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The Bogus Argument to Increase Testing

Stephen Krashen argues that assessment alone cannot improve achievement

Few people are aware of the astonishing amount of testing the U.S. Department of Education is planning for our children. The Department of Education will require, as before, tests in reading and math near the end of school year but also supports testing several times during the year (interim testing). In addition, the Department is encouraging testing other subjects as well and they recently announced plans to test children before they enter kindergarten.

This is more testing than has ever been seen on this planet, far more than the already excessive amount of testing required by No Child Left Behind.

We are told that all this testing is necessary, because of poor student achievement on international tests, which in turn is due to inept teachers protected by unions and failing schools that were allowed to stay open.

Not so. Studies show that American students in well-funded schools who come from middle-class families outscore students in nearly all other countries on international tests. Our average scores are unspectacular because the U.S. has the highest percentage of children in poverty of all industrialized countries (over 20 percent; in contrast, high-scoring Finland has less than four percent). The major problem is poverty, not teachers and not unions.

Poverty means inadequate nutrition, inadequate health care, exposure to environmental toxins, and little access to books, all strongly associated with lower school performance. The U.S. Department of Education tells us that this doesn’t matter, that school success (measured by improved test scores) is the engine that will cure poverty. Martin Luther King said it was the other way around: “We are likely to find that the problems of housing and education, instead of preceding the elimination of poverty, will themselves be affected if poverty is first abolished.”

Common sense tells us that Dr. King was right: The best teaching in the world will have little effect if students are hungry, in poor health and have no books to read. Research also backs up Dr. King: Correlations between national test scores and economic well-being are low (summarized in Yong Zhao’s book, Catching Up or Leading the Way?); current research shows that increased unemployment results in depressed school performance (http://www.nber.org/papers/w17104), and increased employment is often the result of greater work opportunities (http://withabrooklynaccent.blogspot.com/2011/07/exposing-education-reforms-big-lie-it.html).

An obvious step to take is to protect children from the effects of poverty, by expanding food programs in schools, increasing the number of school nurses and improving libraries in high-poverty schools. The results of a number of studies strongly suggest that providing access to books can make up for the impact of poverty on reading achievement: (summarized in my paper, “Protecting Students from the Effects of Poverty,” available at sdkrashen.com).

How can we pay for improved nutrition, school nurses and libraries? Reduce testing to only what has been shown to be useful. There is no evidence that increasing testing will increase achievement and plenty of evidence that it won’t. The money should be spent protecting children from the effects of poverty. When all our children have adequate health care and access to books, and no child is left unfed, American academic achievement will satisfy the harshest critic.

September 2011

Measures for Measures

September 2011 Cover

When the consequences of test failure are school closures or firings, and schools are denied the tools to give them a chance of success, it is hardly surprising to discover widespread abuse of the testing system.

The cheating scandals which began in Atlanta and spread across the country are only the most blatant examples of what happens when testing goes too far. Strategies that boost scores without improving learning, like teaching to the test and encouraging low-scoring students to drop out, have become an entrenched part of educational administration. Such corruption, which undermines educational quality, is an inevitable consequence of the intense pressure that high-stakes testing puts on teachers and principals. The investigation into the Atlanta scandal found, “The targets set by the district were often unreasonable, especially given their cumulative effect over the years. Additionally, the administration put unreasonable pressure on teachers and principals to achieve targets… Ultimately, the data and meeting ‘targets’ by whatever means necessary, became more important than true academic progress.” more


>IN THIS ISSUE:


Tests as Tools for Learning
Aned Muñiz Gracia offers examples to show how teachers can use simple tests to improve learning experiences

Using Tests to Target Learning
How Sweetwater Union High School District implemented CTB/McGraw-Hill’s LAS Links in its English Language Development

Overtaking Age with Desire
Clay Williams challenges the widely-accepted theory that the acquisition of second-language fluency is dependent on learning during the pre-adolescent “critical period”

Nashville Struggling to Educate Minorities
J’Nisha Towne on how demographics are shaping policy

Multiple Choices
Language Magazine’s look at the latest in testing

Talking In Your Sleep
William Stimson sees a role for dreams in second language acquisition

Europe’s Powerhaus
Daniel Ward thinks a German immersion program makes more than economic sense

Hotspots for Teaching English
Nicholas Ferdinandt provides a snapshot of the current job market for teachers of English as a Foreign Language

Funds to Document Endangered Languages

Opinion
Stephen Krashen on the bogus argument for testing

Last Writes
Richard Lederer with more Good Words

Your Country Needs You to Study Abroad

Making the case for study abroad immersion learning

Just in case you still need to convince someone (a parent?) of the benefits of studying abroad, here are the 13 reasons that none other than the U.S. Senate believes that support of study abroad programs is important and necessary on a national level:

1. Ensuring that the citizens of the U.S. are globally literate is the responsibility of the educational system of the U.S.

