Intensive English Program for Undergraduates

Source: https://www.aucegypt.edu/academics/english-language-instruction/intensive-english-programs-undergraduates Parent: https://www.aucegypt.edu/admissions/undergraduate-requirements/language-requirements

About the Program

AUC's Intensive English Program for Undergraduates

The Intensive English Program (IEP) for undergraduates offers ELIN 0101 (Intermediate English), and ELIN 0102 (Advanced English). Students are placed in one of the two levels according to their scores on the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) or Test of English as a Foreign Language Internet-Based Test (TOEFL-iBT).

Our Mission

The Intensive English Program (IEP) prepares undergraduate students to perform effectively within the English-medium liberal arts context of The American University in Cairo (AUC) and similar academic environments. Students in this program develop their academic English and critical and reflective thinking skills through a content-based learning approach. Collaborative and independent learning, digital literacy, and commitment to academic integrity are emphasized. In small learner-centered classes, using project- and inquiry-based learning, IEP students are empowered to meet the demands of the liberal arts curriculum at AUC.

Director's Welcome

Welcome to the IEP!

The IEP is a rich program that will challenge you to improve your English language and academic skills so that you can perform effectively at AUC. With hard work and perseverance, most students improve tremendously during the course of the semester, and find it a rewarding and empowering experience. The information provided in these pages will introduce you to our Program and assist you to succeed in your studies this semester. The teachers and staff in the IEP are here to support you and facilitate your learning, so please do not hesitate to speak to any of us if you need any assistance. I very much look forward to working with you during your time in the IEP and wish you a productive and fulfilling semester.\ Nagwa Kassabgy\ Director, IEP

Rules and Procedures

Attendance Procedures

The Intensive English Program (IEP) is designed to help you improve your English proficiency to an advanced level as quickly as possible. All sections of the IEP meet four classes per day, four days per week. Regular attendance, active involvement in activities and completion of homework assignments are the major factors in a student’s success. Because of the intensive nature of the program, it is very difficult and often impossible to make up for what has been missed. In addition, a student who misses many classes falls behind the rest of the class and may disrupt the progress of other students as well.

Each class a student does not attend is counted for medical, family, sports, University-sponsored activities, and/or personal reasons. Therefore, students should be careful not to miss classes unnecessarily. Each day has a total of four class sessions. If a student is absent for one day, they will have missed four classes.

You are expected to be in class on time. Late students will be allowed to enter class if the teacher agrees that this will not disrupt the lesson. Students who are allowed to enter class up to 30 minutes late will be counted absent for half a class; after that, they will be counted absent for one class.  

A student who has missed five classes of a given class for any reason (including medical, family, sports, University-sponsored activities, and/or personal reasons) will receive a warning email from their teacher informing them of the hours they have missed and reminding them of the importance of attending to learn and make the maximum benefit from the course. A student who has missed more than eight classes will lose points from their teacher evaluation, affecting their total score.

Students are responsible for keeping these attendance procedures in mind and for keeping track of their absences. Class teachers track absences. 

We expect that students will attend their classes regularly and cooperate with their teachers so that they improve their English proficiency as rapidly as possible. At the beginning of each semester, every student will receive the course syllabus where the attendance procedures are outlined, and all students are accountable for all the information presented in the course syllabus.

Absence Appeal Procedures

If a student believes that they have exceeded the allowed number of absences from classes in the IEP for legitimate, justifiable reasons and can still keep up with class assignments and not fall behind the rest of the class, the student can follow the procedure below to appeal losing grades for absence:

Within three working days, the student must submit a written petition by email to the IEP director explaining the reasons for excessive absences and enclosing any supporting documents (such as medical excuses sent by the Dean of Students).

The student should ask each of his/her teachers to submit a confidential written letter of assessment of the student's case to the IEP director.

The student must continue attending class and make it a priority not to miss more hours.

If the student's case has merit, it will be referred to the IEP Appeal Review Committee, which will meet as soon as possible to review the petition submitted by the student, along with the supporting documents and the teacher's written statements, and take action on the case. The committee may decide on the following: [a] To deny the appeal, or [b] In exceptional cases, to recommend that the student be allowed to continue in the IEP with no or only partial loss of grades

Student Conduct

IEP students must read and abide by the AUC Code of Student Conduct.

Actions or speech that violate this Code, including harming others or preventing others from learning, are unacceptable and may result in disciplinary action.

