The Minor in Arabic
The Minor in Arabic, offered by the MENA Languages Program, is designed for students who are interested in the history, culture, and literary traditions of the Middle East and North Africa, and who wish to gain a high level of proficiency in Arabic. The Minor itself requires six courses in Arabic at the 200- and 300- level chosen from the various courses offered in the MENA Languages Program. The prerequisite for the Minor in Arabic is Arabic 121-3.
Learning Goals
Our courses in Arabic use sources that are culturally rich encompassing social issues, artistic, literary, and historical traditions, including current events and elements of daily life. The Minor in Arabic was created with the following goals in mind:
- To become an effective communicator in Arabic
Students who minor in Arabic are able to understand and create complex paragraph-length organized written and spoken text which is the hallmark of the advanced level of proficiency on the ACTFL scale. Students will have practiced in their studies all four language skills (reading, listening, writing, and speaking) using standard Arabic as well as examples of various Arabic dialects. - To gain cultural literacy and an understanding of the history of the Middle East
Student who minor in Arabic are able to identify, understand, and appreciate the rich historical and contemporary Arabic cultural heritage representing diverse regions with an emphasis on intercultural understanding and empathy. - To develop an appreciation of Arabic literature and Arabic literary influences
Student who minor in Arabic are able to understand and appreciate the rich Arabic literary traditions and its impact on the regional and world cultures. - To learn how to initiate and maintain global outreach and connections
Student who minor in Arabic are able to connect the Arabic culture to world cultural context which will enable them to participate in and maintain cultural exchanges.
The courses leading to the Minor in Arabic are carefully scaffolded to encourage personal growth, to offer opportunities to travel and to provide professional skills necessary for such fields as immigration, healthcare, legal studies, business and media.
Courses for the Minor in Arabic
Our program offers the following courses for the Minor in Arabic:
- a 3-course language sequence on the third-year level (211-1, 2, 3) which is based on work with a language textbook with carefully sequenced grammar, reading, writing and culture exercises. Students for the Minor in Arabic should finish this sequence first.
- content-based language courses on the 200-level and 300-level (216, 245, 304, 316). In content-based courses, the thematic content - topics that students find interesting and relevant - provides the materials (mostly authentic language documents) around which listening, speaking, reading, and writing activities are created. Content-based courses are self-contained and do not need to be taken in a sequence.
Frequently asked questions
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