COURSE SYLLABUS
CRN 23421 – WB- ARBC 3060-01 – ARABIC WRITING
SPRING 2015
COURSE SUMMARY
This intensive lower intermediate Arabic writing course will help you develop the skills you acquired during your
second year through analyzing and producing different text genres ranging from 200 to 500 words. It will move you
from writing letters, dialogs, reports, and summaries to longer narratives, descriptions, and opinion pieces.
Semester:
Spring 2015
Instructor:
Schedule:
M, W, F
Office:
Time:
9:00-9:50
Office Hours: M, W- F- 11:00-11:50
Classroom:
ENG 226
Ali H. Raddaoui
Ross 131 (M,T), CIC (R)
& by appointment
Email:
araddaou@uwyo.edu
Prerequisites:
To be eligible for this course, students must have completed four semesters of Arabic: ARBC 1010 or LANG 1010
(Introduction to Arabic I), ARBC 1020 or LANG 1020 (Introduction to Arabic II), and ARBC 2030 or LANG 2030
(Elementary Arabic), ARBC 2040 or LANG 2040 (Intermediate Arabic). This course can stand in lieu of fifth
semester Arabic. Native Arabic speakers are not permitted to take this course.
This course fulfills the Writing 2 (WB) requirement of the University Studies Program. UW lower intermediate
writing courses (WB) provide students with opportunities to further develop and refine their writing skills. These
courses require writing for a variety of purposes and audiences, including the use of discipline-based research and
the writing of one extensive piece. In WB courses, students refine their writing through revision and editing, and
practice the accepted conventions of Arabic composition. One weekly 50-minute session is lecture only; the labs,
which meet for 90 minutes per week, are writing intensive and involve considerable drafts and revision.
Definition and rationale
All baccalaureate graduates of UW should develop written communication abilities throughout their undergraduate
experience, including exposure to current technologies used for communication. The writing courses will assist
students to achieve competence in rhetorical knowledge, composing processes, knowledge of conventions, and
critical thinking, reading, and writing.
Recommendations:
A placement system should be established for the lower-division writing course, with supplemental instruction
available as needed. Students may be able to fulfill their WA requirement by placing at the WB entry level, when
such an instrument is available and viable. Lower-division writing will be a prerequisite for mid-level writing, and
mid-level writing will be prerequisite for upper-division writing; prerequisites will be enforced. Writing 2 (WB) and
3 (WC) can be taught in any department. The mid- and upper-level writing courses may fulfill other University
Studies or major requirements. Faculty development opportunities will be made available for faculty and lecturers
interested in teaching the writing courses, and to facilitate student and program assessment.
Statement on writing
Unlike other language skills such as reciting, reading, speaking and listening, writing is the one unmistakable index
of literacy. For many students who acquire a foreign language, it cannot be said that they have knowledge of that
language until and unless they prove their ability to commit their thoughts, observations, descriptions to paper or to
the screen in language that is comprehensible, appropriate, and grammatical. In an academic environment, students
learning a foreign language use their previously acquired experience with writing but they will have, in addition, to
use target-language-specific writing conventions, vocabulary and style. In order to guarantee a satisfactory level of
success, the texts students write will have to go through multiple drafts such that these texts read as cohesive,
focused and highly organized units. Though the process may seem daunting at first, ability to write is reached when
students develop thinking and composition strategies such as brainstorming, ordering ideas, creating smooth in-text
transitions, harnessing task-specific lexis, and identifying a specific audience for the product being written.
Course Description
This is an intensive lower intermediate Arabic writing course where you will build upon the elementary skills you
acquired during the first four Arabic courses. Going beyond the short dialog or descriptive 150-word paragraph, you
will now apply your writing strategies to develop different text types ranging in length from 200 to 500 words. The
course will move you from writing letters, dialogs, reports, and summaries to longer narratives, descriptions,
expositions, and opinions.
