COLLOQUIAL ARABIC 1

The course “Colloquial Arabic Mod. 1” is part of the characterizing courses of the Bachelor’s degree in Languages, Cultures, and Societies of Asia and the Mediterranean Africa, curriculum Middle East and Africa. The proposed variant of colloquial Arabic is the Levantine Arabic, which includes dialects from Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, and Palestine. These dialects cover a broad geographical area in the Arab world and are particularly understandable due to their proximity and similarity to the Standard Arabic, making them among the most widely comprehended by Arabic speakers. Furthermore, the popularity of television series, programs, and songs has notably contributed to the spread of mainly the Lebanese and Syrian dialects among Arabic speakers.

The educational objectives of the course aim to develop the students’ linguistic skills by providing them with a solid understanding of the Levantine colloquial variant, highlighting the differences and similarities among the various Levantine dialects.

To achieve these objectives, the course adopts a communicative-situational approach and methodology providing:
1. Basic grammatical knowledge of the Levantine colloquial Arabic.
2. Various tools necessary to develop listening, comprehension, and oral conversation skills in Levantine Arabic.

The course is addressed to Third-year Arabic language students. Upon completion of the course, students will achieve the A1+ level in Levantine Arabic, which corresponds to the "Basic-Survival" level of the CEFR (Common European Framework of Reference for Languages).

1. Knowledge and Understanding: From a grammatical perspective, students will acquire the ability to understand the phonetic features of Levantine colloquial Arabic, as well as its main morphosyntactic peculiarities, with particular emphasis on: personal pronouns and suffixes; demonstratives; relative pronouns; verbs and verbal tenses; negations; nouns and adjectives. Regarding comprehension and oral conversation, students will assimilate the glossary and key expressions necessary to understand dialogues in Levantine Arabic concerning everyday life situations, enabling them to interact and express themselves effectively.

2. Ability to Apply Knowledge and Understanding: Students will be able to use and pronounce Levantine Arabic correctly, effectively communicating and interacting in various oral communicative situations aligned with the A1+ level of the CEFR (Common European Framework of Reference for Languages). Additionally, they will be capable to listen and to understand dialogues, songs, and short simple videos taken from television series and programs.

3. Making judgments: Students will be able to choose the appropriate linguistic register based on the communicative situation. Moreover, they will be capable of distinguishing the main differences among the various Levantine dialects. Lastly, they will effectively use reference texts, bibliography and the related audio-visual materials to examine and evaluate their own level of linguistic competence.

4. Communication Skills: Students will be able to interact during classes in Levantine Arabic with each other’s and with the teacher, as well as in other oral communicative situations typically associated with the A1+ level of the CEFR (Common European Framework of Reference for Languages). They will also be capable of expressing themselves orally and interacting in everyday life situations, which are also characteristic of the A1+ level of the CEFR.

5. Learning Skills: Students will be able to integrate their skills in colloquial Arabic and standard Arabic to navigate the diglossic situation of the Arabic-speaking world. Furthermore, they will be capable of developing the skills acquired during the course to continue further studies.

Elementary morphosyntactic knowledge of Modern Standard Arabic corresponding to level A1+ of the CEFR (Common European Framework of Reference for Languages), which represents the first two levels of Standard Arabic offered by our study program (Bachelor’s degree).

1. Grammar: The main phonetic, morphosyntactic, and lexical features of Levantine colloquial Arabic include personal pronouns and suffixes, demonstratives, relative pronouns, verbs and verbal tenses, negations, nouns, adjectives, and numerals.

2. Daily life dialogues: Special attention is given to the following situations: greeting and introducing oneself, interactions with relatives and friends, colors and clothing descriptions, food and drinks conversations, household chores, hobbies and vacation plans, as well as aspects of social and cultural life.

3. Idiomatic expressions: Basic idiomatic expressions of Levantine Arabic and its dialects are considered.

4. Audiovisual material: Includes songs and videos from television series and programs.

The same program applies to both attending and non-attending students.

Durand, Olivier, Grammatica di arabo mediorientale: Lingua šāmi, Milano: Hoepli, 2017.

Elihay J. -Speaking Arabic_ A Course in Conversational Eastern (Palestinian) Arabic, vol. 1, Jerusalem: Minerva Publishing House, 2012.

Aldrich, Matthew, Shway ‘An Haali: Listening, Reading, and Expressing Yourself in Lebanese and Syrian Arabic, Lingualism, 2018.

Aldrich, Matthew, Levantine Arabic Verbs: Conjugation Tables and Grammar, Lingualism, 2018.

Supplementary material will be available through the course's Moodle page.

Written Exam: Consists of three parts: (1) Students will listen to a dialogue in Levantine three times and will have to answer various written questions about it; (2) Students will watch a video in Levantine three times and will have to answer various written questions about it; (3) Grammar exercises.

Oral Exam: The students will have to introduce themselves in Levantine and engage in a conversation with each other and the teacher, answering various questions about daily life covered in class, always in Levantine.

The top grade is 30/30 with honors: 20 points for the written exam and 10 points for the oral exam (passing grade: 18/30; See the grade scale below).

Both exams will be conducted on the same day.

The purpose of both exams is to evaluate students' abilities to comprehend simple conversations in Levantine Arabic and to effectively introduce themselves and express ideas in Levantine Arabic in everyday life situations discussed in class.

The same exam format applies to both attending and non-attending students.

written and oral

Regarding the grading criteria, scores will be assigned as follows:

18-22: awarded for a sufficient knowledge of the basic grammar of Levantine, a sufficient ability to understand simple dialogues in Levantine dialects, and a sufficient ability to express oneself in Levantine and to answer simple questions.

23-26: awarded for a fair knowledge of the basic grammar of Levantine, a fair ability to understand simple dialogues in Levantine dialects, and a fair ability to express oneself in Levantine and to answer simple questions.

27-30: awarded for a good or excellent knowledge of the basic grammar of Levantine, a good or excellent ability to understand simple dialogues in Levantine dialects, and a good or excellent ability to express oneself in Levantine and to answer simple questions.

30 with honors: awarded for an outstanding and excellent knowledge of the basic grammar of Levantine, an outstanding and excellent ability to understand simple dialogues in Levantine dialects, and an outstanding and excellent ability to express oneself in Levantine and to answer simple questions.

The course is mainly based on frontal and interactive lessons, with communicative-situational approach and methodology; PowerPoint presentations and multimedia material are used.

Attendance is not mandatory but strongly recommended.

There is no specific program for non-attending students, they can prepare for the final exam by studying the given bibliography and the different materials provided on Moodle platform

The COLLOQUIAL ARABIC course consists of two modules: Module 1 in the first semester and Module 2 in the second.

The final grade is the average of both modules.

Students who do not pass the Module 1 exam will not be allowed to take the Module 2 exam.

This subject deals with topics related to the macro-area "International cooperation" and contributes to the achievement of one or more goals of U. N. Agenda for Sustainable Development