Improving early grade reading fluency in Arabic: Lessons from piloting a new curriculum in the United Arab Emirates

• In Event: Contextual inquiry & reading programs: using evaluation tools to understand impact

Proposal

Introduction

International assessments indicate that in comparison to their peers, Arab students perform at a significantly lower level in reading, mathematics, and science, with fourth graders and those taking Arabic-language assessments showing particularly low achievement (Abadzi & Martelli, 2014). For instance, on the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) and Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), all participating Arabic speaking countries consistently score below the global average and are at the bottom of the worldwide distributions (Abadzi, 2017).

In the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the government’s national development plan, Vision 2021, aims for its students to score in the top 20 countries in PISA and in the top 15 countries in TIMSS (UAE Government, 2017). Although the UAE ranks above other Arabic Speaking countries, the 2015 PISA results place the UAE 48th in reading, 47th in mathematics, and 46th in science (OECD, 2018), indicating the breadth of work yet to be done.

While there are a myriad of factors that have been shown to impact student achievement, new lessons from multidisciplinary approaches combining developmental and educational psychology with cognitive science highlight key memory functions and visual complexities of the Arabic script that limit its accessibility and retention for reading comprehension (Abadzi, 2017; Abadzi & Martelli, 2014; Yigal & Sekuler, 2008; Pelli et al., 2007; Peterson & Peterson, 1959; Miller, 1956).

Exploratory research suggests that students’ low level of fluency in standard Arabic, the language in which the assessments are written, is decreasing students’ ability to quickly process questions and answer within the time given to complete test questions (Abadzi, 2017). In order for students in the Arab world to perform similarly to their peers, some scholars believe that reading fluency should be a greater focus starting in Grade 1 (Saiegh-Haddad, & Joshi, 2014).

In order to attempt to improve Grade 1 Emirati students’ reading speed and fluency, Dr. Helen Abadzi proposed the development and piloting of a new textbook to teach Arabic to Grade 1 students in the UAE. The new curriculum, called Iqra, which is the Arabic word for read, was developed with the financial and technical support of the Sheikh Saud bin Saqr Al Qasimi Foundation for Policy Research. Working closely with a team at this local philanthropic foundation, Dr. Abadzi wrote a textbook, which is now being piloted in government schools.

The Pilot

The new Iqra curriculum began being piloted in five government primary schools in the city of Ras Al Khaimah, UAE between 2017 and 2019. The curriculum, taught within the framework of the government school system as a supplemental lesson two times a week, focuses on increasing students’ automaticity when reading letters of the Arabic alphabet for them to more easily process longer texts and improve their performance on international student assessments.

Pre and post test results from the initial pilot study, completed in two classes in one school in Ras Al Khaimah in 2017, assessed using a modified version of an Early Grade Reading Assessment of Arabic language used previously in Jordan (RTI International, 2016), indicate that the new curriculum significantly increased students’ reading fluency in comparison to the control group and is a promising pedagogy to promote across other contexts in which students’ first language is Arabic. In addition to the improved performance of students, the feedback from school administrators and instructors has been positive as they appreciate the minimal cost to their schools and the simplicity of the curriculum. For example, the pedagogy is not complex and lessons can be taught by teaching assistants with minimal orientation.

Based on the positive results of the initial pilot in 2017-2018, the Iqra reading textbook was revised and the pilot expanded to eight classrooms in four government schools. This pilot is being conducted during the 2018-2019 academic year. In the expanded pilot, students in two treatment classrooms and two control classrooms per school were pre-tested--in total, approximately 400 students. It is hoped that the expanded pilot will yield the same result as the initial one. If it does, it has the potential to revolutionize the teaching of Arabic in the early years.

This paper will discuss the rationale and methodology of the design and pedagogies used in the development and implementation of the Iqra curriculum materials. It will highlight key findings and observations from the initial and expanded pilots, providing policy recommendations, best practices, and insights for similar literacy projects in the Arab world and beyond.

Authors

• Elisabeth Wilson, Sheikh Saud bin Saqr Al Qasimi Foundation for Policy Research

• Holly A Cook, Sheikh Saud bin Saqr Al Qasimi Foundation for Policy Research