Course Descriptions
Akadimiyyat Arabiyyat Alnaas offers the following three types of language courses:
Personalized Instruction, Standard Language Sequence (maximum number of students in class: 6) and Specialized Language Courses (maximum number of students in class: 6)
Personalized Instruction
In this type of language class students design their own courses and the number of hours they would like to meet based on their specific needs and goals.
ARABIC 1A
Elementary Arabic I
Pre-requisite: None
Contact Hours: 55
Textbook: ‘Arabiyyat al-Naas I by Munther Younes, Makda Weatherspoon, and Maha Foster, Routledge 2013, Units 1-10
This course assumes no previous knowledge of Arabic and provides a thorough grounding in the four language skills of listening, speaking, reading, and writing. It starts with the alphabet and the number system and builds the four skills gradually and systematically through carefully selected and organized materials focusing on specific, concrete and familiar topics such as self-identification, family, travel, food, renting an apartment, study, the weather, etc.). These topics are listed in the textbook’s table of contents.
The student who successfully completes the course will have mastered about 500 basic words and will be able, within the context of the themes covered in the first ten units of the textbook (refer to the table of contents in the textbook), to: 1) understand and actively participate in simple conversations, 2) read and understand, with the help of a short list of words, passages of up to 180 words written in Arabic script, and 3) discuss orally in class and write a 50-word paragraph in Arabic.
The successful student will also have mastered the following grammar topics: the use of the definite article al, gender distinctions, the relative adjective (nisba), number (the singular, dual and plural), possession in nouns, possession with ‘ind and ma‘, wanting (with bidd+pronoun), the construct (iDaafa), verb conjugations in the past and present tenses, negation, the comparative/superlative adjective, verb types (sound, hollow and lame), pronouns attached to prepositions, object pronouns, verb-subject (dis)agreement, the relative pronouns (illii, alladhii, allatii and alladhiina), word order and agreement in the Arabic sentence, equational and verbal sentences, and identifying roots and stems in verbs and nouns.
ARABIC 1B
Elementary Arabic II
Pre-requisite: ARABIC 1A
Contact Hours: 55
Textbook: ‘Arabiyyat al-Naas I by Munther Younes, Makda Weatherspoon, and Maha Foster, Routledge 2013, Units 11-21
This course builds on ARABIC 1A, introducing new themes, vocabulary and grammar
Besides recycling and reinforcing the themes, vocabulary and grammar structures introduced in ARABIC 1A, this course introduces 11 new themes (see Table of Contents of the textbook), about 500 new words and new grammar structures such as the forms of the Arabic verb, active and passive participles and verbal nouns. Students are also introduced to the use of Arabic dictionaries, which use roots and verb form numbers.
The two-course sequence (ARABIC 1A and ARABIC 1B) take the student from the Novice to the Intermediate Mid level according to the ACTFL (American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages) proficiency guidelines.
ARABIC 1C
Colloquial Arabic
Pre-requisite: one academic year of MSA or the equivalent
Instructional Materials: to be developed based on students’ individual needs
Contact Hours: 20
This is a “remedial” course that is designed to help students who have studied MSA only to catch up with other learners who have learned MSA and a colloquial variety in an integrated manner. The instructional material used will be based on the ‘Ammiyya component of ‘Arabiyyat al-Naas I and II, with intensive practice in the number system, basic ‘Ammiyya vocabulary like raaH, shaaf, biddi, halla, etc., and drills in basic grammatical structures such as possession, verb conjugation in the past and the present, negation, object pronouns, and iDaafa. Students who successfully complete this course would be able to enroll in Arabic 2A.
ARABIC 2A
Intermediate Arabic I
Pre-requisite: Arabic 1B
Contact Hours: 45
Textbook: ‘Arabiyyat al-Naas II by Munther Younes and Hanada al-Masri (Routledge 2013), Units 1-10
Learners continue to develop the four language skills of listening, speaking, reading, and writing and grammar foundation through the extensive use of graded materials on a wide variety of topics. While more attention is given to developing native-like pronunciation and to grammatical accuracy than in Arabic 1A and Arabic 1B, the main focus of the course will be on encouraging fluency and facility in understanding the language and communicating ideas in it.
The student who successfully completes this course will have mastered over 800 new words and will be able, within context of the 9 new and recycled themes covered in the textbook (refer to the table of contents), to: 1) understand and actively participate in conversations, 2) read and understand, with the help of a short list of words, passages of up to 300 words, and 3) discuss orally in class and write a 150-word paragraph in Arabic with fewer grammatical errors than in Arabic 1B.
