Arabic - Post Beginners (L13)
Summary
Level:
You may have studied the language at school some years ago or attended a beginners' course of approximately 50 hours. You have very limited vocabulary and some understanding of basic structures. You can just about cope with predictable situations but you lack confidence in other contexts.
Main Objectives:
You will develop further competence in a range of predictable simple everyday language tasks. The course will provide additional knowledge of the vocabulary and culture of the language. It will introduce the grammatical structure of Arabic, with a step-by-step approach to learning the past and present tenses to help you communicate in everyday social or work situations.
Teaching:
1 x 2 hour class per week plus some independent learning.
Tutor:
Nabila Semouh
Course Book
Mastering Arabic 1 by Jane Wightwick & Mahmoud Gaafar:
Book and CD Pack: ISBN 9781137380456
Book: ISBN 9781137380449
CD Pack: ISBN 9781137380432
Supplementary Material
A copy of the coursebook can be purchased from the University Bookshop.
Course Description
The course aims at enhancing the learning process in all the communication skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing; in addition to grammar and introduction to the culture of the Arabic speaking world.
Listening:
This will focus on listening comprehension of authentic texts. Students will listen to audio-visual material several times before they engage in open ended questions that give an indication of their understanding. The material is very selective and aims at enhancing the learning of this skill at different tempos.
Speaking:
Students will be highly encouraged to speak in class. Discussions will take place around students' production to identify new structures and common patterns of errors. "Find out" activities and simple interviews with classmates will be introduced and regular feedback will be given
Reading:
Students will be exposed to authentic texts of various topics with detailed in-class discussions which aim at teaching strategies and skills that are necessary for fluent reading. From those texts students will be engaged in question-answer sessions and will be given exercises with the purpose of understanding the processes behind these texts.
Writing:
Students will be engaged in writing exercises on authentic themes discussed in class. The approach is not to use vocabulary in its "isolated" form but in real contexts. Students will be given regular homework on specific themes.
Grammar:
This skill will be learnt through a combination of the narrative framework, reading comprehension and writing drills produced by students. Texts for this skill are authentic stories where the natural sequencing of structure is discussed and analysed. New grammatical skills will include full details of the past, present and future tense verbs, interrogative particles, some plural forms, negation of the present tense, and cases (nominative, accusative and genitive).
Culture:
The course will include a cultural component derived from interviews where students can discuss in class and watch at home. But there will also be documented pieces for scenes such as the market, club, mosque, etc. In addition, the tutor will introduce famous personalities (literary, sports, singers) as part of the cultural element with an illustration of traditioal and modern music.
Colloquial varieties:
Due to varying dialects across the Arab world, the tutor will introduce examples of similar spoken contexts in different dialects. The purpose is to establish and enhance students' awareness of the main differences or deviations from Modern Standard Arabic and to draw some processes that underline these differences.
Syllabus
Review: introductions, professions, describing things and places.Shopping: numbers, currencies; shopping for goods, fruits, vegetables and party items.
Describing past events: talking about an incident that took place and other scenarios.
The weather: talking about different types of weather, weather forecast, activities, and writing a postrcard
Appointments and schedules: booking appointments and days of the week.
Daily routine: the time, every day activities between home and place of work as well as weekend activities.
Eating and drinking: drink and food items, booking a table at a restaurant, and describing an evening out.
Comparing things: comparing past events to nowadays using comparative adjectives and the past tense.
Future plans: describing your future plans such as looking for jobs, travel, and other contexts.
Childhod and education: talking about your childhood days and education.
CV and skills: talking about your skills, qualifications and experience and writing a CV.
Travel and tourism: describing a holiday, writing a blog. Also you will learn about months of the year, means of transport and asking for directions.
Learning Outcomes
General
Carry out communicative tasks with basic language proficiency in familiar social situations, using basic grammar and vocabulary.
Listening
Understand dialogues on common themes and have the ability to relate what you have heard to others in your own words and give your opinion on what you heard.
Speaking
Communicate orally in everyday situations and describe and explain yourself on familiar topics.
Reading
Ability to read with confidence short authentic texts and understand their structures and discuss their content.
Writing
Ability to produce short texts of up to 100 words with coherent structures based on understanding various parts of the speech and grammatical structures.