ARABIC DIGLOSSIA: TEACHING ONLY THE STANDARD VARIETY IS A DISSERVICE TO STUDENTS

Abstract

Results from a recent survey show that students learning Arabic in the United States want to learn spoken varieties, despite a lack of support from their teachers. Spoken Arabic is often stigmatized as a less prestigious variety of Arabic, even though it is the language of choice for day-to-day communication for native Arabic speakers. Knowledge of a spoken variety of Arabic is essential for students who hope to integrate into the general populace in the Arabic-speaking world. This paper argues that Arabic programs throughout the United States should integrate the teaching of Spoken Arabic into their curricula to accommodate student wants and needs.