speaking activities in class or in their writing assignments.
3. Divide your students into dyads and ask them to collaborate in identifying
and correcting their errors one error type/column at a time (5 minutes per
column).
4. Go over the errors as a whole class one error at a time by having each group
delegate a member to identify the error and suggest a correction.
5. Elicit corrections from students of other groups if a group is not able to identify
the error or provide a proper correction.
6. Invite students to ask any questions about the structures and related ones.

Variations
a. Allow groups 2 additional minutes after the time of each error type expires to
ask other groups about an error they could not identify or could not correct.
b. Have students initially work individually on each error type/column (5 minutes
per column) before dividing them into dyads to discuss their answers (in 5 min-
utes), but this will take more time for the activity to be completed.
142 Grammar techniques

24. Compare your attributes ‫ﻗﺎرﻧﻮا ﺑﯿﻦ ِﺧﺼﺎ ﻟﻜﻢ‬

Purpose

To provide learners with deliberate practice in using ‫“ اﻟﺘﻤﯿﯿﺰ‬adverbs of specifica-

tion” to express the comparative and superlative degrees. It allows for the inte-
gration of deliberate grammar practice with the speaking and possibly writing
skills. The activity is best implemented after students are presented with the rules
of adverb of specification used with adjectives of derived verbs (II–X) and other
derived words, such as abstract nouns with which the ‫ أﻓﻌﻞ‬pattern rule, cannot be
used. It requires little preparation and takes about 25 minutes to execute.

Procedure
1. Prepare a list of adjectives of derived verbs II–X and abstract nouns as many
as there are students, with one adjective/noun on a separate index card/sheet
of paper, and preferably add (in parentheses) the appropriate preposition to be
used if needed and any other information next to the adjectives/nouns to further
clarify their meanings so that comparisons can readily be made such as in the
following list:

ّ ِ ‫ُﻣﺪَ ﱠرب )ﻋﻠﻰ‬

(‫اﻟﺴﺒﺎﺣﺔ‬
(‫ﺴﺎﻓﺮ )إﻟﻰ ﺑﻼد ﻋﺮﺑﯿﺔ‬ ِ ‫ُﻣ‬
(‫ُﻣْﺒِﺪع )ﻓﻲ اﻟﻄﺒﺦ‬
‫ُﻣﺘ ََﻜِﻠّﻢ‬
(‫ﺴﺎﻣﺢ )ﻣﻊ اﻟﻔﻘﺮاء‬ ِ َ ‫ُﻣﺘ‬
(‫اﻷﺣﺪاث اﻟﺴﯿﺎﺳﯿﺔ‬ ْ ‫ُﻣْﻨﻔَ ِﻌﻞ )ﻣﻊ‬
(‫ُﻣْﺤﺘ َِﺮم )ﻟﻠﺘﱠﻘﺎﻟﯿﺪ‬
(‫ُﻣْﺴﺘ َْﺨِﺪم )ﻟﻸﺟﮭﺰة اﻹﻟﻜﺘﺮوﻧﯿﺔ‬
‫َﻣْﺴﺆوﻟﯿّﺔ‬
‫إﻧﺴﺎﻧﯿّﺔ‬
2. Divide your students into groups of 3 and distribute 3 cards to each group.
3. Ask members in each group to find out from each other and compare their own
attributes with respect to the three adjectives/nouns that they received in the
cards, with a total of nine sentences (in 9 minutes); for example, in the group
that received the card with the adjective (‫ﻣﺪرب )ﻋﻠﻰ اﻟﺴﺒﺎﺣﺔ‬
‫“ ﱠ‬is trained/received
training in swimming,” one member is trained or not in swimming → ‫ﻣﺎﯾﻜﻞ‬
‫ﻣﺪرب ﻋﻠﻰ اﻟﺴﺒﺎﺣﺔ‬‫ﻣﺪرب أو ﻏﯿﺮ ﱠ‬ ‫ ; ﱠ‬another member is trained more than another
→ ‫ﺗﺪرﺑﺎ ً ﻋﻠﻰ اﻟﺴﺒﺎﺣﺔ ﻣﻦ ﻣﺎﯾﻜﻞ‬
‫ ;ﺟﻮن أﻛﺜﺮ ﱡ‬and a third member is trained the most
→‫ﺗﺪرﺑﺎ ً ﻋﻠﻰ اﻟﺴﺒﺎﺣﺔ‬
‫اﻷﻛﺜﺮ ﱡ‬/‫آدم أﻛﺜﺮ اﻟﻄﻼب ﻓﻲ اﻟﻤﺠﻤﻮﻋﺔ‬.
 Grammar techniques 143

4. Ask each group to prepare/write three sets of three statements, using in each set
of three statements one adjective/noun as an adverb of specification (used in the
comparative and superlative about themselves).
5. If group members find the information in the parentheses too restrictive, they
should ignore it and find some other attribute in common.
6. Go over your students’ responses as a whole class, with each group member
reporting to class a set of three statements pertaining to one adjective/noun
comparing the three group members, with each group reporting a total of nine
statements.
7. Elicit corrections from students of other groups.
8. Invite your students to ask questions about this structure and related ones.

Variations
a. Provide copies of the entire list to each student and ask each group to select
three adjectives/nouns from the list.
b. Have a group exchange their statements with at least another group for correc-
tions and comments.
c. Allow time for each group to incorporate the comments and corrections before
each group reports their statements to the class.

25. Identify the grammatical structures and vocalize them

‫ﺣﺪ دوا ا ﻟﺘﺮاﻛﯿﺐ وأﻋﺮﺑﻮھﺎ‬
ّ
Purpose
To provide learners with deliberate practice in and review of a number of gram-
matical structures in context that they have learned recently or previously and
their ability to recognize such structures as well as apply the relevant rules. The
activity allows for the integration of deliberate grammar practice with the read-
ing and possibly speaking skills. It requires little preparation and takes about 30
minutes to execute.

