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.

Development of a Suitable Semen Extender for the Cryopreservation of Nili Ravi Buffalo Bul 9Bubalus Bubalis Semen

Presently, buffalo farmers are dissatisfied with fertility rates of the frozen semen used in the field and tend to use bulls. This study was designed to develop a suitable semen extender for cryopreservation of Nili Ravi buffalo semen that can improve conception rate in buffaloes. Experiment-I, an attempt was made to develop semen extender with optimal osmotic pressure for buffalo semen using tris citric acid (TCAE), skim milk (SME) and coconut water (CWE) extenders (each extender have 260, 270, 280, 290 and 300 mOsm/kg osmotic pressure levels). In Experiment-II, best extender (TCAE: 300 mOsm/kg) of experiment-I was tried to improve post thaw spermatozoa characteristics by supplementing antioxidants [0.0, 1.75, 2.0 and 2.25 mM butylated hydroxy toluene (BHT) and 0.0, 2.0, 5.0 and 8.0 mM L-cysteine]. Post thaw spermatozoa motility, viability, plasma membrane integrity (PMI), DNA damage rate and lipid peroxidation were assessed in first two experiments. In Experiment-III, pregnancy rate assessment of extended semen was carried out by using Trial extender (best of experiment II) or Control extender of Semen Production Unit (SPU), Qadirabad, Pakistan (50 inseminations of each extender). Higher spermatozoa motility at ≥ 270 mOsm/kg was noted in TCAE than both SME and CWE could be due to less intracellular ice formation in zwitterions extender. Higher spermatozoa viability in TCAE and CWE compared to SME may be attributed to extender effectiveness. Higher acrosomal integrity rate at 300 mOsm/kg in TCAE and SME may be because of less intracellular ice formation in isotonic extenders. At 290 mOsm/kg, higher spermatozoa PMI in SME and lesser DNA damage in three extenders might be due to lesser intracellular ice formation at cryopreservation. Decreased spermatozoa DNA damage in SME might be due to the presence of natural antioxidants i.e., casein. Higher lipid peroxidation in CWE than TCAE and SME may be due to presence of natural antioxidants (in SME) and higher cell dehydration potential of TCAE. Higher spermatozoa motility recorded at 2.0 mM BHT compared to other BHT groups including DMSO might be due to fact that BHT protects spermatozoa mitochondria by reducing oxidative stress. Lower spermatozoa viability, PMI rates and higher DNA damage at 2.25 mM of BHT may be due to BHT toxic effects. Lower lipid peroxidation in BHT treated groups compared to DMSO and BHT control groups might be related to BHT strong antioxidant properties. L-cysteine caused higher spermatozoa DNA damage at highest level (i.e., 8 mM) that could also be due to antioxidant’s toxic effect. Pregnancy rate 18 % higher was noted in Trial than Control semen extender; however no significant difference have been noted that might be due to less no of inseminations. In conclusion, TCA extender (300 mOsm/kg) having BHT (2.0 mM) improved post thaw semen quality and yielded numerically better pregnancy rates. Results of study indicated that osmotic stress damaged the spermatozoa internal structures more severely than injury to plasma membrane.