Abstract:

The paper studies the experience of teaching Arabic as a third foreign language to students doing a degree in linguistics at Kazan Federal University (KFU), Russia. KFU third-year bachelors take a course in a third foreign language of their choice with Arabic being one of the options.

The aim of the paper is to reveal and highlight the importance of specific methods in teaching Arabic as a third foreign language with the help of English.

Mention should be made of the fact that KFU students start learning Arabic as a third foreign language at the Beginner level aiming to reach Elementary and Pre-Intermediate levels within three semesters. In this respect the students are expected to be native speakers of Russian or speak Russian as a second language and have a good command of English.

The hypothesis of the research is that when English, along with a mother tongue or second language, becomes the language of instruction, learning Arabic becomes more effective as it provides with a wider range of methods and approaches. By comparing and contrasting the structures of the three languages at the levels of the alphabet, graphical signs, pronunciation and reading rules, students’ learning process becomes easier, faster and more pleasant. The authors state that developing students’ cultural competence also plays an important role in learning Arabic.

The study is based on the materials accumulated over a 4-year period including educational sets, interviews with students, and surveys. The results of the research suggest that English can become a powerful tool in learning Arabic as it creates both positive motivation and strong language ties.

Keywords:

Linguistics, Arabic, student, teaching, teaching Arabic, language education, university education.