Procedure
1. Prepare a level-appropriate text or select one from your students’ textbook
or from Alhawary (2016) containing a number of grammatical structures that
they have learned recently and previously, such as those related to the num-
ber phrase, passive voice, quantifiers, the exceptive structure, the apposition
structure, the exclamation structure, and the diptote, and mark all instances
of the structure (e.g., by underlining, bolding, highlighting, or drawing a
circle around them) as in the following text (excerpted from Taha Hussein’s
The Days):
‫‪144‬‬ ‫‪Grammar techniques‬‬

‫ﺼﺮ ﻓﻲ‬ ‫ﻖ ِﻣ ْ‬ ‫ﻨﻮن َﺟﻤﯿﻌﺎ ً ِﺑَﺤ ّ ِ‬ ‫اﻟﻮْﻓِﺪ“ ﯾُْﺆِﻣ َ‬ ‫زارِة وأ َ ْﻋﻀﺎء ” َ‬ ‫ـﻮ َ‬ ‫اﻟﺴﯿﺎﺳﯿﻮن أ َ ْﻋﻀﺎء اﻟـ ِ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ﻛﺎن‬‫َ‬
‫اﻟﺤﱠﺮِة إﯾﺜﺎرا ً‬ ‫ُ‬ ‫ﺔ‬ ‫ِ‬ ‫ﺿ‬
‫ِ ِ ُ َ َ‬ ‫ﻔﺎو‬ ‫ﺎﻟﻤ‬ ‫ﺑ‬ ‫ﻠﯿﺰ‬ ‫ﺠ‬‫ْ‬ ‫ْ‬
‫اﻹﻧ‬ ‫ﻦ‬‫َ‬ ‫ﻣ‬
‫ِ‬ ‫ﺺ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ﻠ‬ ‫َﺨ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫ﺘ‬ ‫ﺴ‬
‫ْ‬ ‫ُ‬ ‫ﯾ‬ ‫ن‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫أ‬ ‫ﺐ‬‫ُ‬ ‫ﺠ‬ ‫َِ‬ ‫ﯾ‬ ‫ﻼل‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ْ‬
‫ﻘ‬ ‫ﺘ‬
‫ِ‬ ‫ﺳ‬
‫ْ‬ ‫اﻻ‬ ‫ِ‬ ‫ھﺬا‬ ‫ﱠ‬
‫ن‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ﺄ‬ ‫وﺑ‬
‫ِ ِ‬ ‫‪،‬‬ ‫ﻼل‬ ‫ﻘ‬‫ْ‬ ‫ﺘ‬
‫ِ‬ ‫ﺳ‬‫ْ‬ ‫اﻻ‬ ‫ِ‬
‫ﻔﻮس ﻋﻠﻰ أ َ ْن ﺗ ُ ْﺰَھَﻖ ﻗَْﺒَﻞ أ ْنَ‬ ‫وﺑﺎﻟﻨﱡ ِ‬ ‫ﺮاق ِ‬ ‫ﻣﺎء ﻋﻠﻰ أ ْن ﺗ ُ َ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ﺎﻟﺪّ ِ‬ ‫اﻟﻌﺎﻓﯿَِﺔ وﺑ ُْﺨﻼ ِﺑ ِ‬ ‫ً‬ ‫ِ‬ ‫ور ْﻏﺒَﺔ ﻓﻲ‬ ‫ً‬ ‫ﻠﺴﻠِﻢ َ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫ِﻟ ِ ّ‬
‫ھﺬِه‬ ‫ﻈﺎھﺮ ِ‬ ‫ﻔﻮن ﻓﻲ َﻣ ِ‬ ‫واﻹﺟﻤﺎعِ ﻛﺎﻧﻮا ﯾَ ْﺨﺘ َ ِﻠ َ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫وﻟﻜﻨﱠ ُﮭﻢ ﻋﻠﻰ ھﺬا ِاﻻِﺗ ّ ِ‬
‫ﻔﺎق‬ ‫اﻟﺴ ْﻠﻢ‪ِ .‬‬ ‫ﺗ ُ ْﺴﺘ َ ْﻨﻔَﺪَ َوﺳﺎﺋِ ُﻞ ِ ّ‬
‫إن ﻗ ِﺪّ َر ﻟﮫُ اﻟﻨﱠﺠﺎح‪.‬‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ُ‬ ‫ﻼل ْ‬ ‫ْ‬
‫ﺘﺎح ﻟﮫُ ﺗ َْﺤﻘﯿﻖ ِاﻻ ْﺳ ِﺘﻘ ِ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ﺳﯿ ُ ُ‬ ‫ﺿ ِﺔ‪َِ ،‬ﻷﱠن َﻣْﻦ ﯾُ ْﺠﺮﯾﮭﺎ َ‬ ‫ﻔﺎو َ‬ ‫اﻟﻤ َ‬ ‫ُ‬
‫ﺷﺪﯾﺪا‪.‬‬ ‫ﺳُﮭﻢ ﺑَْﯿﻨَُﮭﻢ َ‬ ‫ﺖ ﺑَﺄ َْ‬ ‫ت ﺑَْﯿﻨَُﮭﻢ ِﻓﺘْﻨَﺔٌ ُﻣْﻨَﻜَﺮة ٌ َﺟﻌَﻠَ ْ‬ ‫ﺎر ْ‬ ‫وﺛ‬ ‫ّﻮن‬
