- UCAS course code
- T6R4
- UCAS institution code
- M20
Course description
BA Arabic and Spanish is a four-year degree with a year of study abroad divided between a Middle Eastern country and Spanish-speaking country.
The course combines compulsory language elements on both sides, delivered by native-speaker staff and with the possibility of pathways in business language, translation and interpreting.
Alongside this, you will study the culture, politics, history, literature, popular culture, linguistics and religion of the areas in question.
Arabic
- You have the opportunity to achieve near-native proficiency in modern Arabic while studying the language within its cultural and historical context.
- You will also look more widely at Arab culture and literature from the medieval period to the present day, and be introduced to social and cultural trends in the Arab Middle East and beyond.
- The range of culture units offered across all years of the programme combine the study of the history, politics, literary, and visual culture of the Arab world and are taught by a range of specialists within these fields.
- The course is carefully structured so you can measure your progress step by step. Learning modern Arabic also opens the door to the vast literature of classical Arabic, including religious and secular texts, and provides a perfect platform from which to learn one or more of the colloquial dialects.
Spanish
- Alongside your study of Spanish language, you will explore a range of options in visual culture (including painting and film), area-specific history, linguistics and literature.
- The breadth of expertise among staff across Spanish and Latin American Studies means an unusually rich and broad curriculum.
- Over 70% of our staff are first-language Spanish-speakers, and language courses are taught by native speakers with specific training.
- You will also benefit from us working closely with the Centre for Latin American and Caribbean Studies and we maintain strong links with the Instituto Cervantes located here in Manchester.
The course unit details listed below are those you may choose to study as part of this programme and are referred to as optional units. These are subject to change and are the latest example of the curriculum available on this programme. Although language units may show here as optional, they are a mandatory part of your modern languages degree and you will take the units relevant to your level of language in each year of study. It Is compulsory to study language at all levels of your modern languages degree.
Special features
Residence abroad
You can study and/or work for up to a year in a country or countries relevant to your chosen language(s) to improve your communicative language skills in a native-speaker environment.
Read about Adarsh's time studying abroad in Spain in his blog post .
Collaborations and partnerships
The University has links with language and cultural institutions across the city, including:
- HOME - international and contemporary art, theatre and film
- Instituto Cervantes - a centre for Spanish culture
Societies
The University is home to over 30 international and language-related student societies offering a breadth of cultural activities and experiences.
Engage in cultural activities
Manchester is a multicultural city that provides excellent general opportunities for contact with speakers of Arabic and the pursuit of Arabic and Islamic interests outside of the University (eg public lectures, societies, cultural events).
Teaching and learning
You'll learn through a mixture of formal lectures, seminars and tutorials, spending approximately 12 hours a week in formal study sessions.
For every hour of university study, you will be expected to complete a further 2-3 hours of independent study.
You will also need to study during the holiday periods.
The individual study component could be spent reading, producing written work, revising for examinations or working in the University's Language Centre .
You'll benefit from excellent teaching, student support and cutting-edge study facilities, as well as from the vibrancy and cultural diversity of Manchester itself, Western Europe's most multilingual city.Coursework and assessment
You will be assessed in various ways, including:
- written and oral examinations;
- presentations;
- coursework (which may include library research, linguistic fieldwork and data collection, or web-based research);
- in your final year, a dissertation based on a research topic of your choice.
Course content for year 1
You will study 60 credits from both subjects.
The first year equips you with a range of important skills such as linguistic expertise, the ability to read and analyse material, skills in presentation, group work and independent language learning.
Arabic
- In Year 1, you learn Arab language from complete beginner level - or `ab initio'. Ab initio students have seven contact hours per week with their nominated mother-tongue teacher as part of a course specifically designed to build confidence in comprehension, writing, speaking and listening skills.
- The Arab culture units offer a range of courses from the filmic and literary to the historic and religious, all of which reflect academic staff research interests.
Spanish
- You are trained in the modern spoken and written Spanish language through compulsory core course units, and you will also be provided with the skills required to be successful in your study of Spanish and Latin American culture and history.
Course units for year 1
The course unit details given below are subject to change, and are the latest example of the curriculum available on this course of study.
