Prospectus

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Arabic Texts 1: Stories

Course
2022-2023

Admission requirements

  • This course is only open to students in the BA Midden-Oostenstudies.

  • Successful completion of Modern Standard Arabic 2

  • This course has the following co-requisites: ‘Modern Standard Arabic 3’, ‘Media Arabic,’ and ‘Modern Standaard Arabisch 4: gevorderde grammatica’. Students who wish to join this course without the other courses should contact the course instructor by 15-01-2023.

Description

During this course, students will read under supervision the Arabic novella Qindīl Umm Hāshim by the Egyptian author Yahyā Haqqī (d. 1992). On the basis of this novella, students will focus on the grammar of Modern Standard Arabic and increase their Arabic vocabulary. The course is closely related to 'Modern Standard Arabic 4: Advanced Grammar'.

Course objectives

  • Knowledge: Students increase their knowledge of the grammar and the vocabulary. Searching skills in Hans Wehr's dictionary are enhanced. Students’ grammar is sharpened by exercises in lectures and by means of homework. Repetition plays a major role in this learning process. This increases the insight into a (literary) text. Students are introduced to the cultural context of the read Arabic text.

  • Insight: Better knowledge of the Arabic sentence construction; the impetus for faster recognition of word forms and word structures, feeling more (actively and passively) at home in Arabic.

  • Skills: Students learn to apply the acquired knowledge of Arabic to different types of Arabic texts.

Timetable

The timetables are avalable through My Timetable.

Mode of instruction

Seminar
Attendance and active participation are obligatory for seminars. Students are required to prepare for and attend all sessions. The course is offered as part of a full-time program of studies, and therefore work commitments, holidays, or overseas travel do not constitute valid reasons for absence. The lecturer should be informed in writing of any classes to be missed for a valid reason (i.e., due to unforeseen circumstances that are beyond the student’s control, such as documented illness, family bereavement, problems with residence permits, victim of crime, or railway delays). In case of a justified absence, it is up to the Lecturer to decide whether the missed class should be made up with an extra assignment. The maximum of such absences during a semester is two. Please note that you are required to provide documentation that supports your case for absence where possible. Absence without notification and approval could result in a grade deduction, or in work not being marked and a failing grade for the course.

Assessment method

Midterm exam: 30%
Final exam: 50%
Three vocabulary tests: 15%
Attendance, participation, and assignments: 5%

the final mark for the course is established by determining the weighted average

If the final grade is 5.49 or lower there is the possibility to take a re-sit. The resit covers the material of both the midterm and the final exam and counts for 80%. Of the final grade. The grades for attendance, participation, assignments, and the three vocabulary tests 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

The text of the novella will be made available on Brightspace.
Mandatory purchase:

  • Hans Wehr, A Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic (Arabic-English). Edited by J. Milton Cowan. Fourth Edition, considerably enlarged and amended by the author. Ithaca, N.Y., 1994.
    Raadplegen (UB of internet):

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

Registration

Enrolment through [My Studymap] (https://mijn.universiteitleiden.nl/login) is mandatory.

Contact

  • For substantive questions, contact the lecturer listed in the right information bar.

  • For questions about enrolment, admission, etc, contact the Education Administration Office: Vrieshof

Remarks