Course Title: ASOL – Level I
Textbook:
Majdoubeh, Ahmad, et. al. Arabic for Speakers of Other languages: I. Amman: University of Jordan Press, 2001.
Objectives:
The aim of this course is to introduce students who have no previous knowledge of Arabic or who have a very preliminary experience of it to the basics of Arabic. With this end in mind, students will be acquainted, in addition to the alphabet and the sounds, with the basic words and expressions which will enable them to understand, read, write, and speak Arabic at a beginners’ level.
Content:
The course, in an untraditional way, begins by placing the learners right-away in the Arabic language environment. In the first couple of weeks, the students, without identifying the individual letters and sounds, will be expected to recognize and learn several basic words and phrases, such as names of world continents, Arab countries, Jordanian cities, days of the week, months, numbers, seasons, landscape features, household utilities, greeting expressions, etc. The rest of the course will be devoted to learning the alphabet, basic grammatical and morphological rules, and basic words and expressions used in daily life, etc. Students will also be taught how to use the dictionary.
Structure:
The course is intensive. Students meet five days a week, Sunday through Thursday, from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. with a break of twenty minutes in between for 16 weeks (during the summer it is 8 weeks). Normally two instructors run the class (separately) on the basis of the communicative approach. The focus is on modern standard Arabic. Two hours every week are devoted to colloquial Arabic (âmiyya). Ample use is made of a modern language lab and audio-visual material. Periodically specialists are invited to lecture on specific language and cultural topics.
Extracurricular Activities:
Outside class, students have access to language labs, and listening and viewing rooms, for extra-training. Individual language partners selected from the University student body can be arranged, free of charge. The free Saturday trip to an important site in the country aims to consolidate language instruction and cultural orientation.
Evaluation:
In addition to a mid-term and a final, there are daily and weekly quizzes used for the purpose of instruction and evaluation. The mid-term carries 25% of the final grade, the final 50%, and classwork 25%.
Course Title: ASOL – Level II
Textbook:
Majdoubeh, Ahmad, et. al. Arabic for Speakers of Other languages: Level II. Amman: University of Jordan Press, 2001.
Objectives:
The aim of this course, which builds on what the students have learned in level I or what is equivalent to it, is to enhance students’ command of Arabic at the basic level, especially as it pertains to Arabic in daily situations. To this effect, emphasis is placed on short texts which enable the student to learn to communicate verbally and in writing in specific situations. Attention is paid to the four language skills.
Content:
Throughout the course students will focus on illustrated pictures and short texts representing Arabic as used in a variety of daily situations: at the airport, at the police station, on campus, in the grocery store, in the market, etc. There will also be grammatical exercises focusing on the aspects of basic grammar which students need for the purpose of oral and written communication, such as basic sentence patterns, question formation, etc. Students will also learn to write correctly at the sentence level and distinguish between and articulate similar sounds.
Structure:
The course is intensive. Students meet five days a week, Sunday through Thursday, from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. with a break of twenty minutes in between for 16 weeks (during the summer it is 8 weeks). Normally two instructors run the class (separately) on the basis of the communicative approach. The focus is on modern standard Arabic. Two hours every week are devoted to colloquial Arabic (âmiyya). Ample use is made of a modern language lab and audio-visual material. Periodically specialists are invited to lecture on specific language and cultural topics.
Extracurricular Activities:
Outside class, students have access to language labs, and listening and viewing rooms, for extra-training. Language partners selected from the university student body can be arranged, free of charge. The free Saturday trip to an important site in the country aims to consolidate language instruction and cultural orientation.
Evaluation:
In addition to a mid-term and a final, there are daily and weekly quizzes used for the purpose of instruction and evaluation. The mid-term carries 25% of the final grade, the final 50%, and classwork 25%.
Course Title: ASOL – Level III
Textbook:
Majdoubeh, Ahmad, et. al. Arabic for Speakers of Other languages: Level III. Amman: University of Jordan Press, 2001.
Objectives:
The aim of this course, which builds on what the students have learned in levels I & II or what is equivalent to them, is to upgrade the students’ performance in Arabic to a lower intermediate level. With this aim in mind, it will strive to enrich students’ vocabulary, advance their command of grammar and syntax, and foster their speaking, reading and listening abilities. Material from authentic Arabic writings, such as simplified literary texts and edited media and press reports, etc., will be employed.
