Opportunity to Study Arabic

With options to complete Arabic studies in a domestic or immersive environment, studying the language equips students in intercultural studies to speak, read, and write Arabic fluently. The Arabic courses help students develop their language skills so they can be proficient in the Arabic mission field, business world, classroom, and beyond.

Overview

Outcomes

The Program Learning Outcomes (PLO) and purposes of the Arabic language course series is to:

  • Articulate practical knowledge of Arab language, history, traditions, and culture.
  • Advance students’ comparative insights between his or her worldview and the Arab worldview.
  • Provide students with an opportunity to experience and cope with culture shock and cultural immersion in a safe environment.
  • Mark student progression in reading, hearing, speaking, and writing Arabic.
  • See students reach, at minimal, the intermediate-low level of language proficiency, as assessed by their field supervisor.
  • Assess student achievement using the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) and Oral Proficiency Assessment (OPI).

Class Expectations

Students who choose to study the Arabic language have the opportunity to complete four courses in Arabic. Students have three options to complete this program: first, students can study Arabic at our Hattiesburg campus for three summers to complete their language and culture requirements. Second, students have the option of taking the first two Arabic courses on campus and completing the other two courses in one summer in Jordan. Third, students have the option to live in Jordan and study at our field school for six to ten months to complete all requirements. We highly suggest the third option, as immersion provides the most effective results.

Required Courses

ARB 101, Contemporary Arabic 1: This course introduces beginning students to the Arabic alphabet and elementary grammar providing a foundation for speaking, reading, writing, and listening to Levantine Arabic. Additional emphasis on Arab history and traditions builds cultural competencies essential for students to flourish in the Arab world.

ARB 102, Contemporary Arabic 2: This course builds on Arabic 1 and introduces basic syntax including conjugation of key subject pronouns, suffix pronouns, and auxiliary verbs. Students will grow in their ability to express themselves in simple, noun-based sentences while preparing for the complexities of the Arabic verb system.

ARB 201, Contemporary Arabic 3: This course solidifies student proficiency in basic Arabic grammar and syntax enabling students to communicate in functional noun-based sentences. Students will begin learning the Ten Forms of the Arabic Verb, beginning with the past tense of Form 1 verbs. Additionally, students will continue growth in cultural competencies by learning idioms, sayings, and proverbs common in conversational Arabic.

ARB 202, Contemporary Arabic 4: This course focuses on mastery of the Ten Forms of the Arabic Verb in both past and present tense. Students will have foundational mastery of Arabic grammar and syntax along with a vocabulary of at least 350 words and will be able to express themselves and carry out common tasks using both simple and complex sentences.

Curriculum Requirements

The Arabic classes offered can fulfill the language requirement of a bachelor of arts degree.

Teaching Methods and Classroom Learning Enviroment

A wide variety of teaching methods will be utilized for this course but, as we will be focusing more on verbs and their inflections, students will notice an increase in exercises which require speech repetition. The reason for this is that we are attempting to “arabize the tongue” so that the sounds and the inflections become second nature to you.

We will give emphasis to proper pronunciation as this is of special consequence in Arabic. In-class role play and comprehension exercises will be given from a select number of simple conversation exercises in addition to drilling. Students will be given assignments/tasks requiring them to work individually, in pairs, or in small groups. Some grammatical principles will be taught in lecture format.

Practical daily scenarios in the form of dialogue will be presented by the instructor as well as practiced and role-played with peers. Students will be presented with some basic lessons in Arab culture and traditions and encouraged to speak and practice their Arabic with native Arabic speakers in the community. We will use Fridrik Tiedemann’s vocabulary acquisition method, called “The Notebook Method.”

Hours

12 hours are offered for Arabic studies.

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