2. Educating students internationally is an important way to share the values of the United States, to create goodwill for the U.S. around the world, to work toward a peaceful global society, and to increase international trade.

3. 79 percent of people in the U.S. agree that students should have a study abroad experience sometime during college, but only one percent of students from the U.S. currently study abroad each year.

4. Study abroad programs help people from the U.S. to be more informed about the world and to develop the cultural awareness necessary to avoid offending individuals from other countries.

5. 87 percent of students in the U.S. between the ages of 18 and 24 cannot locate Iraq on a world map, 83 percent cannot find Afghanistan, 58 percent cannot find Japan, and 11 percent cannot even find the United States.

6. Studying abroad exposes students from the U.S. to valuable global knowledge and cultural understanding and forms an integral part of their education.

7. The security, stability, and economic vitality of the U.S. in an increasingly complex global age depend largely upon having a globally competent citizenry and the availability of experts specializing in world regions, foreign languages, and international affairs.

8. Federal agencies, educational institutions, and corporations in the U.S. are suffering from a shortage of professionals with international knowledge and foreign language skills;

9. Institutions of higher education in the U.S. are struggling to graduate enough students with the language skills and cultural competence necessary to meet the current demands of business, government, and educational institutions.

10. Studying abroad influences subsequent educational experiences, decisions to expand or change academic majors, and decisions to attend graduate school.

11. Some of the core values and skills of higher education are enhanced by participation in study abroad programs.

12. Study abroad programs not only open doors to foreign language learning, but also empower students to better understand themselves and others through a comparison of cultural values and ways of life.

13. Study abroad programs for students from the U.S. can provide specialized training and practical experiences not available at institutions in the U.S.

Source: U.S. Senate Resolution 308 designating 2006 as the ‘’Year of Study Abroad,’’ sponsored by Senators Durbin, Alexander, Feingold, Craig, Akaka, Coleman, and Cochran.

Spanish for Kids

Language Magazine’s Victoria is setting off for Guatemala today to escort her 7 year old daughter while she takes a Spanish immersion program for kids at CSA Antigua.
We’ll keep you posted with their progress.

Update from Guatemala:
on Tuesday, August 16, 2011 at 2:31pm

Valentina is looooooooooooooooving her Spanish classes and her teacher. It is like a playground for learning spanish painting, drawing, cut and pasting. CSA is fabulous. Everyone is so kind, helpful and very professional. The best Spanish school I´ve attended in Antigua, Guatemala. Valentina met her Guatemalan grandmother (abuela) on Sunday

The Guatemalan family we are staying with is great – our accommodations are clean and simple. The hospitality outdoes the luxury, which is what we wanted.

Valentina’s classes are like an art , painting and singing class all in Spanish. Couldn´t be more pleased. Her words after 4 hours of ¨studying´: “when do we go back to my school.”

Victoria and Valentina

English in America

From Austin with love

I questioned whether it was a ludicrously fortunate coincidence or simply my consistent failure to remember that this is a city of musical diversity; but with no sign of any answers other than “just be grateful,” I was still ecstatic to learn that the Austin band, The Black Angels were to charm Manhattan with their wondrous Texan psychedelia on the days either side of my birthday. By an additional token of convenience, it turned out that both of these shows were as easily accessible to me as I would have desired, the second of which was dubbed “A Secret Show” — predictably not so secret once word got out, but equally exciting all the same.

The venue was as cavernous and cryptic as necessary, and looking around at the beards and ponchos I tried to shift every ounce of familiarity I had with this band (and city) into perspective. I was there to listen to music I knew and loved, with lyrics that had implanted themselves into my head on a bed of London concert memories, but the atmosphere was entirely different. Could it be possible that with differing nations comes an alternate interpretation of lyrics? Or was this crowd just wholly more serious? I had certainly spent time admiring the lyrical ingenuity of Alex Maas and Co. with their accompanying 60s inspired drones and echoes, but living in a place so far away from the visions behind these words, it seemed almost impossible for me to turn this music into something tangible, let alone a lifestyle.

So there I was, in an atmospheric hybrid of the Wild West and a sinking pirate ship, with adoring fans singing “Fire for the hills, pick up your feet and let’s go!” with such burning passion that the room felt like it was on the brink of a rum-fuelled canon brawl; when it became obvious that there was more than one performance happening here. Evidently the band held the fort, but in return the audience were bringing the lyrics to life as an alliance, doing their best to re-create the musical imagery with choice items of leather clothing and pseudo-tribal attitudes.

