Task-Based Language Teaching and Arabic as a Foreign Language: A Needs Analysis for Curriculum Design

Authors

Noha Soliman ElsakkaFollow

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Major/Program

Teaching and Learning

First Advisor's Name

Melissa Baralt

First Advisor's Committee Title

Committee Chair

Second Advisor's Name

Abdulkafi Albirini

Second Advisor's Committee Title

Committee Member

Third Advisor's Name

Eric Dwyer

Third Advisor's Committee Title

Committee Member

Fourth Advisor's Name

Teresa Lucas

Fourth Advisor's Committee Title

Committee Member

Fifth Advisor's Name

Julio Ruben Torres

Fifth Advisor's Committee Title

Committee Member

Keywords

Task-Based Language Teaching, Arabic as a Foreign Language, Needs Analysis, Curriculum Design

Date of Defense

5-31-2023

Abstract

Arabic is the official language of 22 countries in the Middle East and North Africa that form the Arab League. It is also the fastest-growing language in the U.S., and the 8^th most taught language in U.S. universities. Teaching Arabic is a unique challenge given its status as a diglossia in society. The Foreign Service Institute has also categorized Arabic as a Category IV language, “requiring over 2200 hours of instruction.” Albeit the growing need for Arabic proficiency, there is a dearth of research on the most effective pedagogic strategies to teach Arabic.

This dissertation aims to fill this gap via the lens of Task-Based Language Teaching (TBLT). TBLT is a paradigm for the teaching and research of second and foreign languages (IATBLT, n.d.), and has received significant attention due to its impact and efficacy, with some countries even requiring task-based pedagogy in national curricula (see e.g., Ellis, 2003a; Long, 2015). A foundational component of TBLT is that it espouses a Needs Analysis (NA) for the design of curriculum: all real-world tasks should come out of students’ actual needs for the language so that the curriculum best serves them (Long, 2005). Tasks should then be sequenced in a curriculum from simple to complex, based on their cognitive complexity (e.g., Baralt, Gilabert & Robinson, 2014).

This study is comprised of two parts. First, a rigorous needs analysis was conducted utilizing a mixed-methods approach with multiple sources (e.g., students, teachers, diplomats, job descriptions) and methods (e.g. interviews, surveys, class observations). These were triangulated to derive 64 pedagogic tasks. Second, an empirical study was carried out to determine the cognitive complexity of the tasks, which would guide their sequencing in a curriculum. Six independent measures of cognitive complexity were collected with 56 participants comprised of students, teachers, and domain experts. Cronbach’s alpha demonstrated that the different measures of complexity were highly correlated, with some measures higher than others. I present the final sequence of tasks based on this study, and argue that a new measure of task complexity, task sustainability (Rosenbaum and colleagues, 2023), be used in future task-based curricula design.

Identifier

FIDC011192

Recommended Citation

Elsakka, Noha Soliman, "Task-Based Language Teaching and Arabic as a Foreign Language: A Needs Analysis for Curriculum Design" (2023). FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 5374.
https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd/5374