For the themes and grammar topics covered in this course, refer to the table of contents of the textbook.
ARABIC 2B
Intermediate Arabic II
Pre-requisite: Arabic 2A
Contact Hours: 45
Textbook: ‘Arabiyyat al-Naas II by Munther Younes and Hanada al-Masri (Routledge 2013), Units 11-21
This course is a continuation of Arabic 2A, covering 11 new themes, new grammatical structures, and about 800 new words. (See Table of Contents for a listing of the themes and grammatical structures.) In both courses, learners continue to develop the four language skills of listening, speaking, reading, writing, and grammar foundation through the extensive use of graded materials on a wide variety of topics. While more attention is given to developing native-like pronunciation and grammatical accuracy than in Arabic 1A and Arabic 1B, the main focus of the two-course sequence is on encouraging fluency and facility in understanding the language and communicating ideas in it.
Arabic 2A and 2B aim to take the student from the Intermediate Mid to the Advanced Mid level according to the ACTFL proficiency guidelines.
ARABIC 2H
Arabic for Heritage Speakers
Pre-requisite: Proficiency in a spoken Arabic dialect
Contact Hours: 45
Textbook: Riḥla ilā Bilād al-‘Arab: A Comprehensive Introductory Course for Heritage Speakers, by Munther Younes (Routledge 2021)
This course is designed for students who can speak and understand a spoken Arabic dialect (Egyptian, Lebanese, Syrian, Iraqi, etc.) but have little or no knowledge of written Arabic, known as Classical Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic, or Fusha. The focus of the course will be on developing the reading and writing skills through the use of graded, but challenging and interesting materials. As they develop their reading and writing skills, students will be learning about Arab history, society, and culture. Classroom activities are conducted totally in Arabic. Students are not expected or pressured to speak in Fusha, but will use their own dialects for speaking purposes. However, one of the main goals of the course will be to help the development of the skills to communicate and understand Educated Spoken Arabic, a form of Arabic that is based on the spoken dialects but uses the educated vocabulary and structures of Fusha.
The student who successfully completes this course will be able to: 1) read material of average difficulty such as newspaper articles on a variety of non-technical themes, short story, biographies, with minimal help from a dictionary, 2) write a 300-400 word essay on a personal or familiar topic, and 3) converse in a variety of Arabic that is more readily comprehensible to speakers of other Arabic varieties.
ARABIC 3A
Advanced Arabic I
Pre-requisite: Arabic 2B
Contact Hours: 45
Textbook: ‘Arabiyyat al-Naas III by Munther Younes and Yomna Chami (Routledge 2014), Units 1-9
This course starts where ARABIC 2B leaves off and continues the development of the four language skills and grammar foundation using 9 themes, some new and some introduced in previous courses, but are presented here at a more challenging level (refer to the Table of Contents in the textbook).
Learners will be introduced to authentic, unedited Arabic language materials ranging from short stories, and poems, to newspaper articles dealing with social, political, and cultural issues. Emphasis will be on developing fluency in oral expression through discussions of issues presented in the reading and listening selections. There will be more focus on the development of native-like pronunciation and accurate use of grammatical structures than in the previous four courses. A primary objective of the course is the development of the writing skill through free composition exercises in topics of interest to individual students.
The two-course sequence ARABIC 3A and 3B aims to take the student from the Advanced Mid to the Superior level, according to the ACTFL proficiency guidelines.
ARABIC 3B
Advanced Arabic II
Pre-requisite: Arabic 3A
Contact Hours: 45
Textbook: ‘Arabiyyat al-Naas III by Munther Younes and Yomna Chami (Routledge 2014), Units 10-18
Continuation of Arabic 3A (see Arabic 3A course description) and covering Units 10-18 in the textbook (refer to the Table of Contents).
ARABIC 2Q
Introduction to Qur’anic Arabic
Pre-requisite: One year of Arabic at the college level or equivalent
Contact Hours: 45
Textbook: The Routledge Introduction to Qur’ānic Arabic by Munther Younes, Routledge 2012, with audio recordings on the Routledge Companion website.
This course is designed for students interested in reading the language of the Qur’ān with accuracy and understanding. All the sūras (chapters) of the last part (Part 30) and three longer sūras will be presented and analyzed, and new vocabulary and grammatical structures will be discussed, explained, and practiced systematically. Carefully designed word-building exercises will be used to facilitate the acquisition and retention of new vocabulary. Interested students will be encouraged to memorize the short sūras or excerpts from the longer ones. At the end of the semester, the successful student will have mastered a working vocabulary of around 1500 words (of the 5300 different words found in the Qur’an), correct pronunciation, and the most commonly used grammatical structures. In addition, the course will provide the student with a firm foundation on which to build advanced study of Classical Arabic.
