The Department of Arabic Language and Literature is one of the main departments in the College of Arts and Social Sciences, and it aspires to become one of the leading Arabic departments at the regional and international levels. Since its establishment in 1987, it has strived to promote Arabic in all areas: teaching, research and community. It aims to instill Arab identity and values in students, enhance their sense of patriotism and feelings of pride in being speakers of Arabic, facilitate learning the language by non-native speakers, and prepare Arabic specialists capable of rejuvenating the language so that it can respond to every day’s challenges. The department currently offers three academic programs: a Bachelor's, a Master's, and a Doctorate degree. Drawing on the competencies of its faculty and their diverse experiences, the department seeks to open new programs that respond to the needs of the labor market.

The proposal to establish the “Certificate of Arabic Language and Literature for Non-Native Speakers” program in the Department of Arabic Language and Literature at Sultan Qaboos University aims to achieve the department’s vision, mission and objectives, which focus on serving and disseminating the Arabic language and culture, building communication bridges with other Islamic and international communities, and enacting the vision of His Majesty Sultan Haitham bin Tariq, may God protect him, and his directives, which call for an increased focus on teaching and developing Arabic using all available technological resources.

The program also seeks to enhance the communicative and intellectual competencies of non-native speakers of Arabic in a rich educational environment equipped with advanced technological means and characterized by highly competent and qualified teaching staff.

This proposed program is called the "Certificate of Arabic Language and Literature for Non-Native Speakers", and it is equivalent to level one of an undergraduate program. It comprises 30 credit hours taken over a minimum of two semesters of full time study and taught through the medium of Arabic. The program is designed following the specifications approved by the National Qualification Framework in the Sultanate of Oman, and is subject to undergraduate academic regulations at Sultan Qaboos University, which require a high school diploma or its equivalent for admission and exclude diploma year and age requirements from admission conditions. This is due to the special nature of the program and the target group, which differs from ordinary students, and is also aimed at allowing the largest number of students, residing inside or outside Oman, to join the program.

Vision:

The Arabic Department aspires to offer a program that builds on non-native speakers’ basic knowledge of the Arabic language by extending students’ language and communication skills.

Mission

The department’s mission stems from its objectives, which seek to build communication bridges with other Islamic and international communities, and enact the vision of His Majesty Sultan Haitham bin Tariq, may God protect him, and his directives, which call for an increased focus on teaching and developing the Arabic language using all available technological advances.

Program Objectives:

Knowledge Objectives:

The program will help students:

1. Become familiar with the main linguistic and literary components of knowledge in the Arabic specialization.
2. Recognize the main concepts in the Arabic specialization.
3. Understand the basic principles and theories of their specialization.
4. Analyze various Arabic texts.
5. Link the acquired knowledge to the Arab culture, in general, and to the Omani culture, in particular.

Intellectual Skills Objectives:

1. Develop their intellectual and communicative competencies in the Arabic specialization.
2. Apply the main principles and theories of the Arabic specialization in their fields of work.
3. Raise their awareness of how acquired knowledge might impact analysis and interpretation of any piece of work.

Learning Outcomes:

By the end of this course, students should be able to: 

1. Use Arabic in its native environment, interact with its speakers, and engage with its culture.
2. Understand the main areas of knowledge in the Arabic language and literature, which will enable them to pursue higher educational studies.
3. Have a basic knowledge of Omani society and its culture.

General Structure:

Structure:

Placement test:

This test is held one or two months before the start of the fall semester, and is prepared by the Department of Arabic Language and Literature at Sultan Qaboos University, to determine students’ level in Arabic and their ability to join the program.

The placement test consists of two parts: Written and oral. It takes two sessions, and measures students’ levels according to the following scale:

The written test is held in a two-hour session while the oral test consists of an oral interview conducted with each applicant individually for ten minutes, immediately after the written exam.

The placement test, in its two parts (written and oral), can be held in person or remotely, according to the student’s status (residing in or outside Oman).

Teaching the literary and linguistic content as well as the cultural aspects of the Arabic language will be based on the Communicative Language Approach, which assumes a degree of interaction between teachers and students themselves using diverse educational channels in order to achieve satisfactory learning outcomes.

The Communicative Language Approach is the most recent approach for teaching languages, with a strong focus on interaction and communication. The new proposed program with its methodological components, objectives, rationale, courses, and content is based on tenets of this approach.

The program utilizes a variety of teaching methods including lecturing. Computer laboratories are used to run various applications geared towards teaching Arabic to non-native speakers. In addition, the program seeks to expose students directly to the most optimal environment to learning Arabic in its cultural context.

Learning activities vary, including writing, speaking, listening and reading activities. The program utilizes a variety of educational means including audio recordings, visual aids, slides, pictures, field trips, workshops and external seminars that enrich the content of the program and help achieve its objectives.

The break between the two semesters can be used for various extra-curricular activities, such as scientific, cultural and recreational visits. The cost of these activities is included in the total tuition fees. The idea of a "language buddy" will be used as an extra language learning resource. It allows students enrolled in the program to communicate effectively in the Arabic language, with the help of native Arabic-speaking university students under the supervision of the Department of Arabic Language and Literature.

Students are admitted to this program according to the following conditions:

I. General Requirements:

1. Apply the admission rules mentioned in section (A) of SQU Undergraduate Academic Regulations with regard to the requirement of having a high school diploma or its equivalent, and exclude the diploma year and age requirements.

II. Program-specific Requirements:

1. The student must be a non-native speaker of Arabic.
2. The student must obtain a score of (60%) or above in the Arabic Placement Test, which is used to determine students’ level in Arabic and their ability to join the program.
3. Non-Arabic speaking students, whose institutions have partnership or twinning relations with SQU, can join the program, provided that the courses they study here are considered transfer credits in their institutions. In this case, SQU Undergraduate Academic Regulations (section A, item 2A) pertaining to visiting students from other academic institutions apply. These students can be awarded the Certificate of Arabic Language and Literature for Non-Native Speakers upon the successful completion of the certificate requirements.

Facilities:

The College of Arts and Social Sciences has the necessary computer laboratories to start offering this program. It is currently possible to take advantage of a number of multi-use computer laboratories; each laboratory can accommodate 26-30 students.

In addition, the program can use all other resources available at the university, the most important of which are:

1. Teaching rooms equipped with projectors, boards, computers, and wired and wireless computer networks.
2. Laboratories equipped with computer programs to hold oral and written tests.
3. University transportation system to use for student field trips.
4. Various service facilities in the university, such as restaurants, and sports, health and recreational facilities.

Tuition fees: (per student)

1. The tuition fees for the program: (60) Omani riyals or its equivalent per credit hour. According to the following table:

Tuition costs:

The cost of study in the certificate degree is (60) Omani riyals or its equivalent per credit hour. Each semester consists of 15 credit hours with tuition fees (15x60 Omani riyals, with a total of 900 Omani riyals per semester, total cost: 1800 Omani riyals for the two semesters. The cost of the placement test is (80) Omani riyals or its equivalent for each applicant, and it is non-refundable.

Note: The total cost does not cover transportation, accommodation, meals, educational books, and any other educational resources.

Note: The total cost does not cover transportation, accommodation, meals, educational books, and any other learning resources.

2. Placement test fees: A non-refundable RO 80 or its equivalent for each applicant.

Required courses (24 credit hours):

Elective Courses (6 credit hours):

Study Plan:

Required and elective courses: