Alaa Alshaikh Sulaiman

Teaching Fellow in Arabic

  • Islamic and Middle Eastern Study
  • School of Literature, Languages and Cultures
  • The University of Edinburgh

Contact details

Background

Alaa is an experienced Arabic language instructor and a native speaker. Over the course of her 18-year of teaching experience, Alaa has taught classical, modern standard, and colloquial Arabic as a second language at various prestigious institutions in the United Kingdom and internationally. Alaa has been working at the University of Edinburgh since 2013.

Alaa's expertise extends beyond classroom instruction. She has developed and implemented her own dynamic teaching courses and workshops, incorporating interactive teaching methodologies. Utilizing contemporary learning and teaching theories and frameworks, she has designed comprehensive teaching materials for both modern standard Arabic and colloquial Arabic. These materials have been integrated into undergraduate and postgraduate teaching programs at the University of Edinburgh, enriching the curricula and providing students with valuable language learning resources.

Committed to professional growth and academic development, Alaa is pursuing postgraduate studies focused on Classical Arabic in higher education. Area of interest:  language pedagogies, policies, frameworks, and professionalism. Her dedication to these areas of interest demonstrates her passion for advancing the field of language education.

 

Alaa has been nominated repeatedly for Edinburgh University Students’ Association (EUSA) Teaching Awards:

- In the category ‘Best Overall Teacher Award’ 2016-2017.

- In the category ‘Best Practice in Inclusive Learning and Teaching Award’ 2017-2018.

- Two nominations in the category ‘Teacher of The Year’ 2021-2022.

- In the category ‘Teacher of the Year’ 2022-2023.

 

 

Responsibilities & affiliations

AFFILIATIONS

  • Senior Fellow, SFHEA: The higher education academy & Edinburgh Teaching Award (EdTA) (2022)
  • Fellow, FHEA: The Higher Education Academy  (2016)

Undergraduate teaching

Arabic year 1 

Arabic year 2 

Arabic year 4

Introductory Arabic Language course semester & and 2

Introductory Arabic Language 2 course

Postgraduate teaching

  • Intensive Arabic A

  • Intensive Arabic B

  • Advanced Arabic E

  • Advanced Arabic D

  • Advanced Arabic G

  • Advanced Arabic H
  • Portfolio of written Translation Exercise