Prospectus

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Arabic 1 Beginners

Course
2019-2020

Admission requirements

This course is only available for students in the BA International Studies programme.

Description

The official language of 22 of Europe’s closest neighbors and a United Nations official language, Arabic is the 5th largest language in the world and is relevant to the studies of the Middle East, North Africa, and parts of Asia. In this course students will begin learning Modern Standard Arabic (MSA), the written variety common to the 22 Arab countries, and Egyptian Arabic, the most widely used variety of spoken Arabic.

Course objectives

This course is the first course in a series of three language acquisition courses within the International Studies program. The final objective of this course series is to obtain a lower intermediate level of proficiency in Arabic, aimed at communication with people in the region in simple situations and enabling students to follow current affairs in the region mostly in written media.
This course enables the student to achieve a good A1 of the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR).

Skill CEFR Level
Reading A1
Writing A1
Listening A1
Speaking A1

Timetable

The timetable is available on the BA International Studies website.

Mode of instruction

Tutorials

Three two-hour tutorials every week, with the exception of the midterm exam week. Attending all tutorial sessions is compulsory. If you are unable to attend a session, please inform your tutor in advance, providing a valid reason for your absence. Being absent will result in a lowering of the participation grade with 5/10 for every absence after the first three (3) times.

Course Load

Total course load for this course is 10 EC (1 EC = 28 hours), which equals 280 hours, broken down by:

Component Estimated time
Attending classes 72 hours
Assessment hours (exams) 6 hours
Preparing for classes, exams and extra activities 202 hours

Assessment method

Assessment

  • Written exams, quizzes, homework, and an oral project.

Weighing

Partial grade Weighing
Participation 10%
Oral Project 10%
Homework assignments 20%
Quizzes 20%
Midterm Exam 20%
Final Exam 20%

End Grade

  • To successfully complete the course, please take note that the End Grade of the course is established by determining the weighted average of the in-class oral and listening performance, and written exams.

  • The End Grade needs to be a 6.0 or higher to pass the course.

Resit

If the End Grade is insufficient (lower than a 6.0), there is a possibility of retaking the full 60% of the exam material (quizzes, Midterm Exam and Final Exam). No resit for the tutorial (participation, homework, or project) is possible.

Exam review and feedback

How and when an exam review will take place will be disclosed together with the publication of the exam results at the latest. If a student requests a review within 30 days after publication of the exam results, an exam review will have to be organized.

Blackboard

Blackboard will be used for this course. Students are requested to enroll on Blackboard, but only after correct enrolment in uSis.

Reading list

  • Alif Baa, Third Edition Bundle (Book + DVD), Kristen Brustad, Mahmoud Al-Batal, and Abbas Al-Tonsi.

  • Al-Kitaab Part One, Third Edition Bundle: Book + DVD, Kristen Brustad, Mahmoud Al-Batal, and Abbas Al-Tonsi.

  • Additional material as deemed appropriate by instructor, made available via Blackboard.

Registration

  • Enrolment through uSis for Tutorials is mandatory.

  • Students will be enrolled for Exams by the Administration Office, as long as they have a valid Tutorial enrolment.

  • General information about uSis is available here.

Registration Studeren à la carte and Contractonderwijs

Not applicable

Contact

Dr. H.I.A.A. Ahmed

When contacting lecturers or tutors, please include your full name, student number, and tutorial group number.
Please use your University email-address (uMail) when communicating with any person or department within Leiden University.

Student Affairs Office for BA International Studies

Remarks

Passing this course is an additional requirement for a positive Study Recommendation at the end of the year.

This course uses an integrated communicative language learning approach. Therefore, active participation in the classroom activities is essential for successful learning outcomes.