‫َ‬ ‫ﯾ‬ ‫ﺮ‬ ‫ﺼ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫ﻟﻤ‬
‫ِ‬ ‫ا‬ ‫ﻢ‬ ‫ﺴ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ﻘ‬ ‫ْ‬
‫اﻧ‬ ‫ﻚ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ﺬﻟ‬
‫ِ‬ ‫َ‬
‫وﻛ‬
‫َ‬ ‫ِ‬ ‫ََ‬
‫ﺴﻤﻮا إﻟﻰ ﻓَﺮﯾﻘَْﯿِﻦ‪:‬‬ ‫ﺎس ﻗَِﺪ ْاﻧﻘَ َ‬ ‫ﺮون َﻛﻐَْﯿِﺮِھﻢ ِﻣَﻦ اﻟﻨّ ِ‬ ‫ﺎء واﻟُﻤﻔَ ِ ّﻜ َ‬ ‫ﺎﺣﺒُﻨﺎ ﻓَﺈذا اﻟﻌُﻠَﻤ ُ‬ ‫ﻈَﺮ ﺻ ِ‬ ‫وﻧَ َ‬
‫آﺧﺮ ﻣﺎَل‬ ‫ﺳْﻌﺪ“ وﻓَﺮﯾﻖ َ‬ ‫ﺋﯿﺲ ّإﻻ َ‬ ‫ﻠﯿﻦ‪” :‬ﻻ َر َ‬ ‫ﺎل ﻣﻊ اﻟﻘﺎِﺋ َ‬ ‫ﺎل إﻟﻰ اَﻟﻮْﻓِﺪ وﻗ َ‬ ‫ﻓَﺮﯾﻖ ِﻣْﻨُﮭﻢ ﻣ َ‬
‫ﺎﺣﺒُﻨﺎ‬ ‫ﻟﺤﻜﻢ“‪ .‬ﺛ ﱠﻢ ﻧَﻈَﺮ ﺻ ِ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ُ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫ﻲا ُ‬ ‫ـﻤْﻦ ُوِﻟ َ‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫ﺎت ِﻟ َ‬ ‫ﺎوﺿ ُ‬ ‫ﻟﻤﻔ َ‬ ‫ﻠﯿﻦ‪” :‬إﻧﱠﻤﺎ ا ُ‬ ‫ﺎل ﻣﻊ اﻟﻘﺎِﺋ َ‬ ‫زارِة وﻗ َ‬ ‫ﻟﻮ َ‬ ‫إﻟﻰ ا ِ‬
‫ﯿﺴﮭﺎ‬ ‫ورﺋ َ ِ‬ ‫ِ َ ِ َ‬ ‫ة‬ ‫زار‬ ‫ﻟﻮ‬ ‫ا‬ ‫ﻟﻰ‬ ‫إ‬ ‫ﺎل‬
‫َ‬ ‫ﻣ‬ ‫ﺬي‬ ‫ﱠ‬ ‫اﻟ‬ ‫ﯾﻖ‬
‫ِ‬ ‫ﺮ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ﻔ‬ ‫ﻟ‬ ‫ا‬ ‫ﻊ‬ ‫ﻣ‬ ‫ﻮ‬ ‫ھ‬ ‫وإذا‬ ‫ﺎس‪،‬‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫ﻟﻨ‬ ‫ا‬ ‫ﺔ‬‫ِ‬ ‫ﺎﻣ‬‫ﱠ‬ ‫ﻋ‬ ‫ﻦ‬‫ْ‬ ‫ﻣ‬ ‫ِ‬ ‫ه‬
‫ِ‬ ‫ﺮ‬ ‫ِ‬ ‫ﯿ‬‫ْ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ﻐ‬ ‫َ‬
‫ﻛ‬ ‫ﻮ‬ ‫ﻓَﺈذا ھ‬
‫ﻋْﺪﻟﻲ ﺑﺎﺷﺎ‪َ ،‬رِﺣَﻤﮫُ اﻟﻠﮫ‪.‬‬ ‫َ‬
‫ﻤﯿﺮ‪.‬‬ ‫َ ٍ‬ ‫ﺿ‬ ‫ﱠ‬
‫ﻞ‬ ‫ُ‬
‫وﻛ‬ ‫ﻞ‬‫َ ٍ‬ ‫ْ‬
‫ﻘ‬ ‫ﻋ‬ ‫ﻞ‬ ‫ﱠ‬ ‫ُ‬
‫وﻛ‬ ‫ﺲ‬ ‫ْ‬
‫َﻔ‬ ‫ﻧ‬ ‫ﻞ‬ ‫ﱠ‬ ‫ُ‬
‫ﻛ‬ ‫ُﮭﺎ‬ ‫ﺒ‬ ‫ﮭ‬ ‫َ ﱠ َ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ﻟ‬ ‫ﺲ‬ ‫ﻣ‬ ‫ﻰ‬ ‫ﱠ‬ ‫ﺘ‬ ‫ﺣ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ُ‬ ‫ﺔ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ﻨ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫ﺘ‬ ‫اﻟﻔ‬
‫ِ‬ ‫ﺖ‬
‫ِ‬ ‫ﻣ‬
‫َ َ‬ ‫ﺮ‬ ‫ﻄ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫اﺿ‬
‫ْ‬ ‫ﻣﺎ‬ ‫ع‬ ‫ﺮ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ﺳ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫أ‬ ‫وﻣﺎ‬
‫اﻟﻮْﻓِﺪ‬ ‫ﺒﺎع َ‬ ‫ﻔﺎق‪ ،‬وإذا أَﺗْ ُ‬ ‫اﻹﺧ ِ‬ ‫ﺿﺎﺗﮭﺎ وﯾُﺪَﺑُِّﺮ ِﻟﮭﺬا ْ‬ ‫ﻔﺎو ِ‬ ‫زارِة ﻓﻲ ُﻣ َ‬ ‫ﻔﺎق ِﻟْﻠِﻮ َ‬ ‫اﻹﺧ َ‬ ‫اﻟﻮْﻓﺪُ ﯾَﺘ ََﻤﻨﱠﻰ ْ‬ ‫وإذا َ‬
‫ﻼل‬ ‫ِ‬ ‫ْ‬
‫ﻘ‬ ‫ﺘ‬
‫ِ‬ ‫ﺳ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫اﻻ‬
