| Level One | This level is designed for students with no prior knowledge of Modern Standard Arabic. It will introduce the students to the fundamentals of Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) and to the culture of the Arab World. Students learn the 28 basic letters of the Arabic alphabet.
Students will also learn the sound system, the writing system, elementary grammar, vocabulary items, and language constructions. The course also involves regular use of audio-visual materials in Arabic. By the end of the course students will be able to read and write using Arabic script. You will also learn the correct pronunciation, learn to distinguish different sounds in the language and verbally communicate on a basic level.
Students at this level have no real or minimum language skills functionality. At this level, students will learn the basic interactions. They will be able to give their identity, say greetings, ask and answer basic questions, use vocabularies they learn in real-life conversations.
Pronunciation at this level is carefully taught and correct pronunciation is highly stressed as a tool to build confidence and better speaking skills. They will be able to write words and short sentences as part of dictation and from memory. Students will also learn to connect speaking with writing. Combining the two will ensure better speaking and writing skills at this early stage. Writers at this level will be able to write short and simple paragraphs about themselves, family, friends, and the weather among other topics.
Topics covered in level one that fully integrate the four skills include: Countries, Continents, Jordanian cities, Directions, Seasons, Months, Days of the Week, Topography (river, mountain, valley…), Geometric shapes (pyramid, circle…), Colors, Animals and birds, Plants (vegetable and fruits), Clothes, The Human Body, Family, Transportation, Parts of a House, Kitchenware, Drinks, Furniture, Office equipment, Numbers, Calculation (+, -,=), Parts of a City, City facilities, Jobs/ employment, Verbs (past, present, imperative), Pronouns, Grammatical gender, Singular and plural (masculine plural, feminine plural, broken plural), Demonstrative pronouns, Possessive pronouns, Nationalities, Adverbs (after, before, under…), Adjectives, Using the dictionary, Sentence structure and usage.
Students attend two hours of listening weekly in the linguistic lab in addition to reading and writing (16 hours weekly) and four hours of spoken Arabic weekly. | | Level Two | This level is a continuation of elementary Arabic (level one). In this class students will continue to work on both Standard Arabic and Spoken Arabic (Levantine). The overall goal of this course is for students to speak, read and write Arabic and improve your listening skill. This class will continue introducing students to the basic structures of both types of Arabic, to expand their vocabulary in key areas and use the vocabulary they study to form sentences and describe what is happening to you or around them. Specific functions to achieve include the ability to: write and construct correct Arabic sentences, talk with ease about yourself, food, hobbies, studies, likes and dislikes, initiate conversations and understand what others say when they speak at a normal pace using words and constructions students have learned. They will also learn a number of social formulae that will allow you to interact in a more Arab- like manner. Culture will be an integral part of this level and students will learn about Arab culture and habits as they advance in the book.
Topics covered in level one that fully integrate the four skills include: extended greetings and civilities, finding an apartment, extending residency, touring downtown, at the restaurant, at the doctor’s, at the mall, at the bank, at the library, a trip to a Jordanian city, visiting a friend, broken plurals, demonstrative pronouns, interrogative pronouns, negation, relative pronouns and prepositions.
Students attend two hours of listening weekly in the linguistic lab in addition to reading and writing (16 hours weekly) and four hours of spoken Arabic weekly. | | Level Three | In this level students will be able to read Arabic texts, understand them and express their general ideas. They will also construct cohesively correct sentences describing items or talking about different subjects, to actively employ vocabularies in daily life. Speaking and reading are stressed more in this level and a combination of standard Arabic and spoken Arabic will boost students’ self-confidence and use of the language. Culture topics molded in daily life situations continue to be an integral part of this level. Students are introduced to simple short stories and articles introducing new literary genres serving the language skills taught at this level.
Such topics include: spending time, sports, reading a newspaper, visiting places, writing about favorite topics, listening to popular TV shows, introducing media items in addition to group speaking sessions.
Students attend two hours of listening weekly in the linguistic lab in addition to reading and writing (16 hours weekly) and four hours of spoken Arabic weekly. | | Level Four | Students at level are able to handle a variety of communicative tasks. They are able to participate in most informal and formal conversations on topics related to media, newspapers, school, home, and leisure activities. They may also speak about some topics such as: Employment, current events, resources in the Arab world, democracy in Jordan, Arab authors, education in Jordan, in addition to matters of public and community interests.
Listening is in class and at the language lab is stressed in this level. Learners using pre-learned vocabularies and structures will be able to summarize and rephrase listening tasks. They will also develop their silent reading skills and pinpoint main ideas in texts written or recorded.
Introducing current events is a key component in this level. Students will be able to read and analyze newspaper articles through developing their media and journalism vocabulary and constructions. As a result, and with ease, students will be able to move smoothly between ideas and concepts. Language components introduced include: verbal and nominal sentences, demonstrative pronouns, use verb conjugations properly to serve speaking and written assignments.
Students attend two hours of listening weekly in the linguistic lab in addition to reading and writing (16 hours weekly) and four hours of spoken Arabic weekly. | | Level Five | Students at this level are able to handle with ease and confidence a large number of communicative tasks. They participate actively in most informal and formal exchanges on a variety of concrete topics. Skills at this level tend to be combined and interwoven in order to relate relevant and supporting facts in connected, paragraph-length discourse.
They can also understand communicative and descriptive texts. These texts reflect and use the linguistic competence students achieved so far and present the learner with the necessary tools to identify the rich and diverse Arabic culture in which Arabic is used. This level also builds and enhances students’ language intuition. Students can predict the meaning of new words and string from context and perform linguistic task with substantial flow.
Students at this level will use the four skills in a consistent and coordinated way to use the language with more confidence and produce well organized texts and thoughts.
Topics in this level include but are not limited to: Arabic society, media, current events, debates, expressive writing, translation and journalism.
Students attend two hours of listening weekly in the linguistic lab in addition to reading and writing (16 hours weekly) and four hours of spoken Arabic weekly. | | Level Six | Students at level six perform all advanced-level tasks with linguistic ease, confidence, and competence. They are consistently able to explain in detail and narrate fully and accurately in all time frames. In addition, they can provide a structured argument to support their opinions.
This level boosts students’ rhetoric through introducing different literary texts. Students will enjoy in full frame the beauty of the Arabic language. They will also analyze news items and discuss with ease current and urgent events. This level also introduces the students to famous and prominent Arabic writers.
They can write summaries and reports of a factual nature. They can also write extensively about topics relating to particular interests and special areas of competence.
All four skills are integrated to enable the students to use the language with confidence and ease. Critical thinking, speaking and writing are of great importance at this level.
Students attend two hours of listening weekly in the linguistic lab in addition to reading and writing (16 hours weekly) and four hours of spoken Arabic weekly. |
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