Examining instructional contexts and student beliefs in Arabic teacher recruitment

Abstract

Although enrollments in Arabic postsecondary programs increased substantially in the early 21st century, the lack of robust teacher training, combined with an ongoing decline in world language (WL) enrollments overall, has underscored the need for continued teacher recruitment in Arabic and other less commonly taught languages (LCTLs). In this exploratory study we evaluate student perceptions of WL teaching through the partial implementation of Arabic-language teacher recruitment modules based on ACTFL’s Educator Rising 2.0 initiative, as well as the role of instructors and instructional contexts in this implementation. Although survey findings did not show a significant increase in interest in becoming an Arabic teacher, interviews with the instructors and two focal students point to the importance of instructor context and student history in the success of teacher recruitment initiatives in Arabic classrooms. We conclude with recommendations for future research and LCTL teacher recruitment