Companion Web Site Materials
The material found in the Companion Web site of ‘Arabiyyat al-Naas I consists of two
parts: Teacher Resources and Student Resources
The Teacher Resources in turn consist of the following sub-parts:
1. Teacher’s Guide
This resource includes suggestions to the instructor of how to introduce the material of
the various units in the book.
Different instructions are given for the different units or groups of units. More detailed
suggestions are given for Units One and Two since they include most of the features and
activities introduced for the first time. Once such features and activities become familiar,
instructions for presenting them are gradually phased out.
Unit One (the alphabet and number systems). Each of the ten lessons of this unit includes
a set of specific goals in terms of letters, numbers, words, and grammar points to be
introduced.
Unit Two (Introductory Themes). This unit acts as a bridge between Unit One and the rest
of the book, which includes Units 3-21. Each of the first nine lessons of this unit
introduces a set of new words on a specific theme with sample sentences illustrating their
usage as well as suggestions on the use of teaching aids such as maps, pictures, a clock,
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lessons, grammar introduced in the fourth, while the fifth serves as a wrap-up review
lesson.
These activities include oral drills ( ﺗﻤﺎ$%ﻦ ﺷﻔ)*
ّ
ﺔ) which provide students with the
opportunity to practice different structures until achieving mastery. The instructor models
the correct use of the target structure and then by changing the prompt, allows the
students to respond while focusing on a particular conjugation or usage. For example, to
practice using the possessive pronouns, the instructor gives the student a noun and a
personal pronoun such as age/he and the student responds with his age. Drills have been
designed to practice the use of pronouns, expressing possession with ﻋﻨ ﺪ , verb
conjugations, comparative constructions, ‘going to’ with $01 , and others. Most drills are
also suited for pair work.
Such drills are not only useful for improving accuracy, but they are also effective in
– Games could be used as a diversion, a break from routine activities, while
incorporating an element of fun as students learn new material.
– With games, students can continually reinforce and consolidate their knowledge of
the material that had already been introduced in previous lessons.
– Games are motivating because they can introduce competition and thus purposeful
use of the language.
– Finally, in a game-oriented context, anxiety is reduced because the students’ focus is
on winning points, which takes away the anxiety about making mistakes while the
Sample tests focusing on listening, reading, grammar and vocabulary accompany Units 1,
2, 4, 5, 7, 10, 15, 20. No sample tests designed to test the speaking and writing skills are
included because of class time restrictions. We suggest that teachers develop their own
tests for these two skills according to their own circumstances. A speaking test designed
for a class of 25 students may differ significantly from one designed for 10 students. As
for writing, we believe that the writing activities included in the fifth lesson of Units 3-21
offer enough material to form a basis for evaluating students’ writing skills.
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4. The texts of the listening exercises and video materials
These are provided for the teacher’s convenience for easy reference as a substitute for
listening to the listening exercises or watching the videos when preparing for class. A
copy of these texts is also found in Student Resources (see below).
The Student Resources include the following components:
1. Unit-by-unit activities and exercises, including writing demos, PowerPoint slides, and
audio and video materials.
2. Unit-by unit additional activities, including a variety of oral and written exercises with
accompanying instructions intended for more variety, reinforcement and further practice.
3. Grammar appendix with a summary of the main grammar topics presented in the book.
4. The texts of the listening exercises and video materials. These should be used only as a
reference and not for reading and writing practice. Students should listen to the audio
materials and watch the video materials first and should refer to the texts only if they