ARABIC B- ( 11& 12) - Maysoon Saleh PAGE 1 OF 7 COURSE SYLLABUS

COURSE SYLLABUS 2 2
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ARABIC ab initio 1
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DIPLOMA PROGRAMME
TEACHER INFORMATION

Teacher(s): Maysoon Sale

COURSE OVERVIEW

The ab initio Arabic course is a language acquisition course for students with little or no experience of Arabic.
The language ab initio course is organized into three areas of study and will develop upon three themes.
Areas of Study Themes
• Language • Identities
• Written and spoken texts • Experiences
• Themes • Human ingenuity
• Contextual understanding • Social organization
• Sharing the planet

Four areas of study—language, texts, themes and contextual understanding—provide the basis of the two-year language ab initio
course. These four fundamental areas are interconnected and should be studied concurrently.
Each theme has a list of topics that provide the students with opportunities to practice and explore the language as well as to develop
intercultural understanding.
Interactive, productive and receptive skills are developed through study in these four areas and are of equal importance. At the end of
this course, students should be able to respond and interact appropriately in a defined range of everyday situations.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

The following outcomes are common to language ab initio:

1. Develop international-mindedness through the study of languages, cultures, and ideas and issues of global significance.
2. Enable students to communicate in the language they have studied in a range of contexts and for a variety of purposes.
3. Encourage, through the study of texts and through social interaction, an awareness and appreciation of a variety of perspectives of people
from diverse cultures.
4. Develop students’ understanding of the relationship between the languages and cultures with which they are familiar.
5. Develop students’ awareness of the importance of language in relation to other areas of knowledge.
6. Provide students, through language learning and the process of inquiry, with opportunities for intellectual engagement and the development
of critical- and creative-thinking skills.
7. Provide students with a basis for further study, work and leisure through the use of an additional language.
8. Foster curiosity, creativity and a lifelong enjoyment of language learning.

To summarize, the course will aim to develop a variety of linguistic skills such as listening and speaking (interactive skills),
reading and writing, as well as to develop an awareness and understanding of the different cultures the target language

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embodies. Eventually, they will reach a level of skill that will enable them to independently continue their future language
learning.
UNIT OVERVIEWS

Unit 1 Identities
Approximate Length: September- December

- Lifestyles
- Health and wellbeing
- Values and beliefs
- Language
- Subculture
- Identity and personality

Unit 2 – Experiences
Approximate Length: December – February
- leisure activities
- Travel and holidays
- Life experiences
- Rites of passage
- Traditions and customs
- Migration

Unit 3 – Human ingenuity

Approximate Length: March – June

- Entertainment
- Artistic expressions
- Communication and media
- Technology
- Science innovation

YEAR 2 (grade 12)

Unit 4 – Social organization ( core topic)
Approximate Length: September - December

- Social relationships
- Community
- Social engagement
- Education
- The working world
- Law and order

Unit 5 – Sharing the planet

Approximate Length January-March

- Environment
- Human rights
- Peace and conflicts
- Equality
- Globalization
- Ethics
- Urban and rural environments

ASSESSMENT

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Students will be evaluated using formative and summative assessments. The purpose of formative assessments and homework is to
prepare students for summative assessments. Formative assessments will take many forms with the goal of scaffolding the
knowledge, skills and the critical thinking required to successfully complete summative assessments. All summative assessments
will be graded on the 1-7 IB scale. All reports will reflect the IB 1-7 grading scale and will be based the best-fit approach to
assessment.

Paper 1
Assessment Description: Paper 1: Productive skills

• Writing (30 marks)

• Two written tasks of 70–150 words each from a choice of three tasks, choosing a text type for each task from among those
listed in the examination instructions.

Duration: 1 hour

Paper 2
Assessment Description: Paper 2: Receptive skills

• separate sections for listening and reading (65 marks)

• Listening comprehension (45 minutes) (25 marks)
• Reading comprehension (1 hour) (40 marks)
• Comprehension exercises on three audio passages and three written texts, drawn from all five themes.

