The information on this page is accurate for students entering the programme from September 2025. For students who entered the programme before September 2025, you can find the details of your programme: BA Arabic and Chinese
This programme equips students with the linguistic skills needed to understand a range of written, spoken and broadcast material in Arabic and Chinese, and the ability to communicate effectively with Arabic and Chinese speakers. The deliberately modern bias of the programme aims to produce graduates with an all-round proficiency in both languages, along with a range of transferable skills and insights.
Students begin both languages from scratch (although there is provision for those with some prior learning of Arabic or Chinese) and follow an intensive language programme in their first year. Students undertake two Years Abroad in years two and three, one in a Chinese-speaking country and one in an Arabic-speaking country. In each case students follow a prescribed course of study in language and, where offered, non-language courses. This compulsory period of residence abroad provides students with the unique opportunity to develop language skills in a rich and varied context of use, while engaging with other cultures and societies, thereby fostering intercultural awareness and pluricultural competence, self-reliance and flexibility.
Students return to Leeds in their fourth year to follow advanced upper-level language and non-language modules in both subjects. By the final year of the programme students should be able to interpret relevant material in a wider sense, fitting it into the broader social, political, economic and cultural context of present-day China, and the Arab World.
Students are expected to graduate with a strong command of both Arabic and Chinese, enriched by immersive experiences in both linguistic regions, and a nuanced understanding of their diverse historical and cultural contexts. Throughout the programme, students will develop valuable interpretative, analytical and digital skills, as well as becoming confident researchers. Students will demonstrate these qualities when they undertake a Final Year Project on a topic of their choice in one of the language subjects they study.
(For students entering from September 2025 onwards)
[Learning Outcomes, Transferable (Key) Skills, Assessment]
View Timetable
Students will be required to study the following compulsory modules
| Code | Title | Credits | Semester | Pass for Progression |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ARAB1001 | Beginning Arabic 1 | 20 | Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) | |
| ARAB1002 | Beginning Arabic 2 | 20 | Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) | PFP |
| ARAB1171 | Studying the Middle East and North Africa | 20 | Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun) | |
| EAST1110 | Modern China: History and Culture | 20 | Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) |
Students with no prior knowledge of Chinese will be required to study the following modules
| Code | Title | Credits | Semester | Pass for Progression |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EAST1010 | Basic Chinese Language 1 | 20 | Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) | |
| EAST1020 | Basic Chinese Language 2 | 20 | Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) | PFP |
Students with prior knowledge of Chinese will, subject to a placement test, be required to study the following modules
| Code | Title | Credits | Semester | Pass for Progression |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EAST1460 | Intermediate Chinese (1) | 20 | Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) | |
| EAST1461 | Intermediate Chinese (2) | 20 | Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) | PFP |
(For students entering from September 2025 onwards)
[Learning Outcomes, Transferable (Key) Skills, Assessment]
View Timetable
Students can choose to spend the second year of their programme in either China/Taiwan or an Arabic-speaking country.
Students will be required to study the following compulsory module:
| Code | Title | Credits | Semester | Pass for Progression |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MODL9500 | LCS Year Abroad | 120 | Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun) | PFP |
(For students entering from September 2025 onwards)
[Learning Outcomes, Transferable (Key) Skills, Assessment]
View Timetable
Students can choose to spend the third year of their programme in either China/Taiwan or an Arabic-speaking country. If year 2 is spent in an Arabic-speaking country, the third year will be spent in China/Taiwan, and vice versa.
| Code | Title | Credits | Semester | Pass for Progression |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MODL9501 | LCS Year Abroad 2 | 120 | Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun) | PFP |
(For students entering from September 2025 onwards)
[Learning Outcomes, Transferable (Key) Skills, Assessment]
View Timetable
Students will be required to study the following compulsory modules
| Code | Title | Credits | Semester | Pass for Progression |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ARAB2010 | Advanced Arabic Grammar and Translation | 20 | Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun) | |
| ARAB2020 | Essential Skills in Practical Arabic | 20 | Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun) | PFP |
| EAST2030 | Chinese Language Skills – 2A | 20 | Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) | |
| EAST2031 | Chinese Language Skills – 2B | 20 | Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) | PFP |
Students will be required to study 20 credits from the following list of optional modules:
| Code | Title | Credits | Semester | Pass for Progression |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ARAB2066 | Palestine and the Arab-Israeli Conflict | 20 | Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun) | |
| ARAB2095 | Global Media: Discourse, Representation and Society | 20 | Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun) | |
| ARAB2181 | Cultures of the Arab Middle East and North Africa | 20 | Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) | |
| ARAB2190 | Global Jihad: From the Taliban to ISIS | 20 | Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun) | |
| ARAB2310 | Modern Middle Eastern History | 20 | Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun) | |
| ARAB2312 | Islamic Law: Authority, Continuity and Change | 20 | Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) |
Please note that optional modules run subject to enrolments. An optional module may not run if only a low number of students choose it.
