BA Sociology and Arabic

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Residence abroad support

We offer dedicated financial support packages of up to £2,000 for residence abroad students, based on household income.

You will be automatically assessed for this, based on your Student Finance financial assessment - you just need to make sure you apply for a financial assessment in the academic year in which your residence abroad will take place.

This is an upper beginner’s level language course which will offer the students the opportunity to progress from the level of total beginners to lower intermediate level. Students will be introduced to the skills of reception (reading and listening), production (speaking and writing), in addition to simple translation. On completion of this course, the student will be able to understand simple instructions, respond appropriately in everyday situations, express themselves using limited vocabulary and formulaic expressions and use the target language in a number of contexts. By the end of the course the students are expected to achieve competence in Arabic approximately equivalent to A2 (common reference) level of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR).   The course content is based on a set course book plus supplementary material. 

This unit is compulsory and as such requires a pass mark of 40% or above at the first sitting in order to progress to the next level of language in Year 2.  Students who fail to meet this requirement will be able to discuss their options with their relevant Programme Director and may be able to move onto the non-language degree award of Middle Eastern Studies.

Available to students taking Arabic Studies, MES with Arabic, and any joint degree with Arabic. 

To familiarise the students with the spoken and written forms and grammar of the Arabic and to enable them to begin to express themselves in writing, simple role-play and simple dialogues, and to begin to read simple texts.   

By the end of this course, students will be able to:

- Understand and use essential grammatical structures, including past and future tenses, to construct more complex sentences.

- Participate in simple conversations on familiar topics such as family, work, hobbies, and daily routines.

- Comprehend and produce short written texts in Modern Standard Arabic.  

- Listen to and understand short audio materials on familiar subjects in clear MSA.

- Expand their vocabulary to cover a wider range of everyday topics, including health, travel, and shopping.

- Describe experiences, events, and future plans using appropriate tenses and expressions.

- Write independently simple essays on a number of basic topics taught in class.  

-  Demonstrate a deeper understanding of cultural norms, traditions, and societal issues in Arabic-speaking countries. 

• Engage in problem solving activities, working on grammar and simple translation activities.

The students will learn the same skills as in MEST 51011 -Arabic language 1, with a wider range of vocabulary and advanced grammar.

This will enable the students to use the language communication skills in everyday activities and to a limited extent, in the work situation. Students will principally be able to:

• Introduce themselves
• Find about other people
• Read notices, signs, advertisements and simple messages
• Write simple essays independently

• develop their ability to improve their independent learning and performance by identifying strengths and weaknesses.
• develop their personal organization and time management skills.
• develop their interpersonal and communicative skill through group work inside and outside the class-room and preparing written and oral classroom presentations.
• begin to gain awareness of and responsiveness to cultural diversity and intercultural communication.

An overall of 40% pass mark of the total is required in order to progress to the next level of language in year 2. Students who fail to meet this requirement will be able to discuss their options with their relevant Programme Director and may be able to move onto the non-language degree of Middle Eastern Studies.

Students will have formative assessment during the semester to assess their progress and to give them written feedback on it. This will be spread over the weeks and will test all four language skills. 

Course Books * (Subject to change with prior notice):  

At-Takallum: A Comprehensive Modern Arabic Course. ELEMENTARY A2 Level by Ahmad Noor Al-Deen Sabir Al-Mashrafi 2017  

Supplementary materials will be provided by the tutors. 

Students are required to be in possession of a dictionary when the classes start.  

Doniach, N.S. et al., The Concise Oxford English-Arabic Dictionary (Oxford: OUP, 1984);   

Wehr, Hans, Arabic-English dictionary (Urbana, Illinois: Spoken Languages Services, 1994).   

Recommended Reading   

Al-Kitaab Fii Ta Allum Al- Arabiyya: Pt. 1: A Textbook for Beginning Arabic:  by Kristen Brustad, Mahmoud Al-Batal, Abbas Al Tonsi.  2004 – 2nd edition  

Wightwick, J. & Gaafar, M., Mastering Arabic (including CD pack) (London: Palgrave/Macmillan, 1990).  

Gaafar, M & Wightwick, J., Easy Arabic Reader (London: McGraw-Hill, 2011). 

This unit is compulsory and as such requires a pass mark of 40% or above at the first sitting in order to progress to the next level of language in Year 2.  Students who fail to meet this requirement will be able to discuss their options with their relevant Programme Director and may be able to move onto the non-language degree award of Middle Eastern Studies.

Peer Assisted Study Sessions (PASS): All students will be allocated to a PASS group.  Sessions are run by pairs of higher year student leaders who have taken the course, in which attendees have a chance to actively discuss difficult course concepts with their peers.  Sessions focus on problem solving in groups in a tutor-free environment where students can raise key questions with each other and, in doing so, understand the material better themselves.  PASS is student-led, informal, friendly and hopefully fun.  

Joining the Middle Eastern Film Club and taking part in celebrations of Middle Eastern Festivals.

This course and all its materials are available on the online VLE platform. There will be resources to extend on classroom work and for self-study. Work will be classified according to skill, e.g. Reading, listening, Grammar, etc. and there will also be folders for work done week by week.