2013 Language Institute: Nizwa, Oman

Program Structure

The Nizwa Arabic institute covers approximately one academic year of university-level Arabic coursework during the eight-week program, and is designed to meet the needs of students from a variety of language levels and backgrounds, from students who have one year of university-level Arabic training or the equivalent (advanced beginning) to advanced learners.

Formal classroom language instruction is provided for an average of four hours per day, five days per week, with a minimum of 20 hours per week of classroom instruction. The instruction will be balanced between Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) and the Omani dialect. Extracurricular activities are designed to supplement the formal curriculum, including regular one-on-one meetings with peer tutors for conversational practice, as well as cultural activities and excursions designed to expand students’ understanding of Omani life and culture within the broader tapestry of the Arab world.

Students will live in shared apartments on the campus of the University of Nizwa for the duration of the summer. Three meals per day will be served in an on-campus facility, however the apartments are equipped with cooking facilities. The meals provided will be supplemented with a modest stipend to cover additional food needs and incidentals. On some weekends home visits will be arranged with local families, but will not involve overnight stays.

AMIDEAST is a leading American non-profit organization engaged in international education, training and development activities in the Middle East and North Africa. Founded in 1951, AMIDEAST in its early years focused on promoting U.S. study to students in the MENA region and managing U.S. scholarships and exchanges such as the flagship Fulbright Foreign Student Program. While these important programs continue apace, our work has expanded significantly. Today AMIDEAST programs and services touch the lives of half a million individuals a year – improving educational opportunities and quality, strengthening local institutions, and developing language and professional skills critical for success in the global economy. More recently AMIDEAST has developed a set of Education Abroad Programs in the Arab World and provides semester, academic year, summer and customized program opportunities for more than 400 students annually in Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Oman, Tunisia and the United Arab Emirates.

Outcomes

In 2010, the CLS Program adopted the Oral Proficiency Interview (OPI) developed by the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) as an additional measure of the effectiveness and quality of the institutes overseas. Before the program, students take a diagnostic OPI test; at the end of their 8-week course of study, they take an ACTFL-certified post-program OPI assessment. The scores on these tests give students a concrete, widely-recognized measure of their speaking skills in MSA. In addition, students’ writing and reading abilities are assessed throughout the program in a variety of ways.

See the 2011 CLS Program Speaking Proficiency Results.

CLS Blog Entries for Arabic