A teaching and learning tool in Arabic for non-native arabic speakers

Abstract

Teaching and learning Arabic language is not an easy task for non-native Arabic speakers. Computer Aided for Language Learning (CALL) has been used by many learning institutions to address this issue. Various teaching-learning techniques and features can be embedded in CALL to compliment the conventional method of language teaching and learning. This research describes two useful components: i.e. Arabic Readability Index and Online Translation that can be embedded in CALL for Arabic language, which is referred to as CART – CALL with Arabic Readability index and Online Translation system (CART). A readability formula has been proposed for Arabic language based on Arabic Morphological Structure (AMS), Average of Word Frequency (AWS) and Type Token Ratio (TTR). The online translation system uses the approach that is referred to as Synchronous Structured String-Tree Correspondence or S-SSTC, which is popularised by (Tang, Zaharin & Boitet, 2011). This CART system can ease teachers in providing suitable text exercises based on the learner’s capability; and a Machine Translation tool for the student to translate a word or short sentence from Arabic to English and vice versa. Usability of the CART system is tested and evaluated by Arabic teachers and students. 86.6% of the respondents believe that ARI is useful for Arabic teaching. Meanwhile, 6.7% of them disagree and another 6.7 % unsure, due to ARI tool being new to them and some of them are uncomfortable using computers. As for MT, majority of the participants i.e. 93.3% believe that CART MT is useful for students in learning Arabic language, only 6.7% undecided on MT’s usefulness. The overall results from teachers and students participants show the usefulness of CART for both teachers and learners of Arabic language.