Class Outline
Arabic A 0 is the first of three introductory-level classes in Arabic in the Open Studies Certificate programme. It provides a foundation in Arabic language and culture for complete beginners, covering the basics of everyday Arabic and introducing students to the study skills necessary to work towards mastering a foreign language. The aim of this class is to equip students with foundation knowledge, understanding and skills in Arabic.
Learning Outcomes
Listening: on completion of the class, you can expect to be able to:
- Understand when someone speaks slowly
- Understand simple directions
- Understand questions and instructions addressed carefully and slowly.
Reading: on completion of the class, you can expect to be able to:
- Recognize basic Arabic vocabulary and characters.
- Read simple Arabic words and phrases.
- Understand basic Arabic sentences and expressions such as (Time, Colours, Numbers, Days and Months)
Oral: on completion of the class, you can expect to be able to:
- Introduce themselves and use basic greeting and leave-taking expressions
- Ask and answer simple questions
- Make themselves understood in a simple way
- Say when they do not understand
- Ask someone to repeat what they said
- Ask someone to speak more slowly.
Written: on completion of the class, you can expect to be able to:
- Fill in a questionnaire with personal details
- Write sentences and simple phrases about themselves.
Context: on completion of the class, you can expect to be able to:
- Describe and comment (in English) on features of contemporary Arabic life.
Teaching Programme
A communicative approach in line with that taken in undergraduate degree classes in Arabic at the University of Strathclyde will normally be employed throughout. The class content will include material from the prescribed text and a number of didacticised authentic sources in a variety of media. The grammar base of the class will include introduction to the verb system of Arabic (concentrating on alphabet, pronunciation, gender and the use of nouns, gender and the use of simple adjectives, personal pronouns, regular verb forms of the present tense, reflexive verbs, expressing future actions without the future tense). Communicative activities will include group and paired oral practice, note-taking and written responses using authentic material whenever possible.
Duration: 2 hours per week for 10 weeks.
Textbook(s)
Al Minhaj Al Alami