FAS Undergraduate:
New Course
Course Number:
Course Title:
Credit:
Semester to take effect:
Abbreviation:
Pre-requisites:
Co-requisite:
Special Notation:
01:013:144
Arabic Lab II
1.0
Fall 2011
Arabic Lab II
Elementary Arabic 1, 01:013:140 or equivalent
01:013:141
Open only to students with limited prior knowledge of spoken and/or
written Arabic
Instructor-guided laboratory practicum for improving oral proficiency .
Practice in aural/oral skills and communication styles. Evaluation of
pronunciation and fluency.
Catalog description:
Type of meetings weekly:
Lecture:
Recitation:
Laboratory:
XX
Other:
Will this course require additional resources? If yes, explain. NO
Has this course been discussed with and consented to by officers of those department(s) which offer
courses with which it might overlap or which offer pre-requisite courses? If yes, name the department(s)
and explain.
Originated by (name of department or program officer):
Title (Chair, Undergraduate Director, or Program Director):
Department:
Date:
Maryam Borjian
Program Director
AMESALL
March 14, 2011
Course Description/Rationale:
This language laboratory course is designed to improve oral proficiency in Arabic for students at an
elementary 2 level of study. It is a 1 credit course designed for students with a novice-mid level of
proficiency (based of ACTFL Standards) in Arabic. The course meets once a week in LLB-119 on
College Ave Campus. The main objectives of the course are: the systematic improvement of fluency,
pronunciation, vocabulary enhancement, listening, and speaking skills. This course will help students to
learn how to communicate in Arabic in the increasingly multi-cultural environment in the state of New
Jersey. It is also expected that this course will enable students to achieve the rank of novice high on an
oral proficiency examination based on national standards.
Each lab class will begin with an audio program for listening, pronunciation and fluency practice.
Following the audio practice, video will be incorporated as a stimulus to discussion. Students will work in
groups on performance based tasks that will be monitored and evaluated by the instructor. Students will
finish any uncompleted work at home and individually record their regular oral production assignments.
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Sample Syllabus
ARABIC LAB II, 01:013:144
Department of African, Middle Eastern and South Asian Languages and Literatures
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
New Brunswick Campus
Spring 2011
Course Description
This language laboratory course is designed to improve oral proficiency in Arabic for students at an
elementary 2 level of study. It is a 1 credit course designed for students with limited prior knowledge of
spoken or written Arabic. The course meets once a week in LLB-119 on College Ave Campus. The main
objectives of the course are: Systematic improvement of pronunciation, fluency, vocabulary use, listening,
and speaking skills. This course will help students to communicate in Arabic in the increasingly multicultural environment in the state of New Jersey. It is also expected that this course will enable students to
achieve the rank of novice high on an oral proficiency examination based on national standards.
Each lab class will begin with an audio program for listening, pronunciation and fluency practice.
Following the audio practice, video will be incorporated as a stimulus to discussion. Students will work in
groups on performance based tasks that will be monitored and evaluated by the instructor. Students will
finish any uncompleted work at home and individually record their regular oral production assignments.
Learning Objectives
Upon successful completion of the course students will be able to comprehend and speak Arabic at a
novice-high level as defined by the ACTFL Guideline.




Understand short, learned utterances, particularly where context strongly supports understanding
and speech is clearly audible but they will periodically request repetition and/or a slower rate of
speech.
Use Arabic words related to basic objects, places, and most common kinship terms.
Produce short sentences to satisfy partially the requirements of basic communicative exchanges
by relying heavily on learned utterances.
Ask questions or make statements involving learned vocabulary and utterances.
Pre and Co-Requisites:
Pre-requisite: Elementary Arabic 1, 01:013:140 or equivalent
Co-requisite: Elementary Arabic II, 01:013:141
Textbooks/Materials
There is no required textbook for this course but the textbook that accompanies 01:013:141 (elementary
Arabic 2) will be used. Handouts with oral production assignments will be distributed throughout the
semester. Digitized video segments will be uploaded to the language laboratory server for students’ use.
Course Requirements
1. An entrance oral proficiency exam will determine students’ skill levels.
2. Attendance is mandatory.
3. Students will be responsible for recorded oral production assignments weekly.
4. An oral proficiency midterm will determine students’ progress in the course.
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5. An exit oral proficiency exam modeled on national standards will constitute the final exam. Students
will make appointments with the instructor to schedule the exam.
Course Requirements and Grading (Grade Definition Quality Points from Rutgers University Catalog)
92-100 = A (4.0)
88-91 = B+ (3.5)
82-87 = B (3.0)
77-81 = C+ (2.5)
70-76 = C (2.0)
60-69 = D (1.0) below 60 = F
Attendance/participation
Oral production assignments
Midterm
Final
25%
25%
25%
25%
Course Session Outline
This outline is negotiable and subject to alterations
Week
Week 1
Topic
Introductions and Review
Talking about oneself, family and friends
Pronunciation Practice of Arabic sounds
Assignments Due
Week 2
Campus life and daily routine
Oral production assignment 1
Week 3
Personal opinion and argumentation
Sentence intonation
Week 4
Relating about others
Week 5
Carrying out simple Transactions, Part 1
Week 6
Carrying out simple Transactions, Part 2
Week 7
Midterm exam
Week 8
Telling a short story
Relating about actions in the past
Week 9
Practice of time indication
Making comparisons
Week 10
Feelings, feelings, feelings!
Week 11
We are getting ready for a trip!
Practice of the future tense
Week 12
Physical descriptions
Week 13
Short training on presentational mode/ Review
Week 14
Final exam preparation
Oral production assignment 2
Oral production assignment 3
Oral production assignment 4
Oral production assignment 5
Oral production assignment 6
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