Foreign Language Teaching Assistant

Teaching Arabic to foreigners is a motivating and worthwhile experience. It gets any teacher encounters a new way of thinking, teaching, reflecting, and of course learning. In the U.S., I will cope with distinguished mentalities and learning styles, which is ever a very positive challenge.

U.S. students have several motivations and reasons to taking Arabic. As a Foreign Language Teaching Assistant, I should take into account many aspects in order to succeed this experience. One reason to note is that I should usually focus on the functional aspect of the language, getting them to look at it as a tool to communicate. For example, heritage language learners might use the language in order to converse with different people in their lives like

Knowing the language is actually knowing the culture. More importantly, speaking the language allow students to experience the culture. Hence, I believe that as a Foreign Language Teaching Assistant, my role is really significant in such that, in addition to this, I can give the students more resources by which they could approach a culture, by which they can immerse themselves in that culture, by which they can learn more about the culture in order for them to function in that culture, but this is not my main focus, as I would like them not only to learn about my culture, but also to bring their own culture into interacting in the culture that they are learning. Of course the linguistic competence and subject knowledge are of a great value in that students should learn and understand at the same time. Here, I will apply some of my techniques in ELT too, that is to say, effective CCQs ‘Concept Check Questions’, ICQs ‘Instruction Check Questions’, and also strong MPF ‘Meaning, Pronunciation, Form’ and PACS ‘Post Analysis Correction Stage’. The use of those four items, in addition to similar creative activities, I attempt to make my classes supportive, inclusive and entertaining so that students feel comfortable and well-engaged to carry on learning new things

To illustrate, facilitation means providing support to participants from different backgrounds and cultures, being attentive to those enrolled in the discussion and also those who have difficulties to get through, but their views and opinions are shared to enrich the dialogue. Another goal is to ensure the enhancement of active listening tools and questions, also, ensuring that all the views in class have space to be voiced and are treated respectfully and fairly, which is of a paramount importance. In order to lead this process successfully, as a facilitator, I must be self-aware and know my triggers, especially those moments when I have to be multi-partial. Facilitators lead the group process; that is to say, helping the group to improve the way they scrutinize, analyse and solve problems, and be more self-reflective. To reach this end, they should be multi-partial. Being multi-partial means being curious about and paying attention to all opinions expressed in dialogue, and being empathetic and sympathetic as