Content:
The course material consists of a main text, higher in level and richer than the material studied in level II, and reading, listening, speaking, writing, and grammar exercises. The texts center on situational Arabic (Arabic as used in various daily settings) as well as on cultural matters. Students will be expected to read as well as write letters, read as well as write news items and short reports, etc. They will also be expected to deliver presentations in Arabic about a variety of issues. Authentic material from newspapers will be used. Grammatical matters include verb phrases, noun phrases, particles, verb deflection, etc.
Structure:
The course is intensive. Students meet five days a week, Sunday through Thursday, from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. with a break of twenty minutes in between for 16 weeks (during the summer it is 8 weeks). Normally two instructors run the class (separately) on the basis of the communicative approach. The focus is on modern standard Arabic. Two hours every week are devoted to colloquial Arabic (âmiyya). Ample use is made of a modern language lab and audio-visual material. Periodically specialists are invited to lecture on specific language and cultural topics.
Extracurricular Activities:
Outside class, students have access to language labs, and listening and viewing rooms, for extra-training. Individual language partners selected from the university student body can be arranged, free of charge. The free Saturday trip to an important site in the country aims to consolidate language instruction and cultural orientation.
Evaluation:
In addition to a mid-term and a final, there are daily and weekly quizzes used for the purpose of instruction and evaluation. The mid-term carries 25% of the final grade, the final 50%, and classwork 25%.
Course Title: ASOL – Level IV
Textbook:
A Committee is presently working on a textbook for this level. Until it is ready, instructors will be using material from books in the market as well as the material they compile. Lessons from Al-Kitab Al-Asasi (Part II) are used.
Objectives:
The aim of this course, which builds on what the students have learned in levels I, II, and III or what is equivalent to them, is to bring the students’ performance in Arabic to an intermediate level. To this end, the students’ command of the four skills will be expanded both horizontally and vertically. Authentic material from literary authors, editorials, and in-depth feature stories – all suitable to this level – will be employed. Emphasis will be placed on careful use of correct idiomatic modern standard Arabic in both speaking and writing. Students will be encouraged not only to understand but also to infer. Grammatical subjects relevant to this level will be selected.
Content:
The course material consists of a main text selected from an authentic Arabic piece by a literary author, a well-known writer, and from the press. The texts represent a wide variety of writings (social, economic, religious, political, journalistic, etc.), and each is followed by reading, speaking, listening, and writing exercises. There will also be inference exercises. Students will also begin to write term papers.
Structure:
The course is intensive. Students meet five days a week, Sunday through Thursday, from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. with a break of twenty minutes in between for 16 weeks (during the summer it is 8 weeks). Normally two instructors run the class (separately) on the basis of the communicative approach. The focus is on modern standard Arabic. Two hours every week are devoted to colloquial Arabic (âmiyya). Ample use is made of a modern language lab and audio-visual material. Periodically specialists are invited to lecture on specific language and cultural topics.
Extracurricular Activities:
Outside class, students have access to language labs, and listening and viewing rooms, for extra-training. Individual language partners selected from the university student body can be arranged, free of charge. The free Saturday trip to an important site in the country aims to consolidate language instruction and cultural orientation.
Evaluation:
In addition to a mid-term and a final, there are daily and weekly quizzes used for the purpose of instruction and evaluation. The mid-term carries 25% of the final grade, the final 50%, and classwork 25%.
Course Title: ASOL – Level V
Textbook:
A Committee is presently working on a textbook for this level. Until it is ready, instructors will be using material from books in the market as well as the material they compile, including sections from Taha Hussein’s Al- Ayyam.
Objectives:
The aim of this course, which builds on what the students have learned in the preceding four levels or what is equivalent to them, is to bring the students’ performance in Arabic to an upper intermediate level. To this end, the students’ command of the four skills will be expanded both horizontally and vertically. Authentic material from literary authors, editorials, and in-depth feature stories – suitable to this level – will be employed. Emphasis will be placed on careful use of correct idiomatic modern standard Arabic in both speaking and writing. Attention is paid to students’ inference, analysis, and opinion.
Content:
The course material consists of a main text selected from an authentic Arabic piece by a literary author, a well-known writer, and from the press. The texts represent a wide variety of writings (social, economic, religious, political, journalistic, etc.), and each is followed by reading, speaking, listening, and writing exercises. There will also be inference, analysis, and opinion exercises. Students will write longer term papers, deliver longer presentations, and take part in debates. Grammatical matters include the gerund, present participle, past participle, time and place adverbials, numbers, gender, compound numbers, etc.
