Mother Tongue

PROGRAMME

DIA Barsha is an international IB school in Dubai for children aged 3 to 18, offering PYP, MYP, DP & CP. Covering 23 acres, the centrally-located campus provides outstanding sport and performance facilities, allowing a broad education of academics, skills development and character education.

Academic Learning
Mother Tongue Programme

Mother Tongue Programme

MOTHER TONGUE PROGRAMME AT DIA AL BARSHA

We are a truly international school and place a high value on language learning from an early age as part of our international-mindedness and inclusive environment. Whilst English is our instructional language for all subjects, all students are expected to learn Arabic from KG and a foreign language from Grade 2.

A number of research studies have shown that children who learn multiple languages from a young age demonstrate cognitive advantages, such as increased problem-solving skills and creativity.

Children also develop an interest in and curiosity about different cultures and ideas when they have a foundation in other languages. This makes them more comfortable growing up in our increasingly global society, where languages and cultures intersect every day.

Arabic
Arabic is compulsory for all students in Grade 1 to Grade 9 inclusive in accordance with KHDA (Dubai’s governing education authority) requirements. Arabic is sub-divided into the following two levels: Arabic A: Native Arabic Speakers (holding passports from Arabic speaking countries) Arabic B: Non-Arabic Speakers (holding passports from non-Arabic speaking countries) Note: Arabic speaking students who hold a passport from a non-Arabic speaking country may choose Arabic A or B Students holding passports from non-Arabic speaking countries may meet requirements for Arabic A if required

Arabic

Arabic is compulsory for all students in Grade 1 to Grade 9 inclusive in accordance with KHDA (Dubai’s governing education authority) requirements. Arabic is sub-divided into the following two levels:

Arabic A: Native Arabic Speakers (holding passports from Arabic speaking countries)
Arabic B: Non-Arabic Speakers (holding passports from non-Arabic speaking countries)

Note:

Arabic speaking students who hold a passport from a non-Arabic speaking country may choose Arabic A or B
Students holding passports from non-Arabic speaking countries may meet requirements for Arabic A if required

modern foreign languages
All students from Grade 2 onwards can choose to learn French or Spanish as part of our Modern Foreign Languages (MFL) programme. This choice will then run through into the secondary school as well. NOTE: If you are a native French or Spanish speaker, you may be required to study the other language, unless there is a significant challenge.

modern foreign languages

All students from Grade 2 onwards can choose to learn French or Spanish as part of our Modern Foreign Languages (MFL) programme. This choice will then run through into the secondary school as well.

NOTE: If you are a native French or Spanish speaker, you may be required to study the other language, unless there is a significant challenge.

mother TONGUE programme
We are keen to support internationalism and aim to facilitate our families to continue to learn their home language, offering a range of languages where the demand exists. Each and every language spoken in the world refers to its special culture, tradition, belief, faith, history, melody and asset. The mother tongue language is certainly one of the most precious treasures in our lives as it makes us more aware, open-minded, and respectful to the cultures, lifestyles, customs and beliefs of each other. As an authorised IB World School, where international mindedness plays an important part, we promote multilingualism and internationalism with all our different nationalities at our school. English is the instructional language for all other lessons. This provides an overall development of our student’s linguistic skills and helps them to develop a connection to their native land, along with the acceptance & appreciation of cross culture. All our mother tongue teachers are more than just native speakers, they hold recognised teaching qualifications up to KHDA standards and are experienced in working with international students. In some cases, we will partner with local organisations to provide language learning that we are unable to cover in-house. Mother Tongue languages at a glance: What is Mother Tongue? Mother Tongue languages at DIAB believe in the term “First language First” this refers to students’ native language, the first language they speak at home and their respective home country language. Is Mother Tongue part of the school curriculum? Mother Tongue programmes are not the part of the school curriculum, but separate programmes inside school to let each child learn and grow in his/her Mother Tongue. They have their own curriculum and mostly we aim to follow their respective home country programme depending on the child's level in their native language. What are the language options we offer? Our current language options are shown below. As per the requirement, we always strive to add new languages to our programme to motivate and encourage learning of MT at our school. Please reach out if you would like us to add a language to the programme. Who can join Mother Tongue classes? All DIAB students from KG1 till Grade 10 can join their native language. One parent (mother or father) must be the native speaker of that language. We also have option to choose MT language as a self-taught subject in IBDP. How it works? Most of our Mother Tongue classes are conducted during school time, in exceptional cases it can be after school for example if there are a small number of students, or the student’s language level is higher or lower than their class/group of students. What is a Pre-assessment for MT? Pre-assessment of a student in Mother Tongue help us to find out each student's level in MT. Generally, the teacher will assess student knowledge in reading, writing, speaking and listening and provide classes as per the level of understanding in the language. What is the medium of instruction? In general, the classes are conducted fully in the Mother Tongue language. For the beginner level and medium level, the instructions are a mix of MT and English language. Should you have any further queries or questions then please contact our MT Coordinator Further Information: Bilingualism for Parents Bilingualism for Teachers

mother TONGUE programme

We are keen to support internationalism and aim to facilitate our families to continue to learn their home language, offering a range of languages where the demand exists. Each and every language spoken in the world refers to its special culture, tradition, belief, faith, history, melody and asset. The mother tongue language is certainly one of the most precious treasures in our lives as it makes us more aware, open-minded, and respectful to the cultures, lifestyles, customs and beliefs of each other.

As an authorised IB World School, where international mindedness plays an important part, we promote multilingualism and internationalism with all our different nationalities at our school. English is the instructional language for all other lessons. This provides an overall development of our student’s linguistic skills and helps them to develop a connection to their native land, along with the acceptance & appreciation of cross culture.

All our mother tongue teachers are more than just native speakers, they hold recognised teaching qualifications up to KHDA standards and are experienced in working with international students. In some cases, we will partner with local organisations to provide language learning that we are unable to cover in-house.

Mother Tongue languages at a glance:

What is Mother Tongue?

Mother Tongue languages at DIAB believe in the term “First language First” this refers to students’ native language, the first language they speak at home and their respective home country language.

Is Mother Tongue part of the school curriculum?

Mother Tongue programmes are not the part of the school curriculum, but separate programmes inside school to let each child learn and grow in his/her Mother Tongue. They have their own curriculum and mostly we aim to follow their respective home country programme depending on the child's level in their native language.

What are the language options we offer?

Our current language options are shown below. As per the requirement, we always strive to add new languages to our programme to motivate and encourage learning of MT at our school. Please reach out if you would like us to add a language to the programme.

Who can join Mother Tongue classes?

All DIAB students from KG1 till Grade 10 can join their native language. One parent (mother or father) must be the native speaker of that language. We also have option to choose MT language as a self-taught subject in IBDP.

How it works?

Most of our Mother Tongue classes are conducted during school time, in exceptional cases it can be after school for example if there are a small number of students, or the student’s language level is higher or lower than their class/group of students.

What is a Pre-assessment for MT?

Pre-assessment of a student in Mother Tongue help us to find out each student's level in MT. Generally, the teacher will assess student knowledge in reading, writing, speaking and listening and provide classes as per the level of understanding in the language.

What is the medium of instruction?

In general, the classes are conducted fully in the Mother Tongue language. For the beginner level and medium level, the instructions are a mix of MT and English language.

Should you have any further queries or questions then please contact our MT Coordinator