Research on Learning Strategies in Arabic Language Education

The learning of Arabic language like any other foreign language contains four main aspects; reading, writing, speaking and understanding while listening.[i] This learning process can be enhanced if the most appropriate Learning Strategy is used. In this paper the most appropriate Learning Strategy of Arabic Language is suggested. The course outlines for Arabic language are thoroughly studied and several professors and experts of Arabic Language from Pakistan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Sudan are interviewed. The author, who himself has vast experience in teaching Arabic language, also had the opportunity to sit in the Arabic language classes to observe various strategies and methodologies adopted by different professors while teaching Arabic. In this paper the time spent on teaching Arabic to the students is also discussed. The appropriate size of the class room i.e, the number of students in Arabic language class also matters in improving the quality of Arabic among the students. The matter of teaching Arabic in Arabic only or in the native language of the students will also be touched in here. As the time has changed and the world is moving ahead on a fast pace, it seems necessary to apply the “Direct Method” while teaching Arabic or any foreign language.[ii] This paper will shed light on what is meant by “Direct Method”. The idea of making the student sit and memorize the dry rules of grammar has become obsolete. The idea of telling the student what part of the phrase is subject or predicate, or what is object and what is a noun or verb, may come later. The idea of memorizing the bulk of new vocabulary in the beginning can also be postponed. Hence a paradigm shift is needed here while talking about the Methodology of Teaching Arabic Language, under the heading of “Direct Method”.   [i]     Muhammad Abdul Khaliq, Professor of Arabic and co-author of 'al-Arabia baina Yadaik'. The author of this research paper had a personal interview with him on 21.03.2014, in the Institute of Arabic Language, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. [ii]    This method is adopted roughly by some great scholars of Arabic language like Dr. V. Abdur Rahim who taught Arabic language for decades in the Islamic University of Madina, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The author was fortunate to meet with him many times and get benefitted from his experience. See for details: Abdurrahim, V. (1999), Arabic Course for English-Speaking Students, Leicester: UK Islamic Academy. See also: Abdullah, F. Ibrahim. (1999), Iqra Arabic Reader. Chicago: Iqra International Educational Foundation. Moreover see: Fawzan, Abdurrahman and others. (2004), Al-Arabia Baina Yadaik, Riyadh: Ministry of Education.

Synthesis and Fragmentation of Carbon Clusters and Nanotubes

A detailed study of the formation and fragmentation patterns of sp2 bonded carbon nano and micro structures has been carried out. Nanotubes and graphite are the extended and composite structures formed by the curved and flat sheets of graphene. Their structural stabilities and subtle differences have shown to be responsible for their characteristic fragmentation patterns under different forms of irradiations. Various techniques were employed for imparting energy to these structures. These include arc discharge, magnetron sputtering, energetic ion induced sputtering, and ablation with electronic and ionic pulses. Emission spectroscopy as well as the velocity and momentum analyzers was employed for the identification of the fragments. Arc discharge and magnetron sputtering of graphite delivered C1, C2, C3 and higher clusters which subsequently coalesced to form two types of thin films. Raman, Fourier transform infra red spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analyses relates the sp2 character of these two types of films to the relative ratios of C2 versus all these clusters used in their respective formation. C2 is shown to be the essential component of formation as well as fragmentation of the sp2-bonded structures. Detailed mass spectrometric investigations were performed on Cs+ irradiated SWCNTs, MWCNTs and graphite as a function of Cs+ energy (E(Cs+)) ranging from few tens of eV to 5000 eV. C2, C3 and C4 emission are shown to be the main fragmentation channels for irradiated and pristine single and MWCNTs while C1 shows a linearly increasing relative number density as a function of E(Cs+) thus indicating C1 to be the by-product of the dissociation of C2 and C3. Relative stability of C2 and C3 in energetic collisions with N2 demonstrates that C2 and C2+ dissociate at relatively small collision energies as compared with C3 which has superior survival probabilities even at much higher energies. Sputtering of C2, C3 and C1 under broad energy ranges and doses of Cs+ has been modeled to visualize the breaking of multiple bonds in direct and secondary recoils. The prevalence of C2 among the sputtered species from the irradiated SWCNTs, MWCNTs and graphite targets identify the dominant role that recoil sputtering plays, where a double bonded pair of carbon breaks its four single bonds with four C2 neighbors on sp2– bonded surface.