Arabic-L:PEDA:Advanced Arabic Intensive Summer Program in Oman

[Dilworth Parkinson]

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Arabic-L: Fri 30 Jan 2009
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1) Subject:Advanced Arabic Intensive Summer Program in Oman

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1)
Date: 30 Jan 2009
From:Elizabeth Langston <Elizabeth.Langston at sit.edu>
Subject:Advanced Arabic Intensive Summer Program in Oman

Dear colleagues,

Just in case there's still time for a Summer FLAS applicant (or any  
other Arabic language student) who is looking for an advanced Arabic  
program, please share with your students our media-based program this  
summer in the Sultanate of Oman.  We ran a similar program for CAORC /  
CLS last summer, but have now focused it solely on advanced students  
and functional media literacy.

Summer Arabic Language and Media *SALAM* Program in Oman:   An  
intensive six week course (with one additional week of orientation and  
evaluation) for Advanced Arabic language students who have completed  
at least two years of formal Arabic training at colleges and  
universities.

Program Focus:
Teaching Modern Standard Arabic to advanced students with the goal of  
enhancing functional usage of the language through the study and  
analysis of the media: print, broadcast, internet, film and literature.

Program Locations:
Six weeks in Salalah, one week in Muscat

Program Dates / Contact Hours:
June 20 – August 4, 2009.  Classhours: 4 hours a day, 5 days a week,  
for 6 weeks = 120 classroom hours, not including Arabic films, topical  
lectures in Arabic and language teacher-accompanied excursions.

Application Deadline:
April 4, 2009.  All materials must be submitted to cec at du.edu.om by  
this date.  See instructions below.  Unfortunately partial  
applications will not be considered.

Program Cost:
$6,900 [Tuition = $3800; Room and partial board (breakfasts) =  
$3100].  Additional meals, personal spending money, insurance and  
international airfare are not included.

Curriculum for Advanced Arabic Students:
·     A topically-based curriculum with three main thematic subjects:  
Economic Issues & Developments; International Relations; and Omani &  
Islamic Culture.

·      Each topic would be introduced through all forms of media in  
Arabic, supported by relevant chapters from Al-Kitaab fii Ta`allum al- 
`Arabiyya: A Textbook for Arabic (Part Three) by Kristen Brustad,  
Mahmoud Al-Batal, and Abbas Al-Tonsi.

·      Pedagogy will be project-, group-, and presentation-oriented

US University Credit:
TBD.  The program plans to offer the equivalent of one year of college- 
level Arabic at the advanced level.

Program Objectives:
By the end of the third week, students will be able to demonstrate:

1)      A basic understanding of program themes as they appear in the  
media; vocabulary and context

2)      Basic Arabic media literacy

3)      Conversational skills including everyday subjects

4)      An appreciation of the cultural contexts of Salalah, Oman, and  
the Middle East

By the end of the sixth week, students will demonstrate:
1)      Functional proficiency in reading and writing, with emphasis  
on speaking and listening comprehension skills through interaction  
with all types of media, their teachers, Peer Facilitators (Omanis)  
and the citizens of Dhofar and the capital.

2)      Comfortable comprehension of  radio or television news  
broadcasts, newspapers, and Arabic films

3)      Comprehension of written text on familiar topics and ability  
to compose news stories.

4)      An ability to comment and facilitate discussions on familiar  
topics and matters of personal interest like economics, current  
events, international relations, religious celebrations and local  
culture.

5)      Interest in contemporary Arab culture with emphasis on  
Sultanate of Oman.

6)      An understanding of the differences between Modern Standard  
Arabic and colloquial Arabic.

Student Recruitment and Selection:
The program is limited to 25 students.  All undergraduates or graduate  
students who have completed two years of college-level Arabic are  
eligible to apply.  Successful candidates will have a strong interest  
in current events and have demonstrated by their essay that they are  
serious students of the language.

Program Delivery in Oman:
To be coordinated by Dhofar University in conjunction with the World  
Learning Oman Center About Dhofar University: www.du.edu.om
About World Learning: www.worldlearning.org

Cultural Components:
Two half-day excursions (East and West of Salalah); one overnight  
excursion (North of Salalah); visits to Omani cultural and historical  
sites in Salalah and Muscat; five Arabic film nights/discussion and  
classroom follow-up; three topical lectures in Arabic in the main  
subject areas; one overnight stay with an Omani family.

The Country:
The Sultanate of Oman, a land of great natural beauty on the southeast  
corner of the Arabian Peninsula, is a model of peace, stability, and  
intercultural coexistence in the region.  With a population of  
approximately 2.6 million, the country has seen rapid economic and  
social development in the past three decades.   As an entrepot along  
the Arabian Sea between South Asia and the East African Coast, Omanis  
have for centuries communicated, traded, and lived with people of  
other faiths, nationalities, languages, and ethnicities. Arabic is the  
national language, with English, Swahili and Hindi spoken widely  
throughout the country.  Reflecting its many efforts regionally and on  
the global stage, Oman is also the only country in the Middle East to  
receive a Very High ranking on the University of Sydney’s Global Peace  
Index.

Additionally, the program is based in Salalah, which enjoys pleasant  
"al-khareef" weather June through August and is a lovely language- 
learning environment, with few English speakers to speak of (or with!).

To obtain an application form, please email David Fenner at david.fenner at worldllearning.org 
.


Wishing you all the best,


Elizabeth Langston, Ph.D.
Academic Manager of Middle Eastern Studies

Phone: 968-92208715
elizabeth.langston at sit.edu
www.sit.edu

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End of Arabic-L:  30 Jan 2009