Arabic 1

PREREQUISITES

PREVIOUS KNOWLEDGE

SUBJECTS TO BE TAKEN SIMULTANEOUSLY

SUBJECT DESCRIPTION

     Arabic is one of the most widely spoken languages in the world, with over 250 million speakers, and one of the six official languages of the United Nations. Classical Arabic is also the liturgical language of Islam and the Arabic alphabet is the most widespread after the Latin one.

     The course aims to give students the knowledge of the Arabic language, that is to say the alphabet, phonetics, spelling, Arabic script, and basic rules to begin to speak, read and write in Modern Standard Arabic. Modern Standard Arabic is used in all Arabic-speaking countries, and is therefore the link between very different people, from Iraq to Morocco. In addition, the course provides an introduction to Arab culture and traditional customs in the Arab world through history and initial knowledge of the language. It also discloses the most common vocabulary in current communicative situations to apply it, as much as possible, to the academic studies of the faculty.

    Modern Standard Arabic, which is taught in this course, is the written language which coexists with other spoken Arabic dialects, and is the usual vehicle of oral and written communication in the media of the Arab countries. It also figures prominently in the education system of the Arab countries.

COMPETENCES

These skills are the academic target for the Arabic level 1 course;  therefore, they establish the requirements for assessing the subject.

1- Student's ability to recognize words and basic phrases concerning themselves and their family when people speak slowly and clearly.

2- Ability to understand words, names, phrases and being able to read simple phrases and short simple texts.

3- Ability to participate and interact in a simple conversation, ask questions and provide answers about common and simple subjects.

4- Ability to introduce themselves and others, describe people and places using simple phrases and sentences.

5- Ability to write a personal description, to fill out forms, notes, short messages, descriptions and short texts.

6- Ability to achieve a solid base of Arabic, which will allow students to progress and learn this language in the future.

CONTENTS

A- Grammar Content:

1 - The alphabet: study the 28 Arabic letters, phonetics, Arabic script and some punctuation marks. Similarly, to study the vowels, short ones and long ones.

2 - Personal pronouns: study 6 of the 13 independent or separate pronouns.

3 - Pronouns together: study 6 of the 13 or attached possessive pronouns (suffixed).

4- The nationality adjectives.

5 - Demonstrative pronouns of proximity.

6 - The article: to study the specific article (AL) and its pronunciation.

 Also, study solar and lunar letters, of which there are 14 letters in each group and the phonetic and calligraphic specialty of them.

7-The indefinite: studying the double vowel "Al tanween or nunation".

8 - The present tense: studying when and how it is used, plus its conjugation.

9 - The future tense: study when and how it is used and its prefixes.

B-Communicative Content:

1 - Greetings

2 - Saying goodbye.

3 - Introduce oneself: full name, address, marital status, etc.

4 - Arab countries and their capitals (geographical location).

5 - The family.

6 - Numbers: the original Arabic numerals and the borrowed Hindu ones.

7- Vocabulary about food, crafts, animals and Spanish words of Arab origin.

METHODOLOGY

The student must attain the skills described in paragraph 5 of "Competences" from the methodology used in class. This methodology is to follow the same phases as seen in the acquisition of the mother tongue, so, first to understand, then to talk,  later  to read, and ultimately to write. All this is accomplished through the continuing work of theoretical explanations in class, the program contents related to grammar and communicative content, accompanied by individual exercises, inside and outside the classroom, reading texts, listening to audio material and viewing videos. It tries to combine these two processes in four phases at a time: speaking comprehension on the one hand, and written comprehension and production, on the other hand. This methodology, therefore, also includes the following activities:

a. Classroom instruction

b. Individual exercises in class

c. Individual exercises outside of class

d. Reading text

e. Watching Videos

f. Group exercises in the classroom

g. Group exercises outside the classroom

h. Participation in class

i. Exam preparation

j. Exams

EVALUATION

A. Written exams

B. Oral exams

C. Assessment of written work, homework and notebook

D. Evaluation of oral interactions in class

E. Evaluation of class participation

50% Final exam:

   Oral exam 15%

   Listening comprehension exam: 15%   

   Reading and writing comprehension exam skills: 35%

   Grammar exam: 35%

Class work 50%:

Oral interactions in class

Written work in class

Homework

A test (mid-semester)

Participation in class

Notebook

Participation in 85% of regular class sessions is a prerequisite for taking the final exam. Students must pass at least two of the four parts of the final exam in order to pass the course.

Those students who fail to meet the criterion of regular participation have not earned the right to take the end-of-term final exam.

Those students who fail the course in the first term or who have not earned the right to take the end-of-term exam must repeat the same level in the second term.

At the end of the second term, students who take the exam but fail the course have the right to take the June re-sit exam. The final grade for students taking this exam will take into account: the class grade obtained for continuous evaluation (50%) and the grade on the re-sit exam (50%).

Students who did not earn the right to take the exam at the end of second term cannot take the re-sit exam and must re-register for the same level in the first term of the following academic year.

CRITERIA OF EVALUATION OF RESULTS

Students at the end of Arabic 1 must show they have acquired these skills:

Objective 1- Listening skills (B & D):

Students should show their ability to recognize and understand words, names, expressions, questions and be able to form a rough idea about what they hear.

Objective 2- Reading comprehension (C & E):

Students should show their ability to understand words, names, phrases and short simple texts.

Objective 3 - Oral interaction (B, D & E):

Students must show their ability to participate in a simple conversation, ask and answer questions, and to play an active role in this conversation.

Objective 4 -  Pronunciation (B, D & E):

Students must show ability to pronounce well and correctly Arabic phonetics and therefore, have a good and correct reproduction of words and phrases that they must use in their proper context.

Objective 5 - Writing (A & C):

Students must show ability to write Arabic letters correctly and clearly following the rules of Arabic spelling, and to form sentences to write short texts.

BASIC BIBLIOGRAPHY

REQUIRED TEXTBOOK:

Textbook and workbook prepared by the professors

RECOMMENDED MATERIALS:

Cherif El Masry. Al Jatua, Introduction to Arabic. UNED, Madrid 2008.

Hernandez, J. Grammar practice Arabic. A1, A2 and B1. Albujayra, Spain, 2009

Victoria Aguilar, Ana Rubio y Lourdes Domingo. Mabruk. DM Murcia 2014.

BIBLIOGRAPHY AND MATTER COMPLEMENTARY

Heikal, A .Curso de árabe, libros Hiperión. Madrid, 1977.

Al-Kitaab Arabic Language Program, de Georgetown University.

Al-kitab Al-asasi Volume I: A Basic Course for Teaching Arabic to Non-native Speakers by Al-Said Badawi. American University Cairo

Verbos conjugados árabe. Idiomas Pons, Barcelona, 2011.

 Diccionario Español-árabe/árabe-Español (versión de bolsillo): Herder.