Abu Dhabi's ALC Unveils Shortlist For 2024 Arabic Language Research Grants

The Abu Dhabi Arabic Language Centre (ALC) has announced the shortlist for the fourth edition of its Research Grants Programme. This initiative supports researchers in the Arabic language, encouraging submissions that advance the language, enhance knowledge, and promote scientific studies. The programme allocates grants across six fields: Arabic Lexicon, Curriculum Development, Literature and Criticism, Applied and Computational Linguistics, Teaching Arabic to Non-Arabic Speakers, and Manuscript Editing. A total grant pool of AED600,000 is offered annually.

The programme aims to enrich readers' knowledge and taste by supporting researchers in Arabic language fields. It provides Arab libraries with works that elevate the status of Arabic as a language for culture, knowledge, and thought. This year's shortlist includes 12 works:

- ‘Popular History of Arab Leaders in the Modern Era: Prince Abdel Qader Al-Jazairi, Saad Zaghloul, King Faisal, and Sheikh Zayed’ by Khaled Abu Al-Lail.

- ‘Discourse on Educational Rajeez Poems and the Consolidation of the Sciences of Understanding: Research into the Pragmatic Function of Rhythm’ by Mahdi Laaraj.

- ‘The Ego and Its Shadows: Autobiography in Modern Arabic Poetry’ by Abdul Latif Al-Warari.

- ‘The Sacred in Pre-Islamic Poetry - A Thematic Study’ by Abdullah Al-Baradi.

- ‘The Record of Illnesses in Arabic Literature: A Cultural Approach’ by Fatima Yousef Al-Qaraan.

- ‘The Aesthetics of Image in the Poetry of Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, an Aesthetic Analytical Study’ by Aisha Ali Al-Ghais.

- ‘Explanation of the Al-Hamasa Collection by Abi Tammam, Explanation of Abu Al-Futuh Al-Jurjani, Thabit bin Muhammad Al-Adawi Al-Andalusi’ by Ahmed Muhammad Attiya Abdul Hadi.

- ‘Half-Blindness: A Study of Popular Literary Narratives and the Editing of an Anonymous Copy of the One Thousand and One Nights’ by Faraj Al-Fakharani.

- ‘Al-Muammirun wa Al-Wasaya by Abi Hatim Al-Sijistani (255 AH)’ by Muhammad bin Abdul-Sater Zakaria.

- ‘Poet Suleiman bin Musa Al-Kala’i Al-Andalusi’s Collection (634 AH): Collection and Editing’ by Rawan Sukkar.

- ‘Dictionary of Food and Feeding’ by Taysir Khalaf.

- ‘The Lexical Commonality between Arabic and South Levantine Languages Before Islam: From the Fourth Century BC to the Sixth Century AD’ by Omar Abdul Qadir Al-Ghoul.

- ‘Integrating 21st Century Skills into Teaching Arabic to Non-Native Speakers: Theoretical Foundations and Applied Strategies’ by Khaled Abu Amsha.

This year’s Research Grant Programme received 270 nominations from 31 countries. The Abu Dhabi Arabic Language Centre had previously published winning works from the programme’s third edition as part of the Basaer (Insights) series at the 33rd Abu Dhabi International Book Fair. The event took place from 29th April to 5th May 2024.

The Research Grants Programme continues to support projects that contribute significantly to Arabic language studies. By funding these research initiatives, ALC aims to foster a deeper understanding and appreciation of Arabic literature and linguistics among scholars and readers alike.

With inputs from WAM