Course Description

Continues development of skills of understanding, speaking, reading, and writing of Arabic. Classes conducted in Arabic. Part I of II. Lecture 4 hours per week.

General Course Purpose

This course will enable students to achieve Arabic proficiency in listening, speaking, reading and writing at or above the intermediate-mid level as defined by the ACTFL (American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages) Proficiency Guidelines. Students will learn and discuss the Arabic speaking cultures. The student will learn to read and write more complex structures of the Arabic language and alphabet. The student will also learn to read and write without recourse to translations. In keeping with the National Standards for Foreign Language education, culture (music, art, gastronomy, social mores, and others) is embedded in this language course. This is reflected in our written and oral assessments.

Course Prerequisites/Corequisites

Prerequisite: ARA 102 or equivalent. Students who have not taken ARA102 should have Arabic proficiency at or above the Intermediate-low level as defined by the ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines

Upon completion of these courses, the student will be able to:

1. Listening

   The student will be able to understand sentence-length utterances on a variety of topics related to basic personal background, interests and needs, and the social and cultural conventions of Formal Arabic-speaking societies. Students will also be able to understand simple radio and television announcements from a variety of Arabic-speaking countries.

2. Speaking

   The student will be able to perform a variety of uncomplicated, basic, communicative tasks in social situations, including talking about her/his personal and family history and leisure time activities. The student will also be able to ask and answer questions in simple conversations on both general topics and those related to the cultures of Arabic-speaking countries. Although the student’s pronunciation may continue to be strongly influenced by her/his first language and fluency may still be strained, s/he will generally be understood by sympathetic interlocutors.

3. Reading

   The student will be able to read simple, connected texts which impart basic information about which the reader has to make minimal suppositions and to which the reader brings personal interest and/or knowledge, such as short, straightforward descriptions of persons, places, and things written for a wide audience, including short articles from Arabic newspapers.

4. Writing

   The student will able to write short, simple letters related to her/his personal preferences, daily routine, everyday events, and other topics grounded in personal experience. The student will be able to write expressing both the present and past time with consistency. The student’s writing will be understood by natives used to the writing of non-natives.

5. Culture

   Students will meet the ACTFL (American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages) standards include Culture, Connections, Comparisons and Communities Within these areas, students will be able to:

   • Discuss and analyze the relationship between the practices and perspectives of the culture studied
   • Discuss the relationship between the products and perspectives of the culture studied
   • Acquire information and recognize the distinctive viewpoints that are only available through the foreign language and its cultures
   • Describe the concept of culture through comparisons of the cultures studied and their own.
   • Use the language both within and beyond the school setting
   • Understand the spoken language beyond the formal setting
   • Analyze the impact of the history and culture of the various Arab countries and their language/dialect
   • Discuss the impact of history on the various Arabic counties and the Arabic culture

In addition to the textbook, students will also need a microphone headset and a web camera to record the audio and video work. 

Possible Assignments Include: (Subject to change each semester. The actual assignments are available in the Syllabus in the Blackboard course site on the first day of classes.)

Your final grade may be based on the following scale. Please note that you must also pass the Final Exam in order to pass the course, regardless of your scores on the other assignments.

There are 2 exams in this course.

Last Updated: February 16, 2016