All IEP students are expected to take responsibility for their learning by:

Attending classes regularly

Participating actively and thoughtfully in-class activities

Completing all homework assignments

Cooperating respectfully with their teachers and fellow students

Doing activities and homework individually

Doing group activities cooperatively with their classmates

Developing good study habits and learning strategies

Making the best use of their time in IEP not only to improve their English proficiency and skills but also to expand their intellectual horizons and adapt to University life

Academic Integrity

ELI students are expected to adhere to the AUC Code of Academic Ethics.

More information on the types of violations can be found here.

Grievance and Appeal Process for Student Concerns

The IEP student grievance process is as follows:

If you have a classroom or course-related concern, you should first discuss it with the teacher of that course.

If you and the teacher cannot resolve the problem, you may bring the matter up with the IEP program director.

If you think that neither the teacher nor the director has addressed your concern, you may submit a formal complaint to the chair of the Department of English Language Instruction (ELI).

In case of a formal, written complaint, the teacher of the course in question can submit a written response within five working days to the ELI department chair.

The chair may, at his or her discretion, dismiss a complaint that, in his or her judgment, is lacking in merit.

The ELI department chair and the program director will take appropriate steps to resolve the problem and respond to you and the teacher in writing.

A record of your complaint, the teacher’s response and the resolution will be kept in the department’s files.

For more information, see the AUC Grievance and Appeal Process for Student Concerns

Appeal Process and Resolution of Student Challenge to Grade

If a student requests that his grade on a secure assessment task be re-checked, the process is as follows:

The student asks his/her teacher to re-check his/her grade.

The teacher expresses the student’s concern to the assessment specialist (IEP program director) and requests to re-check the student’s answer sheet with the assessment specialist (IEP program director) to ensure that the grade is accurate.

The outcome of the process is either a confirmation that the grade is accurate or a change of grade.

This should be done within two days after the assessment task results have been announced.

The teacher reports to the student in detail why he or she earned this grade or why there was a grade change.

If the student still cannot accept the grade, he or she goes to the assessment specialist (IEP program director), accompanied by his or her teacher, to have his or her grade explained to him or her again.

Program Goals

By the end of this course, students will be able to:

• Interact with academic content: reading, writing, listening, speaking
• Demonstrate ability to think critically and problem solve
• Utilize information and digital literacy skills
• Demonstrate behavior and attitudes appropriate to a university environment

Reading

Goals

Apply the skills and strategies of a successful reader

Read critically

Course Objectives for Reading and Vocabulary

This course will develop the students’ ability to:

• Skim for main idea(s)
• Scan for details
• Use graphic organizers to understand a text better
• Develop reading speed
• Build academic vocabulary
• Make use of contextual clues to infer meanings of unfamiliar words from context
• Summarize and paraphrase information in a text
• Distinguish main ideas from specific details
• Distinguish facts from opinions
• Make inferences and predictions based on comprehension of a text
• Identify the author’s purpose and tone
• Discuss and respond to the content of the text orally and in writing
• Utilize digital literacy tools to develop reading and vocabulary skills
• Reflect on and evaluate learning and performance, and set goals for progress
• Demonstrate behavior and attitudes appropriate to a university environment (work collaboratively, manage time, be prepared, comply with academic integrity rules)

Student Learning Outcomes

Given an academic reading passage, the student will be able to:

• Identify the main idea(s) in the text
• Identify specific details
• Distinguish main idea(s) from supporting detail
• Distinguish fact from opinion
• Make inferences and predictions based on information in the text
• Infer meanings of unfamiliar words
• Identify the author’s purpose and tone
• Transfer information in the text into a graphic organizer
• Produce academic vocabulary appropriately orally and in writing
• Summarize/paraphrase information in a text

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Writing

Goals

• Understand and apply the conventions of academic writing in English

Course Objectives Writing and Grammar

This course will develop the students’ ability to:

• Write effective and coherent paragraphs
• Comprehend the overall and internal organization of an academic essay
• write an effective thesis statement
• Use pre-writing strategies to plan writing
• Generate ideas from sources to develop content
• Develop coherent content and support with relevant details
• Write a 4-5 paragraph expository/take-a-stand academic essay
• Write a 500-word response to a provocative reading passage
• Give critical peer feedback
• Use peer and teacher feedback to edit writing
• Build academic vocabulary
• Use a variety of accurate sentence structures
• Use grammatical structures accurately
• Utilize digital literacy tools to develop writing and grammar skills
• Reflect on and evaluate learning and performance, and set goals for progress
• Demonstrate behavior and attitudes appropriate to a university environment (work collaboratively, manage time, be prepared, comply with academic integrity rules)

Student Learning Outcomes

Given a writing prompt, the student will be able to:

