Framing communicative competence in Arabic courses

The popularity of Arabic language courses has increased in recent years. While most research studies the importance of communicative competence in teaching the Arabic language as a foreign language. However, communicative competence as a part of Arabic courses in universities' syllabi had not previously been investigated. This thesis investigates how Australian universities construct and frame the teaching of communicative competence in their Arabic language courses. The study analyses four communicative competence-based Arabic courses offered by well-known Australian universities (Australian National University, University of Sydney, Western Sydney University and University of Adelaide). The analysis was performed by evaluating the course guides available on the universities' websites supplemented by information provided by course coordinators/convenors in response to queries about information unavailable in the guides. Even though the examined universities show a high degree of variation in presenting the course details to prospective students, all courses aimed at teaching the Arabic language embed the teaching of cultural context, which indicates the importance of intercultural communicative competence in language learning. This study not only adds to the literature concerning teaching AFL in universities in Australia but also contributes to a better understanding of the significance of the focus on the teaching of communicative competence. Moreover, the study raises awareness of the significance of communicative competence in teaching Arabic; therefore, course convenors and instructors are advised to take it into account when designing Arabic language curricula.