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TOPIC LIST

MINIMUM CORE VOCABULARY LIST FOR TOPIC AREAS A, B & C

FURTHER INDICATIONS OF STUDY FOR TOPIC AREAS D & E

71

EXAMINATION RUBRICS FOR FOREIGN LANGUAGE ARABIC

73

LIST OF GRAMMAR AND STRUCTURES

76

Topic Areas

Examination Topics

Area A Everyday activities

Home life and school

Home life
School routine

A1
A2

Food, health and fitness

Eating and drinking

Health and fitness

A3
A4

Self, family and personal

relationships

Self, family, personal relationships

House and home
Leisure, entertainments, invitations
Eating out

B1
B2
B3
B4

Holidays and special occasions

Festivals and special occasions

Holidays, getting around
Accommodation

B5
B6
B7

Home town and local area

Home town and geographical surroundings

Shopping
Public services

C1
C2
C3

Natural and made environment

Natural environment
Weather
Finding the way

C4
C5
C6

People, places and customs

Meeting people
Places and customs
Travel and transport

C7
C8
C9

Continuing education

Further education and training

D1

Careers and employment

Future career plans

Employment

D2
D3

Language and communication in

the work place

Communication
Language at work

D4
D5

Tourism at home and abroad

Holiday travel and transport (see also C9)

Geographical surroundings (see also C1)
Weather (see also C5)

E1
E2
E3

Life in other countries and

communities

Places and customs (see also C8)

Food and drink (see also A3)
Meeting people (see also C7)

E4
E5
E6

World events and issues

Issues according to available resources and

individual interest

E7

Area B Personal and social life

Area C The world around us

Area D The world of work

Area E The international world

This Minimum Core Vocabulary List for Core candidates is primarily intended as a guide for
teachers to assist in the planning of schemes of work.
The assessment tasks in Section 1 of the Reading and Directed Writing Paper and the first
role play in the Speaking Test will be based on the following Minimum Core Vocabulary.
This Minimum Core Vocabulary does not attempt to contain all numerals and ordinals, plurals,
common place names, derivatives or compound nouns, if they can be formed by joining words
listed in their literal meanings. Candidates should, however, be expected to be familiar with
these.
The Minimum Core Vocabulary is listed under two headings:

General Notions

Topic Vocabularies for Areas A, B and C

GENERAL NOTIONS
Candidates will be expected to use and understand the general vocabulary listed below. This
vocabulary is not restricted to specific topics and settings and can occur in any of the topic
areas listed in the syllabus.
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]AJ
`)
F1
I"J9
W1
R@!1
European countries

>
0"
2" 
F"1
F1$A
F"D

53

continents

FA 
Fb
F1


0A )

1 AYJ1
C2

Shopping
shops and departments

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54

shopping for clothes

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55

>= 
$

F
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%
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=9'
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shopping for food
(see also topic A3 Eating and drinking)

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1
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56

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J>/
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]

d^
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] 
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quantities

C3

Public services
Post Office

^D1'
J+
]] 1b
J A 
A
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g"/JA
57

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1
F+H


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bank

= 2
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58


F@1 G)/)
8 J
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f) '
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A 2) SF
lost property

) J"
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59

C4

Natural environment
(see also topic C1 Home town and geographical surroundings)


4A
]{F
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9
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J>9
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C5

Weather

g51 .

()F
2
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60

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<A
C6

Finding the way

attracting the attention of a passer-by

S" 
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61

]2"b
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4b
S>? )
asking/stating where a place is

$)
k@9; 
)J>.) 
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(]+A1) ! )
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63

41
#

]A 
3
D61_ F
asking if a place is near/far

+)
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+)
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C7

Meeting people
(see also topic B3 Leisure, entertainments, invitations)
greeting someone

])^21 %)
FM1 2)
FM1 D
=>/

F. ^F) F
FM _"] + 
sg s
ED )
asking how somebody is

(S1) 4F
(
)FH
b 0
V>1 1 FM
formal introductions

? 
]>AJH 1
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64


/#`
()F)
]>)( ) F)
C8

Places and customs

See topics B5 Festivals and special occasions and C4 Natural environment

C9

Travel and transport

finding the way

k@9; 

)J>.)
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; %/JJ)
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FD
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65

 
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4
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public transport

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66

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67

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B9 ) (d
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J  8
RH
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68

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70

AREA D: THE WORLD OF WORK

Continuing education

Further education and training

Careers and employment

link between school and training or higher education

courses to follow after IGCSE
courses and qualifications required
training suitable for particular jobs