Despite feeling slightly like I had been thrown into another dimension, it was probably the most musically enriching two hours of my life. Albums that I had listened to repeatedly on the other side of the Atlantic were transformed into something physical by the dedication of this entire following, and it was actually in reach. It seemed like these people, (rumoured to frequent certain Brooklyn haunts in between visits from rugged Texans) were creating a movement right there in front of me.

The Black Angels, practically straight out of the desert, had brought their 60s revival to the North East and they had been met with a mass of people ready to start a full-on revolution – one in which language was a key component. Speaking to some fellow devotees, I learnt that like the teachings of an ancient scripture, songs “First Vietnamese War” and “Entrance Song” had been adopted as rose-tinted life mantras. I noticed one girl throwing her arms in the air and screaming praise in such an evangelical manner that, after “…we can’t live if we’re too afraid to die…”, I wondered if we were the beginning of a ‘First Psychedelic Church of The Black Angels’ – and to think, all this from what started as a few words in the mind of a hipster. It was unique, the world outside was a distant blur and we were comfortably trapped in a musical time warp that could never be repeated. Two states had merged into one on a catalyst of perfectly paired words and musical notes and with this, history had been made.

References:

www.theblackangels.com

 

Athina Kontos is writer/photographer from the UK spending the summer in New York

Reach Out and Read (Aloud)

Stephen Krashen with an inexpensive, simple approach to closing the equity gap in literacy

“Doctors, nurse practitioners, and other medical professionals incorporate Reach Out and Read’s evidence-based model into regular pediatric checkups, by advising parents about the importance of reading aloud and giving developmentally-appropriate books to children.” (reachoutandread.org).

Reach Out and Read (henceforth ROR) is a simple and inexpensive program. While in waiting rooms for well-child pediatrician’s appointments, hospital staff shows parents reading activities they can do with their children, with a focus on reading aloud to the child, and discusses the importance of reading, which the physician does as well. The families receive free books at each doctor visit. ROR is typically aimed at lower-income groups.

Departing from traditional academic style, I present first the results of ROR evaluations, focusing on the impact of ROR on vocabulary development. I will then try to make the point that ROR is a modest and inexpensive intervention; even though “more ROR” appears to produce better results, vigorous interventions are small-scale. Finally, I note that the crucial component of ROR appears to be reading aloud to children, a practice that already has an excellent track record (Trelease, 2006). The implication is that these simple approaches deserve more attention.

Positive Impact on Vocabulary Development
The ROR website (reachoutandread.org) includes three evaluations in which children were tested on their acquisition of vocabulary (table 1). The design of two of the studies (Mendelsohn et al. and Sharif et al.) is nearly identical, with children tested at about 4 years of age after three years of experience with ROR.

Krashen Table 1

Families in all three studies were low-income. Subjects in Mendelsohn et al. were characterized as “poor and undereducated with a preponderance of Latino immigrants” (p. 131) who had come to inner-city pediatric clinics for “routine well-child care.” Participants in Sharif et al. attended pediatric clinics in the Mott Haven section of the South Bronx, “the poorest congressional district in the United States” (p. 172). Participants in the High et al. study were described as “multicultural, low income families.” In Sharif et al. and Mendelsohn et al. a significant percentage of the families were Spanish-speaking and interviews, orientation and testing were done in Spanish when families preferred it.

Krashen Table 2

Two studies (table two) used identical measures, the Expressive and Receptive One-Word Picture Vocabulary tests. Test scores were standardized for age (100 = 50th percentile). In both studies, children were at a similar age when tested, and durations of treatment were similar. In both cases, ROR children did better on the vocabulary measures and the ROR advantage was larger on receptive than expressive vocabulary tests. In Sharif et al, however, the difference between the ROR and comparison groups was not statistically significant for the expressive test (p = .26).

Krashen Table 2 B

Because all subjects were from low socio-economic families, it is not surprising that the children scored below the national median (100). The ROR children, however, closed from about one-fourth to one-half of the gap on the receptive test (table two).
High et al. used a modified version of a standardized test, the MacArthur Communi­cative Develop­mental Invent­ory, testing both expressive and receptive vocabulary. One part of each test contained 50 words that appeared in the books that were distributed and one part contained 50 words that did not appear in the books that were distributed. As the children in this study were very young, the children themselves were not tested but parents were asked if the child could produce or understand the words.

Krashen Table 3

The data in table three presents only the results for children who were between 1.5 to 2 years old at the time of testing (n = 88). For children ages 13 to 17 months, the ROR children were slightly but not significantly better in receptive vocabulary and the comparisons were better in expressive vocabulary, with the difference approaching significance. For the older children, however, the ROR group was clearly better, both for words appearing in the books and words not appearing in the books. The superiority of the ROR children for words not appearing in the books suggests that parents brought in other books for the children (see discussion of Theriot et al. below).

