UCL - Modern Arabic, intermediate level

[ARAB1300]

[90h] 9 credits

This course is taught in the 1st & 2d semester.

Teacher(s): Ahmed Adrioueche, Johannes den Heijer

Language: ARE

Level: First

Main themes
Content and teaching methods
Other information (prerequisite, evaluation (assessment methods), course materials recommended readings, ...)

Main themes

1. In-depth study of grammatical notions first encountered in elementary courses, and comparative study of Standard and colloquial Arabic (the main dialects):

- the derived forms (II-X) of triliteral verbs
- weak verbs, i.e., verbs containing a semi-vowel as one of their radicals)
- nouns and adjectives with two or three case endings (diptotes, triptotes)
- comparative and superlative (= elative)
- numerals
- pronouns, prepositions and particles
- syntax : the most important issues

2. Study of Arabic texts on a variety of topics: culture, literature, press, daily life, etc.

3. A first introduction to Arabic dialectology :

- common features of all Arabic dialects
- geographical distribution of the dialects (North-African, Egyptian, Levantine, Peninsular, etc.)
- Arabic diglossia

4. Comprehension and conversation exercises in Egyptian or Moroccan colloquial Arabic.

Content and teaching methods

This course is organized according to the method of blended learning, i.e. a combination of classroom instruction and distant learning, via the iCampus virtual teaching environment.

1. During the periods of classroom instruction (7 weeks per term): three two-hour sessions will be spent on the following activities, respectively:

1.1 reading and grammatical analysis of a short text in Standard Arabic ; pronunciation and substituion drills based on the same text ;

1.2 explanation of a grammatical subject, illustrated by examples from Standard and spoken Arabic, with relevant exercises;

1.3 presentation of a dialogue or other text in Egyptian or Moroccon colloquial Arabic, according to the student's choice, with comprehension, pronunciation and converstation drills.

2. During the distant learning periods : three kinds of activities, to be carried out individually or in small groups :

2.1 preparation of a detailed grammatical analysis of a short text in Standard Arabic (see 1.1) : each student prepares a three or four line paragraph of the text and posts his/her contributrion on the iCampus platform, in the Travaux section. The Forum section will be used for the division of assignments and tor questions or remarks.

Other information (prerequisite, evaluation (assessment methods), course materials recommended readings, ...)

This course prepares the student for all advanced Arabic language and linguistics courses; the acquired knowledge of Standard and spoken Arabic, as well as of Arabic diglossia, is relevant and indeed indispensible, for effective participation in the Middle Arabic courses (GLOR 2721 and 2722).