The cultural component of the Arabic summer program at Middlebury College: fufillment of students' needs and expectations

This study investigates the students’ cultural needs and expectations of the Middlebury College Arabic Program during the summer of 2002. It also examines how the program, through its provision of a wide array of cultural activities, curricular and cocurricular, fulfills those needs and expectations. One hundred eighteen students and 22 teachers took part in the study, and a bi-methodical, quantitative and qualitative, approach was used to collect and analyze data. The findings of the study indicated that social etiquette, role of religion, diglossic situation and politics top the list of the students’ needs and expectations. Also, the study showed that there was a little variance across all levels in terms of their cultural needs and expectations. The study revealed that the Arabic School does a satisfactory job in fulfilling students' cultural needs. However, it also showed that more planning, reevaluating of the activities and teacher training need to be done to achieve a higher rate of satisfaction and fulfillment. The study concludes by providing some recommendations that are peculiar to the study setting itself as well as the field of Teaching Arabic as a Foreign Language in United States. It also includes a set of areas where further research is needed and the limitations of the study.