Lina Kholaki

LINA KHOLAKI, B.A., Kuwait University; OPI, University of California at Berkeley; C. Ed, Occidental
College; MA candidate in Human Development, Pacific Oaks

Lina Kholaki began teaching Arabic at New Horizon Elementary School in Pasadena, where she remained on staff for thirteen years. Since 2001, Lina has been training Arabic teachers at the four New Horizon campuses for the Bureau of Islamic and Arabic Education and for the Aldeen Foundation.

Lina is the co-developer of Hayya Natakalam Maan, a landmark program for teaching Arabic language following the modern standards for Early Childhood Education. Lina is certified in standards-based instructional theory, design and assessment from Occidental College in Los Angeles, is a certified Arabic instructor in age-appropriate pedagogy from Early Childhood through Adult Education, and is a long-standing member of the American Council of Foreign Language Teachers.

In addition, Lina was a member of the Task Force Committee charged with drafting the Standards of Arabic as a Foreign Language for the 21st century for K-12, and was a leader for Arabic teachers at the 2006 UCLA Arabic and Hebrew workshop.
Lina has continued to be a Steering Committee member for curriculum development for the Arabic village of Concordia Language Villages since 2005.  She has developed programs for after-school clubs and Arabic cultural events since 2001, and has presented her philosophy and experiences at numerous national conferences such as the National Conference of Less Common Taught Languages (UCLA, Los Angeles 2002), the American Council of Teachers of Foreign Languages (Philadelphia, 2003) and the Northeastern Conference (New York City, 2004).