The Department of Arabic Language and Literature has two major goals: to achieve educational, linguistic, and critical competence for its majors and to meet the Arabic language requirements for all colleges, both through compulsory courses and electives. It also offers courses in Arabic to Arabic majors from the College of Education. With all of its students, the department aims to instill a sense of the importance and value of Arabic in everyday life; reinforce the significance of Arabic as the language of the Quran through recitation and rhetorical studies; develop literary taste and an aesthetic sense, enhance elocution; and encourage the writing of novels, short stories and poetry.
The department began offering courses the first year that the College was opened in l987. Since then, one hundred and fifteen students have graduated from the department, students who are now employed in teaching, information technology, and cultural relations. The department has seventeen members, who are engaged in scholarly activities both on and off the campus. Through research in literature and linguistics, they are constantly improving the educational standards of the department. In addition, members of the department are involved in producing Arabic educational foundation texts for the Ministry of Education and The Sultan Qaboos Institution for Islamic Culture at the Royal Court.