Award in Foreign Language Proficiency – Arabic Level 1‚  

Course Description

Understanding Arabic today is of vital importance. Arabic is one of the official languages of the United Nations and the fifth most widely spoken language in the world, with over 400 million speakers worldwide. It is recognised as an official language in 23 countries and it is the liturgical language of nearly two billion Muslims. Moreover, political and economic developments in the Arab world and parts of the Middle East, like the internationalisation of businesses and professions, have made understanding, speaking, reading, and writing Arabic an increasingly valuable skill.

This unit is intended to provide non-Arabic speakers with the opportunity to learn the Arabic alphabet and to develop and practice oral communication skills in basic settings. Learners will be familiar with the four skills that make part of learning a language, namely, reading, writing, speaking and listening. All four skills are essential when learning a language to enable the learner to function within an Arabic-speaking environment. Topics for listening, speaking, reading and writing will focus on an introductory level of communication skills used in everyday life, including greetings and introductions, talking about oneself and getting to know each other. Basic skills helpful to people visiting the areas where the target language is spoken, including going out and buying objects, will be taught. In addition, an introductory level of Arabic culture will be covered, such as social interaction and geography that includes the major countries and capital cities.