SPOKEN MEDIA ARABIC
GHASSAN HUSSEINALI, GEORGE MASON UNIVERSITY
INTRODUCTORY ESSAY
In the past ten years, the Arab world has witnessed a huge expansion in the number of satellite TV stations. Some stations are quite influential like Aljazeera TV in Qatar which is watched by more than forty million Arabic speaking viewers every day. Alarabiya TV and LBC, though less popular with fewer viewers, have niches in regional markets. These stations shape Arab public opinion. Aljazeera’s live broadcast from Tahrir square during the Egyptian revolution in early 2011 played a key role in galvanizing support for the demonstrators in Tahrir.
Many countries in the world have realized the importance of targeting this market and have since opened their own Arabic stations. Britain, France, the US, Russia, Hizbullah, and Iran all have their TV stations broadcasting in Arabic 24 hours a day. Understanding what is being said and how it is said becomes vital to the work of specialists interested in the region such as analysts, journalists, human rights activists, diplomats and spies. This course will train students to listen to spoken media Arabic on different stations.
This course is designed for students who have reached an advanced proficiency level as prescribed in American Council on Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) proficiency testing guidelines. It is designed to enable students to understand live Arabic broadcasts on TV and Radio intended for native speakers of Arabic. Linguistically, the course will focus on developing advanced listening and speaking skills through exposure to important political and social issues that are being currently discussed in Arabic media. In terms of content, this course prepares students to understand the different views or issues raised in the Arabic media as well as the ability to participate in settings equally demanding such as listening to interviews and debates in Arabic.
The topics of this course will be based on current issues in Arabic media outlets at the time of instruction. The instructional format will cover newscasts, political debates, and TV interviews. Most of the content of this course will cover issues in the Arab Spring in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Jordan, Yemen, Syria, and Bahrain. A special focus will be given to the coverage of the Arab-Israeli conflict and the efforts of building peace and democracies in the Middle East. Given the nature of this course, assignments on current topics will be posted on Blackboard on a weekly basis to keep discussions situated in current events happening in the Arab world.
THE SYLLABUS: ARAB 351 - MEDIA ARABIC II (SPOKEN MEDIA)
PREREQUISITES
ARAB 350 or permission of instructor.
COURSE OBJECTIVES
Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:
1. Listen to and understand news in Arabic 2. Summarize news in Arabic
3. Listen to and understand formal interviews in Arabic
4. Identify informal Arabic words and phrases spoken in formal settings. 5. Write up interview questions in Arabic
6. Understand the points of views of different participants in a debate in Arabic 7. Give their opinion in Arabic in a formal setting
8. Increase their understanding of some of the social and political realities in the Arab world
COURSE REQUIREMENTS
Students are required to
Attend class regularly
Listen to and prepare the assigned homework at home
Participate in class discussions
Complete and turn in a comprehension sheets weekly based on the listening assignment.
EXPECTATIONS
CLASS PARTICIPATION
All students are expected to participate actively in the class discussion.
Unexcused absences will be reflected on students’ final grade.
Excused absences must be properly documented.
HOMEWORK AND EXAMS
Homework must be turned in on the day it is due, before the start of class.
Exam dates are final
No partial credit for incomplete work
GRADING
PARTICIPATION 10%
Students are responsible to study the vocabulary of the week (posted on Bb) at home and be ready to use it in context in class. Every week you will present to class in detail one news items or role play a part of an interview or a debate that is the topic of that day. Students are expected to give their own views about the material being covered in every class.
Your participation consists of your ability to use new words in sentences, to provide verbal summaries of news/video clips, as well as your ability to express your opinion about the material being discussed in class.
HOMEWORK 20%
This part of the grade will be given to summaries of media audio/video files and filling homework sheets prepared by the instructor and based on the assigned work for each particular class as described in the schedule.
QUIZZES 10%
There are two quizzes one before midterm and one after (see schedule below for dates)
MIDTERM EXAM 25%
FINAL EXAM 25%
FINAL PROJECT 10%
All projects have to be in groups. Each group prepares a 10-15 minute video emulating one of the three formats (news, interviews, and debates) covered in this course. Both the topic and the format of the project should be approved by the instructor no later than week 12 of the course. Presentation of projects will take place during the last week of class.
In addition to the content and discourse aspects of the project, the vocabulary has to be varied and specialized (similar to the one we learned in the course). Special attention should be given to the quality of the work in terms of clarity, fluency and accuracy
GRADING SCALE
A+: 97-100% A: 92-96.9% A-: 89-91.9%
B+: 86-88.9% B: 82-85.9% B-: 79-81.9%
C+: 76-78.9% C: 72-75.9% C-: 69-71.9%
D: 59-68.9%
UNIVERSITY RULES AND REGULATIONS
ACADEMIC HONESTY
George Mason University has an Honor Code, which requires all members of this community to maintain the highest standards of academic honesty and integrity. Always remind yourself of the Honor Code that reads: Student members of the George Mason University community pledge not to cheat, plagiarize, steal, or lie in matters related to academic work.
All written work, including exams and outside-of-class assignments, must be done independently unless the instructor announces explicitly any exceptions to this policy (e.g., in the case of a group project). If you are unsure of any of the policies regarding independent work, consult the instructor.
