Culture has become an important component of language teaching. Culture is a complex term to def... more Culture has become an important component of language teaching. Culture is a complex term to define, as it encompasses different sides. Teaching culture can be part of daily language activities and does not necessarily require creating separate ones. The educational and personal benefits of teaching culture are elaborated in relation to the communicative language teaching approach. Based on various contexts of teaching culture, the main purpose of this paper is to encourage broadening the meaning of culture to cover diverse cultures and not be limited to the culture of the language being taught. These cultures can be the teacher’s or the students’ since both are intriguing, and serve the purpose of encouraging students to be engaged in intercultural communication. Some skeptical viewpoints of teaching culture are examined here to provide educators with an objective and realistic view of the situation. Finally, some teaching suggestions and activities are recommended.
Education needs to cope with constant change that is evident in all fields of life, and one metho... more Education needs to cope with constant change that is evident in all fields of life, and one method of achieving change is flipping classrooms. A flipped classroom places direct instruction at home and dedicates classroom time for interactive activities. This paper begins by highlighting the difference between blended learning and flipped classrooms by examining the implementation of blended leaning at the American University in Cairo (AUC) as opposed to flipped classrooms at the University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin). The focus, however, is on flipped classrooms, their benefits, as well as the challenges educators may face. Based on real experience at UT Austin, meanings of new vocabulary were introduced in the textbook and pronunciation was studied on CDs and a website where students had many exercises to solve. Concerning grammar, it was explained in both the students’ mother tongue and the target language. Thus, the teacher mainly created authentic contexts for students to practice the language and facilitated their interaction with peers inside the classroom. Both benefits and challenges of flipped classrooms are presented here. The successful example of flipped classrooms at UT Austin suggests that challenges can be overcome.
This sociolinguistic paper analyzes the linguistic codes used in the Egyptian television series A... more This sociolinguistic paper analyzes the linguistic codes used in the Egyptian television series A Girl Called Zaat (Zaat), which was produced in 2013. This series is an adaptation of the novel Zaat or self by the leftist Egyptian novelist Son'a Allah Ibrahim. The series was chosen because it depicts the eras of several Egyptian presidents, and thus is abundant of important political and social events in Egypt, from the 1952 revolution to the 2011 revolution. These political and social incidents were very influential in the life of the heroine " Zaat " , who represents Egyptians. It would be useful to examine how language was used to express the changes that were taking place in the Egyptian society and hence in Egyptian people's identities. This research attempts to answer these questions: What were the codes used in the series? What were the indexes of these codes? How was Code-switching (CS) related to identity? Language and identity have a strong relationship and a reciprocal influence. The Theory of indexicality was used in the analysis, particularly second and third order indexicality. The analysis revealed that there were three codes in the series: Egyptian Colloquial Arabic (ECA), English, and Standard Arabic (SA). Hopefully, by examining the indexes of these three codes, the analysis of this series would be of interest and benefit in highlighting the Egyptian social and linguistic situation.
This sociolinguistic paper analyzes the linguistic codes used in the Egyptian TV series A Girl ca... more This sociolinguistic paper analyzes the linguistic codes used in the Egyptian TV series A Girl called Zaat.
Based on my teaching experience in three different countries, integrating culture with language t... more Based on my teaching experience in three different countries, integrating culture with language teaching yields great results. The aim of this presentation is to share with the audience my experience of teaching English in a government school in Casablanca, Morocco where I only had a blackboard and some chalk. This lack of resources made me rely on available materials more and demonstrate things on myself, like wearing a very colorful dress when teaching the colors. However, lack of resources should not hinder communicative language teaching activities like pair/group work, role-plays, games and giving presentations. Some of the group activities students found engaging and mind maps students drew on the board will be shared with the audience. Cultural issues, such as: food, clothes, habits, attractions and history were enriching to classroom discussions. It was not an integration of the Egyptian culture only, but the Moroccan one as well. Sharing my experience and adventures, as a visitor of Morocco, with my students was exciting for them. It was very funny when I explained grammar by giving sentences that included the name of a Moroccan food I ate, a place I visited or a costume I wore. Moreover students were encouraged to act as cultural ambassadors and give talks about their city. This included higher skills on Bloom's taxonomy as students gathered and evaluated information before presenting. Integrating both cultures with language learning made the class more enjoyable and students more willing to participate which increased student talk time immensely. Abstract: This presentation aims at exploring how students' keenness to know more about their teacher's culture and how the teacher's attempts to indulge into the culture of students become a source of entertaining examples and discussions in the classroom even with the absence of technological devices.
