BERGAMO
Overview
Date/time interval
Syllabus
Course Objectives
By the end of the course, students will have acquired theoretical and practical knowledge of Arabic syntax, vocabulary and phraseology, providing the foundation for reading, understanding and translating texts from Arabic into Italian and vice versa. They will also have acquired the basic tools required for the linguistic analysis of texts and for understanding the socio-political and economic contexts in which the Arabic language is used.
2. Applying knowledge and understanding
Students will be able to apply the knowledge acquired to the reading, comprehension, linguistic analysis and translation of written and spoken texts. Through the Language Learning Activities, AAL 3 - Oral Skills and AAL 3 - Written Skills, they will develop practical skills in oral and written expression and in translation from Italian into Arabic. They will also receive a practical introduction to basic conversation in Egyptian Arabic.
3. Making judgements
Through the reading, listening and comprehension of a variety of written and spoken texts, students will develop a greater awareness of the relationship between language, culture and the socio-political and economic realities of the Arab world. They will be encouraged to reflect on issues related to the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, with particular reference to Sustainable Development Goal 3 (Good Health and Well-being) and Sustainable Development Goal 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities).
4. Communication skills
Students will develop communicative competence in Modern Standard Arabic, with particular emphasis on oral and written production, translation from Italian into Arabic, and the ability to present and discuss linguistic and cultural topics. They will also acquire basic practical skills in conversational Egyptian Arabic.
5. Learning skills
Students will consolidate the learning strategies required to continue studying Arabic with increasing autonomy. In particular, they will strengthen their ability to analyse texts, expand their vocabulary, recognise syntactic and phraseological structures, make effective use of learning materials, and apply the knowledge and skills acquired to increasingly complex communicative and translation tasks.
Course Prerequisites
Teaching Methods
The teaching methodology combines lectures, classroom practice, individual and collaborative learning activities, the use of audio and video materials, homework assignments, and the Moodle platform to support learning and e-learning activities.
Regular and active participation in both classroom activities and independent study assignments is considered an integral part of the learning process, as it fosters the development of independent learning skills, group work and peer collaboration.
Interaction between the lecturer and students, as well as peer collaboration, are regarded as essential methodological components of the language learning process. These approaches characterize both the official course, Arabic Language III – Linguistics and Translation, and the Language Learning Activities, AAL 3 - Written Skills, AAL 3 - Oral Skills and AAL 3 - Egyptian Arabic.
For these reasons, although attendance is not compulsory, it is strongly recommended, as it is fundamental to the full achievement of the course learning objectives and expected learning outcomes.
Assessment Methods
The examination consists of assessments relating to the Language Learning Activities and assessments relating to the official course.
AAL 3 - Written Skills, AAL 3 - Oral Skills, and AAL 3 - Egyptian Arabic assessments
The assessments relating to the Language Learning Activities (AAL) are prerequisites for admission to the official course examination. Students who do not pass the AAL assessments will not be admitted to the official course examination.
Detailed syllabi for the AAL modules and information regarding the corresponding assessments will be published on the website of the University Language Centre (CLA).
Official course examination: the official course examination consists of a written examination and an oral examination.
Written examination – Translation and Text Comprehension
The written examination consists of the translation into Italian of an unvocalised Arabic text and a series of text comprehension activities. It is designed to assess students' reading, comprehension and translation skills from Arabic into Italian, as well as their ability to analyse the text from both a linguistic and a content perspective.
Oral examination – Theory and Practice of the Arabic Language
The oral examination consists of an interview during which students are expected to demonstrate that they have acquired the linguistic and metalinguistic knowledge covered in the course. They are also required to demonstrate their ability to read and translate the unvocalised Arabic texts studied during the course and to present appropriately a scholarly article on Arabic linguistics.
Passing the written examination of the official course is a prerequisite for admission to the oral examination. The result of the written examination remains valid for 18 months from the date of the examination session in which it is passed.
The final examination mark is calculated as the average of the grades obtained in the AAL assessments and those awarded for the written and oral examinations of the official course.
For a detailed description of the official course examinations, including the types of texts to be translated and the specific topics that students are expected to master in order to pass the written and oral examinations, please refer to the official course Moodle platform. Information on the teaching materials and required readings is also available in the sections Online Teaching Materials (e-learning) and Leganto – Examination Readings.
Students are informed of the results of the written examination through a Moodle notification. If they pass the written examination, they may either accept or reject the mark and retake the examination. The final grade, including all assessment components, is published using the "publication with acceptance" procedure, which allows students either to accept the grade or to reject it.
Assessment is marked on a scale of 30, according to the following criteria:
Excellent (30 with honours) Knowledge and competences fully acquired and applied with accuracy, effectiveness and autonomy.
Very good (30–27) Very solid knowledge and competences, applied correctly and confidently. Only minor and occasional errors.
Good (26–24) Adequate knowledge and competences, with some uncertainty or imprecision. Errors are present but neither serious nor systematic.
Satisfactory (23–18) Basic knowledge and competences acquired, but applied only partially or with evident errors. Overall understanding is satisfactory.
Unsatisfactory (below 18) Inadequate knowledge and insufficiently developed competences. Numerous errors that seriously compromise task performance.
Contents
The course is structured into subject-specific contents and practical language contents, aimed at consolidating the linguistic, metalinguistic and operational knowledge and skills expected at the third-year level.
Subject-specific contents
The subject-specific contents focus on the advanced study of complex sentence syntax and on the linguistic analysis of texts in Modern Standard Arabic. In particular, the course covers the following topics:
- Coordination and subordination: purpose, concessive, explanatory, temporal, object and subject clauses; direct and indirect interrogative clauses; conditional sentences.
- Constituent order in verbal and nominal sentences.
- Advanced verbal morphology.
- Functions and uses of the verbal noun (maṣdar) and participles.
- Indefinite adjectives and pronouns.
- Generic relative pronouns.
- The anticipatory pronoun.
- The separating pronoun.
- Improper annexation.
- The adjectival phrase.
- Transitivity.
- Linguistic analysis of texts in Modern Standard Arabic.
Practical language contents
The practical language contents focus on translation practice from Arabic into Italian and from Italian into Arabic, as well as conversation and oral presentation in Modern Standard Arabic and Egyptian Arabic.
These practical language contents are largely developed through the Language Learning Activities. For detailed syllabi of AAL 3 - Written Skills, AAL 3 - Oral Skills and AAL 3 - Egyptian Arabic, please refer to the website of the University Language Centre (CLA): https://www.unibg.it/studiare/frequentare/apprendimento-linguistico/arabo.
Online Resources
More information
During the Language Learning Activities, students will practise translation and work with a variety of oral and written texts through listening, reading, comprehension and production activities in both Modern Standard Arabic and Egyptian Colloquial Arabic.
Students may also take part in guided study groups (Arabic language tutoring) organised by the University Language Centre (CLA).
The examination programme is the same for attending and non-attending students. Registration on the Moodle e-learning platforms is compulsory in order to take the examination. Access keys for the Moodle courses can be obtained from the instructors of both the official course and the Language Learning Activities.
Detailed syllabi for the Language Learning Activities are available on the website of the University Language Centre (CLA): https://www.unibg.it/studiare/frequentare/apprendimento-linguistico/arabo.