
Dr Rasha Soliman
- Position: Associate Professor of Arabic Language and Linguistics
- Areas of expertise: teaching Arabic as a second language; applied linguistics; sociolinguistics; curriculum design; language learning needs & attitudes; Arabic teacher training; dialectology & mutual intelligibility.
- Email: R.K.Soliman@leeds.ac.uk
- Phone: +44(0)113 343 9826
- Location: 4.04a Michael Sadler Building
- Website: | Twitter | LinkedIn | Googlescholar | Researchgate | ORCID | White Rose
Profile
Teaching Arabic as a Second Language has been my career since 1995. I started teaching Modern Standard Arabic and Egyptian Colloquial Arabic in Cairo before I decided in 2001 to pursue an MA in Applied Linguistics at the University of Southern Queensland in Australia. In 2004, I moved to the UK and took an Arabic teaching post at the University of Manchester. In January 2015, I completed my PhD study in Arabic Applied Linguistics. My research focused on the mutual intelligibility between native speakers of different Arabic dialects. It also focused on how to incorporate Arabic language variation in the classroom. In September, 2015, I joined the University of Leeds as a Teaching Fellow in Arabic Language then as a Lecturer in Arabic Language and Linguistics since September, 2017.
External Examiner experience: Undergraduate and Postgraduate coursework and research at: ,The University of Edinburgh, Goldsmiths – University of London, Nottingham Trent University, Coventry University, University of Cambridge, Manchester Metropolitan University, UNILANG for the Association of University Language Communities.
Responsibilities
- Director of Leeds Centre for Excellence in Language Teaching
Research interests
Arabic Applied Linguistics with a focus on:
- Diglossia
- Arabic Language Variation and Dialectal Mutual Intelligibility
- Teaching Arabic as a Second Language
- Methods of Grammar Teaching
- Arabic Language Learning Needs & Attitudes
- Second Language Teacher Education
- The application of the Common European Framework of Reference to the teaching of Arabic as a Second Language
Research Projects
I am currently conducting research on Learners’ perceptions of Arabic grammar and its teaching methods. I have also been working on the creation of a CEFR vocabulary profile for Arabic language.
<h4>Research projects</h4> <p>Any research projects I'm currently working on will be listed below. Our list of all <a href="https://ahc.leeds.ac.uk/dir/research-projects">research projects</a> allows you to view and search the full list of projects in the faculty.</p>Qualifications
- PhD in Arabic Applied Linguistics - University of Leeds
- MA in Applied Linguistics - University of Southern Queensland - Australia
- Post-Graduate Certificate in Second Language Teaching - University of Southern Queensland
Professional memberships
- BAAL - British Association for Applied Linguistics
- UCML - University Council of Modern Languages
- AULC - Association of University Language Centres
Student education
I convene and teach Level 1 Arabic Language
Research groups and institutes
- Arabic
- Dialectology
- Language at Leeds
- Language variation
- Language pedagogy