Structure:
The course is intensive. Students meet five days a week, Sunday through Thursday, from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. with a break of twenty minutes in between for 16 weeks (during the summer it is 8 weeks). Normally two instructors run the class (separately) on the basis of the communicative approach. The focus is on modern standard Arabic. Two hours every week are devoted to colloquial Arabic (âmiyya). Ample use is made of a modern language lab and audio-visual material. Periodically specialists are invited to lecture on specific language and cultural topics.
Extracurricular Activities:
Outside class, students have access to language labs, and listening and viewing rooms, for extra-training. Individual language partners selected from the university student body can be arranged, free of charge. The free Saturday trip to an important site in the country aims to consolidate language instruction and cultural orientation.
Evaluation:
In addition to a mid-term and a final, there are daily and weekly quizzes used for the purpose of instruction and evaluation. The mid-term carries 25% of the final grade, the final 50%, and classwork 25%.
Course Title: ASOL – Level VI
Textbook:
A Committee is presently working on a textbook for this level. Until it is ready, instructors will be using material from books in the market as well as the material they compile, including several short stories by Arab and Jordanian authors.
Objectives:
The aim of this course, which builds on what the students have learned in the preceding five levels or what is equivalent to them, is to bring the students’ performance in Arabic to an advanced level. To this end, the students’ command of the four skills will be deepened both horizontally and vertically. Advanced authentic material from literary authors, editorials, magazine articles, and in-depth feature stories – suitable to this level – will be employed. Emphasis will be placed on careful use of correct idiomatic modern standard Arabic in both speaking and writing. Attention is paid to students’ inference, analysis, opinion, and exchange of ideas.
Content:
The course material consists of an elaborate main text selected from an authentic Arabic piece by a literary author, a well-known writer, and from the press. The texts represent a wide variety of writings (social, economic, religious, political, journalistic, etc.), and each is followed by reading, speaking, listening, and writing exercises. There will also be inference, analysis, opinion, and debate exercises. Students will write longer term papers, deliver longer presentations, and take part in debates. Students will also conduct interviews with university professors, writers, governmental officials, and media and press figures.
Structure:
The course is intensive. Students meet five days a week, Sunday through Thursday, from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. with a break of twenty minutes in between for 16 weeks (during the summer it is 8 weeks). Normally two instructors run the class (separately) on the basis of the communicative approach. The focus is on modern standard Arabic. Two hours every week are devoted to colloquial Arabic (âmiyya). Ample use is made of a modern language lab and audio-visual material. Periodically specialists are invited to lecture on specific language and cultural topics.
Extracurricular Activities:
Outside class, students have access to language labs, and listening and viewing rooms, for extra-training. Individual language partners selected from the university student body can be arranged, free of charge. The free Saturday trip to an important site in the country aims to consolidate language instruction and cultural orientation.
Evaluation:
In addition to a mid-term and a final, there are daily and weekly quizzes used for the purpose of instruction and evaluation. The mid-term carries 25% of the final grade, the final 50%, and classwork 25%.
Course Title: ASOL – Level VII (Special Topic)*
Textbook:
Instructor will select the suitable articles and books for this level, on the basis of students’ interests.
Objectives:
The aim of this course is to enable the students to conduct advanced studies of the subject(s) they wish to pursue. It gives them the opportunity to write, read and speak at a very advanced level. It also enables them to conduct research about the topic(s) of their choice, guided by the instructor.
Content:
The course material consists of long articles and books about the subjects reflecting students’ interests. Students read the material both together and individually, depending on their common and individual preferences. There are core articles and books for everyone, as well as articles and books selected individually and read independently. Emphasis is placed on analysis and research. The research paper is to be revised before it is submitted.
Structure:
The course is intensive. Students meet five days a week, Sunday through Thursday, from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. with a break of twenty minutes in between for 16 weeks (during the summer it is 8 weeks). Normally one instructor runs the class on the basis of the seminar format.
Extracurricular Activities:
Outside class, students have access to language labs, and listening and viewing rooms, for extra-training. Naturally, they have access to the rich University library holdings. The students can solicit help from the professors/scholars in the various departments and faculties of the university, relevant to their areas of interest and individual needs.
Evaluation:
In addition to a mid-term and a final, emphasis is placed on the final research paper that the students submit. The mid-term carries 30% of the final grade, the final 30%, and the final paper 40%.
*This course is offered upon request. A minimum of ten students are required for the course to materialize.
