COLLOQUIAL ARABIC 2

The course “Colloquial Arabic 2” (Mod. 2 ) 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 this course aim to enhance the linguistic skills already acquired in Colloquial Arabic Mod.1, providing students with an even stronger knowledge of the Levantine colloquial variant and offering a more in-depth analysis of the differences and similarities among the various dialects of the region.

To achieve these objectives, the course adopts a communicative-situational approach and methodology providing:
1. An in-depth study of Levantine Colloquial Arabic grammar, building on previously acquired knowledge (in Mod.1) and introducing new elements.
2. Various tools necessary to develop listening, comprehension, and oral conversation skills in Levantine Arabic.

The course is addressed to second-year Arabic language students. Upon completion of the course, students will achieve the A2+ level in Levantine Arabic, which corresponds to the "Survival +" level of the CEFR (Common European Framework of Reference for Languages).

1. Knowledge and Understanding: From a grammatical point of view, students will develop the skills already acquired in Mod. 1, deepening them with particular attention to the verbs of derived forms and their conjugation; they will also expand their knowledge of negation patterns, both in verbal and nominal sentences. New elements will be introduced, including: participles (active and passive), various adverbs, prepositional relatives, particles (coordinating and subordinating), degrees of adjectives, and the conditional. As for listening comprehension and oral production, students will refine the glossary and key expressions already acquired in Mod. 1, assimilating new terms necessary to understand Levantine dialogues related to new and various daily situations, enabling them to interact and communicate effectively.

2. Ability to Apply Knowledge and Understanding: Students will be able to use and pronounce Levantine Arabic correctly, communicating and interacting effectively in various oral communication situations, aligned with the A2+ level of the CEFR. Furthermore, they will be able to listen to and understand dialogues, songs, and short videos from TV series and/or programs, of moderate difficulty and suitable for the A2+ level.

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 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 aligned with the A2+ 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 A2+ level.

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.

1) Elementary morphosyntactic knowledge of Modern Standard Arabic corresponding to level A2 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).

2) Having attended and passed Colloquial Arabic 1 (Mod. 1).

1. Grammar: Verbs of derived forms, negation in verbal and nominal sentences, participles (active and passive), various adverbs, prepositional relatives, particles (coordinating and subordinating), degrees of adjectives and the conditional.

2. Daily life dialogues: Particular attention will be given to the following situations, building upon and expanding what was learned in Mod. 1: greetings and introductions, family and friends, colors and clothing, work and study activities, transportation and directions, ordering in cafes and restaurants, food and drinks, household chores, hobbies and vacations, social and cultural life.

3. New idiomatic expressions characteristic of Levantine and its dialects, building upon and expanding what was learned in Mod. 1.

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. 2, Jerusalem: Minerva Publishing House, 2009.

Aldrich, Matthew, Kameen 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.

Alzoubi, Elham, Idioms and Idiomatic Expressions in Levantine Arabic: Jordanian Dialect, London and New York: Routledge 2020.

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

Written Exam: Consists of four 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; (4) Translation exercise.

Oral Exam: Students will engage in conversations with the teacher and among themselves, answering various questions, all in Levantine Arabic.

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.

Both exams aim to assess the student's ability to understand a conversation in Levantine Arabic and to introduce themselves and express themselves in Levantine Arabic in everyday situations, appropriate to the A2+ level of the CEFR, as covered 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 grammar of Levantine (A2 level), a sufficient ability to understand dialogues of moderate complexity in Levantine dialects, and a sufficient ability to express oneself in Levantine and to answer questions of moderate difficulty.

23-26: awarded for a fair knowledge of the grammar of Levantine (A2 level), a fair ability to understand dialogues of moderate complexity in Levantine dialects, and a fair ability to express oneself in Levantine and to answer questions of moderate difficulty.

27-30: awarded for a good or excellent knowledge of the grammar of Levantine (A2 level), a good or excellent ability to understand dialogues of moderate complexity in Levantine dialects, and a good or excellent ability to express oneself in Levantine and to answer questions of moderate difficulty.

30 with honors: awarded for an outstanding and excellent knowledge of the grammar of Levantine (A2 level), an outstanding and excellent ability to understand dialogues of moderate complexity in Levantine dialects, and an outstanding and excellent ability to express oneself in Levantine and to answer questions of moderate difficulty.

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