‫ِ‬ ‫ﻦ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ﻣ‬ ‫ِ‬ ‫ﺮ‬ ‫ٌ‬ ‫ﯿ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫ﺧ‬‫َ‬ ‫ﺪ‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫ﻌ‬
‫َ َْ‬ ‫ﺳ‬ ‫ﺪ‬ ‫ِ‬ ‫ﯾ‬ ‫ﻋﻠﻰ‬ ‫ُ‬ ‫ﺔ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ﻤﺎﯾ‬ ‫اﻟﺤ‬
‫ِ‬ ‫”‬ ‫‪:‬‬ ‫ﻐﯿﺾ‬ ‫َ ِ‬ ‫اﻟﺒ‬ ‫ذاك‬ ‫ﻢ‬ ‫ﮭ‬ ‫ِ‬ ‫ِ‬ ‫ُﻋﺎﺋ‬ ‫ﺪ‬ ‫ﺑ‬
‫ِ َ ِ‬ ‫ﻆ‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫ﱡ‬ ‫ﻔ‬ ‫َﺤ‬ ‫ﺗ‬ ‫ﺮ‬ ‫ﯿ‬
‫ْ‬ ‫َ‬
‫ﻏ‬ ‫ﻓﻲ‬ ‫ﺮون‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ﯾَْﺠَﮭ‬
‫ﻋْﺪﻟﻲ“! ‪. . .‬‬ ‫ﻋﻠﻰ ﯾَِﺪ َ‬
‫ﻮل‬
‫ِ‬ ‫ﺒ‬ ‫ُ‬ ‫ﻗ‬ ‫ﻓﻲ‬ ‫ﺢ‬ ‫ﱡ‬ ‫ُﻠ‬
‫ِ‬ ‫وﯾ‬ ‫‪،‬‬ ‫ﺎق‬‫َ‬ ‫ﻔ‬ ‫اﻹﺧ‬‫ْ‬ ‫ﺬا‬ ‫ھ‬ ‫ﻲ‬ ‫ﻟ‬ ‫ْ‬
‫ﺪ‬ ‫ﻋ‬
‫ُ َ‬ ‫ﺮ‬ ‫ﻜ‬ ‫ِ‬ ‫ْ‬
‫ﻨ‬ ‫ُ‬ ‫وﯾ‬ ‫‪،‬‬ ‫ﻠﯿﻞ‬
‫ِ ٍ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ﻘ‬ ‫ﺑ‬ ‫ﻲ‬ ‫ﻟ‬ ‫ْ‬
‫ﺪ‬ ‫ﻋ‬
‫ِ َ‬ ‫ﺎق‬ ‫ﻔ‬ ‫ْ‬
‫إﺧ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ﺪ‬ ‫وﯾُْﻨﻔَﻰ َ ْ َ ْ‬
‫ﻌ‬ ‫ﺑ‬ ‫ﺪ‬ ‫ﻌ‬ ‫ﺳ‬
‫ﻟﻜِﻠَﻤﺔُ أ َ ْن ﺗ َْﺠﺘ َِﻤَﻊ‬ ‫ﻮﺷُﻚ ا َ‬ ‫طِﻦ ُﻛﻠّﮫ‪ ،‬وﺗ ِ‬ ‫ﺳْﻌٍﺪ إھﺎﻧَﺔٌ ِﻟْﻠَﻮ َ‬ ‫ﻲ َ‬ ‫ﻋْﺪﻟﻲ أ َ ﱠن ﻧَْﻔ َ‬ ‫ﺎب َ‬ ‫ﺻﺤ ُ‬ ‫اﺳِﺘﻘﺎﻟَﺘِِﮫ‪ ،‬وﯾَ َﺮى أ َ ْ‬ ‫ْ‬
‫ﻟﻜﱠﻦ اﻟﻌَﺼﺎ‬ ‫اﻹﻧْﺠﻠﯿﺰ‪ .‬و ِ‬ ‫ﺼِﻤِﮭﻢ ِﻣَﻦ ْ‬ ‫واﺣﺪة ﻋﻠﻰ َﺧ ْ‬ ‫ُﺼِﺒﺤﻮا ﯾَﺪا ِ‬ ‫ً‬ ‫ّﻮن أ ْن ﯾ ْ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ﺼِﺮﯾ َ‬ ‫ﻮﺷُﻚ اِﻟﻤ ْ‬ ‫وﯾ ِ‬
‫ﯾﻘﯿﻦ ِﻣْﻦ‬ ‫ِ‬ ‫ﺮ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ﻟﻔ‬ ‫ا‬ ‫ُ‬ ‫ﺪ‬ ‫ﺣ‬‫ْ ِ َ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫أ‬ ‫ﺮ‬‫ْ‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫ﯿ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ﻐ‬ ‫ُ‬ ‫ﯾ‬ ‫ﻢ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ﻟ‬ ‫‪،‬‬ ‫ن‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ﺎ‬ ‫ﻛ‬ ‫ﻣﺎ‬ ‫ﻒ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ﻨ‬ ‫ﻋ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ﺄ‬ ‫َ‬
‫ﻛ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ﻮد‬ ‫ﻌ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ﯾ‬ ‫ن‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫أ‬ ‫ﺚ‬ ‫ُ‬ ‫ﺒ‬
‫َ َ‬ ‫ْ‬
‫ﻠ‬ ‫ﯾ‬ ‫ﻻ‬ ‫ﻼف‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ﺨ‬‫ِ‬ ‫واﻟ‬ ‫ﻖ‬ ‫ﱠ‬ ‫ﺸ‬
‫َ‬ ‫َﻨ‬‫ْ‬ ‫ﺗ‬ ‫ن‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫أ‬ ‫ﺚ‬ ‫ُ‬ ‫ﻻ ﺗ َْﻠﺒَ‬