Golova et al. (1999) used a similar measure and obtained similar results, finding no difference in vocabulary with children under 18 months at the time of testing, but a trend for ROR children older than 18 months to do better, with the difference reaching statistical significance for receptive vocabulary. Golova et al. did not provide details, however.

Fortman et al. (2003) reported no impact of ROR in middle class families. The positive impact of ROR may be limited to low-income families, those with less access to books and less likely to read to their children.

A modest treatment
The data present above shows that a modest and inexpensive intervention produced consistent results in vocabulary development in three separate studies. The entire treatment consisted of a few well-child pediatrician visits, providing some information about reading aloud to children, and providing a small number of books. For example, over a three-year span, subjects in one study (Mendelsohn et al.) had an average of only three well-child appointments in which their doctors discussed books and received an average of four books.

Of course there are limits as to how modest Reach out and Read can be and still be effective. Merely providing information or a book just once (during an emergency room visit) has not been shown to have an effect on family reading practices (Nagamine et al.
2001). Providing additional books, either through physician visits or parents’ buying books, results in better gains in vocabulary (Theriot et al), and the combined effect of books and information-providing sessions is very strong.

Krashen Table 4

Theriot et al. examined the impact of books provided by parents (in addition to those given by ROR; the average number of ROR books was five) and the number of information sessions parents attended on vocabulary development. The children were three years old and had been involved with ROR since they were two months old. With only few books available (10), more information sessions resulted in a modest increase in performance on a receptive vocabulary test (PPVT). But when more books were available (40), a similar increase in sessions had much larger impact (table four).

The maximum treatment in Theriot et al., 40 additional books and eight sessions, is still a modest intervention. It is also noteworthy that the difference between children with the fewest books and sessions and those with the most was about 10 points, or 2/3 of a standard deviation (sd = 15), an effect size of about .67, similar to the advantage seen of ROR in general over comparison groups on receptive vocabulary tests (table two).

The importance of Read-Alouds
As mentioned earlier, ROR information sessions include encouragement of and information about reading aloud to children. Studies of the impact of ROR consistently show that ROR children are read to more than comparison children (table five).

Krashen Table 5

The crucial role of read-alouds was confirmed by High et al.’s analysis (High et al., 2000) showing that frequency (days per week) of read-alouds was a strong predictor of scores on both vocabulary measures, controlling for demographic variables, including parental language proficiency. In fact, when frequency of read-alouds was considered, High et al. reported that participation in ROR had no additional impact on vocabulary test performance. These results are consistent with research showing the positive impact of read-alouds on literacy development (Bus, Van Ijzendoorn and Pellegrini. 1995; Blok, 1999) and in stimulating interest in reading (Brassell, 2003; Trelease, 2006; Wang and Lee, 2007; Cho and Choi, 2008).
The results also suggest that the impact of additional books and information sessions, as demonstrated by Theriot et al., was due to increased reading aloud to the children.

Discussion
ROR (or more properly, RORA, for Reach Out and Read Aloud) has been shown to increase the frequency of reading aloud in low-income families and results in substantial gains in vocabulary, especially in receptive vocabulary. It requires only a modest investment in time and material (books), but results so far indicate that it can substantially help close the equity gap in literacy, the difference in literacy competence between children from high and low-income families.

This is a contrast to the much more expensive and elaborate solutions currently under consideration, thus far lacking in clear empirical support (e.g. The LEARN Act, see Krashen, 2010). The results also mean that we need to pay more attention to the obvious and well-attested means of increasing literacy, read-alouds (Trelease, 2006), and continue to study the effects of ROR as well as similar projects (e.g. Imagination Literacy and Book Trust,* the latter providing books to older children. It also means reversing the current trend of defunding libraries, a major source of books for readers of all ages.