Duration: 1 hour 45 minutes

Internal Assessment: Individual oral assessment

Assessment Description:

AB: internally assessed by the teacher and externally moderated by the IB towards the end of the course.
A conversation with the teacher, based on a visual stimulus followed by discussion based on one or more of the themes from the
syllabus (30 marks)

Duration:
10-minutes, (plus 15 minutes for preparation)

IB Component Breakdown
Arabic AB initio (standard level and higher level)
• Paper one: Weight: 25%
• Paper two: Weight: 50%
• Internal assessment (IOA): Weight: 25%

Course Grade Descriptors

While we will look carefully at the grades students have achieved on the various assessments, ultimately, quarterly grades as well as
predicted grades will be based on the following grade descriptors.

Arabic B HL

Grade 7
Students speak with clarity and fluency; use a richly varied and idiomatic range of language very accurately; handle ideas effectively and
skillfully with active and complex interaction; demonstrate a thorough understanding of the meaning and purpose of written texts; have
little difficulty with the most difficult questions; recognize almost all the subtleties of specific language usage; write detailed and
expressive texts demonstrating an excellent command of vocabulary and complex structures with a consistently high level of
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grammatical accuracy; demonstrate clarity of thought in the organization of their work and an ability to engage, convince and influence
the audience.

Grade 6
Students speak clearly, fluently and naturally; use a varied and idiomatic range of language accurately; handle ideas effectively with
active and full interaction; demonstrate a very good understanding of the meaning and purpose of written texts; have little difficulty
with more difficult questions; recognize most of the subtleties of specific language usage; write detailed texts demonstrating a very
good command of vocabulary and complex structures with a very good level of grammatical accuracy; adapt their writing appropriately
to suit the intended audience and purpose; express their ideas and organize their work coherently and convincingly.

Grade 5
Students speak mostly clearly and fluently; use a varied range of language mostly accurately; handle ideas mostly effectively with
generally full interaction; demonstrate a good understanding of the meaning and purpose of written texts; have some difficulties with
more difficult questions; recognize some subtleties of specific language usage; write fairly detailed texts demonstrating a good
command of vocabulary with a good level of grammatical accuracy; show a reasonable ability to adapt their writing to suit the intended
audience and purpose; express their ideas and organize their work coherently.

Grade 4
Students speak generally clearly; use a basic range of language correctly; handle ideas adequately with full interaction at times;
demonstrate an adequate understanding of the meaning and purpose of written texts; have some difficulties with almost all difficult
questions and some average questions; recognize a few subtleties of specific language usage; write texts demonstrating an adequate
command of vocabulary with an adequate level of grammatical accuracy; show some ability to adapt their writing to suit the intended
audience and purpose; express their ideas and organize their work appropriately.

Grade 3
Students speak hesitantly and at times unclearly; use a simple range of language correctly at times; handle ideas with some difficulty
with fairly limited interaction; demonstrate some understanding of the meaning and purpose of written texts; have difficulties with
questions of average difficulty; write texts demonstrating a basic command of vocabulary and some awareness of grammatical
structure; produce an identifiable text type; make some attempt at expressing their ideas and organizing their work.

Grade 2
Students speak hesitantly and generally unclearly; use a limited range of language often incorrectly; handle ideas with difficulty with
restricted interaction; demonstrate a fairly limited understanding of the meaning and purpose of written texts; have difficulties with
some easy questions; write texts demonstrating a fairly limited command of vocabulary and little awareness of grammatical structure;
produce an identifiable text type with limited success; make some attempt at basic organization; content is rarely convincing.

Grade 1
Students speak hesitantly and unclearly; use a very limited range of language mostly incorrectly; handle ideas with great difficulty with
very restricted interaction; demonstrate a limited understanding of the meaning and purpose of written texts; have difficulties even
with easiest questions; write texts demonstrating a limited command of vocabulary and little awareness of grammatical structure;
produce a barely identifiable text type; lack organization to an extent that content is unconvincing.

