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The Effects of Teaching Spoken Arabic on Students'Attitudes and Motivation in Israel
Author(s) -
DonitsaSchmidt Smadar,
Inbar Ofra,
Shohamy Elana
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
the modern language journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.486
H-Index - 83
eISSN - 1540-4781
pISSN - 0026-7902
DOI - 10.1111/j.0026-7902.2004.00226.x
Subject(s) - arabic , modern standard arabic , context (archaeology) , affect (linguistics) , psychology , linguistics , spoken language , mathematics education , communication , history , philosophy , archaeology
The study investigated whether changes in the educational context of teaching Arabic as a second language in Israeli schools affect students' attitudes towards the language, its speakers and culture, and motivation to study the language. These changes included teaching spoken Arabic rather than Modern Standard Arabic and lowering the starting age of instruction. Self‐report questionnaires were distributed to 692 students (4th–6th grade) and 362 parents from 14 elementary schools. The findings revealed that students who study spoken Arabic (experimental group), as opposed to those who do not (control group), report holding more positive attitudes towards the Arabic language, its culture, and speakers, and also claim to be more motivated to study the language. Findings also confirm the important role that parents have over their children's behavior because parents' attitudes constituted one of the predictors of students' motivation to study Arabic. Yet, the variable that best predicted students' motivation was their satisfaction with their Arabic study program.