The Bulbul program is a comprehensive educational program for teaching Arabic phonics, which is carefully crafted by an experienced educator. It offers teachers a systematic and theory-based approach to teaching. As a unique teacher-made learning resource, it promotes consistent and focused exposure to the sounds of the Arabic language, both within and beyond the classroom setting.
A few years ago, when I searched on Google for "An Arabic Phonics Program," I found many educational programs that focused on Arabic language learning in general, but I couldn't find a single program that was specifically designed to teach Arabic phonics. In that moment, I decided to myself: "if there isn't one, I'll create one!"
The Bulbul program is the result of a multi-year research journey. As part of my Master's degree requirements at the University of Nottingham in the UK, I conducted a practice-based inquiry in 2016-2017 to understand and evaluate the challenges of teaching Arabic in a school setting. The findings of this research shaped the conceptual framework of the Arabic phonics program. In 2017-2018, I expanded this research by conducting an action research to further develop the program and to monitor its impact on Arabic teaching practice in a school setting. In 2019-2020, the program was defined and implemented as a promising intervention for teaching Arabic in a school setting. This journey has been described in-depth in my final portfolio for my PGCE degree from Middlesex University in Dubai. Bulbul has also been found to be an effective tool for online learning, as it contains many digital and self-learning resources.
The Bulbul program is currently being utilized in multiple outstanding international schools in Dubai, and even more schools will be implementing it in the upcoming 2022-2023 academic year. Additionally, the strategies used in Bulbul program are also taught in the intensive Vocabulary and Pronunciation module of the Certificate in Arabic Teaching (CAT), an accredited course developed by Corinium Academic Solutions Limited, an international educational consultancy based in the UK.
The name Bulbul is derived from an Arabic word that refers to a small nightingale bird. The songs of nightingales are considered one of the most beautiful sounds in nature, known for their astonishingly rich repertoire. Nightingales are able to produce over 1000 different sounds, compared to just 340 by skylarks and about 100 by blackbirds. This is due to the fact that the part of the brain responsible for creating sound is larger in nightingales than in most other birds. As such, the Bulbul program is named after this unique bird, as it is designed to resemble the uniquely beautiful phonics system of the Arabic language, just as the nightingale's songs are unique and beautiful.