Students will be required to study 20 credits from the following optional modules:
| Code | Title | Credits | Semester | Pass for Progression |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EAST2006 | China Since 1979 | 20 | Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) | |
| EAST2126 | Classical Chinese | 20 | Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) | |
| EAST2148 | Trauma Narratives in the Contemporary Sinophone World | 20 | Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) | |
| EAST2360 | Chinese Cinema | 20 | Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) | |
| EAST2711 | Civil Society and the Non-Profit Sector in Contemporary China | 20 | Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) | |
| EAST2712 | An Introduction to Cantonese | 20 | Not running in 202526 | |
| EAST2717 | Society, Culture and Environment in Early Modern China | 20 | Not running in 202526 |
Please note that optional modules run subject to enrolments. An optional module may not run if only a low number of students choose it.
(For students entering from September 2025 onwards)
[Learning Outcomes, Transferable (Key) Skills, Assessment]
View Timetable
Students are required to take a minimum of 40 credits in each subject. Overall, students must take 100 credits across their two subjects. All students must take 40 credits as a Final Year Project module, which can be taken in - and count towards - either of their two subjects (EITHER Chinese OR Arabic).
The remaining 20 credits should be taken in either of the named subjects or taken as MODL or Discovery modules.
Students will be required to study the following compulsory modules
| Code | Title | Credits | Semester | Pass for Progression |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ARAB3020 | Advanced Skills in Arabic Language | 20 | Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun) | PFP |
| EAST3275 | Chinese 3: Advanced Skills | 20 | Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun) | PFP |
| MODL3050 | Final Year Project | 40 | Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun) | PFP |
Students who take their FYP in Chinese are required to take a minimum of 20 credits and may take up to 40 credits from the following list of optional modules.
Students who take their FYP in Arabic may take up to 20 credits from the following list of optional modules.
ARAB3xxx - [Title to be defined: module about cinemas and audio-visual cultures in the Middle East and North Africa] - 20 credits
| Code | Title | Credits | Semester | Pass for Progression |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ARAB3072 | Islam and Modernity | 20 | Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) | |
| ARAB3090 | The Qur’an and the Hadith: Muslim Scriptural Sources | 20 | Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun) | |
| ARAB3110 | Middle Eastern Politics: Regimes, Societies and Conflict | 20 | Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) | |
| ARAB3888 | Advanced Media Arabic: Translation Skills in Text Typology | 20 | Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun) |
Please note that optional modules run subject to enrolments. An optional module may not run if only a low number of students choose it.
Students who take their FYP in Arabic are required to take a minimum of 20 credits and may take up to 40 credits from the following list of optional modules (from Basket 1 AND Basket 2).
Students who take their FYP in Chinese may take up to 20 credits from the following list of optional modules (from EITHER Basket 1 OR Basket 2).
Basket 1
EAST3xxx - Advanced Chinese in Context - 20 credits
| Code | Title | Credits | Semester | Pass for Progression |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EAST3015 | Religion in China | 20 | Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) | |
| EAST3148 | Trauma Narratives in the Contemporary Sinophone World | 20 | Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) | |
| EAST3630 | Advanced Chinese to English Translation | 20 | Not running in 202526 |
Please note that optional modules run subject to enrolments. An optional module may not run if only a low number of students choose it.
Basket 2
EAST3xxx - Advanced Chinese in Context (Humanities)
| Code | Title | Credits | Semester | Pass for Progression |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EAST3120 | Classical Chinese | 20 | Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) | |
| EAST3271 | East Asia's Regional Political Economy | 20 | Not running in 202526 | |
| EAST3525 | Globalising China and the Developing World | 20 | Not running in 202526 |
Please note that optional modules run subject to enrolments. An optional module may not run if only a low number of students choose it.
Students may study up to 20 credits from the following optional modules:
| Code | Title | Credits | Semester | Pass for Progression |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MODL3200 | Representing the Holocaust: Transgression and the Taboo | 20 | Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) | |
| MODL3410 | Contemporary World Literature | 20 | Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun) | |
| MODL3600 | Material Cultures and Cultures of Consumption | 20 | Not running in 202526 | |
| MODL3610 | Adventures of the Imagination: Crime and the Fantastic Across Continents | 20 | Not running in 202526 | |
| MODL3620 | Decolonial Approaches | 20 | Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) | |
| MODL3630 | Social Movements across Cultures | 20 | Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) | |
| MODL3650 | Minoritised Languages, Dialects and Cultures from Past to Present | 20 | Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) | |
| MODL3800 | Linguists into Schools | 20 | Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun) |
Please note that optional modules run subject to enrolments. An optional module may not run if only a low number of students choose it.
Students may take up to 20 credits of discovery modules
Last updated: 24/07/2025 15:44:29
Errors, omissions, failed links etc should be notified to the Catalogue Team