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Arab 406 aims at developing students proficiency in Modern Standard Arabic from
low/mid-advanced level to high advanced in accordance with ACTFL proficiency
guidelines. Refer to the website of the 2012 ACTFL proficiency guidelines for more
information.
I.
Objectives:
At the end of the semester, students should be able to perform the following tasks:
Read non-technical texts and understand conventional narratives and
descriptive texts of any length as well as more complex factual material,
Initiate and sustain conversations with substantial flow
Ability to compensate imperfect grasps and vocabulary limitations by
confidently using communicative strategies
Understand lectures on non-technical familiar topics,
Write on a variety of topics with significant detail and precision
Write reports of factual nature, formal and informal correspondence..
Provide information, spoken and written, about different figures and ideas in
the Arabic culture.
Recognize and provide the main grammatical structures of Modern Standard
Arabic.
II.
Textbooks:
The following textbooks will be used in this class:
Brustad et al. (2006). Al-Kitaab fii Taallum al-Arabiyya: A Textbook for
Arabic, Part II. Washington, D.C.: Georgetown University Press. Second
Edition.
An Arabic-English, English-Arabic dictionary (e.g. Al-Mawrid, by Munir
Baalbaki).
III.
Course Requirements:
HIGHLY urged to be in class on time and not to miss classes except in cases of
illness, family emergency, and things of that nature. Students coming 15 minutes
late either in the morning or afternoon session will be considered absent.
According to the attendance policy of this course, students are allowed three
undocumented absences per semester (three hours). However, after the third
absence, one percentage point will be deducted from your grade for every
undocumented absence. Each hour is of missed class instruction counts as
absence. Students must provide legitimate documentation (such as a note from
McKinley or a letter from the Deans office)
Quizzes: There will be at least a test and a quiz every week. Expect a test at the
end of every lesson as well as vocabulary quizzes. Any missed quizzes will not
be made up unless legitimate documentation has been provided to justify the
absence, and the instructor has approved that the missed quiz be made up.
Portfolio: Students are expected to keep and maintain a webpage that will
contain all the homework assigned to be done and submitted electronically. Like
video skits, audio recordings, article summaries, writing assignments (blog
posts), article discussions and commentaries..etc. Instructions on how to set up
the webpage and add content to it will be explained in class. This webpage will
show your abilities and skills in speaking, listening, writing as well as reading.
Midterm and Final Exams: Both the midterm and the final exams are
cumulative, that is, they cover all material in the textbook (and related material)
up to the time when the test is taken. Therefore, students are advised to study
2
from the beginning of the course and not to procrastinate. Valid university excuse
is required for make-up. We have one Midterm exam and one Final Exam for
Arabic 406. The dates for these exams are indicated below.
IV.
V. Grade Breakdown:
The students final grade will be the culmination of their grades on all class
requirements (see above). The students final grade will be calculated as follows:
15%
20%
15%
5%
10%
15%
20%
Total 100%
V.
Grading Scale:
This course will be graded based on the following scale:
A+= 97-100%
A= 93-96%
A-= 90-92%
B+= 87-89%
B= 83-86%
B-= 80-82%
C+= 77-79%
C= 73-76%
C-= 70-72%
D+= 67-69%
D= 63-66%
D-= 60-62%
F= below 60
VI.
Syllabus: Note that the exact readings and assignments in the syllabus are not
stated due to the inherent flexibility of the language classroom.
Week 1
Lesson 6
Week 2
Lesson 7
Week3
Lesson 8 Lesson 9
Week 4
Lesson 9
X.
Disability Services:
Students needing accommodation based on the impact of a disability should contact
the instructor to arrange an appointment as soon as possible to discuss course
format, special needs, and potential accommodations. The Office of Disability
Services will assist in versifying needs and advise on accommodation strategies.