In teaching it is crucial to communicate with learners and know them well: their background, moti... more In teaching it is crucial to communicate with learners and know them well: their background, motives for learning and most importantly the languages they speak. The learners' first language (L1) has its influence on the learning process either by facilitation or interference. This means that since languages have many things in common, the basics that were already learnt in L1 can be transferred to L2 and this can be unconsciously done in the learners' mind. This transfer can be positive as it makes learning and understanding the L2 easier, or it can be negative as some of the specific features of L1 can cause the learners' confusion as they use the pronunciation, sentence structure or grammar of L1 though it is not the same in L2. In this poster, I would like to shed light on the importance of understanding this process of language transfer. This will be conducted by demonstrating language transfer examples: from recognize the patterns students follow and start addressing these errors differently. The poster will also illustrate some of the useful techniques for helping students change these patterns of linguistic elements they transferred from their L1. Summary Language transfer is crucial for understanding learners' errors and how to properly address them. This poster will demonstrate different types of transfer in different contexts: in Egypt, the USA and Morocco. Some useful tips will be suggested to assist learners in dealing with unwanted transfer.
Education needs to cope with constant change around us and one method of achieving change is flip... more Education needs to cope with constant change around us and one method of achieving change is flipped classrooms. A flipped classroom places direct instruction at home and dedicates classroom time for interactive activities. Benefits of flipped classrooms include increasing learners' autonomy as new information is studied at home and the classroom is for discussions. This maximizes students' talk time and allows the teacher to allocate sufficient time for the challenging points. Students also learn new information at their own pace and repeat difficult parts without feeling embarrassed. This presentation examines the implementation of flipped classrooms as well as the challenges educators may face based on my experience at the American University in Cairo and at the University of Texas at Austin. At AUC instructors video recorded lectures that students watched at home leaving more space for classroom discussions. At UT Austin, meanings of new vocabulary were introduced in the textbook and pronunciation was on CDs and a website where students had voice recordings and had exercises. Concerning grammar, it was explained in the students' mother tongue and the target language. Thus the teacher mainly created authentic contexts for students to practice and facilitated their interaction with peers. Challenges of flipped classrooms include change of mind set as teachers assign
Culture has become an important component of language teaching. Culture is a complex term to def... more Culture has become an important component of language teaching. Culture is a complex term to define, as it encompasses different sides. Teaching culture can be part of daily language activities and does not necessarily require creating separate ones. The educational and personal benefits of teaching culture are elaborated in relation to the communicative language teaching approach. Based on various contexts of teaching culture, the main purpose of this paper is to encourage broadening the meaning of culture to cover diverse cultures and not be limited to the culture of the language being taught. These cultures can be the teacher’s or the students’ since both are intriguing, and serve the purpose of encouraging students to be engaged in intercultural communication. Some skeptical viewpoints of teaching culture are examined here to provide educators with an objective and realistic view of the situation. Finally, some teaching suggestions and activities are recommended.
Education needs to cope with constant change that is evident in all fields of life, and one metho... more Education needs to cope with constant change that is evident in all fields of life, and one method of achieving change is flipping classrooms. A flipped classroom places direct instruction at home and dedicates classroom time for interactive activities. This paper begins by highlighting the difference between blended learning and flipped classrooms by examining the implementation of blended leaning at the American University in Cairo (AUC) as opposed to flipped classrooms at the University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin). The focus, however, is on flipped classrooms, their benefits, as well as the challenges educators may face. Based on real experience at UT Austin, meanings of new vocabulary were introduced in the textbook and pronunciation was studied on CDs and a website where students had many exercises to solve. Concerning grammar, it was explained in both the students’ mother tongue and the target language. Thus, the teacher mainly created authentic contexts for students to practice the language and facilitated their interaction with peers inside the classroom. Both benefits and challenges of flipped classrooms are presented here. The successful example of flipped classrooms at UT Austin suggests that challenges can be overcome.
This sociolinguistic paper analyzes the linguistic codes used in the Egyptian television series A... more This sociolinguistic paper analyzes the linguistic codes used in the Egyptian television series A Girl Called Zaat (Zaat), which was produced in 2013. This series is an adaptation of the novel Zaat or self by the leftist Egyptian novelist Son'a Allah Ibrahim. The series was chosen because it depicts the eras of several Egyptian presidents, and thus is abundant of important political and social events in Egypt, from the 1952 revolution to the 2011 revolution. These political and social incidents were very influential in the life of the heroine " Zaat " , who represents Egyptians. It would be useful to examine how language was used to express the changes that were taking place in the Egyptian society and hence in Egyptian people's identities. This research attempts to answer these questions: What were the codes used in the series? What were the indexes of these codes? How was Code-switching (CS) related to identity? Language and identity have a strong relationship and a reciprocal influence. The Theory of indexicality was used in the analysis, particularly second and third order indexicality. The analysis revealed that there were three codes in the series: Egyptian Colloquial Arabic (ECA), English, and Standard Arabic (SA). Hopefully, by examining the indexes of these three codes, the analysis of this series would be of interest and benefit in highlighting the Egyptian social and linguistic situation.
This sociolinguistic paper analyzes the linguistic codes used in the Egyptian TV series A Girl ca... more This sociolinguistic paper analyzes the linguistic codes used in the Egyptian TV series A Girl called Zaat.
