Employing Interactive Teaching Strategies in Developing Arabic Oral Communication among Primary School Students in Bilingual Environments: An Educational Perspective in Light of the Results of a Field Study

Abstract

This paper aims to highlight the importance of employing interactive teaching strategies in developing Arabic oral communication among primary school students in bilingual environments, in light of the educational challenges related to learners’ listening and speaking skills. It proceeds from the premise that oral communication represents a fundamental entry point for building linguistic competence, especially in the early stages of education, where students need learning situations based on interaction, dialogue, and organized practice rather than reception and memorization alone. The paper discusses the impact of bilingual environments on students’ oral performance in Arabic, including difficulties in listening comprehension, maintaining attention, organizing ideas, expressing them orally, and the excessive use of colloquial or foreign words in classroom situations. It also presents several interactive teaching strategies that can support oral communication, such as dialogue, group work, life-based situations, audio recordings, structured oral activities, and oral assessment based on observation and performance. The paper concludes that developing oral communication in bilingual environments requires a supportive classroom environment, repeated opportunities for oral practice, linking listening and speaking through gradual learning activities, involving the family in supporting Arabic use beyond the classroom, and training Arabic language teachers to diagnose oral communication difficulties and select suitable strategies to address them.