Book Review
This course is intended for heritage learners, and people interested in sociolinguistic field. It is meant to build proficiency in the Egyptian dialect through the practice of interactive functional skills such as listening comprehension, conversation tasks, and vocabulary building. It assumes knowledge of Arabic script and the grammatical structure of Modern Standard Arabic It is designed to enable students to communicate effectively and appropriately in a wide variety of contexts. It is geared primarily towards comprehension of spoken Egyptian Arabic; also it bridges cultural differences and helps the learner to share in the happiness and the sorrow of Egyptian life.
Part I Introduction
The first part of the book contains an introduction about the habits and traditions of Egyptian life from both a linguistic and a cultural perspective. Students are taught to read, and to anticipate, and to understand what is expected from them and others in an Eastern society. Therefore, students respond in a culturally appropriate manner .Learners are able to interpret other Egyptian behavior, so they are encouraged to be neither upset nor wronged. After observing such written rules of the sociocultural environment learners can also enjoy being able to read their own heritage. This part of the lesson prepares the students for what is the topic is about. The cultural habits and traditions for each lesson are presented in the form of an introductory paragraph. Subjects include, learn flowers language, bygone candies in celebration of the prophet Mohamad Birthday, that could in a nostalgia, cherishing memories, for the old generation, that help explain the culture to modern ones, rules to observe in visiting hospitals, an updated look at the role of women in society, questions relating to mixed marriages, cultural shock, globalizations effect on Egyptian families, empathy in death, marriage customs, and Egyptian's and/humor.
Part II Listening comprehension
It is important to mention that the listening comprehension component does not follow a story line. Learners can read and study topics according to their preferences. This part of the lesson is a collection of conversations and discussions carefully collected and authentically, recorded which serves the purpose of improving the fluency of Egyptian Colloquial Arabic. The recordings present two or more speakers from different regions of Egypt to present a variety of contemporary dialects.
Section A:
The exercises are designed to provoke the learners' four skills: listening, speaking, reading, and writing. In section A- entitled "Before You Listen" the goal is to elicit to elicit from the students what they know and build up new words as a result. Students are asked "what you know about ---? "A blank square is then filled by the student.
Section B:
In section B There is controlled practice it anticipated that the learner can do without the help of new words that he can use. Listening comprehension, by now s/he knows new lexis, then it is possible he can handle questions varying from true or false to open ended questions to join words from the column 1 to column 2, and also about language use. Finally, an overall debate about multiple culture tradition and habits takes place..
In future when I will have both time and funds, I will have the CDs and tapes adherent/packed with the book cover, at the moment they sell separately. Listening materials could also include questions to enhance the skill of listening. I could also include a glossary for vocabulary that serves to save time for learners to it up in the dictionary. Also I plan to include home work exercises with the answer key to help self study.
. I plan to have new topics handled in video tapes that will turn this raw material into an effective learning tool. When available on DVD and/or online, all of the audiovisual materials can be further exploited and adapted for a multitude of instructional purposes by incorporating further textual or graphic material links and other hyper- textual tools will offer will offer many additional possibilities .
Part III The Problem
A problem is outlined, it is followed by a list of vocabulary that the learner will come across either in the taught lesson or on cassette, that is authentically recorded on one cassette tape side A and B or CD. Section B offers an answer to the problem. Both sections serve as introducing novice approach and not criticizing culture.
Part IV Structure
In this part, we analyze expressions and help guide students so they know when and where to use them. Teachers and learners feel that a vast amount of time has to be spent on correct comprehension because sometimes different cultures do not allow for an honest translation of these expressions and structures; it can be great fun! For example I experienced pure joy- Reqabti saddada- in class be difficult to reach the exact meaning on many occasions because some expressions have no parallel in the other cultures.
Part V Concluding discussions
Finally: learners are invited to talk freely for a length of time using the vocabulary, and structure, they acquired in the lesson.