‫ﺷْﯿﺌﺎ‪.‬‬ ‫َرأِْﯾِﮫ وﻻ ِﻣْﻦ ُﺧﻄِﺘِﮫ َ‬ ‫ﱠ‬
‫ﺮﯾﻦ وِﺗْﺴﻊ ِﻣﺌ َﺔ‬ ‫وﻋْﺸ َ‬ ‫ﺳﻨَﺔ اﺛْﻨَﺘ َْﯿِﻦ ِ‬ ‫ﺷْﮭِﺮ ﻓَ ْﺒﺮاﯾَﺮ َ‬ ‫واﻟﻌْﺸﺮﯾﻦ ِﻣْﻦ َ‬ ‫ﺎﻣﻦ ِ‬ ‫ﺮﯾﺢ اﻟﺜ ّ ِ‬ ‫َﺼ َ‬ ‫ﻋﻠﻰ أ َ ﱠن ﺗ ْ‬
‫وﻛﺜﯿﺮا ِﻣْﻦ أ َﻣﻞ‪ .‬ﻓَﻘَْﺪ ظِﻔَﺮ ﺛ ْﺮَوت ﺑﺎﺷﺎ‪َ -‬رِﺣَﻤﮫُ اﻟﻠﮫُ‪-‬‬ ‫َ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ً‬ ‫ﺷْﯿﺌﺎ ِﻣْﻦ ِﺛﻘٍَﺔ َ‬ ‫ً‬ ‫ﯿﻦ َ‬ ‫وأَْﻟﻒ ﯾَُﺮدﱡ إﻟﻰ اﻟﻌَْﺪِﻟﯿّ َ‬
‫ﺷْﻲء! ‪. . .‬‬ ‫وﺷْﻲٌء َﺧْﯿٌﺮ ِﻣْﻦ ﻻ َ‬ ‫ﻖ‪َ .‬‬ ‫اﻟﺤ ّ ِ‬ ‫ﺾ َ‬ ‫ِﺑﺒَ ْﻌ ِ‬
‫وﺻﺎﺣﺒُﻨﺎ‬ ‫ِ‬ ‫اﺿِﻄﺮام‪،‬‬ ‫ﻧﺎرهُ إﻻ ْ‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫ﺮﯾﻘِﮫ ﻻ ﺗ َْﮭﺪَأ ﺛْﻮَرﺗ ُﮫُ وﻻ ﺗ َْﺰدادُ ُ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ُ‬ ‫ﻼف ﯾَْﻤﻀﻲ ﻓﻲ ط ِ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫واﻟﺨ ُ‬ ‫ِ‬
‫ﻋﻠَْﯿِﮫ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫َ‬
‫ﻂ‬ ‫ﺨ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ﺴ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ﯾ‬ ‫أو‬ ‫اﺿﻮن‬
‫َ‬ ‫اﻟﺮ‬‫ّ‬ ‫ُ‬ ‫ﮫ‬ ‫ْ‬
‫ﻨ‬ ‫ﻋ‬ ‫َْ َ َ‬ ‫ﻰ‬ ‫ﺿ‬ ‫ﺮ‬ ‫ﯾ‬ ‫ن‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫أ‬ ‫ﻨﯿﮫ‬
‫ِ‬ ‫ﻌ‬
‫ِ َْ‬‫ﯾ‬ ‫ﻻ‬ ‫ﺎر‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫اﻟﻨ‬ ‫ه‬
‫ِ‬ ‫ھﺬ‬
‫ِ‬ ‫ﻛﺎء‬
‫ِ‬ ‫ْ‬
‫إذ‬ ‫ﻓﻲ‬ ‫ﮫ‬‫ِ‬ ‫ﺤﺎﺑ‬
‫ِ‬ ‫ﺻ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫أ‬ ‫ﻣﻊ‬ ‫ﻣﺎض‬ ‫ٍ‬
‫ﺜﯿﺮ‪،‬‬ ‫اﻟﻜ ِ‬ ‫ﺻﺎﺋٌﺮ إﻟﻰ َ‬ ‫ِ‬ ‫ﻠﯿﻞ‬ ‫وﺑﺄ ﱠن اﻟﻘَ َ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ﺷْﻲء‪ِ ،‬‬ ‫ﺷْﯿﺌﺎ َﺧْﯿٌﺮ ِﻣْﻦ ﻻ َ‬ ‫ً‬ ‫َ‬
‫ﻄﻮن‪ ،‬وإﻧﱠﻤﺎ ھﻮ ُﻣﻘﺘ َِﻨٌﻊ ِﺑﺄ ﱠن َ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫ﺎﺧ َ‬ ‫اﻟﺴ ِ‬ ‫ّ‬
‫ﻣﻮن‬ ‫ﻒ ﯾَ ْﺤِﺰ َ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ﯿ‬
‫ْ‬ ‫َ‬
‫ﻛ‬ ‫ّﻮن‬
‫َ‬ ‫ﯾ‬ ‫ﺮ‬ ‫ِْ‬ ‫ﻤﺼ‬ ‫اﻟ‬
‫ِ‬ ‫ف‬ ‫ََ َ‬ ‫ﺮ‬ ‫ﻋ‬ ‫إن‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫ﻖ‬ ‫ﻘﺎﺋ‬
‫ِ‬ ‫ﺣ‬ ‫ِ َ‬ ‫ﺎم‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫ﯾ‬‫َ‬ ‫اﻷ‬ ‫ﻦ‬
‫َ‬ ‫ﻣ‬ ‫ِ‬ ‫م‬
‫َْ ٍ‬‫ﻮ‬ ‫ﯾ‬ ‫ﻓﻲ‬ ‫ﺢ‬ ‫َ َ ِْ ُ‬ ‫ﺒ‬ ‫ﺼ‬ ‫ُ‬ ‫ﺘ‬ ‫ﺳ‬ ‫ﺮ‬ ‫ﻈﺎھ‬
‫ِ‬ ‫اﻟﻤ‬
‫َ‬ ‫ه‬ ‫ِ‬ ‫ھﺬ‬
‫ِ‬ ‫ن‬‫ﱠ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫وﺑﺄ‬ ‫ِ‬
‫ﮭﺎز اﻟﻔَُﺮص‪.‬‬ ‫ﻨﻮن ْاﻧِﺘ َ‬ ‫ﻒ ﯾُْﺤِﺴ َ‬ ‫وﻛْﯿ َ‬ ‫ﻌﻮن َﻛِﻠَﻤﺘ َُﮭﻢ َ‬ ‫ﻒ ﯾُْﺠِﻤ َ‬ ‫وﻛْﯿ َ‬ ‫ﻣﻮرُھﻢ َ‬ ‫أُ َ‬