Future career plans

possible job plans for the future
work experience and job placements
Employment
employment problems/opportunities/openings
holiday jobs

Language and communication in the work place

Communication
sending and receiving messages (written and spoken)
Language at work
use of telephone, fax, IT, e-mail
AREA E: THE INTERNATIONAL WORLD
Tourism at home and abroad Holiday travel and transport

tourism in the country of residence

tourists and the local economy
holidays and foreign travel
holidays and leisure activities

Geographical surroundings
home town and geographical surroundings
geographical surroundings of holiday destinations
Weather
local weather conditions
weather conditions in other countries

71

Life in other countries

Places and customs

local customs, festivals, special occasions
customs, festivals of other societies known to the
candidate
Food and drink
healthy and unhealthy eating and drinking
local dishes and drinks
eating customs in other societies known to the candidate
Meeting people

World events and issues

Environment, poverty, conflicts

Problems of young people, eg lack of education and
opportunity

72

The following list is not exhaustive or prescriptive. It serves, in conjunction with previous
examination papers, to illustrate the instructions and settings likely to be encountered in the
examination rubrics. Individual items which will be specific to particular examinations are not
included in these lists, which are intended to be generic in nature.
The list begins with a collection of items common to all papers and then goes on to list items
more likely to be specific to each component.

   /
 
 /    / 
   
'/ % ... !"
 *)+
,+

 0 ,+
-*
3

 
-*

<'> < 9:;> 56 7
C6D / B ... % @ -
, / ... E
 ,9

 +  ;... 
5

 @ M NO % ( , , ,    )

 ;/ B /  / P ... -
%6 " R" S  Q
'
- 
N"
RU
73

" "N:

; CN
"! 0 ,' ,% ,0X
 :
@ NO*...... Y
  5  
   
; Z < +> "  Q , +
[ ... RO])\ / @M 
  5" 5S
 
' U
:E
 + )\
reading

- @ % _ 9@ NO* Y 

"!    %6 `P
; Z )\ ,   
-  / 7P'"D: /) - / U%UDOM

 %"D: RO

 DOM 
speaking


b
E
,+
 /b
`O

cO
% ;dE0-

74

RYb
@ NO ...
f
b"D:
@ " @g ...
6
writing

 ... %65   

U " ... ,+ %U /
 56 ...
"P

)U%U -

@%'
@
 ,+ / E d:

5
'
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U
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75

The list of structures and grammar is provided in order to give a clear indication of the
grammatical knowledge expected of candidates in the examination.
The list is divided into two parts.
Only structures listed in the left-hand column (Part 1) will be tested in Section 1 of the
Reading and Directed Writing Paper and the first role play (Role Play A) of the Speaking
Test.
Structures listed in both columns (Parts 1 and 2) may be tested in the remainder of the
examination. The lists are not intended to be restrictive and able pupils should be
encouraged to progress beyond the list at the highest level, although this knowledge will not
be tested.
Where language content is chosen by the candidate, eg in the prepared topic of Paper 3 and
in some aspects of extended writing in Paper 4, s/he is free to go beyond the prescribed
lists.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1

Arabic Script

Sentence Structure

alphabet and figures

non-verbal sentences

vowelling

imperfect

handwriting

perfect

imperative

Nouns
A

gender

active participle

plural/dual

passive participle

case endings

negative

Articles

passive

Demonstratives

word order

Adjectives

10

Adverbs

formation and position

11

Interrogatives

comparative

12

Conjunctions

superlative

Possessive

Pronouns

Numbers and Time

76

(1) ARABIC SCRIPT

Part 1

Part 2

A ALPHABET & FIGURES

1. All letters of the alphabet in all
positions, incl. taa marbuuTa ()
2. Use of lam-alif
3. Spelling of hamza in common words,
e.g. X bzU" n
5. Sun letters
4. Arabic figures

B VOWELLING
Receptive: vowel signs
(fatHa, kasra, Damma, sukuun, shadda)

Active: vowel signs

C HANDWRITING
Clear naskh or ruqa handwriting

(2) NOUNS
Part 1

Part 2

A GENDER
feminine taa marbuuTa ()

main exceptions to gender rules, e.g.

countries

B PLURAL/DUAL
1. Sound Masculine Plural (SMP)
Sound Feminine Plural (SFP)
Receptive: Dual endings
2. Simple broken plurals, e.g.
b" Wb" $ VK$
3. Treatment of non-human plural
nouns as grammatically feminine singular.

