Developing Arabic Reading Fluency in Grade 1

“For over a decade, international assessments have shown that Arabic speaking students score significantly lower in reading, mathematics, and science than students of other languages. Country-level analyses of students’ reading abilities have furthermore found large deficiencies in Arabic-speaking countries, which may contribute to students’ below average performance in other subjects and international assessments overall. Together with cognitive psychologist Dr. Helen Abadzi, the Al Qasimi Foundation designed and piloted a new early-grade curriculum for teaching Arabic reading that builds on findings from linguistics and cognitive science. A comparison of students’ reading ability between the control and intervention group reveals a significant positive impact of the new curriculum, with students in intervention classrooms reading more letters and making fewer errors than their peers. The report underscores the importance of evidence-based design and evaluation of Arabic language teaching and suggests expanding the pilot program to a larger sample of schools across the United Arab Emirates (UAE).”

The above is an excerpt from the Al Qasimi Foundation’s policy paper entitled ‘Improving Arabic Reading Fluency: Results from Iqra, an Early-Grade Reading Intervention in Ras l Khaimah’, for more details visit https://t.ly/JKiZ2.  

It is on this backdrop that participants will analyse the concept of language fluency and why early stages are the target. They will also explore how the brain works when reading, along with the science of reading.

This five-week course will review challenges associated with Arabic reading fluency along with some improvement criteria. It will present the “Iqra'” program which was designed as a research study towards accelerating children’s reading and supporting their use of Standard Arabic. You are invited to come learn about this curriculum’s benefits and how it differs from other curricula currently in the Arab region.

After completing this course, participants should be able to:

• Demonstrate understanding how the brain works while reading and apply the science of reading
• Determine fluency in Arabic and how to achieve it 
• Demonstrate awareness of standards for reading fluency 
• Analyse the challenges of reading fluency in the Arabic language and apply appropriate intervention measures
• Gain insights and design lesson plans that incorporate the ‘Iqra’ program’s strategies for speeding up reading in Grade 1

Mode of Delivery
In-person Training

Eligibility
All educators of Arabic language in Ras Al Khaimah and across the United Arab Emirates