Arabic+Names

Using Arabic names can help you in your efforts to use Arabic exclusively in the classroom. Your students also need to become acquainted with Arabic names and practice reading, writing and pronouncing them. There are many online sites with lists of Arabic names and their meanings. Arabic names in the classroom provide constant pronunciation practice and help give a more authentic atmosphere.

Many teachers use the technique of giving their students a Arabic name that they will use in classroom activities. Benefits from this practice are: 1) increased identification by the student with the foreign culture, 2) constant opportunities for pronunciation practice 3) acquaintance by the students with foreign language names which will help them avoid the embarrassment of continually having to ask natives to repeat their name, and 4) addition of a special flavor of authenticity to the classroom.

As a teacher, you could assign names or have the students do research and chose their own names.

Make sure your carry out this procedure in a positive way. You are not changing their name or their identity. You are not trying to "make them Arab." On the contrary, you are giving them an additional name, something that sort of "transforms" them into an Arabic speaker. The assigning of names is usually done in the first day or two of the course. For the couple of weeks it is helpful for you to keep their new names visible. You can print them on a large name card that can be placed on the students' desks (or table) in front of them so it can be seen by the teacher and other students while familiarizing themselves with the new names. This can be done by folding an 8 X 11 sheet of paper into thirds, to create a stand-up name plate.

You, or the students, can print the name carefully in block letters. Print it on both sides of the card so the students can also see and remember their new name. At the end of the class the students can pass their name cards to the end of the row and the student at the end can gather them up and put them in a designated place, such as in a drawer in the teacher's desk or in a file cabinet. This same student, or others, could also be responsible for passing out the name cards at the beginning of class each day.

After a few weeks, you may want to use the name tag approach. You can make name tags of the type illustrated below for each of your students. They should be laminated and you can put them in holders or glue a small clothespin on the back. The tags can be placed in a box or clipped to a stand near the door, and you start a tradition that as the students enter the classroom, the first thing they do is clip on their name tag. At that point they must speak only Arabic. This procedure has the amazing effect that the students start talking to each other and to you in Arabic, even before the class begins! Only after they return the name tag to its place can they go back to using English.

A couple of days into the school year, after the students have learned the Arabic names of their classmates, play the following game. While they are all seated at their desks, have them close their eyes, fold their arms and put them on the desk, and rest their head down on their arms. Walk quietly around the room and touch a student. That student says in a loud voice something in Arabic, such as: Good Morning! or Hello! The other students try to guess who it is by calling out the name of a classmate in Arabic. The student who guesses right then has the privilege of walking around and touching another student.
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