‫‪2. Provide copies of the text and display it on the screen or via a document‬‬
‫‪projector.‬‬
‫‪3. Divide your students into dyads and have half the groups (Group A) discuss and‬‬
‫‪name the structures of the underlined words and the other half (Group B) supply‬‬
‫‪their case endings (in about 10 minutes).‬‬
‫‪4. Redivide the groups into new dyads so that each new group consists of a student‬‬
‫‪from Group A paired with a student from Group B and ask them to discuss and‬‬
‫‪finalize their answers (in about 10 minutes).‬‬
 Grammar techniques 145

5. Go over your students’ responses as a whole class by having each group del-
egate a student to read a sentence, vocalize the underlined word(s) fully, and
name the grammatical structure(s) contained in the sentence.
6. Elicit corrections from students of other groups.
7. Invite questions from your students about the targeted structures and similar
ones.

Variations
a. Instead of providing all instances of the target structures marked in the text,
remove all such markings and ask your students to identify a given number
of instances of the structures, such as identifying four instances of the number
phrase, four of the passive voice, two quantifiers, two of the exceptive structure,
three of the apposition structure, one of the exclamation structure, and two of
the diptote, and vocalize them correctly.
b. Have your students only name a subset of the structures contained in the text,
provide the text without vowels, and ask your students to vocalize a portion of
the text that contains structures that are the target of this activity/text.
(See Alhawary 2016.)
‫‪Appendix A‬‬
‫‪Correction symbols:‬‬
‫‪intermediate level‬‬
‫ﻟﻠﻤﺘﻌﻠّﻤﯿﻦ ﻓﻲ‬
‫ِ‬ ‫ر ﻣﻮ ز ﻣﻼ ﺣﻈﺎ ت ا ﻟﺘﺼﺤﯿﺢ‬
‫ﺳﻂ‬
‫ا ﻟﻤﺴﺘﻮ ى ا ﻟﻤﺘﻮ ِ ّ‬

‫ﺧﻄﺄ ﻓﻲ اﻹﺿﺎﻓﺔ‬ ‫إض‬

‫ﺧﻄﺄ ﻓﻲ اﻹﻋﺮاب‬ ‫إع‬
‫ﺧﻄﺄ ﻓﻲ اﻟﺘﻌﺮﯾﻒ أو اﻟﺘﻨﻜﯿﺮ‬ ‫ت‬
‫ﺧﻄﺄ ﻓﻲ ﺗﺮﺗﯿﺐ اﻟﻜﻠﻤﺎت‬ ‫ﺗﺮ‬
‫ﺣﺬف اﻟﻜﻠﻤﺔ أو اﻟﻜﻠﻤﺎت‬ ‫ح‬
‫ﺧﻄﺄ ﻓﻲ اﻟﺪﻻﻟﺔ‪/‬اﺧﺘﯿﺎر اﻟﻜﻠﻤﺔ‬ ‫د‬
‫ﺧﻄﺄ ﻟﻌﺪم وﺟﻮد أداة رﺑﻂ‬ ‫ر‬
‫ﺧﻄﺄ ﻓﻲ زﻣﻦ اﻟﻔﻌﻞ‬ ‫ز‬
‫ﺧﻄﺄ ﻓﻲ ﺿﻤﯿﺮ ﻋﺎﺋﺪ‬ ‫ع‬
‫اﺳﺘﺨﺪام ﻟﻠﻌﺎﻣﯿﺔ‬ ‫ﻋﻢ‬
‫ﺧﻄﺄ ﻓﻲ اﻟﻜﺘﺎﺑﺔ‬ ‫ك‬
‫ﺧﻄﺄ ﻓﻲ اﻟﻤﻄﺎﺑﻘﺔ‬ ‫م‬
‫ﺧﻄﺄ ﻓﻲ اﻻﺳﻢ اﻟﻤﻮﺻﻮل‪/‬ﺟﻤﻠﺔ اﺳﻢ اﻟﻤﻮﺻﻮل‬ ‫ﻣﻮ‬
‫ﺳﮭﻮ ﻋﻦ ﻛﻠﻤﺔ أو ﻋﺒﺎرة‬ ‫ـﮭـ‬
‫ﺧﻄﺄ ﻓﻲ اﻟﻮزن )وزن اﻻﺳﻢ أو اﻟﺼﻔﺔ أو اﻟﻔﻌﻞ(‬ ‫و‬
‫‪Appendix B‬‬
‫‪Correction symbols:‬‬
‫‪advanced level‬‬
‫ﻟﻠﻤﺘﻌﻠّﻤﯿﻦ ﻓﻲ‬
‫ِ‬ ‫ر ﻣﻮ ز ﻣﻼ ﺣﻈﺎ ت ا ﻟﺘﺼﺤﯿﺢ‬
‫ﻟﻤﺘﻘﺪّ م‬
‫ا ﻟﻤﺴﺘﻮ ى ا ِ‬