Title | Code | Credit rating | Mandatory/optional |
---|---|---|---|
History and Politics of the Middle East and North Africa | MEST10711 | 20 | Mandatory |
Arabic Language 1 | MEST51011 | 20 | Mandatory |
Arabic Language 2 | MEST51022 | 20 | Mandatory |
Cultures of the Hispanic World | SPLA10410 | 20 | Mandatory |
Themes in Spanish and Latin American Studies | SPLA10420 | 20 | Mandatory |
The History and Sociopolitics of Palestine/Israel (1882-1967) | MEST10042 | 20 | Optional |
Introduction to Islam | MEST10061 | 20 | Optional |
Cultural Anthropology of the Middle East and North Africa | MEST10092 | 20 | Optional |
Cultures of the Hispanic World | SPLA10410 | 20 | Optional |
Spanish Language 1 | SPLA51011 | 20 | Optional |
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Course content for year 2
In the second year you will continue your language learning, increase your reading of authentic texts in both languages and choose from a wide range of optional units that cover the history, politics, literature and popular culture of the countries in question.
Arabic
- In Year 2, the language component of the course includes three contact hours per week in addition to working on set assignments and undertaking private study.
- Various options are available ranging from Arabic literature, Middle Eastern cinema, gender and cultural studies to the anthropology of Modern Islam as well as history and politics of the Arab World. The units are largely assessed by coursework.
Spanish
- You follow a compulsory Spanish language course unit, refining your skills in written and spoken Spanish.
- You can take units in the culture and history of the Spanish-speaking world chosen from a list, which includes options such as the study of Latin American revolutions, Latin American history, or cultures and identities in modern Spain.
Course units for year 2
The course unit details given below are subject to change, and are the latest example of the curriculum available on this course of study.
Title | Code | Credit rating | Mandatory/optional |
---|---|---|---|
Arabic Language 3 | MEST51031 | 20 | Mandatory |
Arabic Language 4 | MEST51042 | 20 | Mandatory |
Themes in the Histories of Arab and Jewish Nationalisms | MEST20272 | 20 | Optional |
The Politics of Women and Gender in the Middle East and North Africa | MEST20352 | 20 | Optional |
History of Modern Islamic Thought | MEST20501 | 20 | Optional |
Visual Culture in Modern Spain: Film, Painting and Photography | SPLA20062 | 20 | Optional |
Writing Women in the Spanish Golden Age | SPLA20161 | 20 | Optional |
Spanish Linguistics | SPLA20772 | 20 | Optional |
Culture and Cold War in Latin America | SPLA20871 | 20 | Optional |
Modern Latin American Literature | SPLA20882 | 20 | Optional |
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Course content for year 3
Your third year of study is spent abroad under approved conditions.
Course content for year 4
The fourth year covers advanced language course units, a variety of specialised thematic course unit choices in the two chosen cultures, and an optional dissertation on an approved topic of your choice.
Arabic
- You will complete your Arabic language studies at a high level. There is also the opportunity to study Business Arabic as well as to choose from a variety of specialised final year course units covering the Arab world.
Spanish
- You will continue your language studies of the Spanish you were exposed to in Years 1 and 2 and during your period abroad, perfecting your writing and oral skills.
- Choose from a wide range of options, including the study of the supernatural in Latin American literature and film, the multi-ethnic condition of Latin American societies, and visual culture from the early modern Hispanic world.
Course units for year 4
The course unit details given below are subject to change, and are the latest example of the curriculum available on this course of study.
Title | Code | Credit rating | Mandatory/optional |
---|---|---|---|
Media and Business Arabic | MEST30182 | 20 | Mandatory |
Arabic Language 5 | MEST51050 | 20 | Mandatory |
Spanish Language 6 | SPLA51060 | 20 | Mandatory |
Introduction to Interpreting: Context, Skills and Modes | ELAN30241 | 20 | Optional |
Introduction to Professional Translation | ELAN31182 | 20 | Optional |
Dissertation in Modern Languages and Cultures | LALC30000 | 40 | Optional |
Contemporary Debates in Islam | MEST30032 | 20 | Optional |
Nature, the Environment and Politics in Modern Arabic Literature | MEST30121 | 20 | Optional |
Community, Memory, Identity: Reading Contemporary Arabic Literature in English Translation | MEST31111 | 20 | Optional |
The Latin American Short Story | SPLA30411 | 20 | Optional |
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Facilities
The University Language Centre is home to language resources, including a new interpreting suite, purpose-built recording rooms, and resources for more than 70 languages.
The Centre also offers multilingual word processing, language learning software, off-air recording and AV duplication, multilingual terrestrial and satellite TV, and extensive support and advice for learners.
There are outstanding resources for students, including world leading collections on Lusophone Africa within the library and access to thousands of films and texts on Latin America, Portugal and Spain.
Learn more about our facilities .