Courses

This is an introductory course to Arabic language and culture. It assumes no previous knowledge of Arabic and provides a thorough grounding in the four language skills of listening, speaking, reading, and writing. It starts with the alphabet and the number system and builds the four skills gradually and systematically through carefully selected and organized materials focusing on specific, concrete and familiar topics such as self-identification, family, travel, food, renting an apartment, study, the weather, etc. This course follows the underlying philosophy of the integrated approach to Arabic language instruction and culture. It is based on the integration of Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) and spoken dialectical Arabic (Levantine) in a way that reflects the actual use of language by its native speakers. Overall, the course aims at improving students’ linguistic knowledge from Novice-low to Novice-high level, according to the ACTFL proficiency guidelines.

This sequential course aims at further developing the four language skills of listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Themes covered during the course of the semester include: food, shopping, study and education, jobs, health, transportation, weather, sports & hobbies, and touristic places (Jordan, Palestine). The course continues to follow the philosophy of the integrated approach to Arabic language instruction and culture. Overall, the course aims at improving students’ linguistic knowledge from Novice-high to Intermediate-low level, according to the ACTFL proficiency guidelines. The course fulfills the GE language requirement (K).

Prerequisite(s): ARAB 111.

A general category used only in the evaluation of transfer credit.

This is an intermediate level course in Arabic. The course follows the same philosophy of integrating Modern Standard Arabic and spoken Arabic to reflect the language as used by native speakers. The course continues building upon the linguistic foundations started in ARAB 111, and ARAB 112 and aims at developing the four language skills of listening, speaking, reading, and writing through two graded levels: for the first half of the semester, students study topics centered around their daily lives and activities. The second half of the semester takes students to a more advanced level where they start discussing topics moved away from the self and get closer to topics of a general nature like the history and geography of the Arab world, education, etc. In this course students will read longer passages (250-350 word), write at the paragraph level, listen to longer texts, and produce longer conversations. In addition, the course continues the practice of introducing Arab society, history, and culture. Overall, the course aims at improving students’ linguistic knowledge from to Intermediate-low to Intermediate-mid level, according to the ACTFL proficiency guidelines. The course fulfills the language requirement for Global Commerce, Global Health, International Studies and Middle East and North African Studies (MENA).

Prerequisite(s): ARAB 112.

This course continues building upon the linguistic foundations. It aims at developing a higher level of proficiency in listening, speaking, reading, and writing in Arabic through the extensive use of graded materials on a wide variety of topics. The material covered is theme-based. This increases both quality and quantity of students’ vocabulary and provides more fluency and felicity in understanding the language and communicating with it. The themes covered include: Arab cities, Arabic language, food & drinks, health, sports, travelling & transportation and weather. Overall, the course aims at improving students’ linguistic knowledge from Intermediate-mid to Intermediate- high level, according to the ACTFL proficiency guidelines. The course fulfills the language requirement for Global Commerce, International Studies and Middle East and North African Studies (MENA).

Prerequisite(s): ARAB 211.

This course offers intensive practice in conversational skills in Arabic (both MSA and Dialectical). It aims at expanding students’ vocabulary and increasing their linguistic fluency and accuracy through a wide range of topics that gradually move from personal life and daily routines through one’s interests and surroundings to discussing community-related news and events. The course provides ample opportunities to intensively practice the language, narrate in the three time frames (past, present and future) and activate the vast amount of vocabulary accumulated over the course of four semesters of learning Arabic (around 1800 words). Such practice will be done through daily briefings, discussions, oral presentations, reporting on audiovisual materials and Arabic movies, in addition to supplementary authentic Internet-based material to deepen students’ understanding of Arab cultures. At the end of the course, students’ oral proficiency will develop from Intermediate Mid to Advanced low ACTFL levels. This course fulfills the Oral competency requirement (R).

Prerequisite(s): ARAB 212 or placement.

A general category used only in the evaluation of transfer credit.

This is an advanced Arabic course that requires the completion of Intermediate Arabic II (ARAB 212) as its prerequisite. While this course continues to build upon the linguistic skills of ARAB 212, Advanced Arabic I (ARAB 311) primarily focuses on developing fluency in oral expression with the hope to reach a native-like pronunciation (using educated spoken Arabic) and demonstrating accurate use of grammatical structures of Modern Standard Arabic. The material used for this course is chosen in such a way that develops students’ linguistic skills across two proficiency levels: For the first half of the semester, student will be dealing with topics at the intermediate high level including: law, politics in the Arab World, Palestine, military affairs, environment, and animals in the Arab World. For the second half of the semester, students’ proficiency level will be developed so as to handle topics at the advanced level Topics are presented through authentic and unedited Arabic language materials and include: minorities in the Arab World, Arab Americans, Arabic Language, health and sports. Overall, the course aims at improving students’ linguistic knowledge from Intermediate-high to Advanced-low level, according to the ACTFL proficiency guidelines. This course fulfills the Oral competency requirement (R).

The Arab world is composed of immensely varied cultures. This survey course (offered in English) aims at covering a broad spectrum of all aspects of Arab life from religion and society to social norms to communication styles. It also touches on its history, geography, language, economy, and environmental challenges. The course also addresses the relationship between the Arab world and the West and issues like stereotyping (on both sides), anti-Americanism and Islamic fundamentalism. Since the course holds a fundamental approach, previous knowledge is not required. This course fulfills the GE requirement for humanities (U) and the MENA elective course requirement.