Associate Professor Hussein Elkhafaifi, Director of Arabic Studies, Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilization, conducted a workshop titled “Listening Comprehension in Arabic: Teaching Techniques and Learning Strategies” for university and community college instructors from Washington and Oregon on September 10, 2015. Professor Elkhafaifi is a leader in the development of Arabic proficiency teaching and training methodology.
The workshop discussed the often overlooked modality of “listening.” Techniques were offered to help teachers approach listening texts and create pre-listening, while-listening, intensive-listening and post-listening activities to help learners navigate listening texts. Participants were given strategies to help learners understand the listening process and how to cope with the uncertainties associated with listening. The impact of the workshop on instructors was significant with one participant writing, “Dr. Elkhafaifi is amazing…. He shared years of experience with us, clarified a very difficult skill to teach.”
The workshop was funded by the Middle East Center’s U.S. Department of Education, National Resource Center grant.