• Write a paragraph with a topic sentence, support, and concluding sentence
• Produce coherent and unified paragraphs with adequate support and detail
• Write an effective introduction and conclusion
• Write a thesis statement that addresses the writing prompt
• Produce a well-organized academic essay
• Produce appropriate vocabulary and correct word forms
• Use a variety of accurate sentence structures
• Produce accurate grammatical structures
• Demonstrate control of mechanics

Listening

Goal

• Apply the skills and strategies of a successful listener
• Course Objectives for Listening

This course will develop the students’ ability to:

• Take organized notes on lectures and listening passages
• Identify and distinguish main ideas from supporting details
• Make use of contextual clues to infer meanings of unfamiliar words from context
• Identify speaker’s purpose and tone
• Make inferences and predictions about spoken discourse
• Utilize digital literacy tools to develop listening skills
• Reflect on and evaluate learning and performance, and set goals for progress
• Demonstrate behavior and attitudes appropriate to a university environment (work collaboratively, manage time, be prepared, comply with academic integrity rules)
• Given an oral lecture or a listening comprehension passage, the student will be able to:
• Take notes and make use of them in answering questions about the passage
• Distinguish relevant from irrelevant information
• Identify the topic and main idea
• Comprehend relationships between ideas
• Discuss and respond to the content of a lecture or listening passage orally and/or in writing
• Make inferences and predictions about spoken discourse

Speaking

Goal

• Apply the skills and strategies of a successful speaker
• Course Objectives for Speaking and Oral Presentation

This course will develop the students’ ability to:

• Discuss and respond to the content of a reading or listening passage
• Use communication strategies to participate in group and class discussions
• Select, compile, and synthesize information for an oral presentation
• Use search tools to locate appropriate sources
• Evaluate and select sources for relevance
• Paraphrase and cite sources
• Use vocabulary appropriately
• Use grammatical structures appropriately
• Deliver an effective oral presentation
• Present information using digital tools
• Reflect on and evaluate learning and performance, and set goals for progress
• Demonstrate behavior and attitudes appropriate to a university environment (work collaboratively, manage time, be prepared, comply with academic integrity rules)

Student Learning Outcomes

• Given a topic to research and present in class, the student will be able to:
• Focus the topic
• Apply research procedures
• Locate and select relevant information
• Take notes, paraphrase, synthesize and organize information
• Produce appropriate vocabulary
• Produce accurate grammatical forms
• Give an oral presentation in class using effective delivery strategies

Project-based Integrated Skills

Goals

• Apply the skills of problem-solving
• Work in groups

Course Objectives for Project-based problem solving

This course will develop the students’ ability to:

• Work collaboratively with others
• Communicate effectively
• Take responsibility for completing tasks
• Create group goals and strategies to complete tasks
• Reach consensus in decision making
• Solve problems
• Manage time
• Utilize digital literacy tools to develop collaborative skills
• Reflect on and evaluate learning and performance, and set goals for progress
• Demonstrate behavior and attitudes appropriate to a university environment (be prepared, comply with academic integrity rules)

Student Learning Outcomes:

• Given a real-world problem, the student will be able to:
• Work collaboratively
• Divide tasks
• Conduct interviews and observations
• Identify the problem
• Explore possible solutions
• Represent a solution in the form of a prototype
• Give, receive and apply feedback
• Give a presentation reporting on the process and the prototype
• Write a thoughtful reflection on an experience

Nour Basha

ELIN 0102

The IEP was very helpful; it enhanced my speaking and writing skills to a large extent. However, the Department of English Language Instruction (ELI) student must exert some effort to be able make it through this course and avoid failing.

Abdelhamid Charaf

ELIN 0102

It was very useful to spend one semester in the IEP. I improved my level in English in a remarkable way. My writing, speaking, and reading skills are much better due to the effort done by our teachers. First, when I knew that I had to spend one semester in the ELI, I thought it is a waste of time, but now I don’t regret it at all because I had the chance to ameliorate my English.

Carole Salib

ELIN 0102

At the end of this course I was able to talk in English fluently, write essays about different topics, have a huge amount of vocabulary, and I learnt how to read and understand any article. I am sure that this course is the base for any other courses that I will take because this course was not only about English, but it was about having general knowledge in different topics.\

Yosra Ali Hussein

ELIN 0102

It was extremely helpful. First of all, the semester worked as a transitional phase for me to the AUC community, activities and academic system. Also, my professors helped me greatly to absorb and take the best out of this experience. It was fun. My writing skills specifically improved extremely.