NYU Abu Dhabi (NYUAD) Senior Lecturer of Arabic Nasser Isleem has launched the second edition of his book, Kalima wa Nagham, volume one. First published in October 2014, the second edition of Kalima wa Nagham co-authored by Associate Professor and Director of Asian Studies at the College of Charleston, South Carolina Ghazi Abuhakema, grants students access to an innovative learning resource.
Kalima wa Nagham encourages students to creatively communicate in Arabic through the use of real life experiences, songs, musicals, dialogues, and texts. This edition also gives students a deeper understanding of Arab culture while developing their listening, writing, speaking, and reading skills through rich materials and interactive exercises.
The book uniquely and simultaneously introduces Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) and salient aspects of Educated Spoken Arabic (ESA) to beginning language students. It also includes video segments of the alphabet, and how the letters are written in different positions.
In addition, the authors used musicals as a way to enhance the effectiveness of learning the lexis, structures and cultural components within each of the seven chapters of Kalima wa Nagham. The book will also serve as a tool to study the effectiveness using musicals in teaching Arabic as a foreign language (TAFL).
“These impressive new text volumes move the novice learner to advanced high proficiency with an innovative communicative approach, weaving music into the grammatical and linguistic content of each lesson. Through the exchange of real life experiences, learners will not only gain a deeper understanding of the language, but of the nuances and depth of Arab culture as well,” said Isleem.
The book provides tutors who teach Arabic as a foreign language (TAFL) access to engaging materials that allow them to creatively engage through the use of different mediums by including Arabic musical theater, songs, and more.
Kalima wa Nagham is available for purchase on the University of Texas Press’ website and Amazon.
