MULTI-CULTURAL ATTRIBUTES
1.
The Arabic Language is Arabic Culture.
"If you don't understand
someone's culture, it's a foundation for potential mistakes."
Maj. Terri L. Wollenberg,
181st Infantry
Brigade Civil Affairs Officer,
Officer-in-Charge of Fort McCoy's
Iraqi-Arabic Culture and Language Program
Our Arabic program is
designed to bring our students to a level 0+ (International Language Roundtable Proficiency Level) in speaking and listening
in Arabic in addition to implementing many of the aspects of culture into the learning.
Language and Culture are two elements that feed off of each other and cannot be separated. When students are aware of the bottom 90% of the “culture iceberg”, they are better able to
communicate more effectively and on a higher level with native speakers. This
method of instruction is present in established programs of other military services and international language programs.
http://www.mccoy.army.mil/ReadingRoom/Triad/01122007/Arabic_Language_Culture_Training_01-12-07.htm
2. Very diverse population of students with varying backgrounds and military service.
Our Arabic program consists
of Marines and Sailors that are from all over the United States
and various international locations. Educational levels and learning styles are
varied as is socio-economic status. Both sexes are represented, including a variety of sexual orientations.
http://www.urban.org/publications/900633.html
http://www.heritage.org/Research/NationalSecurity/cda06-09.cfm
3. Mix of Male and Female faculty with vastly different experiences with the Arabic language.
This is important because
of the statement by Brown and Kysilka “Teachers teach according to their learning style”. We have established that men and women have different learning styles and methods of information acquisition,
and the gender diversity enables our school to reflect the diversity of our students.
(Brown & Kysilka, p72)
4. Range of academic abilities span from students that did not graduate high school or who have learning disabilities
to students with completed degrees or Gifted & Talented students in the same classroom.
This presents a challenge
in class, but it makes the class interesting and lively because of the experiences and learning approaches presented by these
students. I once had a class filled with students from Second Intelligence Battalion,
and I have to say it was quite dull. I am never bored in class when I have my
salad bowl of intelligences!
5. Faculty hails from multiple areas of the United States
with prior military service.
All of our instructors
are from different regions in the United States (South, Northeast, Midwest and West). Our military background (and experiences
living all over the world) helps us to relate to our students because we tend to hold less prejudice toward persons from areas
in which we did not grow up. We have been to war, we have been Marines, and we
have all been students of the Arabic language sitting in the position in which they are sitting in our classes. Our students
really respect and appreciate these characteristics, and it reflects in our end-of-course critiques. My head instructor, Mr.
Ed Paradysz believes this is one of the main reasons our program is so successful. (Brown
and Kysilka, pp 41-42)