In the process of enhancing your writing skills, you will learn to:
1. Brainstorm and organize ideas, as well assign different orders of priority for these ideas;
2. Paraphrase, illustrate, and summarize material;
3. Create text cohesion through selecting and using appropriate transition devices;
4. Use context, topic, and audience specific vocabulary, style and writing conventions;
5. Work beyond simple, independent sentences to produce text with complex structures, as required;
6. Work with multiple revisions and observe accepted spelling, grammar, structure and punctuation
conventions of Modern Standard Arabic.
7. Collaborate in the editing and revision of at least one draft produced by another student.
8. Produce an extended writing piece where you will locate, analyze synthesize, and appropriately
acknowledge your sources.
Course policies
Language: Being pitched at the lower intermediate level, this course will capitalize on every opportunity to use the
target language, Arabic. Except in rare circumstances where immediate comprehension is vital, students and teacher
will abide by the Arabic-only rule in class.
Instruction Format
Analytical phase: As a prelude to writing in any of the genres listed above, we will read through, analyze and
dissect text illustrative of that genre. This analysis will both raise your awareness of text typology and serve as a
model of the kind of task you will be called upon emulate in writing.
Writing practice phase: The initial analytical phase is followed with the actual writing process. After students
review and edit their own work, they will exchange their compositions with classmates for feedback. Process
writing, in the sense of producing multiple drafts to be submitted to the instructor for feedback and improvement,
will be strictly followed until a final draft is produced, which will help respective writers achieve the highest
possible level of writing fluency, accuracy and relevance.
In order to ensure maximum learning, students will produce the first drafts for each assignment in handwritten form
so they are alert to the corrections made by the peers and the instructor. All drafts produced beyond the second draft
will be submitted in typed form, so students can enhance their knowledge of and practice with the Arabic-enabled
Microsoft Word.
Attendance: UW Regulation 6-713 specifies that University sponsored absences are cleared through the Office of
Student Life (OSL). Students with officially-authorized absences shall be permitted to make up work without
penalty on classes missed. In addition, students are allowed to miss a maximum of 3 classes without excuse. An
Unexcused absence beyond the first three will be penalized with 5 points off the 10% attendance grade for each
absence. Students who miss five sessions beyond those excused by the University will be assigned F on this course.
Communication: Announcements, assignments, and other information for the course will be posted on the course
website in a timely manner. I may need to send a message with information about the class to your UYWO email
account, so check it periodically. If you need to email me, always use your UYWO account. If you want a timely
response please send emails Monday-Friday between 10:30AM-5:00PM.
Behavior: Creating an atmosphere conducive to learning, growth and personal as well collective fulfillment is the
combined responsibility of the course instructor and the students. A committee of UW students and instructors met
and drafted a set of guidelines which spell out optimal conditions for communication and detail expectations for
both students and instructors. For more on this, you are strongly encouraged to read the document titled “A&S
Students and Teachers—Working Together”, which you can access at:
http://uwadmnweb.uwyo.edu/a&s/Current/default.asp. In general, distractions, negative attitudes, unwillingness to
participate, and disruptive behavior will negatively affect your participation grade.
Academic dishonesty: Completing class and homework assignments requires acknowledging all materials and ideas
propounded by anyone other than yourself. The internet and your University Library provide vast amounts of
materials that you are welcome to draw upon as long as you carefully reference them and do not pass them as your
own. Doing otherwise falls under the rubrics of ‘academic dishonesty’ and plagiarism. University Regulation 802,
Revision 2 defines academic dishonesty as “an act attempted or performed which misrepresents one’s involvement
in an academic task in any way, or permits another student to misrepresent the latter’s involvement in an academic
task by assisting the misrepresentation.” The discovery of any academic dishonesty in this course will result in a
failure (F) on the test or work concerned for anyone involved.
Disability support: Students who have a physical, learning or psychological disability that requires accommodations
should notify the instructor as soon as possible after the semester begins. These students will need to register with
and provide documentation of their disability to University Disability Support Services in SEO, Room 330 Knight
Hall.
Syllabus & Calendar: This syllabus and calendar are subject to change as the instructor will most likely need to
make adjustments to the pace and content of the course. The instructor will update the syllabus & calendar as needed
in order to keep you informed, but you must follow it throughout the semester.