References
Blok, H. 1999. “Reading to Young Children in Educational Settings: A Meta-Analysis of Recent Research” Language Learning 49 (2): 343-371.
Brassell, D. 2003. “Sixteen Books Went Home Tonight: Fifteen Were Introduced by the Teacher” The California Reader 36 (3): 33-39.
Bus, A., M. Van Ijzendoorn, and A.Pellegrini. 1995. “Joint Book Reading Makes for Success in Learning to Read: A Meta-Analysis on Intergenerational Transmission of Literacy” Review of Educational Research 65: 1-21.
Cho, K. S., and D. S. Choi. 2008. Are Read-Alouds and FreeReading “Natural Partners”? Knowledge Quest 36(5): 69-73.
Fortman, K., Fisch, R., Phinney, Defor, T. 2003. “Books and Babies: Clinical Based Literacy Programs” Journal of Pediatric Health Care 17: 295-300.
Golova N., Alario A., Vivier P., Rodriguez M., and High P. 1999. “Literacy Promotion for Hispanic Families in a Primary Care Setting: A Randomized Controlled Trial” Pediatrics. 103: 993-997.
High P., LaGasse L., Becker S., Ahlgren I., and Gardner A. 2000. “Literacy Promotion in Primary Care Pediatrics: Can We Make a Difference?” Pediatrics. 104: 927-934.
Krashen, S. 2010. “Comments on the LEARN Act” http//www.sdkrashen.com
Mendelsohn A., Mogiler L., Dreyer B., Forman J., Weinstein S., Broderick M., Cheng K., Magloire T., Moore T. and Napier C. 2001. “The Impact of a Clinic-Based Literacy Intervention on Language Development in Inner-city Preschool Children” Pediatrics 107(1): 130-134. Nagamine, W., Ishida, J., Williams, D., Yamamoto, R., and Yamamoto, L. 2001. “Child Literacy Promotion in the Emergency Clinic” Pediatric Emergency Care 17(1):19-21.
Sharif I., Rieber S., and Ozuah P.O. 2002. “Exposure to Reach Out and Read and Vocabulary Outcomes in Inner City Preschoolers” Journal of the National Medical Association. 94: 171-177.
Theriot J., Franco S., Sisson B., Metcalf S., Kennedy M. and Bada H. 2003. “The Impact of Early Literacy Guidance on Language Skills of 3-Year-Olds” Clinical Pediatrics 42: 165-172.
Trelease, J. 2006. The Read-Aloud Handbook. New York: Penguin. Sixth Edition.
Wang, F. Y., and S. Y. Lee. 2007. “Storytelling is the Bridge” International Journal of Foreign Language Teaching 3(2): 30-35.

Stephen Krashen currently serves as a member of the Board of Directors of Book Trust (Fort Collins, Colorado). All members of the Book Trust board serve without pay.

Changing the Face of Arabic

Sandy Saghbini and Raisa Zaidi explain the complex, controversial, and creative impact of technology on Arabic typeface development

Arabic Around the World

Over the past two decades, the influence of Arabic language and culture has swiftly spread across the world. Indeed, Arabic is one of the most widely spoken languages on the planet — it is spoken in 23 countries and is the native language of roughly 300 million people. Designer David Learman claims that the Arabic language has not only influenced countries around the world, but has also spread “rapidly across most developed societies.” He goes on to assert that “no matter where you are located — London, Paris, Berlin, or indeed on the other side of the world in the U.S. or Australia — awareness of Islam and Arab cultures is becoming increasingly important from a design and communications perspective.” As design practitioner Halim Choueiry points out, many experts consider globalization’s greatest impact to have been on the Middle East. At the heart of such change is the Arabic language itself.

With the development of communications technology, Arabic designers have worked hard to ensure that their language is included. However, this is only a recent development. For years, Middle Eastern designers and typographers struggled to keep up in a global market largely dominated by Latin-based alphabets. These struggles have plagued the development of Arabic typography throughout history. Indeed, Arabic calligraphers were not initially part of Gutenberg’s movable type innovation of the late 1440s, mainly due to the language’s cursive, non-Latin structure. Renowned typographer Mourad Boutros offers insight to Arabic’s traditional structure and its conflict with the function of the metal press (movable type). To put it simply, the “methods of creating typefaces for printing from metal type were developed specifically for the Latin alphabet,” meaning that languages with other alphabets, such as Arabic, had to conform and make sacrifices in order to use the same process and keep up with the world’s technology.

Difficulties with Movable Type

Such sacrifices often meant total reconstruction of Arabic letterforms. Metal type consisted of blocks of metals that were divided into units,” with the “deciding and dictating factor” for Latin typefaces dealing with the construction of the letterforms to their collective height. In other words, it was ultimately the height of the metal type’s body that determined linear type for Latin alphabets. As Boutros further explains, the majority of Latin fonts are designed “so that each letter is set and spaced apart from its fellows.” Latin fonts can also “be described as being of a vertical construction,” with much emphasis placed on the ascenders and descenders of its letters. Arabic, however, appears to be the complete opposite in its construction, with much emphasis placed on letterforms that are physically linked by a horizontal line within a word. It is precisely Arabic’s more fluid and horizontal form that puts it in such contrast with the more “controlled and inflexible Latin letterforms.” And, to make things even more complicated, the Arabic alphabet’s 28 basic letters each have different forms depending on their position within the word: whether the letter is at the beginning, middle, or end of a word changes its appearance.

In the article “Advances in Arabic Printing,” Walter Tracey, who in 1947 became the manager of typeface development for Linotype, explains that Arabic’s cursive characteristic and the variations in letterforms “made the manual and mechanical typesetting of Arabic a more laborious task than the typesetting of European languages.” In turn, this made it difficult for Arabic-speaking countries to keep up with the technology of movable type and printing. The metal press had initially been created for a vertical, spaced, and less fluid alphabet than Arabic.

