First Year Arabic II
CRN 23066-ARBC 1020-01
COURSE SYLLABUS
SPRING 2015
Semester:Spring 2015Schedule:M, T, W, R
Time: 11:00- 11:50
Classroom: AS 226 / Instructor: Ola Raddaoui
Office: Ross Hall (418)
Office Hours: M-T-W (12:00- 1:00 pm) (and by appt.)
Email:
COURSE INTRODUCTION
This course covers the fundamentals of Modern Standard Arabic grammar, provides opportunities for developing the four language skills (listening, speaking, reading, and writing) and practicing them in a variety of academic contexts. A communicative approach will be applied to teach this course.
COURSE OBJECTIVES
This course is designed for second semester students of Arabic as a foreign language and aims to bring students to an elementary level of proficiency. It is meant to equip learners with the following abilities and knowledge to be used in an academic context: (i) learn and apply fundamental grammar rules, (ii) develop a working understanding and active use of approximately 800 words (iii) translate texts from Arabic into English and build sentences and texts in Arabic (iv) develop listening and speaking skills (v) have some exposure to the Egyptian dialect and (vi) gain more understanding of some aspects of Arabic culture as evidenced by a select number of phrases and expressions from one or another Arabic dialect.
FOCI FOR COURSE
This course has three main foci at the lower intermediate level:
· Read and write cursive Arabic script in words, sentences and short dialogs;
· Construct grammatically correct sentences using basic grammar rules;
· Converse at an elementary level in Modern Standard Arabic and partially in the Egyptian dialect.
WHO IS YOUR ARABIC LANGUAGE LEARNING NORM?
Naturally, any language learning program has to peg itself to a norm. A norm is a person, real or imaginary, we strive to take after and against whom we judge our abilities. During this semester, our primary focus will be on Modern Standard Arabic (MSA), with occasional mentions and highlights of one Arabic dialect or another. Though any language teaching program has the educated native speaker as a norm, your provisional goal at this time will be to approximate the pronunciation, writing and listening abilities of a highly-motivated student at an elementary level.
PRODUCTS
Though learning and teaching are best seen as processes, this course is about helping each student individually, and the class as a whole, develop portfolios reflecting what you have learned and what artifacts you have constructed. You have a choice between a classical paper-based portfolio and an electronic portfolio. Products may include (i) vodcasts/podcasts of texts you have studied in the classroom or on your own, (ii) samples of chat sessions with peers and acquaintances, (iii) copies of your handwriting books, (iv) information sheets on yourself or others, (v) picture commentaries, (vi) your own renditions of songs or other recorded text (vii) anything else you wish to add to the portfolio.
PRESENTATION
Ability to conduct an oral presentation is an important component of language proficiency. For presentations, you are requested to approach the instructor, ahead of time, with a topic of interest to you, such as yourself, your family, your home town, the geography or history of your country, etc. Your presentation shall be no less than three minutes and no more than five minutes. You will be assigned a maximum of five points on your presentation.
TEXTBOOK
Al-Kitaab fii Tacallum al-cArabiyyah – A Textbook for Beginning Arabic: Part One, Third Edition, Kristen Brustad, Mahmoud Al-Batal, Abbas al-Tonsi, 978-1-58901-736-8. Georgetown University Press, 2011
.
HOW FAR CAN YOU GO IN YOUR ARABIC LEARNING DRIVE?
Like all other types of language learning, learning Arabic is a life-long pursuit. You will be able to communicate with Arabic speakers and read Arabic materials that are written at a lower intermediate level after five semesters of study. In order to appreciate the wealth of materials in Arabic, and to be able to communicate more complex ideas from your perspective as a non-Arab to an Arab audience, and to be able to understand conceptual messages emitted by users of Arabic, you will need to pursue Arabic as a minor and eventually as a major. This will require a large measure of dedication. As an instructor, in this course, it is my job to help you seriously pursue a path of independent learning.
COURSE POLICIES
Language: As a general rule, Arabic is the only language of communication in class, whether between students and the instructor or among students themselves. This will help you actively use new and previously acquired resources and will thus consolidate your learning gains. On certain occasions, especially in beginning stages, such as when we need to introduce Arabic names for grammatical or morphological categories, English can be used.
Attendance: UW Regulation 6-713 specifies that university sponsored absences are cleared through the Office of Student Life (OSL). Students with official authorized absences shall be permitted to make up work without penalty in classes missed. Beyond that, students are allowed to miss a maximum of four classes without penalty. Any unexcused absence beyond the first four will be penalized with one point off the 10% attendance grade for each absence.Any additional absence will result in taking two points off from the total grade for the semester.
Communication: Announcements, assignments, and other information for the course will be posted on the course website in a timely manner. I may need to send a message with information about the class to your UWYO email account, so check it periodically. If you need to email me, always use your UWYO account. If you want a timely response please send emails Monday-Friday between 8:00 am - 4:00 pm.
Behavior: Creating an atmosphere conducive to learning, growth and personal as well as collective fulfillment is the combined responsibility of the course instructor and the students. A committee of UW students and instructors met and drafted a set of guidelines which spell out optimal conditions for communication and detail expectations for both students and instructors. For more on this, you are strongly encouraged to read the document titled “A&S Students and Teachers—Working Together”, which you can access at: http://uwadmnweb.uwyo.edu/a&s/Current/default.asp. In general, distractions, negative attitudes, unwillingness to participate, and disruptive behavior will negatively affect your participation grade.