Course Requirements/Assignments:
Assignments for this course have to be produced no later than the date indicated on the table below. The instructor
will accept late submission only if accompanied with a UW-excused absence. Students who submit their
assignments after the deadline will receive F (Failure) on that assignment.
Your total grade for this course will be the sum-total of the following assignments:
1.
Three vocabulary assignments. For each assignment, you will produce a vocabulary list of eighty words
you have encountered in class or used in your writing assignments for this course. Each word is to be
accompanied with a minimum of an Arabic synonym or an English translation, in addition an illustrative
sentence. For best results, you are encouraged to submit your vocabulary work to your instructor for
editing and improvement ahead of the deadline.
2.
Two timed in-class writing assignments with a minimum total of 250 words each. Each assignment will
last a maximum of fifty minutes.
3.
Two composition assignments to be completed at home which will have to go through a minimum of two
drafts before the final draft is formally submitted.
4.
One term paper of 500 words minimum where you will research a specific topic in consultation with your
instructor. In this paper, you will write in at least two additional genres on the topic you are researching.
For this paper, you will identify relevant sources of information, evaluate them and integrate them into your
analysis, while acknowledging the source.
Please refer to the following table for details on assignment dates and grade distribution.
Schedule of assignments
Assignment
Assignment
deadline
Nature of assignment
Weight
1
01/29/2014
Home composition assignment 1
5%
2
02/20/2015
Vocabulary submission 1
10%
3
03/03/2015
In-class composition 1
10%
4
03/23/2015
Home composition assignment 2
10%
5
04/03/2015
Vocabulary submission 2
10%
6
04/15/2015
In-class composition 2
10%
7
05/01/2015
Vocabulary submission 3
10%
8
05/01/2015
Extended essay submission
25%
9
On-going
Attendance/participation
10%
Total
100%
Grading Scale
Grade
GPA
Points
Catalog Definition
Percentages
A
4.00
Exceptional
93-100
A-
3.67
90-92
B+
3.33
88-89
B
3.00
B-
2.67
Very Good
83-87
80-82
C+
2.33
78-79
C
2.0
C-
1.67
70-72
D+
1.33
68-69
D
1.00
Poor
60-67
F
0
Failure
59 and below
Fair
73-77
Course Outline:
Sessions
Object
1
Course introduction
2-6
Sample narrative analysis 1
Writing practice with genre 1: narrative
Introducing narrative-specific vocabulary
The elements of the narrative: who, where, when, why, what happened.
Multiple drafts
7-11
Homework composition assignment 1 submission: 02/09/2015
Sample narrative text analysis 2
Writing practice with genre 1:
Generating ideas, introducing genre-specific vocabulary
Multiple drafts
12-16
Vocabulary submission 1: 02/20/2015
Sample descriptive text analysis 1
Writing practice with genre 2:
Generating ideas, introducing genre-specific vocabulary
Multiple drafts
17-21
In-class composition assignment 1: 03/03/2015
Sample descriptive text analysis 2
Writing practice with genre 2:
Generating ideas, introducing genre-specific vocabulary
Multiple drafts
22-26
Home composition assignment 2: 03/23/2015
Sample expository text analysis
Writing practice with genre 3: speech writing
Introducing description-specific vocabulary
Multiple drafts
27-31
Vocabulary submission 2: 04/03/2015
Sample letter analysis
Writing practice with genre 2: a business letter
Generating ideas, introducing genre-specific vocabulary
Letter writing conventions
Multiple drafts
32-36
Sample essay analysis:
In-class composition 2: 04/15/2015
Writing practice with genre 7: exposition
Creating main and supporting ideas
Introducing transition markers 4
Multiple drafts
37-42
Putting it all together: extensive essay writing
Topic selection, determination of research questions
Writing the abstract
Creating main and supporting ideas
Introducing transition markers 5:conclusion, summary
Vocabulary submission 3: 05/01/2015
Genre mixing
Tapping into available sources of information: UW library, mass media, the internet,
and documenting these resources in the essay
Multiple drafts
Extended essay submission: 05/01/2015