ARABIC GW
Grammar & Writing
Pre-requisite: ARABIC 3B or the equivalent
Contact Hours: 30
Instructional materials: Course packet developed by the Akadimiyya
This course, taught entirely in Arabic, will focus on those aspects of Arabic grammar that are relevant for the correct reading and writing of Modern Standard Arabic such as the case and mood system (I‘raab), the construct (IDaafa), the verb forms and their derivatives, different passive constructions, the number and gender systems, and different types of agreement. The readings will consist of a variety of texts (short stories, newspaper articles, poems, and biographies) which will be read, understood and discussed to form the basis for written compositions.
ARABIC 4KD
Kalila wa Dimna for Students of Arabic
Pre-requisite: ARABIC 3B or the equivalent
Contact Hours: 45
Textbook: Kalila wa Dimna for Students of Arabic by Munther Younes (Routledge 2021)
This course is designed for students who have successfully finished at least two years of Arabic study or the equivalent. It is based on the well-known Arabic literary classic Kalila wa Dimna, an eighth-century translation (from Sanskrit to Persian and from Persian to Arabic) of a collection of fables about people and animals that has long been enjoyed by Arab children and adults alike. The main textbook for the course is Kalila wa Dimna for Students of Arabic, which retells the stories in Modern Standard Arabic and includes a wide variety of exercises and activities to help the development of the four language skills of reading, listening, speaking and writing. Learners will be reading and listening to the stories and retelling them and writing about them.
ARABIC 4M
Arabic of the Media
Pre-requisite: ARABIC 3B or the equivalent
Contact Hours: 30
Instructional materials: Course packet developed by the Akadimiyya
Students are introduced to authentic, unedited Arabic language materials from Arabic newspapers, magazines, TV broadcasts and interviews, and other media. The topics covered will include, among other things, politics, economics, business, sports, and women’s issues. Students can suggest other topics that interest them to the teacher.
Emphasis is on developing fluency in oral and written expression through discussions, debates, presentations, and written work. The order of activities for each topic is: reading or listening to a selection before coming to class, class discussion and/or debate, an oral presentation by the students, and, finally, a written homework assignment about the same topic. All activities are conducted entirely in Arabic.
ARABIC 4ML
Modern Arab Literature
Pre-requisite: ARABIC 3B or the equivalent
Contact Hours: 30
Instructional materials: Course packet developed by the Akadimiyya
This is an introduction to different genres of modern Arabic literature: short stories, poetry, biography, a novel and a play. The goal of the course is improving mastery of the four language skills and developing an appreciation for Arabic literature. The material will be selected for its simpler language as well as its importance among Arabic literary works of the 20th and 21st centuries.
ARABIC 4Q
In Search of the Original Qur'an
Pre-requisite: Arabic 3B or equivalent
Contact Hours: 10
Textbook: Charging Steeds or Maidens Performing Good Deeds: In Search of the Original Qur’an by Munther Younes (Routledge 2019)
Certain verses in the Qur’an have challenged Muslim interpreters as well as modern scholars. In some cases, the verses do not seem to fit the context; in others, they violate standard rules of Arabic grammar. Some Muslim scholars take these verses as evidence of the miraculous nature of the language of the Qur’an whose secrets only Allah knows. A number of modern scholars, particularly in the West, have tried to understand them by reference to Semitic languages, particularly Syriac and Hebrew, or by reference to Christian and Jewish traditions, which had a substantial influence on the language of the Qur’an. Some scholars have gone so far as to offer alternative readings of the Qur’anic text or to propose emendations.
Applying the tools of modern linguistic analysis, we will examine the following five chapters (Q 106, 100, 95, 90, and 79), read their standard Muslim interpretation (tafsiir), identify grammatical and textual problems and propose alternative interpretations that arguably produce a semantically more coherent and grammatically sounder text.
ARABIC 4SC
Arab Society & Culture
Pre-requisite: Arabic 3B or equivalent
Contact Hours: 30
Instructional materials: Course packet developed by the Akadimiyya
In this course, students are introduced to different aspects of Arab society in modern times. Topics include family, religion, marriage, divorce, gender relations, refugees, minorities, civil conflict, human rights, the effects of Western colonialism, the Palestine issue, and the relationships of the Arab world with other countries, particularly the United States and Europe.
Students will prepare an assigned article ahead of time on which a class discussion will be based. They will then write a composition based on that discussion.