Yoruba (YORB)
YORB 0100 Elementary Yoruba I
The Elementary Yoruba I course can be taken to fulfill a language requirement, or for linguistic preparation to do research on Nigeria and the diaspora/Africa-related topics. The course emphasizes communicative competence to enable the students to acquire linguistic and extra-linguistic skills in Yoruba. The content of the course is selected from various everyday life situations to enable the students to communicate in predictable common daily settings. Culture, as it relates to language use, is also part of the course content. Students will acquire the speaking, listening, reading, and writing skills at the mid-high novice level, based on the ACTFL scale. The mid-high novice level proficiency skills that the students will acquire constitute threshold capabilibilities of the second semester range of proficiency to prepare students for Elementary Yoruba II course materials.
Fall
1 Course Unit
YORB 0200 Elementary Yoruba II
The main objective of this course is to further sharpen the Yoruba linquistic knowledge that the student acquired in level I. By the end of the course, the student should be able to (1) read, write, and understand simple to moderately complex sentences in Yoruba; and, (2) advance in the knowledge of the Yoruba culture.
Spring
Prerequisite: YORB 0100
1 Course Unit
YORB 0300 Intermediate Yoruba I
This course will engage students in interpersonal and interpretive activities to enable them to satisfy most work requirements with language usage that is often, but not always, acceptable and effective. They will be able to handle with confidence, but not with facility, most normal, high-frequency social conversational situations including extensive, but casual conversations about current events, as well as work, family, and autobiographical information. Students can get the gist of most everyday conversations but has some difficulty understanding native speakers in situations that require specialized or sophisticated knowledge. Students will show considerable ability to communicate effectively on topics relating to particular interests and special fields of competence. Often, they will show a high degree of fluency and ease of speech, yet when under tension or pressure, the ability to use the language effectively may deteriorate. Comprehension of normal native speech is typically nearly complete. Typically, students with this proficiency level can participate in most social, formal, and informal interactions, but limitations either in range of contexts, types of tasks or level of accuracy hinder effectiveness.
Fall
1 Course Unit
YORB 0400 Intermediate Yoruba II
Continuation of Intermediate I course: Level 2+ (Limited Working Proficiency, Plus)
Spring
1 Course Unit
YORB 1100 Advanced Yoruba I
Students will engage in interpersonal and interpretive tasks to develop productive skills to use the language with sufficient structural accuracy and vocabulary to participate effectively in most formal and informal conversations in practical, social and professional topics. Discourse will be cohesive. Students will use the language acceptably, but with some noticeable imperfections; yet, errors will never interfere with understanding and will rarely disturb the native speaker. Students will effectively combine structure and vocabulary to convey their meaning accurately, speaking readily and filling pauses suitably. In face-to-face conversation with natives speaking the standard dialect at a normal rate of speech, comprehension will be quite complete. Students can typically discuss particular interests and special fields of competence with reasonable ease. Can use the language as part of normal professional duties such as answering objections, clarifying points, justifying decisions, understanding the essence of challenges, stating and defending policy, conducting meetings, delivering briefings, or other extended and elaborate informative monologues. Can reliably elicit information and informed opinion from native speakers. Use of structural devices is flexible and elaborate. Without searching for words or phrases, students use the language clearly and relatively naturally to elaborate concepts freely and make ideas easily understandable to native speakers. Errors occur in low-frequency and highly complex structures.
Fall
1 Course Unit
YORB 1200 Advanced Yoruba II
Students will engage in interpersonal and interpretive tasks to develop productive skills to use the language with sufficient structural accuracy and vocabulary to participate effectively in most formal and informal conversations in practical, social and professional topics. Discourse will be cohesive. Students will use the language acceptably, but with some noticeable imperfections; yet, errors will never interfere with understanding and will rarely disturb the native speaker. Students will effectively combine structure and vocabulary to convey their meaning accurately, speaking readily and filling pauses suitably. In face-to-face conversation with natives speaking the standard dialect at a normal rate of speech, comprehension will be quite complete. Students can typically discuss particular interests and special fields of competence with reasonable ease. Can use the language as part of normal professional duties such as answering objections, clarifying points, justifying decisions, understanding the essence of challenges, stating and defending policy, conducting meetings, delivering briefings, or other extended and elaborate informative monologues. Can reliably elicit information and informed opinion from native speakers. Use of structural devices is flexible and elaborate. Without searching for words or phrases, students use the language clearly and relatively naturally to elaborate concepts freely and make ideas easily understandable to native speakers. Errors occur in low-frequency and highly complex structures.
Spring
1 Course Unit
YORB 1300 Yoruba Language and Culture
Students will engage in interpersonal and interpretive communicative modes of language use to satisfy professional needs in a wide range of sophisticated and demanding tasks. While students will be able to demonstrate obvious strengths, they may exhibit some hesitancy, uncertainty, effort or errors which limit the range of language-use tasks that can be reliably performed. Occasional patterned errors may occur in low frequency and highly-complex structures. Typically, there will be particular strength in fluency and one or more, but not all, of the following: breadth of lexicon, structural precision, discourse competence in a wide range of contexts and tasks often matching a native speaker's strategic and organizational abilities and expectations.
Not Offered Every Year
Prerequisite: YORB 1100 AND YORB 1200
1 Course Unit