HomeCollegesCollegesCollege of Humanities and Social SciencesFaculty And StaffAbu Dhabilanguage_Studies_DepartmentProfilesNadine Jaafarawi

Nadine Jaafarawi

Assistant Professor
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Introduction

Nadine Jaafarawi is a PhD holder in Applied Linguistics. Her teaching profile extends to more than 23 years. She was an English coordinator, curriculum developer and University lecturer in Lebanon for more than 15 years. She was a member in the EmSAT National Committee for Grade 1 Baseline Assessment at the Ministry of Education in Abu Dhabi. She is currently an assistant professor at Zayed University. She is a "fellow" in the Higher Education Academy (Advance HE), and a trainer in Child Protection Training Certification Program with Georgetown University and Abu Dhabi Childhood Authority.

Research and Professional Activities

My research interests range from the development of teaching methodologies and approaches that enhance students’ literacy skills to bilingual development of early years children in the gulf, parental intervention in early years, and online education issues.

Current Projects as a CO-PI:

  1. January 2021 to the present: an ongoing funded research project that focuses on tracing the Arabic-English bilingual development of early years children in the Gulf region, particularly emphasizing the role of social interaction. This project examines the bilingual language acquisition process of children aged 2 to 4 years old within their home environments. The primary goal is to gain insights into lexical acquisition and to understand the influence of interaction and input on this process. The project is designed to collect data in the UAE (Abu Dhabi, AlAin) and in Saudi Arabia (Jeddah) with the cooperation of co-investigators at the King Abdulaziz University in Jeddah.
  2. An ongoing research project on Wadema’s Law in UAE in collaboration with the Ministry of Community Development and the private sector- Mohammed Nekhaira Aldhaheri Advocates and Legal Consultant (Bin Nakhira and Partners)
  3. An ongoing research project on AI: This study will explore the use of Chat GPT in English Language courses targeting the student’s communication skills through a task-based approach, which is an efficient teaching strategy that can help learners improve their language skills by using communication in foreign/second language classroom. This qualitative study will explore the ways in which AI can be utilized in the class through ‘learning by doing’ tasks that students go through in preparation for their oral presentation and dialogue production following the university ethical guidelines.

Keywords:

Bilingualism, Sociolinguistics, Family Language Policy, Arabic Language, Identity, Issues of Arabic/English Language teaching, Child protection, Literacy skills in higher education and AI

Teaching Areas

  • English Composition I (ENG 140)
  • Persuasive Writing - English Composition II (ENG 145)                       
  • Text Analysis & Argumentation - English Composition III (ENG 240)
  • English in the Profession I (ENG 222)
  • English in the Profession II (ENG 223)
  • Business Communication (BUS 207)
  • Children’s Literature (EDC 386)
  • Practicum II – Field Experience (EDC 380)
  • Introduction to Linguistics (ENG 331)