The institute is committed to providing professional educational services to its students in an environment that values work ethics and promotes multiculturalism.
The Arabic Language Centre (ALC) was founded by Maliha Wehbe in 1980 at the Dubai World Trade Centre initially to teach Arabic to adults. Eventually, it expanded its wings to educate younger students in 1988 (under the name of DEI School of Languages) and set out to teach Arabic to children. The institute imparts quality education using an interactive, communicative, and student-centered approach that makes learning Arabic fun and memorable. Its unique method of instruction has been tested and proven effective by the students’ ability to communicate confidently upon the completion of the courses and their 100% success rate in international board examinations.
Dynamic Educational Facilities
ALC is driven to impart the knowledge of the language to current and future generations using the unique Maliha Wehbe methodology. This procedure aims to enable students to learn Arabic in a simplified and friendly manner while appreciating its inherent logic and beautiful culture. The institute aims to be recognized as a pioneer in Arabic language teaching for adults and children and to become the official center for training individuals and companies in the UAE.
The courses are designed to prepare learners to communicate effectively and perform meaningful functions in real-life situations. Therefore, they primarily focus on building speaking and listening skills, in addition to enhancing reading and writing skills. The Arabic for adults program consists of beginners, intermediate, and advanced courses that teach business and social Arabic. The language taught is easily transferable to the learners’ everyday lives. The beginners course, for instance, prepares students to introduce themselves and discuss their personal matters, such as their profession, home country, family and relations, and others. It also enables students to describe their state of being and talk about their plans and daily life routines. Like all the courses, the content prepares students to conduct dialogues with others, and ask and respond to questions pertinent to the topics that are covered in each level. Grammar is taught implicitly, from simple to advanced concepts, to complement the conversational skills and enable students to speak correctly and appropriately. While spoken Arabic is focused on, the institute often makes references to the root words in their standard form and expose students to some variations in the language.
The Arabic courses for children teach the spoken language needed to communicate in everyday life, in addition to the classical Arabic needed to academically support children in their school work. The children’s courses introduce the language and vocabulary that the child audience need and encounter in their daily environments (at home, in class, during outings, and so on). The classes include a wide range of theme-based activities that keep the children engaged and enables them to learn by doing. The courses start with the reception level through to the advanced Arabic levels. The levels accommodate children of ages 3 to 16.
The Torchbearer of ALC
The person leading ALC form the front is none other than Ms. Maliha Wehbe, the Founder. A pioneer and self-made woman, she has always been passionate about spreading the Arabic language and culture among the expat population in the UAE. Maliha was keen on presenting the language in a fun manner that makes learning easy. After moving from her home country, Lebanon, in 1976, Maliha embarked on her long teaching journey in the UAE. In partnership with the DWTC at first, she established the Arabic Language Centre in 1981, aiming to teach Arabic to adults in Dubai. Maliha set forth a unique and innovative method to achieve her objective. Together with the centre’s teaching team, she developed a level-based curriculum that transits adult students from the beginners to the advanced levels. The curriculum is taught using ALC’s “Business and Social Arabic” series which consists of 8 books.
Following the success of the adults’ program and aiming to reach the younger audience as well, Maliha later founded the Arabic for Children program in 1989. The children’s program employs the initially developed teaching principles and aims to bring Arabic closer to the young learners’ hearts and minds. Today, after the passing of Ms. Wehbe, her legacy remains very much alive, as ALC’s team continues to teach Arabic to generations of enthusiastic Arabic language learners in the UAE.
Emphasis on the Development of Students
The institute aims to ensure that its courses offer valuable cultural information. Through language, it ensures that students learn about the Arabic culture and aspects like social appropriacy and the dos and don’ts in Arab countries. ALC also often organizes supplementary cultural sessions as well as out-of-school activities that introduce students to aspects like Arabic cuisines, arts, movies, and the history and geography of the Arab world. Besides classroom instruction, it shares guidelines for students to improve their Arabic at their own pace and increase their exposure to the language outside the classroom. The institute aims to support the students’ overall communicative, cultural, and personal skills.
Promoting Language Studies
ALC constantly endeavors to nurture its students’ motivation, which is vital to their success in learning Arabic and sustaining their interest in their learning journey. The institute ensures that the methods and materials used at the centre are geared towards achieving this purpose. It uses the Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) that promotes the students’ conversational skills and encourages them to actively participate in their learning. Learning is achieved by engaging students perform tasks, rather than lecturing and feeding them content. Furthermore, various types of activities (role-plays, open-ended conversations, listening comprehension, oral presentations, games, flashcards etc.) are used to keep the classes highly interactive and meet the different learning styles of students. Also, to keep students interested in the material, the institute uses content that is student-centered and relatable to the students’ language needs in their daily lives. Where possible, it uses authentic materials to sustain the students’ interest in learning the language used in real situations outside the classroom. Finally, the institute ensures that classes are encouraging and empowering, and it takes measures to reduce anxiety and competitiveness.
The Accomplishment Saga
ALC takes pride in being one of the longest existing language centers in the UAE, and one of the very few that offers beginners through advanced levels of Arabic. Since its establishment, ALC has welcomed thousands of enthusiastic learners at its premises. It has also provided language training to a long list of high-end, reputable corporate clients from a wide range of industries in the private and governmental sectors. The institute’s clients include UAE-based embassies and consulates, schools and universities, business establishments, legal firms, banks and financial corporations, real estate and services, and many others. ALC has also prepared students for international board examinations, such as IGCSs and A-Levels. Additionally, the institute’s students have achieved a 100% success rate with predominantly receiving A grades. ALC is also licensed by the Dubai’s Knowledge and Human Development Authority.
The Career Landmark
ALC offers excellent courses which enable students to implement the classroom learnings in their daily business, social, and/or academic lives. It provides students the advantage of knowing foreign language, especially when it is the language of the host country. This serves as an asset that distinguishes people, increases their business opportunities, and expands their social networks. The dedicated endeavors of the institute have helped hone the students’ communicative and professional skills and enhance their overall living experience in the UAE.
