Third-year Arabic I

Catalog description

ARAB 305/505 is the fifth in a sequence of courses in Modern Standard Arabic (MSA), the language of all official forms of communication and media throughout the Arab world, the register of Arabic taught in countries where Arabic is an official language, the liturgical language of more than two billion Muslims worldwide and millions of Arab Christians, and one of the six official languages of the United Nations. In this course, students will learn important idioms and expressions, significantly expand their vocabulary, and acquire further knowledge of fundamental morphological and syntactical structures that allow them to express themselves orally and in writing with increasing grammatical accuracy. Students will build capacity to read a range of authentic texts from formal to informal and journalistic to expository with economical use of a dictionary; carry out basic research and understand the main ideas in non-technical writing; use context and grammar to identify the form and guess the meaning of unfamiliar words; initiate discussion on topics of general interest; present information and basic narratives in formal language; understand the main points of lectures and media programs on familiar topics; and identify a range of important figures and ideas in Arab literary and cultural history. As part of the course requirements, students may be asked to engage in a language and cultural exchange with immigrants and refugees from the greater Binghamton community at the American Civic Association. Prerequisite: successful completion of ARAB 204/504 or the equivalent level of proficiency as determined in advance by the Undergraduate Director.