The Merging of Western and Arab Worlds

Arabic has managed to become one of the most influential languages in today’s global communications market thanks to the collaborations between Western and Middle Eastern businesses. Halim Choueiry explains that, for the last century, the Middle East has been “importing to the Arab world what has been produced by the West,” which has “resulted in many people growing accustomed to speaking two languages.” The Middle Eastern country of Lebanon is often used as a prime example of this, since most of the population speaks Arabic, English, and French to such an extent that it is normal for them to switch between and integrate Latin words into their everyday conversations. Lebanon is also known as one of the most Westernized countries in the Middle East, where many multinational companies kept their offices during the 1960s. Most creative work in advertising, design, or branding took place in Lebanon’s capital, Beirut, before the onset of war in 1975. With the oil boom of the Middle East, both multinational and local companies wanted to create brand identities that would appeal to Arabic speakers while keeping their Western identity. This resulted in a movement in which Latin letterforms and Arabic letterforms appeared together in logo designs, ultimately bridging the typographies of Western and Arab worlds.

Simplifying the Arabic Alphabet

This collaborative design method proved quite successful in establishing trendy and memorable brand logos for both local and multinational businesses, prompting designers to think of more creative ways for Arabic and Latin alphabets to interact while keeping the original logos’ feel. But such wasn’t new: about 20 years earlier, a Lebanese architect and typographer, Nasri Khattar, created “Unified Arabic,” a simplified printed form of the Arabic alphabet that consisted of 28 detached characters. Unified Arabic “was meant to ease the learning and writing of the script by reducing the number of shapes letters could assume.” Indeed, Khattar’s approach toward simplifying the Arabic alphabet ignited a movement that is still influencing many typographers and designers today.

A key figure in this movement is Boutros, who is best known for the development of “Simplified Arabic Type” in 1993, which revolutionized Arabic’s availability on computers. With his wife, Arlette Boutros, they created truetype fonts that were compatible with Microsoft’s Arabic Windows as well as the Mac OS Arabic Language Kit. The Boutros couple has also designed more than 50 Arabic typefaces, with some available on IBM printers as core fonts. But aside from these accomplishments, Mourad Boutros had followed Nasri Khattar’s lead by designing a detached, non-cursive Arabic font known as “Basic Arabic.” By creating a detached alphabet, Arabic became more compatible and simpler to work with when dealing with Latin-based computer systems, and also became more appealing to non-Arabic speakers and the global-market.

However, merging the Arabic alphabet with Latin alphabets is a complex undertaking. According to Boutros, “Conveying a theme from one language to another is not a simple task, and we should not treat this lightly, given all the cultural connotations that it entitles… Latin and Arabic typographies should interact as if putting two cultures together. Once each shows its own identity then, in the design of the artwork, the typographies will work concurrently.”

Keeping Up with Modern Technology

But why is it so important for the Arabic alphabet to be simplified and merged with Latin alphabets? Boutros explains that the movement to simplify the Arabic alphabet will help solve problems that have made technological advances with typography difficult in the Middle East. For example, the first mobile phones in Arab-speaking countries did not have an Arabic typeface, so mobile phone users would use the Latin alphabet to express Arabic words. However, not all Arabic letters could be matched by a Latin letter, so Latin numerals were used in between the Latin letters in order to properly express the Arabic word. According to Boutros, this created “a hybrid language based on technological limitations that became habit.” Even with today’s availability of the Arabic Mobile Interface, this type of language is still used when texting, emailing, and chatting. Boutros told Language Magazine that his books were meant to address these types of problems.

The dearth of Arabic fonts installed on computers is a result of the fact that only Latin based languages were taken into account at first. Only two Arabic fonts are currently installed in the majority of users’ computers around the world, which means websites created in Arabic stay limited to these fonts so they are readable to most visitors. Therefore, most Arabic websites come across as bland and messy.

One of the most important developments for the improvement of Arabic typeface design came about in the late 20th century, with Letraset’s invention of the dry transfer process. Boutros explains that this process allowed typographers to use “Instant Lettering” sheets to form words and texts by “releasing a letter from a retaining sheet.” Letraset’s development ultimately led to the production of the typeface Tanseek, which took a new approach in developing Arabic for print. Unlike prior Arabic typefaces developed for movable type, Tanseek was developed with Latin being used as a supplementary font. Instead of having the Arabic alphabet depend primarily on supplementing the Latin alphabet, the Latin alphabet was now being used to supplement the Arabic alphabet. Tanseek proved to be highly successful in its bilingual approach, resulting in a harmonious relationship between Latin and Arabic alphabets.

