Boise State University - Renaissance High School
Concurrent Enrollment Syllabus
Arabic 102 (4 credits)
The Alphabet and Beginning Arabic
Instructor: M. Casey Mattox, M. Ed.
Location: Renaissance High School Meridian, Id.
Class phone: (208)350-4380 ext. 1108
E-mail: mattox.michael@meridianschools.org
Required Texts:
Brustad, et al. Al-kitaab fii ta’Allum al-‘Arabiyya: A textbook for beginning Arabic: part 1, with
DVD’s 2nd edition. Georgetown University Press.
Prerequisites:
Students must have taken the Arabic I class at Renaissance High school and have passed
with a minimum “C-” (or 70%) in order to take concurrent credit in Arabic II. At the end
of the first semester of Arabic II students may, pending satisfying course requirements,
receive credit at BSU for Arabic 101. Students must also be at least 15 years of age prior
to registration.
Course Description:
Students will deepen their studies in Arab culture by exploring interrelated themes immediate
to Arab life. These themes will allow for building a dialogue in understanding Arab culture.
Class will be conducted in Arabic frequently building up to complete immersion as the
circumstance allows. Students will become comfortable with the language and culture to the
extent of engaging a native speaker. They will entertain guest lecturers, participate in Arab
venues, and open their mind to Middle Eastern thought.
General Objectives:
1. Students will compose essays and learn to handle diverse texts in the Arabic language.
2. Students will be able to express themselves and their opinions on varying topics in a
basic, but confident and solid level.
3. Students will engage in developed and complex listening and speaking situations.
4. Students will develop core reading skills and engage in authentic texts.
Course Introduction:
Arabic will continue on a high pace at an intermediate level of usage. Students must be
confident in engaging the language and will learn skills that are beyond just simple
comprehension. Students must understand the need to develop themselves outside of class.
Instructional Strategies: Due to the nature of learning a foreign language Direct Instruction will
be the primary method for learning new vocabulary. Some other methods for learning will
be used where possible are:
Socratic Methods
Discussion/ questioning
Problem solving
Presentation to class
Cooperative learning
Games/Competitions
Whiteboards
Internet Homework
Journaling
Skype Internationally
Typing
Google Earth
Grades: Note: Failing to do an assignment in Arabic will prove to hinder your performance in
the course almost immediately due to the uniqueness of the course itself unlike many other
languages and classes.
1. Language production: All graded assignments may include one or all parts of the
language production component. I.e. a project may be graded on speaking and listening
or writing and reading, etc. Ex. There is no overall score for just the category of
“projects.” This will focus you to the skill needed to be acquired and not the points.
You may get an “A” on speaking but and “F” on listening for one assignment. So your
effort to develop these skills in every task determines your grade.
2. Homework and class work is not included as a part of your final grade but is built in to
quizzes directly. I.e. Those works will not be entered into the grade book. However we
will always grade them in class for your feedback. The success to which you do in your
homework will be seen in your quizzes as they are based on homework and class work.
3. Class participation: The easiest road to success in a foreign language is to participate. If
you speak the language, you will speak the language. If you don’t speak the language,
you won’t speak the language. Like a film, language is a product and you are the
producer.
4. Renaissance High school policy requires all assignments to be completed by its due date.
Excessive failure to complete any assignment requires parental involvement to ensure
its completion if necessary.
5. There will also be a semester and End of Course (EOC Exam).
Evaluation:
Grades
Language Production*
EOC/Semester Exams
Quizzes
Assignments/Homework
Final Grade Scale:
A = 90% – 100%
B = 80% – 89%
C = 70% – 79%
D = 60% – 69%
F = 0% – 59%
70%
10%
20%
0%
*Language Production:
Speaking: 30%
Listening: 10%
Reading: 10%
Writing: 20%
Calendar Year: September 2014-May 2015
*these dates are subject to change during the semester at the discretion of the
instructor*
Subjects/Text Chapters
August/September: Al-Kitaab Ch. 1-7
Food: From buying to eating
Last of September/October: Al-Kitaab Ch. 8
Weddings and dating
Extra curricular activities
Relationships
Courtship
November: Al-Kitaab Ch. 9
Daily schedules
Clubs
Art and Music
Colors
December: Al-Kitaab Ch. 10
Islam, Christianity, and Judaism
January: Al-Kitaab Ch. 8-10 review
Miscellaneous
February: Al-Kitaab Ch. 11
Travel and Places of Interest
There and Back Again
Tourism
March: Al-Kitaab Ch. 12
Early Historical Events
Rise and Spread of Islam
Christian/Muslim Relations in the Middle East
Crusades and Salah Al-Din
Movie: Al-Nasr Salah Al-Din
April: Al-Kitaab Ch. 13
Government and Law
Courts
Provinces
Governing Bodies
Political Terms: Democracy, communism, etc.