Based on my teaching experience in three different countries, integrating culture with language t... more Based on my teaching experience in three different countries, integrating culture with language teaching yields great results. The aim of this presentation is to share with the audience my experience of teaching English in a government school in Casablanca, Morocco where I only had a blackboard and some chalk. This lack of resources made me rely on available materials more and demonstrate things on myself, like wearing a very colorful dress when teaching the colors. However, lack of resources should not hinder communicative language teaching activities like pair/group work, role-plays, games and giving presentations. Some of the group activities students found engaging and mind maps students drew on the board will be shared with the audience. Cultural issues, such as: food, clothes, habits, attractions and history were enriching to classroom discussions. It was not an integration of the Egyptian culture only, but the Moroccan one as well. Sharing my experience and adventures, as a visitor of Morocco, with my students was exciting for them. It was very funny when I explained grammar by giving sentences that included the name of a Moroccan food I ate, a place I visited or a costume I wore. Moreover students were encouraged to act as cultural ambassadors and give talks about their city. This included higher skills on Bloom's taxonomy as students gathered and evaluated information before presenting. Integrating both cultures with language learning made the class more enjoyable and students more willing to participate which increased student talk time immensely. Abstract: This presentation aims at exploring how students' keenness to know more about their teacher's culture and how the teacher's attempts to indulge into the culture of students become a source of entertaining examples and discussions in the classroom even with the absence of technological devices.
In teaching it is crucial to communicate with learners and know them well: their background, moti... more In teaching it is crucial to communicate with learners and know them well: their background, motives for learning and most importantly the languages they speak. The learners' first language (L1) has its influence on the learning process either by facilitation or interference. This means that since languages have many things in common, the basics that were already learnt in L1 can be transferred to L2 and this can be unconsciously done in the learners' mind. This transfer can be positive as it makes learning and understanding the L2 easier, or it can be negative as some of the specific features of L1 can cause the learners' confusion as they use the pronunciation, sentence structure or grammar of L1 though it is not the same in L2. In this poster, I would like to shed light on the importance of understanding this process of language transfer. This will be conducted by demonstrating language transfer examples: from recognize the patterns students follow and start addressing these errors differently. The poster will also illustrate some of the useful techniques for helping students change these patterns of linguistic elements they transferred from their L1. Summary Language transfer is crucial for understanding learners' errors and how to properly address them. This poster will demonstrate different types of transfer in different contexts: in Egypt, the USA and Morocco. Some useful tips will be suggested to assist learners in dealing with unwanted transfer.
Education needs to cope with constant change around us and one method of achieving change is flip... more Education needs to cope with constant change around us and one method of achieving change is flipped classrooms. A flipped classroom places direct instruction at home and dedicates classroom time for interactive activities. Benefits of flipped classrooms include increasing learners' autonomy as new information is studied at home and the classroom is for discussions. This maximizes students' talk time and allows the teacher to allocate sufficient time for the challenging points. Students also learn new information at their own pace and repeat difficult parts without feeling embarrassed. This presentation examines the implementation of flipped classrooms as well as the challenges educators may face based on my experience at the American University in Cairo and at the University of Texas at Austin. At AUC instructors video recorded lectures that students watched at home leaving more space for classroom discussions. At UT Austin, meanings of new vocabulary were introduced in the textbook and pronunciation was on CDs and a website where students had voice recordings and had exercises. Concerning grammar, it was explained in the students' mother tongue and the target language. Thus the teacher mainly created authentic contexts for students to practice and facilitated their interaction with peers. Challenges of flipped classrooms include change of mind set as teachers assign
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This paper begins by highlighting the difference between blended learning and flipped classrooms by examining the implementation of blended leaning at the American University in Cairo (AUC) as opposed to flipped classrooms at the University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin). The focus, however, is on flipped classrooms, their benefits, as well as the challenges educators may face. Based on real experience at UT Austin, meanings of new vocabulary were introduced in the textbook and pronunciation was studied on CDs and a website where students had many exercises to solve. Concerning grammar, it was explained in both the students’ mother tongue and the target language. Thus, the teacher mainly created authentic contexts for students to practice the language and facilitated their interaction with peers inside the classroom. Both benefits and challenges of flipped classrooms are presented here. The successful example of flipped classrooms at UT Austin suggests that challenges can be overcome.
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This paper begins by highlighting the difference between blended learning and flipped classrooms by examining the implementation of blended leaning at the American University in Cairo (AUC) as opposed to flipped classrooms at the University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin). The focus, however, is on flipped classrooms, their benefits, as well as the challenges educators may face. Based on real experience at UT Austin, meanings of new vocabulary were introduced in the textbook and pronunciation was studied on CDs and a website where students had many exercises to solve. Concerning grammar, it was explained in both the students’ mother tongue and the target language. Thus, the teacher mainly created authentic contexts for students to practice the language and facilitated their interaction with peers inside the classroom. Both benefits and challenges of flipped classrooms are presented here. The successful example of flipped classrooms at UT Austin suggests that challenges can be overcome.