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It reviews disputes in language pedagogy, contrasts NS-based expectations with alternatives such as intercultural competence and multi-competence, and reports semi-structured interviews with nine stakeholders from UK Higher Education. Results reveal contested views on Communicative Arabic Proficiency (CAP) and identify an educated native speaker as an existing norm, while also proposing a diglossic competent L2 user as a possible norm.",{"@graph":69,"@context":122},[70,84,105],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":40,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/an-assessment-norm-of-communicative-arabic-proficiency/591646/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":99,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":100,"interactionStatistic":101},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/an-assessment-norm-of-communicative-arabic-proficiency/591646.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"Dipper","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-29","2026-10-15",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":34},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",{"@type":106,"mainEntity":107},"FAQPage",[108,114,118],{"name":109,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":111},"Why is the native speaker concept contested in language assessment?","Question",{"text":112,"@type":113},"Researchers argue that it sets an unrealistic ideal target and may frame the learner as an incomplete native speaker, leading to disputed validity as an assessment norm.","Answer",{"name":115,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":116},"How does the study investigate the assessment norm for Arabic proficiency?",{"text":117,"@type":113},"It uses semi-structured interviews with nine assessment stakeholders across three groups: assessor teachers, teachers, and learners of Arabic as a foreign language in UK Higher Education.",{"name":119,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":120},"What norms are identified in relation to communicative Arabic proficiency?",{"text":121,"@type":113},"Findings show contested opinions about CAP, an existing norm of the educated native speaker, and the possibility of a diglossic competent L2 user, though its definition remains unclear.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":124,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":126,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":128,"site_id":62},591646,1792167790,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":131},{"doc_id":128,"user_id":132,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":39,"category_name":40,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":34,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":46,"language":139,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":140,"faqs":141,"seo_title":142,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":143,"read_time":31,"preview_page_count":4},1374404997633,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_a8503ba1806abce46bf441b54a3ca4cd","An assessment Norm of Communicative Arabic  \nArab Journal of Applied Linguistics  \ne-ISSN 2490-4198 Vol. 4, No. 2, July 2019, 87-106 © The Author  \n[http://www.arjals.com](http://www.arjals.com)  \nProficiency  \nRahafAlabar  \nGoldsmiths, University of London  \niAbstract  \nThe concept of the “native speaker” (NS) remains a constant interest in the field of language pedagogy due to the need the field has for models, goals and norms (Davies, 2003, p. 1) . On the other hand, some other researchers such as Byram (1997) in his model of intercultural competence (ICC) and Cook (2012) in his model of multi-competence have argued against the NS as a norm of assessment and deemed it an idealistic, unrealistic goal. In the context of Arabic language, given its complex sociolinguistic situation, it is essential to identify the role of NS for assessing the non-native learner’s level of proficiency. This paper discusses the usefulness of the NS as the only source of language data, and investigates whether it should be taken as an assessment norm in an Arabic language context. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with nine assessment stakeholders who fall into three categories; assessor teachers, teachers, and learners of Arabic as a foreign language in the UK Higher Education context. Findings showed contested opinions regarding the assessment norm of Communicative Arabic Proficiency (CAP), and pointed out an existing norm of the educated native speaker despite the complex relationship between the concepts “proficiency and education” in the Arabic context. Alternatively, a diglossic competent L2 user was identified as a potential norm, although the definition of this concept remains unclear.  \nKeywords: Proficiency, Native Speaker, Norm, Assessment, Multi-competence, Intercultural Competence.  \nIntroduction  \nThe field of FL pedagogy remains mostly native-speaker (NS) oriented (Cook, 1999; Kramsch, 1997; Maxim, 2006) although the concept of NS is ambiguous, elusive, and has different interpretations (Davies, 2004). According to Ferguson (1983), the NS has always been considered special in the field of language teaching because they are the only reliable source of language data, despite the fact that much of the world’s communication is carried out by L2/L3 language users. NS precedence can be attributed to Chomsky’s (1965) linguistic theory, which defines language competence as the linguistic system internalised by the ideal NS and ignores the aspects of appropriateness and socio-cultural contexts in which a language is used (Hymes, 1972) . The latter aspects have been emphasised by the shift to communicative competence (Canale & Swain, 1980), which provided a welcome transition from form-based approaches to FL pedagogy, yet has not resolved the lingering NS issue (Cook, 1999; Kramsch, 1997; Maxim, 2006) . Consequently, pedagogical approaches to language instruction continue to be posited that reflect learning towards NS competence, which seems evident when conceptualising language proficiency or scaling its descriptors.  \nThe existing scales of language proficiency such as the CEFR or ACTFL, clearly state that the educated native speaker (ENS) is the norm that identifies the level of a nonnative proficiency, and that “near native” is the label for speakers at the highest level of proficiency. In the Arabic context, given its multi-dialectical nature, speaking of an ideal native speaker to be the model of proficiency proves to be particularly problematic. This paper addresses the complexity associated with this concept in the Arabic context and attempts to explore how useful the NS is as a norm for Arabic proficiency. To answer this main question, the paper firstly provides definitions and an outline of the different aspects of the concept. It then explores the implications of applying this concept to the Arabic teaching context, drawing upon the opinions of stakeholders from UK Higher Education (UKHE) .  \nLiterature review  \nThe definit","cbCaiu4YyOZclTbN","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaiu4YyOZclTbN","pdf",1158602,"English","# Introduction\n# Literature review","[{\"question\":\"Why is the native speaker concept contested in language assessment?\",\"answer\":\"Researchers argue that it sets an unrealistic ideal target and may frame the learner as an incomplete native speaker, leading to disputed validity as an assessment norm.\"},{\"question\":\"How does the study investigate the assessment norm for Arabic proficiency?\",\"answer\":\"It uses semi-structured interviews with nine assessment stakeholders across three groups: assessor teachers, teachers, and learners of Arabic as a foreign language in UK Higher Education.\"},{\"question\":\"What norms are identified in relation to communicative Arabic proficiency?\",\"answer\":\"Findings show contested opinions about CAP, an existing norm of the educated native speaker, and the possibility of a diglossic competent L2 user, though its definition remains unclear.\"}]","An assessment Norm of Communicative Arabic Proficiency | PDF",1792072902]