Elections
May: Al-Kitaab Ch. 14
The City
The House/Apartment
Using the Dictionary
Grammar
Review Ch. 1-7
Past Tense
Negation
Roots and Patters in Verbs
Counting 100-111
Negating nouns
Time
Ordinal numbers
Present tense moods
Prepositions
Object Pronouns
Review Ch. 8-10
Present Nominative Tense
Adjectival sentences
Quantifiers
Review the
superlative/comparative
Future tense
Subject Verb Agreement
Negating the Future
Prepositions
Continuance
End of Year Review
Place Descriptions
Definite and Indefinite
Verb Patterns (intro.)
Learning Outcomes for the beginning language series (101-102)
The elementary and intermediate language series (101-202) offered by the Department of
Modern Languages and Literatures currently fulfills Area I Core requirements in the Arts &
Humanities, specifically as they relate to the Learning Outcomes of the Core Curriculum as listed
in the BSU catalog under Communication Skills Cultural Perspective. Students who complete an
elementary language course with a high level of achievement will be able to:
Communication Skills
 Read, interpret, analyze, and evaluate written discourse in the target language at the
elementary level;
 Write clearly and appropriately in the target language for a variety of purposes and for
different audiences at the elementary level;
 Employ speaking, listening, and interpersonal skills appropriate to various rhetorical
situations in the target language at the elementary level;
 Interpret, analyze and evaluate spoken and written discourse in the target language at
the elementary level;
 Identify and make appropriate use of information sources in both written and spoken
discourse in the target language at the elementary level;
 Negotiate meaning in a variety of situations and contexts appropriate to the stage of
elementary language acquisition;
Cultural Perspective
 Explain their own cultural perspective and make meaningful comparisons between it
and other cultural perspectives.
Philosophy of the Diversity Requirement
Boise State University values cultural diversity in its faculty, its students and its curriculum.
Because we live in a multicultural world, we seek to educate students to recognize and
appreciate the many ways in which each of us is shaped by gender, sexual orientation, class,
race, culture, ability, nationality, religion, and ethnicity. This requires more than just exposure to
cultural differences; it requires that we critically examine such differences being attentive to the
special challenges that each of us faces in understanding those whose lives are shaped by
cultures other than our own. It is hoped that such reflection will afford each of us a critical
perspective of the cultures with which we are most familiar and help us appreciate the elements
common to human beings across cultures.
Courses that fulfill Boise State University’s Diversity Requirement will serve as a foundation for
ongoing exploration of difference. Accordingly, such courses will
1) be concerned with issues and/or theories of gender, sexual orientation, class, race, culture,
nationality, ability, religion or ethnicity as these may be found anywhere in the world; and 2)
require reflection on the challenges and benefits of dialogue across differences.
Learning Outcomes of the Diversity Requirement

Knowledge Content: The course will increase the student’s knowledge and awareness of
the unique contributions of diverse groups and their beliefs, values, knowledge, and
experiences of people of diverse groups.
 Self-reflection: The course will require students to gain self-awareness of and insight
into their cultural perspectives.
Diversity Skills: The course will develop students’ abilities to sensitively work with diverse
individuals and groups while building diverse relationships.
Academic Policies:
1. Disabilities and Special Needs: Accommodations will be provided for those of specific
needs to better facilitate learning. These needs are to be mandated through the school
counselor and administration. This information will be held confidential.
2. Late Work: Any assignment that is not accounted for by the collection time is
considered late work and will automatically be assessed a 30% reduction in the grade.
(I.e. If the student gets a perfect score after it is late he/she will only receive a 70%). If
students have a legitimate reason why they cannot take the exam, quiz or essay,
please discuss this with the instructor one day beforehand. All assignments will
be taken until the last week before the quarter ends. Quizzes are given one week to
redo until the grade achieved becomes final.
Student Code of Conduct
Please note that high school students enrolled in concurrent credit classes are held to
the same student standards found in the Boise State University Student Code of
Conduct, at http://www.boisestate.edu/osrr/. Definitions of cheating, plagiarism and
other forms of academic dishonesty as well as policies and procedures for handling such
cases can be found at this web site.