Entry requirements

Fulfilment of the requirements for a Bachelor's degree with Semitic Languages as the main field of study including at least 82.5 credits of Arabic.

Learning outcomes

The course aims to provide an overview of the Arabic dialects, an in-depth study of a few selected dialects through text reading and analysis, and competence in transcribing dialect recordings.

For the grade Pass, after completing the course the student should be able to:

• describe the concept of diglossia in the Arabic context and its consequences in the modern Arab world.
• describe the research history of the subject
• account for the classification, characteristics and distribution of the Arabic dialects (e.g. the sedentary and Bedouin dialects) in relation to each other.
• discuss theories concerning the origin of the Arabic dialects
• describe the grammatical features of the selected Arabic dialects.
• translate and linguistically analyze transcribed texts in the selected Arabic dialects.
• using linguistic terminology, describe the linguistic characteristics of the texts
• scientifically transcribe recordings of the selected Arabic dialects.

Content

The course includes an overview of the modern Arabic dialects, their distribution, characteristics and scientific study. It also includes reading and linguistic analysis of textual material in some selected Arabic dialects and scientific transcription of recordings in these dialects.

Instruction

Teaching takes the form of either seminars or tutorials.

Assessment

Examination takes the form of continuous assessment of active participation in class (i.e. answering questions and working on assignments) and assignments.

The tasks, content and format of the continuous assessment, the date of completion/submission and information on re-examination are given at the start of the course.

If there are special reasons for doing so, an examiner may make an exception from the method of assessment indicated and allow a student to be assessed by another method. An example of special reasons might be a certificate regarding special pedagogical support from the University's disability coordinator.