1. Active: Dual endings

2. More broken plurals, e.g.

d VzUI WOI

77

C CASE ENDINGS
1. receptive: awareness of use of case
endings in formal/classical Arabic
2. Use of accusative alif

1. basic knowledge of case endings, especially

changes to SMP & Dual

(3) ARTICLES
Part 1
1. Use of al- % to indicate definite
2. Elision of al- % after vowel

Part 2

(4) DEMONSTRATIVES
Part 1
1. Masculine/feminine singular demonstratives
pKp% cc

Part 2

2. Plural demonstratives
pzR

(5) ADJECTIVES
Part 1

Part 2

A FORMATION AND POSITION

1. Position of adjectives
2. Masculine/Feminine singular adjectives
3. Receptive: common plural adjectives
(for people), e.g. U$
4. Colour adjectives, singular & plural
5. Negative ('un-'/'not') with dO

4. Active: common plural adjectives

B COMPARATIVE
1. Comparative pattern qF&

1. d$ + noun

C SUPERLATIVE
1. Superlative: qF&_
2. Receptive: common feminine superlatives, e.g.
dJ%

78

2. Active: common feminine superlatives

(6) POSSESSIVE
Part 1
1. Possessive endings (except dual
endings and feminine plural)
2. Possessive idaafa construction
3. Use of bM and to describe possession

Part 2
1. Receptive: Dual and feminine plural possesive
2. Receptive: SMP/dual in idaafa

(7) PRONOUNS
Part 1
1. All subject pronouns, e.g. X U
2. Object pronoun endings with verbs
(except dual and feminine plural)
3. Pronoun endings combined with and
4. Relative pronouns w%c%

Part 2
2. Receptive: Dual and feminine plural object
pronoun endings
4. Other relative pronouns

(8) NUMBERS & TIME

Part 1
1. Numbers to 1000 (isolated form)
(Arabic figures accepted in writing paper.)
2. 110 + plural noun; 11 up + singular noun
3. Westernized calendar months
(dd& dUM)
4. Clock times (12-hour analogue), incl.

Part 2
1. Numbers 1000+ (isolated form)

(9) SENTENCE STRUCTURE

Part 1

Part 2

A NON-VERBAL SENTENCES
1. Simple non-verbal sentences, e.g.
sentences
pM% w& UUO cbMN" u
2. Descriptive sentences beginning with UM
3. Negative with fO%
4. Nominal sentences in the past with U$
79

1. Use of to introduce non-verbal

4. U$ + accusative alif

B IMPERFECT U C *
1. Basic verbs in the imperfect
2. Double, hollow & weak basic verb patterns
3. Common unusual verbs, e.g. v d
4. Future prefix or u

1. Variations in vowelling verbal forms

2. Receptive: Double, hollow & weak in
verbal forms

5. wKFHuKFH after etc.

C PERFECT w{U *
1. Basic verbs in the perfect
2. Double, hollow & weak basic verb patterns
3. Common unusual verbs, e.g. U

1. Variations in verbal forms

2. Receptive: Double, hollow & weak in
verbal forms
4. Perfect with b* and U$

D IMPERATIVE
1. Receptive use

2. Active use

E ACTIVE PARTICIPLE
1. Formation from basic verb
2. Use as adjective/noun:
V% rzU

1. Formation from verbal forms

F PASSIVE PARTICIPLE
1. Formation from basic verb
2. Use as adjective/noun:
uM: u+J"

1. Formation from verbal forms

G NEGATIVE
1. imperfect negative with
2. perfect negative with r%U"
3. receptive: future negative with s%

3. active: future negative with s%

H PASSIVE

1. receptive: passive voice qF& qFH

I WORD ORDER
1. word order for verbal sentences

1. agreement of subject before/after verbs

80

(10) ADVERBS
Part 2

Part 1
1. Common adverbs of time, e.g.
Ud* f" b uO%

2. + noun, e.g. Wd+

3. receptive: adverbial accusative, e.g

dU"

(11) INTERROGATIVES
Part 1
1. Use of q for yes/no questions
2. Common question words, e.g.
r$ v" nO$ s" s U" U"

Part 2
2. Agreement of , W
3. r$ + singular accusative., e.g. b% r$

(12) CONJUNCTIONS
Part 1
1. Common conjunctions, e.g.
_ sJ% r

Part 2
1. Less common conjunctions, e.g.
cM" U" q*U" bF p%c%

81