During the Virtual International Forum “Arabic Language for Non-Arabic Speakers beyond COVID-19: Renewing Strategies and Developing Tools and Methods”, due to be held by the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO), next Thursday 09 July 2020, participants will explore the major lessons learned from the repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Arabic language for non-Arabic speakers, and outline the future action priorities and strategic choices likely to improve the quality and outcomes of this type of education and promote the position of Arabic language in Muslim countries and worldwide in the next phase.

The Forum’s agenda features the opening remarks by Dr. Salim M. AlMalik, ICESCO Director-General, and the address by Dr. Abdullah Al Obeid, Director of ICESCO Center of Arabic Language for Non-Arabic Speakers. Afterward, the floor will be given to Dr. Mohamed El Hannach, President of the International Agency for Natural Language Processing, and Dr. Khaled Hussein AbuAmsha, Executive Director of the “Center for Arabic Study Abroad.” The Forum’s four sessions will then respectively examine “Regional and international action in the field of teaching Arabic to non-Arabic speakers: challenges and opportunities”; “Leadership roles of university institutions in national capacity-building”; “Capitalizing on the telecom and digital revolution to serve Arabic language dissemination”; and “Prospects of teaching and spreading Arabic around the globe.”

In addition to ICESCO’s representatives, the Forum will bring together a host of senior officials in charge of the regional and international specialized institutions and centers, including Dr. Mahmoud Ismail Saleh, Secretary-General of King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz International Center for the Arabic Language; Dr. Ali Moussa, Secretary-General of the International Arabic Language Council; and Dr. Issa Saleh Al Hammadi, Director of Arabic Language Education Center for the Gulf Countries. The participants also include Mr. Faisal Al-Juhani, Arabic Language Programs Coordinator at the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB); in addition to a host of officials in charge of faculties, university departments, educational and cultural centers in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the Sudan, Uzbekistan, Mali, Benin, China, Indonesia, Brunei Darussalam, France, Britain, Serbia, USA, India, Vietnam, and Brazil.

The Forum seeks mainly to develop a shared vision for regional and international institutions and specialized university, educational and cultural institutions regarding future action priorities in this field. The aim is to enable these institutions and education specialists to develop strategic options to keep pace with the runaway changes, draw on the fourth industrial revolution and harness its digital innovations to promote the teaching and learning of the Arabic language and ensure its international empowerment.

People desiring to get a participation certificate are invited to sign up on ZOOM application via the following link:

https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_CXT0m6CsSGKX6etAnHZmug

You can also follow the live streaming of the Forum on ICESCO’s Arabic page on Facebook via the following link:

https://www.facebook.com/ICESCO.Ar/