Greek as a foreign language for speakers of Arabic: A study of medical students at the University of Thessaly

Abstract

This paper reports our findings and observations on the difficulties of university students learning Greek as a foreign language at the University of Thessaly. A group of medical students, whose native language was Arabic, answered two questionnaires concerning their use of and competence in Greek. The results showed that first and second year students faced difficulties mostly associated with medical terminology, while third and fourth year students, having overcome these problems, were more concerned to improve their use of Greek in everyday life. The article discusses the implications of the findings for the design of teaching materials suited to the needs of the students. © 2005 G. Andreou & N. Mitsis.