Arabic B (SL)

Grade 7
Students speak clearly, fluently and naturally; use a varied and idiomatic range of language accurately; handle ideas effectively with
active and full interaction; demonstrate a very good understanding of the meaning and purpose of written texts; have little difficulty
with more difficult questions; write detailed texts demonstrating a very good command of vocabulary and complex structures with a
very good level of grammatical accuracy; adapt their writing effectively to suit the intended audience and purpose; express their ideas
and organize their work coherently and convincingly.

Grade 6
Students speak mostly clearly and fluently; use a varied range of language mostly accurately; handle ideas mostly effectively, with
generally full interaction; demonstrate a good understanding of the meaning and purpose of written texts; have some difficulties with
more difficult questions; write fairly detailed texts demonstrating a good command of vocabulary with a good level of grammatical

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accuracy; adapt their writing appropriately to suit the intended audience and purpose; express their ideas and organize their work
coherently.

Grade 5
Students speak generally clearly; use a basic range of language correctly; handle ideas adequately with full interaction at times;
demonstrate an adequate understanding of the meaning and purpose of written texts; have some difficulties with almost all difficult
questions and some average questions; write texts demonstrating an adequate command of vocabulary with an adequate level of
grammatical accuracy; show a reasonable ability to adapt their writing to suit the intended audience and purpose; express their ideas
and organize their work appropriately.

Grade 4
Students speak hesitantly and at times unclearly; use a simple range of language correctly at times; handle ideas with some difficulty
with fairly limited interaction; demonstrate some understanding of the meaning and purpose of written texts; have difficulties with
questions of average difficulty; write texts demonstrating a basic command of vocabulary and some awareness of grammatical
structure; show some ability to adapt their writing to suit the intended audience and purpose; make some attempt at expressing their
ideas and organising their work.

Grade 3
Students speak hesitantly and generally unclearly; use a limited range of language often incorrectly; handle ideas with difficulty with
restricted interaction; demonstrate a fairly limited understanding of the meaning and purpose of written texts; have difficulties with
some easy questions; write texts demonstrating a fairly limited command of vocabulary and little awareness of grammatical structure;
produce an identifiable text type; make some attempt at basic organization; content is rarely convincing.

Grade 2
Students speak hesitantly and unclearly; use a very limited range of language mostly incorrectly; handle ideas with great difficulty with
very restricted interaction; demonstrate a limited understanding of the meaning and purpose of written texts; have difficulties even
with easiest questions; write texts demonstrating a limited command of vocabulary and little awareness of grammatical structure;
produce an identifiable text type with limited success; lack organization to an extent that content is unconvincing.

Grade 1
Students speak very hesitantly and unclearly; use a very limited range of language incorrectly; handle ideas unsuccessfully with very
restricted interaction; demonstrate a very limited understanding of the meaning and purpose of written texts; have difficulties with
almost all questions; write texts demonstrating a very limited command of vocabulary and very little awareness of grammatical
structure; produce a barely identifiable text type; lack organization to an extent that content is confusing
STUDENT RESPONSIBILITIES

Academic Honesty
Protocol For In-School Malpractice
The following steps will be followed in cases of malpractice:
1. Teachers will advise students of suspicion of misconduct
2. A record of the incident will be forwarded to the Diploma Programme Coordinator
3. The Diploma Programme Coordinator will discuss the incident with the teacher
4. The Diploma Programme Coordinator will interview the student involved
5. The Diploma Programme Coordinator will forward his or her assessment of the incident to the Secondary School Assistant
Principal
6. The Secondary School Assistant Principal will assess the infraction and impose the corresponding consequence, if necessary.

Malpractice on Assessments to be Submitted to the IB

According to the Academic Honesty (2009) document, in cases of malpractice on assessments or exam that are intended for
submission to the IB, the following protocol has been put in place.

Once a candidate has submitted his or her work to a teacher (or the coordinator) for external or internal assessment together with
the coversheet signed (or authenticated electronically) to the effect that it is the final version of the work, neither the work nor the
coversheet can be retracted by the candidate. If the candidate is subsequently suspected of plagiarism or collusion, it is no defense
to claim that the incorrect version of the work was submitted for assessment.