‫ﺧﻄﺄ ﻓﻲ اﻹﺿﺎﻓﺔ‬ ‫إض‬

‫ﺧﻄﺄ ﻓﻲ اﻹﻋﺮاب‬ ‫إع‬
‫ﺧﻄﺄ ﻓﻲ اﻟﺘﻌﺮﯾﻒ أو اﻟﺘﻨﻜﯿﺮ‬ ‫ت‬
‫ﺗﺪاﺧﻞ ﻓﻲ اﻟﺘﺮاﻛﯿﺐ‬ ‫ﺗﺪ‬
‫ﺧﻄﺄ ﻓﻲ ﺗﺮﺗﯿﺐ اﻟﻜﻠﻤﺎت‬ ‫ﺗﺮ‬
‫ﺣﺬف اﻟﻜﻠﻤﺔ أو اﻟﻜﻠﻤﺎت‬ ‫ح‬
‫ﺧﻄﺄ ﻓﻲ اﻟﺪﻻﻟﺔ‪/‬اﺧﺘﯿﺎر اﻟﻜﻠﻤﺔ‬ ‫د‬
‫ﺧﻄﺄ ﻟﻌﺪم وﺟﻮد أداة رﺑﻂ‬ ‫ر‬
‫ﺧﻄﺄ ﻓﻲ زﻣﻦ اﻟﻔﻌﻞ‬ ‫ز‬
‫ﺧﻄﺄ ﻓﻲ ظﺮف اﻟﺰﻣﺎن أو اﻟﻤﻜﺎن‬ ‫ظ‬
‫ﺧﻄﺄ ﻓﻲ ﺿﻤﯿﺮ ﻋﺎﺋﺪ‬ ‫ع‬
‫ﺧﻄﺄ ﻓﻲ اﻟﻌﺪد أو اﻟﻤﻌﺪود‬ ‫ﻋﺪ‬
‫اﺳﺘﺨﺪام اﻟﻌﺎﻣﯿﺔ‬ ‫ﻋﻢ‬
‫ﻓﻘﺮة ﺟﺪﯾﺪة‬ ‫ف‬
‫ﺧﻄﺄ ﻓﻲ اﻟﻜﺘﺎﺑﺔ‬ ‫ك‬
‫ﺧﻄﺄ ﻓﻲ اﻟﻤﻄﺎﺑﻘﺔ‬ ‫م‬
‫اﻟﻤﻌﻨﻰ ﻣﺒﮭﻢ‬ ‫ﻣﺐ‬
‫ﺧﻄﺄ ﻓﻲ اﻻﺳﻢ اﻟﻤﻮﺻﻮل‪/‬ﺟﻤﻠﺔ اﺳﻢ اﻟﻤﻮﺻﻮل‬ ‫ﻣﻮ‬
‫ﺳﮭﻮ ﻋﻦ ﻛﻠﻤﺔ أو ﻋﺒﺎرة‬ ‫ـﮭـ‬
‫ﺧﻄﺄ ﻓﻲ اﻟﻮزن )وزن اﻻﺳﻢ أو اﻟﺼﻔﺔ أو اﻟﻔﻌﻞ(‬ ‫و‬
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Index

accuracy 29, 33, 45, 56, 65, 78–79, 84, 86, communicative: functional ability 33,
107–108 35–36, 38–41, 111, 124, 137; functional
ACTFL guidelines 1, 33, 60, 84 needs 33, 84
adjectives 47, 124, 128, 142–143; see also communicative approach 1, 111, 124, 137
noun-adjective phrase comparative and superlative degrees 127,
advanced organizers 4, 17, 27, 30–31; 142–143
see also listening, pre-listening comparing 24, 28, 49, 79, 80, 89, 107–109,
advantages and disadvantages 56–58, 83, 128, 142–143
109–110 complexity 11, 33, 84
adverbs: manner 135, 142–143; place 115, conditional sentences 49, 135–136,
127; specification 134; time 99, 112, 138–140
115, 127 conjunctions 13, 51, 106
anxiety 26, 37, 48, 49, 52 connectors 51, 55, 96–97, 99, 101–102,
apposition structure 138, 143, 145 106–107, 133
Arabic: colloquial varieties 2; Modern consonants: emphatic 5–6, 9–10, 14;
Standard Arabic 2 nonemphatic 5–6, 9–10, 14; see also
phonemic contrasts
background: experience 81–82, 105–106; context 2, 6, 30–32, 49, 60, 62, 116, 118,
knowledge 60, 81–82; noise 21–22 133, 143
boredom 4, 111, 125, 137 contrasting 107–109
brainstorming 30, 106–107, 109–110 copying 14, 85, 87, 110, 124, 137

case endings 66, 113–115, 118, 123, debating 32, 58, 59

130–131, 134, 136, 138, 144 definiteness: definite 12, 21, 114, 118–119,
classroom equipment: document projector 132, 135; indefinite 12, 121, 134–136;
13–14, 23, 28, 38–40, 44–45, 53, 61–62, moon letters 12; sun letters 12
69, 71–72, 78, 85–86, 88–89, 97–98, deliberate practice 111, 113–116, 118,
101–104, 113–114, 116–117, 122, 125, 120–127, 129–133, 135–140, 142–143
129, 132, 134, 136, 138–140, 144; describing 15, 19, 37–38, 41, 48, 57, 82
screen 5, 10, 13, 28, 38–39, 45, 61–62, diacritics (internal short vowels) 63, 85, 145
71–72, 85–86, 88, 104, 113–114, 116, dialogues 22–23, 29–30, 36, 46–47, 63,
120, 125, 132, 134, 139, 144; slides 44, 98–99
112, 116, 139 dictation 13–14, 20, 23–24, 26–28, 88–90
classroom management 2 diptote 138, 143, 145
clauses (embedded) 131–132 discourse 23, 119; extended discourse, level
commands 18–19; see also imperative; 27, 33, 54, 56–58, 78, 84, 105, 108–109;
negative imperative production 84, 105
 Index 157

