A Summer of Virtual Language Learning

By Rachel Williams

In spring 2020, like many other students at OU and around the country, I found myself scrambling to adapt my summer plans to the spread of COVID-19 and the ensuing lockdown. I had been awarded a Critical Language Scholarship to study Arabic in Ibri, Oman, but by mid-March the program had been canceled. As a fourth-year Arabic student planning to apply to the Arabic Flagship capstone year in Morocco later in the year, I scrambled to find another summer program that would allow me to build up my language skills.

My “plan B” was the Arabic Flagship’s summer program in Morocco, but that was canceled not long after CLS. Fortunately, the summer program administrators helped me to find other Flagship-approved programs that would be delivered virtually, and I landed on Indiana University ’s Language Workshop. I was accepted to the two-month Arabic 5 course and a one-month Moroccan Darija course.

IU’s Language Workshop turned out to be a fantastic program. Each week, my class focused on a different topic relating to the Arab world, including media, culture, minorities, education, gender issues and the migrant experience. Our well-connected professor invited experts and prominent figures to discuss the week’s topic with us in Arabic via Zoom, including author Shahla Ujayli, film director Basil Al-Khatib, Al Jazeera program host Nazih Al-Ahdab and Iraqi Ambassador to the United States Fareed Yasseen. I participated in weekly clubs to learn more about tourism in the Arab World and to practice discussing current events in Arabic. By the end of the program, I had achieved an “Advanced High” ranking in an Oral Proficiency Interview — just one step below the “Superior” ranking I hope to reach after the capstone year — and had developed a solid base of Moroccan Darija.

When I was asked to conduct an interview with IU’s Language Workshop director for an end-of-summer program publication, I got a glimpse of adapting language-learning to the pandemic from the administrator’s side. Dr. Kathleen Evans shared that IU’s Language Workshop saw a significant spike in enrollment due to the cancellation of so many other programs. That forced the workshop to add new sections and hire and train additional personnel at the last minute. While that transition was exhausting, Evans shared that it was also rewarding, and accelerated the adoption of techniques to make language learning more effective and efficient.

The pandemic demanded sacrifices of students, instructors and administrators alike, but through hard work and a positive attitude, students like me still had a productive and successful summer of language learning.

Rachel Williams is in her fifth year of the B.A./M.A. in International Studies at OU, with a double major in Arabic.