After a candidate has signed and dated the coversheet (or authenticated electronically)to the effect that his or her work is authentic
and constitutes the final version of that work, the candidate’s teacher (or supervisor in the case of an extended essay) must also
sign and date the coversheet to the effect that to the best of his or her knowledge it is the authentic work of the candidate. Any

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suspicion of malpractice that arises after the candidate has signed the coversheet must be reported to the coordinator help desk at
IB Cardiff for investigation. However, if there is no tangible evidence of malpractice (such as the source of plagiarism) the candidate
must be given the benefit of any doubt and the coversheet must be signed by the teacher/supervisor. It is not acceptable for the
teacher to:
• delete the declaration and then sign the coversheet
• submit the work for assessment without his or her signature
• sign the declaration and then write comments on the work or coversheet that raise doubts about the work’s authenticity.
• In the above circumstances the IB will not accept the work for assessment (or moderation) unless confirmation is received
from the school that the candidate’s work is authentic.

If a teacher is unwilling to sign a coversheet owing to a suspicion of malpractice, the matter must be resolved within the school. The
coordinator has the option of informing the coordinator help desk that the work will not be submitted on behalf of the candidate
(resulting in no grade being awarded for the subject or diploma requirement).

Malpractice in Testing Situations:

Students may not:
• take unauthorized material into an examination room (see below)
• leave and/or access unauthorized material in a bathroom/restroom that may be visited during a test
• pass on information to another student about the content of an examination, this includes facilitating the exchange
information between other students in any way
• steal examination papers
• using an unauthorized calculator during an examination

Students must not have unauthorized material (for example, own rough paper, notes, a mobile/cell phone or an electronic device
other than a permitted calculator) in their possession during a testing situation. “In their possession” may be taken to mean on the
person of the student, in the student’s immediate proximity (such as on the floor or desk) or placed somewhere (such as a
bathroom/restroom) for access during the test. It is very important to note that guilt will be confirmed by the school
administration regardless of whether this material is used, was or was not intended for use or contains information relevant or
potentially relevant to the test. The actual possession of unauthorized material constitutes malpractice; the school administration
is not required to establish whether the student used or intended to use the material. No leniency is shown to a candidate who
claims that they were unaware the material was in their possession.
Late Assessment Policy
When assessing students at GWA it is important for teachers to be able to provide students and their parents with a grade that, as
much as possible, reflects their ability in a course. It is also important for students to meet reasonably established timelines to
complete their assessments. In order to achieve this goal, the following procedures for the submission of summative assessments
has been established:

1. Teachers will post the due date on ManageBac with at least one (calendar) week lead time for students to complete the
assessment.
2. Submission of the assessment by students on the due date. If a deadline cannot be met, in order for the work to be evaluated,
students must: provide a doctor’s note.
3. DP students must adhere to published DP deadlines. Students who do not meet IB Diploma Programme deadlines will follow
these steps:
• Detention(s) until the assessment is completed
• Parent meeting to discuss behavior concern
• serve an in-school suspension until the assessment is completed. Parents will be contacted. Students must make up all
worked missed during the suspension.
4. Repeated failure to meet deadlines will result in narrative comments addressing these concerns in report cards and letters of
recommendation to other schools, colleges, and universities.

Teacher Assessment Commitments

All teachers will:

• Mark (grade and or provide narrative feedback) all formative assessments within one calendar week of receipt. Managebac
will be updated in the same timeframe.
• Post on Managebac (shaded in blue) any formative assessment (including homework) no later than 5:00PM the day it is
assigned. If the formative assessment is not posted by this time there is no expectation that the assessment will be completed
for the next day.

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• Discuss with students prior to posting summative assessments and provide at least one calendar week lead time for students
to prepare. Summative assessments will be posted on Managebac at least one week in advance of the due date (shaded in red).
• Return summative assessments to students with feedback no later than three calendar weeks after the due date.
• Update Managebac immediately upon completion of marking/feedback.
• Communicate, in a timely fashion, with colleagues and administration about students who are turning in late formative and
summative tasks in order to implement late assessment procedures, as outlined in the Assessment Policy. Late assessment
procedures are outlined above.
• Communicate with parents when assignments/assessments are not turned in on the due date and clearly articulate the next
steps for the student.

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