Prospectus

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Modern Standard Arabic 1

Course
2019-2020

Admission requirements

  • This course is only open to students in the BA Midden-Oostenstudies and the MA Middle Eastern Studies.

  • Intensive course in the first week of September (16 hours): Tuesday September 3 - Friday September 6.

Description

This is the first of a four-course sequence that aims at helping students learn and use Arabic. This course will take students through the beginning steps in understating and using the Arabic language and culture.
The focus of this course is Modern Standard Arabic (MSA). It will also introduce students to a limited amount of Egyptian Arabic as one spoken variety of Arabic.

Course objectives

At the end of this course, students will start using short memorized phrases to interact in simple predictable situations. Students will be able to understand and express basic information about familiar topics like self, family, likes or dislikes. Students will be able to reflect on how to express such information in culturally appropriate and relevant manner.

Timetable

Timetable

Mode of instruction

  • Seminar

Attendance and active participation are obligatory for seminars. Students are required to prepare for and attend all sessions. The convenors need to be informed without delay of any classes missed for a good reason (i.e. due to unforeseen circumstances such as illness, family issues, problems with residence permits, the Dutch railways in winter, etc.). In these cases it is up to the discretion of the convener(s) of the course whether or not the missed class will have to be made up with an extra assignment. The maximum of such absences during a semester is two. Being absent without notification and/or more than two times can result in exclusion from the term end exams and a failing grade for the course.

Course Load

5 EC x 28 hrs = 140 hrs
Intensive course 16
Lectures (6 x 8) 48
Preparation and homework assignments 74
Assessment 2

Assessment and weighing

The final grade for the course is established by determining the weighted average of the following:

Partial Assessment Weighing
Classroom participation 10%
Quizzes 15%
Homework assignments 25%
Final exam 50%

Resit

If the final grade is below 5.5 there is the possibility to resit for 65% of the grade (which will replace the grades for the quizzes and final exams). The grades for homework and participation cannot be retaken and will count towards the final grade.

Exam review

If a student requests a review within 30 days after publication of the exam results, an exam review will be organized.

Reading list

  • Alif Baa, Third Edition Bundle (Book + DVD + Website Access Card), Kristen Brustad, Mahmoud Al-Batal, and Abbas Al-Tonsi, ISBN: 9781626161221.

  • Al-Kitaab Part One, Third Edition Bundle: Book + DVD + Website Access Card, Kristen Brustad, Mahmoud Al-Batal, and Abbas Al-Tonsi, ISBN: 1626161240.

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

Reference:

  • Ryding, K. C. (2005). A Reference Grammar of Modern Standard Arabic. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

Registration

BA 1 Midden-Oostenstudies and MA Middle Eastern Studies students will be registered by the administration.

Registration Studeren à la carte and Contractonderwijs

Not applicable.

Contact

H.I.A.A. Ahmed

Remarks

Students with disabilities

The university is committed to supporting and accommodating students with disabilities as stated in the university protocol (especially pages 3-5). Students should contact Fenestra Disability Centre at least four weeks before the start of their courses to ensure that all necessary academic accommodations can be made in time conform the abovementioned protocol.

Academic Integrity

Students are expected to be familiar with Leiden University policies on plagiarism and academic integrity. Plagiarism will not be tolerated. If you submit any work with your name affixed to it, it is assumed to be your own work with all sources used properly indicated and documented in the text (with quotations and/or citations). It is also unacceptable for students to reuse portions of texts they had previously authored and have already received academic credit for on this or other courses. In such cases, students are welcome to self-cite so as to minimise overlap between prior and new work.