Elementary Kurdish 1010
Fall Semester, 2011
Middle Tennessee States University
Instructor: Deniz Ekici
Office Hours: 104 Midgett Hall, by appointment
Email: dekici@mtsu.edu
Course Overview
Hûn bi xêr hatin pola Kurdî ya Sereta -Welcome to the elementary Kurdish class. The
Elementary Kurdish course is designed to develop students’ abilities in Kurdish oral
and written communication so that they can speak basic Kurdish in various social
contexts.
Considering the fact that a language is not merely a tool of communication but also a
means to transmit a culture, this class will also add to students’ cross cultural
understanding because only through learning the language can one be exposed to an
ethnic group’s network of cultural values that are otherwise inaccessible.
Course Objectives:
Elementary Kurdish course will focus on the Kurdish grammar as well as
communication activities in functional and situational contexts. Students will develop
the four skills of reading, writing, listening and speaking.
At the end of the class students will learn different forms of greetings, will be able to
introduce themselves and ask simple questions, indicate possession in number along
with related vocabulary, give information about the location of a place/an object,
give command with the imperative mood, conjugate verbs in the present and future
tenses, compare objects in different contexts using the comparative and superlative
degrees, express a desire, a wish or a suggestion using certain auxiliary verbs, and so
forth.
Course Materials
The course materials include textbooks, audio-visual materials, and authentic texts
such as newspapers and short stories. We will be using the interactive KurmanjiKurdish DVD-Rom developed by myself with the assistance of the Critical Languages
Program at the University of Arizona. We will also be using my Kurmanji-Kurdish
Reader published by Dunwoody Press.
In addition, there will be handouts from other Kurdish language materials to
complement the above-mentioned sources. You will also be provided with a few
websites where you can find audio-visual sources in Kurdish for language learning
purposes.
Student Evaluation
The overall semester grade breaks down this way:
1. Quizzes 20%
After each topic there will be quizzes on every Wednesday throughout the semester.
These quizzes will be taken in the classroom. There will also be 4 oral quizzes.
2. Homework 20%
After each topic you will be assigned homework.
3. Attendance 30%
The importance of attendance for a language class cannot be overemphasized.
Therefore, class attendance is mandatory. Absences will hurt your progress in the
language and will most definitely affect your grade. Therefore, it is imperative that
you attend to and participate in each class. This is a language class where you learn
and practice your language abilities, so remember if you don’t use it you lose it.
4. Exams 30%
There will be a midterm and a final exam each with 15%.
Good luck!!!