Academic dishonesty: Though class work can take the form of pair or group work, there will be times when students are specifically requested to do individual work, such as during quizzes and in the final examination. In such circumstances, seeking help from anyone else falls under the rubric of ‘academic dishonesty’. University Regulation 802, Revision 2, defines academic dishonesty as “an act attempted or performed which misrepresents one’s involvement in an academic task in any way, or permits another student to misrepresent the latter’s involvement in an academic task by assisting the misrepresentation.” The discovery of any academic dishonesty in this course will result in a failure (F) on the test or work concerned for anyone involved.
Disability support: Students who have a physical, learning or psychological disability that requires accommodations should notify the instructor as soon as possible after the semester begins. These students will need to register with and provide documentation of their disability to University Disability Support Services in SEO, Room 330 Knight Hall.
Syllabus & Calendar: This syllabus and calendar are subject to change as the instructor will most likely need to make adjustments to the pace and content of the course. The instructor will update the syllabus & calendar as needed in order to keep you informed, but you must follow it throughout the semester.
ASSESSEMENT AND PASSING REQUIREMENTS
To pass this course, students need to attend a minimum of fifty-two class sessions out of a possible total of fifty-six. Thus, attendance and participation will count for 10% of the total course grade; beyond the permitted four absences, each class missed will mean losing one percentage point of the total grade.You will be assessed on a total of 5 quizzes, a presentation, a portfolio and an end-of-term examination as per the following schedule:
Type / Date / Time / Place / WeightQuiz 1 / Feb 5 / 10:00–10:50 / TBA / 10%
Quiz 2 / February 19 / 10:00–10:50 / TBA / 10%
Quiz 3 / March 5 / 10:00–10:50 / TBA / 10%
Quiz 4 / March 26 / 10:00–10:50 / TBA / 10%
Quiz 5 / April 23 / 10:00–10:50 / TBA / 10%
Presentations / TBA / 10:00–10:50 / TBA / 5%
Attendance, participation and homework / On-going / 10:00–10:50 / TBA / 15%
Portfolio
Submission / April 23 / 10:00–10:50 / TBA / 10%
End-of-term examination / TBA / TBA / TBA / 20%
Total / 100%
If you absolutely have to miss a quiz, please inform your instructor ahead of time so he can arrange an alternative time.
Grading Scale:
Grade / Corresponding letter grade95—100% / A+
90—94% / A-
85—89% / B+
80—84% / B-
70—79% / C
60—69% / D
00—59% / F
TENTATIVE SCHEDULE OF CLASSES
Schedule / Chapters / Contents(Jan 26) / Review of first semester materials
(Jan 27 – Feb 5) / 1 / 1. أنا ساكنة في مدينة نيويورك
المفردات
الثقافة: الأسماء العربية.
القواعد: المؤنث والمذكر (gender) / الـ (the definite article) / النسبة / السؤال (asking questions).
القراءة: "نيويورك".
(Feb 9 – Feb 19) / 2 / 2. أنا فعلاً وحيدة!
المفردات
الثقافة: "شغل البيت" / "أنا وحيدة"
القواعد: الضمائر (subject pronouns) / الجمع (non-human plural agreement) / الجملة الإسمية.
الإستماع: مع العائلة والأصدقاء.
القراءة: "تعارف" / "برنامج دراسات الشرق الأوسط".
(Feb. 23– Mar. 5) / 3 / 3. عائلة والدي كبيرة.
المفردات
الثقافة: "عمّي" والعائلة العربية.
القواعد: الإضافة / ضمائر الملكية (possessive pronouns).
القراءة: كليات جامعة بيروت العربية وجامعة الجزائر.
الثقافة: الجامعات العربية.
الاستماع: مع العائلة والأصدقاء.
(Mar. 9 – 26) / 4 / 4. كيف أحفظ كل الأسماء؟!
المفردات
الثقافة: في المدرسة.
القواعد: الفعل المضارع (present tense) / نفي الفعل المضارع (negation) الجملة الفعلية / السؤال (more about questions).
الاستماع: مع العائلة والأصدقاء.
الثقافة: عائلة النبي محمد.
القراءة: "البيت النبوي" / "إعلانات زواج".
Mar. 16- 20 / - / Spring Break
(Mar. 9 – 26) / .4 كيف أحفظ كل الأسماء؟!
(Mar 30 –Apr. 9) / 5 / 5. الطقس حار جدا في الصيف
المفردات
القواعد: تنوين الفتح (adverbs) / الإسم + الصفة (noun-adj. phrases) / هذا/هذه.
الاستماع: الطقس.
القراءة: "الجو اليوم" / "وظائف دكتوراة"
الثقافة: فيروز "حبيتك بالصيف".
(Apr. 13 – 23) / 6 / 6. معيد بكلية التجارة
أنا خالد
المفردات
الثقافة: "من هو المعيد؟" / "ماذا تفعل كل يوم؟"
القواعد: المصدر / لماذا؟
القراءة: "مطعم البراسيري"
الثقافة: الأكل العربي.
القراءة: "مطعم مروش"
(Apr. 27- May 7) / - / تسليم الأعمال / مراجعة كل ما تم دراسته خلال الأسابيع الماضية / التحضير للاختبار النهائي
(May 11-15) / - / الاختبار النهائي