Detached Arabic Alphabet: An Educational Tool

Keeping up with and solving problems concerning technology are not the only good reasons for simplifying the Arabic alphabet. One of the most important reasons revolves around making the language easier to learn for non-Arabic audiences. “Unified Arabic” and “Basic Arabic” are described as typefaces that serve “as educational tools to simplify and accelerate the process of learning to read and write Arabic.” Making Arabic less difficult to learn is the subject of Cultural Connectives, which focuses on Mirsaal, an Arabic font that Abou Rjeily created from scratch to lend a more detailed understanding of harmonizing Arabic and Latin alphabets. The presentation of Mirsaal is creative, visually appealing, and easily understood. Yet, creating a detached Arabic alphabet poses problems as well. Many Arabic speakers have voiced their concerns about a detached alphabet, several believing it to be inappropriately “Westernizing” the language and stripping it of its cultural tradition.

But Abou Rjeily believes otherwise, “Calligraphy and typography have very different purposes and, in my opinion, separating Arabic type from calligraphy is not disrespectful — on the contrary, it assists in the development of the language and leaves room for experimentation.” She also tells Language Magazine that Mirsaal was not created nor meant to be seen as a substitute for the Arabic alphabet. “Mirsaal is a message, a medium that helps simplify a very complicated script. It is not a substitute.”

To get this message across, Abou Rjeily juxtaposes the traditional Arabic alphabet with the Latin alphabet in a way that makes it easy for readers to compare the two, “Instead of totally substituting Arabic with Latin, or using calligraphic Arabic, which has a very complicated shape, I use a detached font to introduce Arabic to non-Arabic speakers.” Mirsaal “maintains the integrity of the Arabic script and letters by only simplifying their representation. Each letter has one shape wherever it stands in a word instead of three or four shapes. This way it’s less difficult to recognize the letters and memorize them.”

Cultural awareness is of great importance when merging of Arabic and Latin alphabets. Large corporations have made huge mistakes when advertising their products in Arabic, sometimes coming off as culturally inappropriate.

Still a Long Journey Ahead

Whether in design, technology, or business, the Arabic language has experienced immense growth in a short period of time. Yet, there are still many obstacles that continue to afflict its growth. If Western developers don’t open up more toward Eastern languages, these problems will continue to persist. In order to gain more support, it is up to Arabic-speaking typographers and developers, like Mourad and Arlette Boutros, Choueiry, Kandalaft, Abou Rjeily and others, to bring forth creative and innovative designs that will revolutionize Arabic’s participation in technology, as well as preserve its cultural tradition and creativity.

References

Abou Rjeily, R., Cultural Connectives Mark Batty Publisher, New York (2011)
Boutros, M., Khouri, A., Learman, D., Choueiry, H., Kandalaft , G., Abi Aad, A., Talking About Arabic; Mark Batty Publisher, New York (2009)
Boutros, M., Arabic for Designers; Mark Batty Publisher (2006)
Krek, M., “The Enigma of the First Arabic Book Printed from Movable Type”
Tracey, W., “Advances in Arabic Printing” British Journal for Middle
Eastern Studies Vol. 2, No. 2 (1975)
Lunde, P., “Arabic and the Art of Printing” Muslimheritage.com
http://muslimheritage.com/topics/default.cfm?articleid=988#ftnref2
Malkawi, L., “Alternative Layouts for the Arabic Keyboard: Optimizing
Usability, Speed, Comfort, Accuracy, and Learning Curve” (2002)
IBM Office Products Division, “Typewriter: An Informal History” (1977)
http://www-03.ibm.com/ibm/history/exhibits/modelb/modelb_informal.html

Sandy Saghbini is currently a student at the University of California, Irvine pursuing a BA in English with minors in psychology and educational studies in preparation for graduate schooling in school psychology.

Raisa Zaidi holds a BA from UCLA in political science, minoring in public affairs and Middle East North Africa studies. She has written for the Daily Star Lebanon, and attends Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

August 2011

Joining the Digital Dots

August 2011 Cover

Traditionally every August, we publish our annual focus on technology, hoping that many readers will have a little extra time over the summer to assess the latest developments and work out where they can find the means to finance them. However, technology has now become so much a part of not only the language education process but communication in general that we would find it difficult to publish any issue without covering technical innovations.