English: language 36, 42, 44, 61, 121, 135; modeling 34, 38, 86–87, 112, 115, 122,
speakers 10 125, 136, 139
error correction 38, 40, 45, 47, 53–54, 86, mood endings 66, 118, 124, 131, 134,
112, 123–124, 132, 136–137, 139–1 136, 138
errors 21, 38, 40, 45, 47, 53–54, 58, 65, 86,
88, 102–103, 106–107, 123–124, 127, narrating 24–25
132, 136–137, 140–141 narrative texts 47, 51, 78–79, 98–99
exceptive structure 138, 143, 145 negation: future 126–127; past tense 99,
exclamation structure 138, 143, 145 126–127; present tense 99, 126–127;
expository texts 78–79 verbless sentence 127
expressing 35, 38–39, 82, 94, 99, 109, negative imperative 125–126
127, 142 noun-adjective phrase 113, 118, 121, 123
noun phrase 123, 132; see also apposition
feedback 12–13, 16–17, 19, 22–23, 28–29, structure; ’idāfa; noun-adjective phrase
38–40, 45–46, 47–49, 51–52, 55, 57–58, nouns: abstract 142; defective 136; five
73, 78–80, 83, 87, 93, 95, 98–100, nouns 136; subject 96; unique 119;
103–110 verbal 129–130
fluency 28–41, 33, 35–36, 44, 46, 48–49, number phrase 135–136, 138, 143, 145
51–53, 56–57, 60, 63–64, 66, 68, 73, 84,
86, 88–91, 94–95, 97–109, 140 paragraph: level 4, 17, 27, 33, 44, 54–55,
form 2, 15, 27, 31–32, 54, 78, 105, 107, 84, 95, 97–99, 101–102, 105; production
111–112, 116, 121, 125–131, 136 33, 44, 54, 84, 95, 105; recognition 4, 23
function 2, 27, 31–32, 54, 59, 78, 94, 105, paraphrasing 103–104
109, 111 pattern wazn 116, 117–118, 125, 127, 142
personalizing 41–42
games 19, 61 phonemic contrasts 9–10
gisting 25, 28, 78–79, 98 phrase: level 4, 60, 63, 84–86, 111, 125;
grammar 2, 33, 38, 42, 66, 73, 76, 84, production 33, 84; recognition 4, 17, 20,
111–145 27, 60; see also apposition structure;
grammatical agreement 82, 113, 120, ’idāfa; noun phrase; noun-adjective
124, 136 phrase
greetings 17, 33–35, 62 prepositions 13, 88, 112, 115, 140, 142
guessing 19–21, 31–32, 40, 47, 67, 72, processing: automaticity 27, 54, 78, 105;
116–118 bottom-up 60, 66, 71, 116; control 27,
54, 78, 105; top-down 60, 66, 71
’idāfa 114–115, 118–119, 121, 123, pronouns 13, 87–88, 96, 120–121, 123,
129, 135 131–132
imperative 125–126 proper names 114, 119, 121
’inna and its sisters 130–131 pros and cons 56–58
introductions 33–35
quantifiers 143, 145
kāna and its sisters 130–131 question words/particles 37, 39, 112

listening: during-listening 4, 17, 27; reading: critically 80, 82; post-reading 60,
post-listening 4, 17, 27, 31–32; 69, 78, 81–82; pre-reading 60, 69, 78,
pre-listening 4, 17, 27, 30–31 81–82; during-reading 60, 69, 78, 81–82
real-life situations 28, 35, 49, 52, 54,
memorized chunks: level 4, 33, 60, 63, 84; 78–79, 100
production 33, 64, 84; recognition 4, 60 recasting 38, 42, 45, 47, 73, 112, 132
mimicking 28, 35, 78–79, 100 reconstructing 23, 28, 102, 108, 138
minimal pairs 7, 9–10, 14 recycling 54, 78, 105, 121
158 Index

rehearsing 41, 46–47, 49, 50–52, 56, 132 task 2, 8, 11, 29, 41, 45, 48–49, 86, 100,
repetition 4–6, 9–11, 17, 44–45, 63–64, 108, 138
71–72, 110 task-based 49
responding 10, 14, 16, 22, 32, 34, 38, 59, teaching style 1–2
100, 104, 112–113, 116, 139 technology 57, 82
retelling 79 tense: future 126, 135; past 93, 99, 122,
root 11, 60, 116–118 126; present 99, 122, 126, 135
texts: expository 78–79; narrative 47, 51,
scaffolding 77, 82 78–79, 98–99
scanning 70 topics 2, 27, 29–32, 49–51, 53–54, 56–60,
schemata 60 69, 71, 74–84, 86, 93–94, 97, 99–100,
self-confidence 17, 26, 47, 63, 73, 106 106–107, 109–110
sentence: complex 131–132; level 4, transforming 28, 47, 98, 129
16, 33, 44, 60, 63–64, 68, 86, 88–90, translating 41–42, 44, 104, 121–122, 135–136
95, 97–99, 101–102, 111, 120, 125;
nominal 121, 124, 130–131; production utterance 12–14, 22, 45
33, 44–45, 65, 86, 95; recognition 4, 20,
27, 60; verbal 65–66, 96, 120, 122–123, verbs 19, 47, 66, 87, 88, 96, 122, 123–129,
131; verbless 65–66, 118, 121–124, 131, 134, 142
127, 134 vocabulary: high frequency 33, 54, 84, 105;
shadda 12, 85 key 20, 50, 98, 100, 104, 106–107; low
sheltering 4 frequency 33, 54, 84; new 20, 30–32,
similarities and differences 51, 104–105, 107 44–45, 105, 115, 119; specialized 33, 54,
skimming 73 84, 97, 105; see also words
social media 57, 82 vocalizing 131, 143, 145
sound: level 4, 9; production 4, 6; voice: active 129; passive 129–130, 143, 145
recognition 4, 6, 9–10, 13, 27 vowels: back 6, 9; front 6, 9; long 5, 10–12,
speech: direct/indirect 98; level 17; 14; quality 6, 9; short 4, 10–12, 14;
recognition 4 see also phonemic contrasts
stem sentences/statements 82
stress 10–12 words: boundaries 12; choice 84, 140; key
structure: basic 111, 116, 120, 123, 125, 28, 50, 54, 71–72, 77, 86; level 4, 33, 60,
137; complex 33, 54, 84, 105, 137; 84–86, 111, 125; meaning 14–15, 31–32,
high frequency 33, 54, 84, 105; low 36, 60–62, 66, 116–118, 142; new 31–32,
frequency 33, 54, 84, 105 66, 71–72, 85; production 4, 6, 33, 84;
style (writing) 3, 53, 80, 106, 140 recognition 4, 13, 17, 20, 27, 60
summarizing 28, 77–78, 98 writing: during drafting 84, 95, 105, 109;
supporting opinion 57–59, 82, 109 post-drafting 84, 95, 105; pre-drafting
syllable 11; bi- 11; multi- 11; single 4–5; 84, 95, 105, 109; process 84, 95, 97,
tri- 11 105; product 84