In the Arabic language A: language and literature course students will learn about the complex and dynamic nature of language and explore both its practical and aesthetic dimensions. They will explore the crucial role language plays in communication, reflecting experience and shaping the world. Through close analysis of various text types and literary forms, students will consider their own interpretations, as well as the critical perspectives of others, to explore how such positions are shaped by cultural belief systems and to negotiate meanings for texts. Students will engage in activities that involve them in the process of production and help shape their critical awareness of how texts and their associated visual and audio elements work together to influence the audience/reader and how audiences/readers open up the possibilities of texts. SL students will study a minimum of four literary works and an equivalent amount of non-literary texts. HL students will study an additional two literary works and produce an extended essay in a literary or non-literary field of inquiry.

Language B is a language acquisition course designed for students with some previous experience in Arabic. Students further develop their ability to communicate through the study of language, themes and texts. There are five prescribed themes: identities, experiences, human ingenuity, social organization and sharing the planet. Both language B SL and HL students learn to communicate in Arabic in familiar and unfamiliar contexts. The distinction between language B SL and HL can be seen in the level of competency the student is expected to develop in receptive, productive and interactive skills. At HL the study of two literary works originally written in Arbic is required and students are expected to extend the range and complexity of the language they use and understand in order to communicate. Students continue to develop their knowledge of vocabulary and grammar, as well as their conceptual understanding of how language works, in order to construct, analyse and evaluate arguments on a variety of topics relating to course content and the target language culture(s).

Offered at SL only, Arabic ab initio is a language acquisition course designed for students with no previous experience in — or very little exposure to — the Arabic language. In this course students develop their receptive, productive and interactive skills while learning to communicate in Arabic in familiar and unfamiliar contexts. Students develop the ability to communicate through the study of language, themes and texts. There are five prescribed themes: identities, experiences, human ingenuity, social organization and sharing the planet. While the themes are common to both language ab initio and language B, the language ab initio syllabus additionally prescribes four topics for each of the five themes, for a total of 20 topics that must be addressed over the two years of the course.