National Middle East Language Resource Center
The National Middle East Language Resource Center coordinates efforts
aimed at increasing and improving opportunities for learning the languages
of the Middle East. The center undertakes and supports projects in areas
such as teacher training, materials development, testing and assessment,
integration of pedagogy and technology, study abroad, and K–12
programs. NMELRC works across Middle East languages to foster cooperation
and joint utilization of expertise and resources.
National Middle East Language Resource Center (NMELRC)
Brigham Young University, 214 HRCB
Provo Utah 84602
Phone: (801) 422-7192
FAX: (801) 422-0382
E-mail: nmelrc@byu.edu
Resources
NMELRC Leadership
Director
Kirk Belnap, Brigham Young
University
(801) 422-6531
Central Office
Stan Jarvis Coordinator
214 HRCB
Provo, Utah 84602
Phone: (801) 422-7192
FAX: (801) 422-0382
E-mail: nmelrc@byu.edu
Associate Director and Chair of the Arabic Board
Mahmoud Al-Batal, Emory
University
(404) 727-6438
Associate Director and Chair of the Hebrew Board
Shmuel Bolozky,
University of Massachusetts
(413) 545-6780
Associate Director and Chair of the Persian Board
Ahmad Karimi-Hakkak, University
of Maryland
(301) 405-3147
Associate Director and Chair of the Turkish Board
Erika H. Gilson,
Princeton University
(609) 258-1435
ARABIC Board
Mahmoud Al-Batal, Emory University
Micheline Chalhoub-Deville,
University of Iowa
Salah Hammoud, Air Force
Academy
Martha Schulte-Nafeh, University
of Arizona
William Granara , Harvard
University
Michael Cooperson, UCLA
HEBREW Board
Shmuel Bolozky,
University of Massachusetts
Ruth Adler Ben-Yehuda, Brown University
Esther Raizen, University
of Texas—Austin
Vardit Ringvald, Brandeis
University
Benjamin Hary, Emory
University
Dorit H. Kaufman,
Stony Brook University, SUNY
PERSIAN Board
Ahmad Karimi-Hakkak, University
of Washington
Mohammad Ghanoonparvar,
University of Texas Austin
Mehdi Marashi, Defense Language
Institute
Mehdi Khorrami, New York University
Kamran Talattof, University
of Arizona
TURKISH Board
Erika H. Gilson, Princeton
University
Sylvia Wing Onder, Georgetown
University
Guliz Kuruoglu, UCLA
Roberta Micallef,
University of Utah
Selim Kuru, University
of Washington
NMELRC News
2004 ACTFL conference. November 19-21, 2004 in Chicago,
IL http://actfl.org/
2004 MESA conference. November 20-23, 2004 at the
Hyatt Regency, San Francisco, CA. http://fp.arizona.edu/mesassoc/
This year NMELRC will run a concurrent session at both conferences
on the topic of professionalism issues. The topic is of importance to
not just for Middle East languages but to language professionals in
all LCTLs. The sessions at both conferences on Saturday afternoon, November
20 will be linked with audio and video. Watch for more details here
and in the program guides from both conferences.
Turkish Classroom Video support materials. A team
led by Suzan Ozel and Filiz Cicek (U. of Indiana) and Sylvia Onder (Georgetown
U.) has just completed production of Turkish video support materials
for beginning and intermediate learners and teachers.
The Turkish Film and Video Project was funded by Fulbright-Hays Group
Projects Abroad Program (GPA) and NMELRC with support from the American
Association of Teachers of Turkic (AATT) and Bilgi University, Istanbul.
These new materials will be developed and released in various forms
and products over the next few years to fill a long-standing need for
such materials.
To enable language students to watch and listen to a large number of
Turkish speakers, several collections of video recordings were produced
for use in Turkish language programs. The purpose of this project was
to collect speech samples that meet the pedagogical needs of language
instruction, both from the linguistic as well as cultural perspective.
The samples were filmed primarily in Istanbul but also in southwestern
Turkey.
The first collection contains materials intended to
provide easy access to images and voices of spoken Turkish for beginning
and intermediate-level learners and teachers. The main focus was on
shooting a film with a story and actors. The principal parts of Murat,
Sema and Pinar were played by professional actors, with over 30 volunteer
actors from different walks of life also featured. The story tells of
Murat's return to Istanbul and his journey through past and present
aspects of both his family's and the city's life. The language and situations
featured in the film cover a substantial portion of contents taught
in elementary and intermediate-level courses, for example, greeting,
self-introduction, asking for directions, shopping, explaining, expressing
regret, etc. Some scenes place an emphasis on displaying cultural notions,
such as Murat's interaction with a fortuneteller, a Mevlevi performance
and a Tavla game.
The immediate goal is to edit the first collection (Murat's story)
in time for use during the upcoming fall semester. Initial release of
the first materials on DVD will go to many universities who responded
to an AATT survey who expressed immediate interest in using the raw
materials in classes this fall.
The second collection contains interviews with more
than 50 individuals. These clips present speech on a variety of topics
including family, work, education, transportation, and city planning.
As a larger number of these speakers also appear in the film, many clips
are intended as a supplementary video bank to the film. A number of
interviews feature language beyond the intermediate level.
The third collection consists of short clips on topics
like buying a ticket, going to the post office, ordering food. These
are independent from the film and will further supplement the list of
topics covered in the film.
The fourth collection consists of conversations and
discussions among two or more speakers. These capture speech that, unlike
in the film, does not follow a storyline. Therefore, these clips gave
greater freedom to speakers in their choice of topics.
The fifth collection consists of background footage
that features glimpses of life in the streets, on piers, cafes, in short,
a collection of humanscapes and landscapes.
We hope that in the near future we will have the time and funds for
further processing of the film, using not only the supplementary materials
of the other collections mentioned above, but also by designing interactive
lessons that will turn this raw material into an effective learning
tool. When available on DVD and/or online, all of the audio-visual materials
collected can be further exploited and adapted for a multitude of instructional
purposes by incorporating further textual or graphic material. Come
back or visit NMELRC.org for updates
on this project.
