CURRICULUM FOR MEDIA ARABIC 4300

ACADEMIC YEAR: Fall 2008

 

Class & Location

Tuesday &Thursday: 12:30am-01:15pm, 100 Old College

 

Professor

Selima Ben Chagra, selimach@uga.edu, phone: 706- 255 6057

Office hours

By appointment

Course Description and Objective:

Welcome to ARB 4300 class. This course is designed to introduce you to the basic skills required for understanding of Arabic radio, TV and newspapers. This class will focus mainly on the first part of the textbook which prepares students for both oral and written translation, together with independent reading. The course will mainly also work on studentsÕ listening and writing skills.

Textbooks:

Required:

1) Arabic Media by Julia Ashtiany

2) Arabic-English Dictionary by Hans Wehr

Method: aural comprehension, oral translations, listening to authentic material and production (writing output in Modern Standard Arabic).

Schedule:

Every week (3 hours) will be assigned to a lesson of the book. A 10 minute quiz will be given after every two lessons. 15 minutes per lesson may be allocated to online media material.

Listening Assignments, Homework, Quizzes, and Examinations:

      Homework: All homework will be on a Òdone/not done basis.Ó Late                   homework will not be accepted.

Pop-Quizzes: There might sometimes be regular surprise dictations and listening quizzes                                                               

      General Quizzes: Every two weeks a 10 min. quiz on the material covered in previous lessons. As learning any language is a cumulative procedure, these quizzes will also cover all points of grammar and vocabulary dealt with in previous lessons.

Midterm: to be announced in class and/or through WebCT.

Final: Thu, May 7, 2009 (12:30 pm). No other arrangements can be made. The final will be cumulative, but will emphasize material introduced since the mid-term. The final will cover all vocabulary and grammar discussed in class, in the book and in the reading and dictation texts used during the course.

NOTE: Quiz and exam grading is on a curve.

Composition of grade:

 

Your final grade points will be determined as shown in the charts below:

(a)  System of Evaluation:

Midterm

25%

Homework

15%

Final

25%

Class Attendance

10%

Quizzes and translations

25%

Total

100%

(b) Letter-to-Number Grade Scale:

Letter

Number

Letter

Number

Letter

Number

A

93-100

A-

90-92

-

-

B+

87-89

B

83-86

B-

80-82

C+

77-79

C

73-76

C-

70-72

D

60-69

F

< 60

 

 

 

Note: As the homework and dictations are on a done/not done basis, you will be able to calculate this part of your grade from your quiz grades. This can help you after the mid-term to know where you stand towards the final grade.

Note: Learning a language is a cumulative process. It is far better for the student to keep up with the class work through the quizzes and homework than to count on last minute studying for the final. Therefore any student who has a 95% average going into the final does not have to take the final and they will receive a grade of A in the course.

 

Honors credit requirements:

Honor students will be asked to work with the self-directed online learning materials on Langnet.org, read and paraphrase current event texts from Arabic websites, and make an oral presentation in Arabic to the class.

 

Make-up quizzes and tests:

Make-up quizzes or exams are only possible with a ÒreasonableÓ excuse.

NOTE: the professor will have the final word whether the excuse is ÒreasonableÓ or not.

 

Honesty Policy:

The UGA Academic Honesty Policy will be followed. In other words, all academic work must meet the standards contained in "A Culture of Honesty." Students are responsible for informing themselves about those standards before performing any academic work. The link to more detailed information about academic honesty can be found at http://www.uga.edu/ovpi/honesty/acadhon.htm

Disclaimer

Any material in any format, whether written, audio or video and which we will be exposed to in the class do not necessarily reflect the instructorÕs opinion or belief. The materials that will be used are SOLELY for educational purposes.

The Americans with Disabilities Act

Students with disabilities needing accommodations such as special test arrangements, note taking, taped textbooks, tutoring; equipment, etc. please contact your instructor and/or the Disability Resource Center in the College Center room 230, phone No. 957-4646.

Changes to this Syllabus:

The instructor reserves the right to make any changes to this syllabus. The course syllabus is a general plan for the course; deviations announced to the class by the instructor may be necessary. Changes will be posted on WebCT.