University of West Florida

Department: Continuing Education

Method of Instruction: Online

Semester Hours: 12

This innovative certificate in Arabic language and Culture is designed for beginning students to develop language and culture skills though listening, speaking, reading and writing, and emphasizes cultural understanding of the Arab world.

The certificate consists of three courses in Arabic Language and Culture – each course is 4 semester hours. The first course starts at the introductory level, there is no prerequisite knowledge of Arabic Language or Culture required – and offers a mix of culture with basic language component development through drill and practice and interaction with the instructor using web collaboration software. The second and third courses are also tied to culture but include the use of CD-ROMs and other Arabic language software to assist students in sentence structure and conversational Arabic development.

The Arabic Language and Culture program provides the opportunity to gain an excellent grasp of the Arabic Language and Culture. The program is designed so participants will learn to read and write the Arabic alphabet, to speak words and phrases, and to enter into conversations. While this program is not designed to reach the fluency level of the Arabic language, students will develop the language skills necessary to communicate with Arab speaking people throughout the world. Each course is 1 full semester in length – completing the certificate will take a minimum of 3 consecutive semesters. This course is fully online and regular internet connectivity is required.