005 <strong>annuaL</strong> report 005 <strong>annuaL</strong> report
– Al-Waha . arrives in Northern Minnesota “Bridging the Middle East and the Midwest” setting up the Village was a team effort: painting signs, decorating posters, securing cooking utensils and studying recipe books. enter the players as a new arabic <strong>Language</strong> Village opened in July 2006 at Camp trowbridge, a facility near Vergas, Minn., which has long been leased by <strong>Concordia</strong> <strong>Language</strong> <strong>Villages</strong>. Long before the islamic period, arab poets developed arabic into a language of richness and flexibility. associated with geographical terrain, Al-Waha means “the oasis.” dr. Muhammad s. eissa, ph.d., an arabic scholar who has taught at the university of Michigan, northwestern university, uCLa, and the american university in Cairo, serves on the steering committee for the arabic <strong>Language</strong> Village. “Al-Waha is the metaphor for an atmosphere free from anxiety,” he says. “it is not a mirage or misleading reality but represents a source of comfort and nourishment—a place where the intellect can focus on positive meanings of life.” Village officials announced the arabic <strong>Language</strong> Village at a news conference on Capitol Hill in october <strong>2005</strong>, which was hosted by senator norm Coleman of Minnesota. also speaking on behalf of the initiative were tom Farrell, deputy assistant secretary of state for academic programs, and ambassador Hassouna of the League of arab states. Village deans, administrators and steering committee members canvassed the Hill and embassies for a day of advocacy about the <strong>Villages</strong>, while a day of Fun took place for youth at a d.C. hotel. “We recruited the steering committee from leaders in both the arab-american community and the arabic language education field from across the u.s.,” says dr. ross King, dean of the Korean <strong>Language</strong> Village and committee co-chair. “they have articulated an urgent need for arabic language education at the K-12 level.” in February 2006, the <strong>Language</strong> <strong>Villages</strong> sponsored an event with leading arabic language educators at the science Museum of Minnesota in st. paul. they announced a $250,000 appropriation from Congress to support curriculum writing and cultural artifacts for the new arabic <strong>Language</strong> Village. other donors include the Mosiac Foundation, saudi aramco and many private individual gifts. ghazi abuhakema, a native speaker of palestinian arabic and a fluent speaker of Modern standard arabic, serves as dean of Al-Waha. He earned an undergraduate degree at al-Yarmouk university, Jordan, an M.s. from st. Michael’s College, Burlington, Vt., and a ph.d. from the university of texas, austin. Having taught various levels of arabic at ut-austin, Middlebury College and the Middlebury arabic summer <strong>Language</strong> school, he is interested in the role of culture in learning a foreign language and in the theories of language acquisition. Modern standard arabic, the language of formal settings and writing, will serve as the foundation for curriculum planning with exposure to colloquial arabic in various dialects (egyptian, Levantine, gulf and north african). Worldwide, 200 million people speak arabic, and it will be the fourteenth language offered at the <strong>Villages</strong>. “arabic is one of the top five languages spoken in the world today, yet few american schools teach it at the pre-collegiate level,” explains Christine schulze, executive director. “We believe the time is right to help young people learn arabic and better appreciate the rich cultural and linguistic tradition. the understanding they gain will help them enrich international dialog in years to come.” Left: Camp Towbridge in Vergas, Minn., was the site for the new Arabic <strong>Language</strong> Village, al-Waha. Inset: Culturally authentic games are an integral part of language learning at the <strong>Villages</strong>. ConCordia <strong>Language</strong> ViLLages