Because of this plethora of products and current budgetary woes, it is more important than ever to take the time to assess the value of new programs and devices before jumping on the speeding technology bus, so our August issue will continue to focus on technology with the emphasis on the practical — making technology work instead of getting carried away by the latest gadget. In this edition, there’s a feature on classroom tasks suited to interactive whiteboards, a round-up of the latest internet-based language programs, and an in-depth look at how Arabic designers have tackled the challenge of adapting their language to the Latin script bias of the digital age. More

IN THIS ISSUE:

Reach Out and Read (Aloud)
Stephen Krashen with an inexpensive, simple approach to closing the equity gap in literacy

Separado o Together?
Else Hamayan reflects on the separation of languages of instruction

Enlivening the Board
Sarah Withee offers advice on using interactive whiteboards for communicative language teaching

Web of World Languages
Language Magazine’s selection of the latest in online world language learning

Changing the Face of Arabic
Sandy Saghbini and Raisa Zaidi explain the complex, controversial, and creative impact of technology on Arabic typeface development

Staying True to Type
Sandy Saghbini asks Rana Abou Rjeily, creator of Mirsaal typeface, how type designers adapt to changing demands

Renaissance? What Renaissance?
Mourad Boutros shares his passion for creativity with Arabic design

Spanish from Cartagena to Patagonia
Language Magazine looks at study abroad options in Colombia and Argentina

Last Writes
Richard Lederer with Good Book words

Chinese in Taiwan or China?

Blue departures board for major cities.

While the obivous place to go to learn Chinese is, well, China, it’s sometimes easy to forget that for quite a while after the communist takeover on the mainland, Taiwan (officially the Republic of China) was the only “China” recognized by the Western world. Global politics aside, Chairman Mao’s victory has resulted in some lingering after-effects for Mandarin Chinese learners as well.

First of all, the flight of China’s imperial government to Taiwan in 1949 introduced Mandarin as the principal means of communication across the island. The ensuing complete political separation between Taiwan and mainland China meant that Taiwan’s writing system never underwent the same simplification the communists enacted to increase literacy on the mainland. Now, only Taiwan and Hong Kong continue to use traditional Chinese characters, while China itself has fully switched to simplified characters.

Due to the United States’ history of good relations with Taiwan, coupled with the mutually held suspicion of China during the Cold War, Chinese language instruction in American schools and colleges continues to emphasize learning traditional over simplified characters. American students learning Chinese might therefore find studying in Taiwan meshes more easily with their program of study. Even for those contemplating studying abroad without prior language experience, Taiwan is an excellent option to consider. It is much easier to learn simplified characters after having studied traditional, but more difficult to reverse the order.

Taiwan has more attractions than simply its writing system to offer the curious student. Its capital of Taipei is a bustling, cosmopolitan city with pan-Asian cultural influences. Past colonization and rule by China, the Netherlands and Japan coupled largely autonomous rule after Word War II have resulted in a rich and unique culture and a certain local pride separate from mainland China. Taiwan also was not subject to the cultural devastation wrecked by Chairman Mao in the early decades of Chinese Communist Party rule, so many historical artifacts and some practices like traditional puppet theatre were preserved in Taiwan. Taiwan’s government has instituted democratic and liberalizing reforms over the past few decades, so the difficulties of internet censorship, restrictions on free speech, and political sensitivity on the mainland do not apply to Taiwan.

The two major cities in Taiwan are Taipei and Tainan, although several good language institutes are located in Taichung as well, and the countryside of Taiwan is notoriously beautiful.

Volunteer and Study in Japan

With the increasing consumption of Japanese cultural products in the United States, and especially with the proliferation of manga and anime, Japanese has become a popular alternative to the traditional canon of commonly taught foreign languages. Most colleges and universities and even some high schools now host study abroad or exchange programs with sister schools in Japan.

The most common places to study Japanese language in Japan are centered around Tokyo and Kyoto, although other options are available. Three of the most well-known and reputable study abroad options for prospective students are the International Christian University (ICU) in Tokyo, which has been hosting international study abroad students for decades, and offers excellent intensive Japanese instruction, the Associated Kyoto Program (AKP) in Kyoto which also accepts American study abroad students for a year-long program at its Kyoto campus, and the two IES programs in Nagoya and Tokyo.

The two principle dialects of Japanese are centered around Tokyo and Kyoto/Osaka, although further to the north and south of Honshu, the main island, and especially on the smaller islands, spoken Japanese may differ widely. Standardized education, greater national integration, and the adoption of a single dialect for television, radio and government use have, however led to the prevalence of Standard Japanese (the Tokyo dialect) nationwide.

2011 Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami

In March of 2011, a combination earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear emergency hit Japan, with the greatest damage concentrated around the northern Tohoku region. Immediately following the disaster, Japan received a wave of international condolances and aid, including widespread donations to the Red Cross and envoys of aid workers. Now, however, world attention has moved on but Japan still faces a daunting task of reconstruction. Volunteers, especially those with some knowledge of the Japanese language, may be even more welcome now than immediately after the quake. Volunteering, moreover, is always an excellent means of connecting with people and exploring a culture on a deeper level than would be possible by merely acting the tourist.

The current US Travel Warning (expires August 15, 2011) advises citizens to stay outside a 50 mile radius of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Plant, but has confirmed the safety of Japan’s food and water.

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