Cornell Creates Yearlong Intensive Arabic Language Program

Beginning in Fall 2009, the Department of Near Eastern Studies will offer a highly specialized Intensive Arabic Program. In this program, students will take Arabic language coursework during the fall semester before studying abroad in Jordan for the rest of the academic year.
Munther Younes, director of the Arabic Program and a Reis senior lecturer in Arabic Language and Linguistics, began the development of the program two years ago after the department received an anonymous donation towards improving Arabic instruction.
“I started thinking about ways to develop a new program that would be unique among Arabic programs and would really change Arabic instruction in a radical way,” said Younes.
Students who enroll in IAP must have already completed first-year Arabic instruction, either through taking elementary Arabic for two semesters at Cornell or during an intensive summer program offered only at Cornell. IAP students will then take 16 credit hours of Arabic language instruction in the fall semester, consisting of the intermediate and advanced levels of Arabic I and II. This intensive fall semester curriculum equals the level of instruction usually completed in a student’s second and third years.
While abroad, students will live in Zarqa, Jordan where they will continue their study of Arabic language, history, society, culture and current events at Hashemite University. All courses will be taught entirely in Arabic. Students will be expected to write papers, incorporate library and field research and develop fluency through discussions and presentations. In order to gain practical experience with the different dialects and local culture, students will also be expected to partake in community service events.
Kim Haines-Eitzen, chair of near eastern studies, also worked with Younes to create this unique program.
“To our knowledge, there are no other intensive Arabic programs that are structured in this way with a full time semester here in the U.S. and a full time semester in Jordan,” Haines-Eitzen said.
While IAP separates Cornell’s Arabic program from other peer institutions, IAP is modeled on Cornell’s Full-Year Asian Language Concentration (FALCON) Program and the China and Asia-Pacific Studies (CAPS) Program.
Jillian Lyon ‘11 began taking Arabic at the beginning of her sophomore year and is now enrolled as one of IAP’s first students.
“I thought I should take advantage of the resources that Cornell has to offer,” Lyon said.
Lyon, a government major and international relations minor, hopes to gain fluency in Arabic through IAP in order to pursue a career in the Foreign Service. While it was not an easy decision — Lyon changed her entire schedule to take extra classes in order to graduate on time — she feels that the decision is worth it.
“Since it’s a difficult language, students never really complete [the Arabic series]. I thought this would be my opportunity to become as close to fluent as possible. Just taking the language for two to three years wouldn’t be enough,” Lyon said.
Haines-Eitzen recognizes the unique ability of this program to help students gain Arabic language proficiency in merely one year, but also stresses the cultural significance of the program.
“The basic goal is [language] proficiency in one year but the larger goal is really to recognize the importance of learning a language as a way of learning culture, the diversity of people and of religions. Language is really a gateway to cross cultural understanding,” Haines-Eitzen said.
Younes will accompany the students for the first run of the program. Currently, 10 undergraduate students are enrolled in IAP, which will be limited to a maximum of 12 Cornell undergraduates. If the program is successful for four years, this pilot program will become a permanent addition to the department.
“To our knowledge, there are no other intensive Arabic programs that are structured in this way with a full time semester here in the U.S. and a full-time semester in Jordan,” Haines-Eitzen said.
While IAP separates Cornell’s Arabic program from other peer institutions, IAP is modeled on Cornell’s Full-Year Asian Language Concentration (FALCON) Program and the China and Asia-Pacific Studies (CAPS) Program.
Jillian Lyon ’11 began taking Arabic at the beginning of her sophomore year and is now enrolled as one of IAP’s first students.
“I thought I should take advantage of the resources that Cornell has to offer,” Lyon said.
Lyon, a government major and international relations minor, hopes to gain fluency in Arabic through IAP in order to pursue a career in the Foreign Service. It was not an easy decision — Lyon changed her entire schedule to take extra classes in order to graduate on time — but she feels that the decision was worth it.
“Since it’s a difficult language, students never really complete [the Arabic series]. I thought this would be my opportunity to become as close to fluent as possible. Just taking the language for two to three years wouldn’t be enough,” Lyon said.
Haines-Eitzen recognizes the unique ability of this program to help students gain Arabic language proficiency in merely one year, but also stresses the cultural significance of the program.
“The basic goal is [language] proficiency in one year, but the larger goal is really to recognize the importance of learning a language as a way of learning culture, the diversity of people and of religions. Language is really a gateway to cross cultural understanding,” Haines-Eitzen said.
Younes will accompany the students for the first run of the program. Currently, 10 undergraduate students are enrolled in IAP, with a limit of 12 undergraduates. If the program is successful for four years, this pilot program will become a permanent addition to the department.