Decoding and Encoding Meaning: Insights into Arabic Morphology for the Superior AFL Translation Class The transition from the advanced to the superior level of Arabic proficiency is widely known to pose considerable challenges for AFL learners (Brown, 2015). This presentation illustrates how translation is used in the advanced AFL classroom to help students make the transition by deepening their understanding of the intricate ways the permutations of Arabic morphology convey meaning. With its overarching root and pattern system, the derivational morphology of Arabic constitutes the very backbone of the language. Yet, it is observed that students continue at the advanced/superior level to struggle with the finer points of meaning associated with its various forms. It is at this point that carefully constructed translation exercises are proposed as an effective means for developing the in-depth knowledge of the morphology necessary for the leap to the superior level. A variety of translation strategies will be presented, gleaned from the presenter’s extensive work with advanced/superior students in the Center for Arabic Study Abroad program at the American University in Cairo. They will focus on the practice of juxtaposing different forms of the same root in various authentic Arabic contexts and, hence, demonstrate how meaning changes in numerous ways, ranging from the major to the subtle. Attempts at finding the most accurate English rendering are shown to compel students to analyze the interplay between root, form and meaning-in each respective context, in the process becoming sensitized to the shades and nuances of meaning. Denotations and connotations, as well as ‘types of meaning’: propositional, expressive, presupposed, and evoked, as proposed by Cruse (1986), are explored insofar as they are embedded in the morphology. Samples of students’ work pre and post such discussions are presented, revealing progress achieved. The above is, moreover, conducted with reference to the notion of equivalence/non-equivalence across languages, at the lexical, grammatical and pragmatic levels as employed by Baker (2011). This provides an adequate theoretical underpinning as the categories it proposes neatly interface with the morpho-sematic and pragmatic functions of the various word forms which are addressed. References Baker, M. In Other Words; A Coursebook on Translation. New York, Routledge Press, 2011. Brown, T. & Brown, J. To Advanced Proficiency and Beyond: Theory and Methods for Developing Superior Second Language Ability. Washington: Georgetown University Press, 2015. Project MUSE. Cruse, D.A. Lexical Semantics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1986.