All violations of the Honor Code will be reported to the Honor Committee.
STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES OR SPECIAL NEEDS
If you are a student with a disability and you need academic accommodations, please contact the Office of Disability Services (ODS) at 703-993-2474, have all the necessary academic accommodations arranged through the ODS, and inform me (the instructor) of the arranged accommodations at the beginning of the semester. Faculty members are not supposed to provide special academic accommodations on their own.
MATERIALS
Most of the content for this course will be recorded from live TV or Radio programs or from YouTube. The following channels will be our primary sources of material but not necessarily the only ones: BBC Radio in Arabic, Aljazeera Live Broadcast in Arabic, Alarabiya TV in Arabic, and Radio Monte Carlo in Arabic.
CLASS SCHEDULE
WEEK &
CONTENT DATE IN CLASS HOMEWORK
1 NEWS
BBC
Mon., Aug. 29 Introduction and Review Watch videos 1 and 2 in WEEK 1 folder posted on Bb.
Study Vocabulary Lists 1 and 2 in WEEK 1 folder posted on Bb.
Wed, Aug. 31 Watch and discuss WEEK 1 Videos
Use 5 news words from each vocabulary list in sentences.
Do worksheets 1 and 2 in WEEK 1 folder posted on Bb.
2 NEWS
BBC
WEEK &
CONTENT DATE IN CLASS HOMEWORK
Wed, Sept. 7 Watch and discuss WEEK 2 folder videos
Study Vocabulary Lists 1 and 2 in WEEK 2 folder
Watch videos1 and 2 in WEEK 2 folder posted on Bb
Do worksheet 1 in WEEK 2 folder on Bb 3
NEWS BBC
Mon., Sept. 12 Watch and discuss WEEK 3 folder video (1)
Study Vocabulary Lists in WEEK 3 folder Watch Videos in WEEK 3 folder
Watch Aljazeera News and write down the headlines in that bulletin
Wed, Sept. 14 Watch and discuss WEEEK 3 folder video 2
Do worksheets 1 and 2 in WEEEK 3 Folder Watch BBC News and write a summary of the headlines in the bulletin
4 NEWS
BBC
Mon., Sept. 19 Quiz 1 Prepare for quiz 1: Review all Vocab lists Listen to all Videos Listen to current news Wed., Sept. 21 Presentations
Students in groups listen to their clip (video or audio) posted on Bb and present their clip in class.
Group 1 presents on Clip 1 (BBC News) Group 2 presents on Clip 2 (Monte Carlo News)
Group 3 Presents on Clip 3(Monte Carlo News)
Group 4 presents on Clip 4 (Aljazeera Interview)
Each group is responsible to provide class with a sheet of key vocabulary about their clip.
Each group has to present no less than 5minutes but no more than 10 minutes.
5 NEWS
Mon., Sept. 26 Dictogloss Saudi Women
Week5 _worksheet 1
INTERVIE WS
Wed., Sept. 28 Interview with Khaddam (Syria’s former vice president)
Week5_Worksheet 2
6 Mon., Oct. 3 MIDTERM Prepare for Midterm
(Listen to daily news from BBC and to all interviews covered in class)
INTERVIE WS
Wed., Oct. 5 W6_Video
1_Interview_Khaddam
Week6_worksheet 1
7 INTERVIE
WS
Mon., Oct. 10 W 7_Video
1_(Interview_Ghalyoon)
WEEK &
CONTENT DATE IN CLASS HOMEWORK
Wed., Oct. 12 W 7_Video
1_(Interview_Ghalyoon)
Week 7_Worksheet 2 (Interview_Ghalyoon) 8
INTERVIE W
Mon., Oct. 17 W 8_Video 1_(Interview_ Tawakkul Karman)
Week 8_Worksheet 1 (Interview_Tawakkul)
Wed., Oct. 19 Listening Activity Listen online to news and fill Listening Activity sheet.
9 INTERVIE
WS
Mon., Oct. 24 W 9_Video
1(Interview_Kebiel)
Week 9_Worksheet 1 (Interview_Kebeil)
Wed., Oct. 26 Student Interviews: Students work in pairs:
Each pair prepares an interview mimicking one of the four interviews covered in the course (Erikat, Khaddam, Tawakkul, Kebeil)
10 Mon., Oct. 31 Quiz 2 (interviews) Review all four Interviews we covered in the course
Wed., Nov. 2 Listening to news in class (filling activity sheet) 11
DEBATES
Mon., Nov. 7 Debate 1
(Ittijah Mua’akis on Aljazeera)
Debate 1 Worksheet
Wed., Nov. 9 Continue Debate 1 12 Mon., Nov. 14 Debate 2 discussion
(Ittijah Mu3akis on Aljazeera)
Projects Outline Due this week Debate 2 worksheet
Wed. , Nov. 14 Continue Debate 2 discussion
Projects Outline Due this week
13 Mon., Nov. 21 Debate 3
(Hiwar Ala’rab on Alararbiya) Wed., Nov. 23 Thanksgiving 14
REVIEWS
Mon., Nov. 28 Reviewing
Wed., Nov. 30 Reviewing 15
FINAL PROJECT
S
Mon., Dec. 5 Final Project Presentation
Wed., Dec. 7 Final Project Presentation
