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General Information

Undergraduate Studies

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Continuing Education & Training Programs

Appendix: Personnel & Enrollment

 

 

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undergrad
 Language Institutes

 

In addition to the degree programs and courses just described, the academic units of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences offer Arabic and Englishlanguage programs. Two programs offered through the Arabic Language Institute provide intensive Arabic language instruction for non-Arabic speakers. The Intensive English Program and English 111, Academic English for Freshmen, of the English Language Institute provide instruction for students who have been admitted into a degree program but who require further work to achieve the required level of English language proficiency.

Arabic Language Institute

Professor: El S. Badawi (Director, Arabic Language Institute)
Associate Professor: A. El-Gibali
Arabic Language Teachers: M. K. Abdel Salam, N. Abdel Wahab, D. Abo El-Seoud, J. Allam, N. El Assiouti, R. El-Essawi, Sh. El-Ezabi, N. Harb, M. Hassan, Z. Ibrahim (Executive Director, Center for Arabic Study Abroad), S. Khalil,  S. Massoud,  M. S. Moussa (Coordinator, Arabic Language Credit Courses), I. Saad, W. Samy (on leave), L. Al-Sawi, Z. Taha, A. El-Tonsi, A. Wakid (Coordinator, Arabic Language Unit), N. Warraki (Director, Arabic  Language Unit), L. White

The Arabic Language Institute is responsible for Arabic language instruction within the university's academic structure. It includes the university's TAFL (Teaching Arabic as a Foreign Language) M.A. program as well as regular nonintensive and accelerated courses in Arabic offered for academic credit.

The Arabic Language Institute also administers two programs of intensive  study of Arabic: the Intensive Arabic  and the Center for Arabic Study Abroad (CASA) programs.  These programs award program (but not academic) credit toward a degree at AUC. Students, however, may be able to obtain credit toward an academic degree at their home institution for their Intensive Arabic Language (ALIN) coursework.  They should determine their institution's policy regarding transfer credit before coming to Cairo.

Intensive Arabic

The Arabic Language Institute offers intensive Arabic language courses for students, businessmen, diplomats, scholars, and others needing to gain a broad command of contemporary Arabic as quickly and as effectively as possible. For over sixty years, first through its School of Oriental Studies and then through its Center for Arabic Studies, AUC has taught Arabic to foreigners. Since the inception of what is now the Arabic Language Institute in the 1970s, this program has attracted students from the United States, Africa, Asia and Europe, offering intensive courses in both modern standard and Egyptian colloquial Arabic. A summer program is also offered.

Intensive Arabic Language courses (ALIN) are part of the Arabic Language Institute's program.  Students must register for a minimum of ten program credit hours per semester, while the normal course load is eighteen to twenty contact hours per week.  All courses are taken for grades, and program credit is awarded as  indicated at the beginning of each course listing. Students may receive up to nine undergraduate credits from AUC by petitioning the director of the program (see page  62 "Non-degree Academic Regulations" for transfers of credit to other universities).

Elementary Level

The course for beginners runs from the first week of  September through May. The main emphasis is on modern standard Arabic, but Egyptian colloquial Arabic is simultaneously offered (about thirty percent of class time is devoted to colloquial).  Arabic is used as the main medium of instruction in the second half of the program. The course comprises up to twenty hours per week of classroom instruction, including language laboratory work, and up to twenty hours of home assignments.

A student who successfully completes the first year of intensive study with the Arabic Language Institute can expect to possess a working competence in reading and writing modern standard Arabic and understanding and speaking Egyptian colloquial or modern standard Arabic.

Intermediate Level

Courses at this level are designed for those who have completed a year of intensive study at the elementary level of the Arabic Language Institute or who have studied two or more years elsewhere and can demonstrate a similar level of competence. The program runs from the first week of September through May in the following year.

Arabic is the chief medium of instruction. Students continue work in modern standard Arabic and Egyptian colloquial Arabic. Interested students may, at this level, begin to acquire familiarity with classical Arabic. Attention is given to the Arabic of print and broadcast media, while special lecture courses in Arabic are offered in response to the special interests of the students, such as Middle Eastern economics and politics, business correspondence, medieval and modern Arabic literature.

Students who complete this second year of study should be able to read and write modern standard Arabic with some fluency, to pursue study in topics that specially interest them in Arabic, and to converse freely in Arabic. Intermediate-level students will also have had an opportunity to acquire vocabulary and terminology related to such special fields of interest as business and diplomacy.

Advanced Level

Exceptional students may wish to take a third year. These courses are arranged according to demand, but they typically include advanced work in reading and writing and lecture courses in special topics. At the end of such a course a student should be able to compete with Arab students at the university level. Alternatively, the student should be able to employ Arabic with competence and confidence in the fields of business and/or diplomacy.

Certificate and Program Requirements

Full-time students taking fifteen to twenty hours per week of class work who successfully complete at least eighteen program hours receive certificates of achievement from ALIN (specifying their level, i.e. elementary, intermediate or advanced).

Intensive Summer Program

Director: M. K. Abdel Salam

The Arabic Language Institute offers an intensive summer program from the first  week of June until the beginning of  August. Students must take twenty  hours of class per week to be considered full-time. The summer curriculum includes either Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) and Egyptian Colloquial Arabic  (ECA) at all levels, or Modern Standard Arabic only, both options as a full load.

In addition, a number of electives is also offered out of which each student may take up to two.

A total of ten program credits may be earned in the summer toward the Arabic Language Institute certificate.

Extra Curricular Activities/Trips and Cultural Programs

An integral part of the intensive language program is an extensive series of tours of Cairo and trips to the less easily visited sites of interest all over Egypt. These are accompanied by very efficient guides. While the institute subsidizes a large portion of the expenses, including transportation and entrance fees, students are required to pay for their food and lodging.

A series of weekly lectures covering the cultural, educational, economic aspects of life in Egypt is offered. The summer program also includes a cultural component featuring activities such as calligraphy, music, dance, cooking, etc.

In addition, seasonal activities, such as Christmas and Ramadan parties, are organized with the active participation of the students.

Arabic Language Intensive Courses (ALIN)

Professor: El S. Badawi (Director, Arabic Language Institute)
Associate Professor: A. El-Gibali
Arabic Language Teachers: M. K. Adel Salam, N. Abdel Wahab, D. Abo El-Seoud, J. Allam, N. El Assiouti, R. El-Essawi, Sh. El-Ezabi, N. Harb, M. Hassan, Z. Ibrahim, S. Khalil, S. Massoud, M. S. Moussa (Coordinator, Arabic Language Credit Courses), I. Saad, W. Samy (on leave), L. Al-Sawi, Z. Taha, A. El Tonsi, A. Wakid (Coordinator, Arabic Language Unit), N. Warraki (Director, Arabic Language Unit), L. White.

ALIN courses are listed sequentially by area.  In this three digit system, the first digit represents the level of the course: 1 for elementary, 2 for intermediate, and 3 for advanced. 

Prerequisites are not listed for every course.  However, entry into all intermediate and advanced courses presupposes that the student is of intermediate or advanced standing. The instructor's permission may also be required. Standing will be determined by written and/or oral placement tests for incoming students and sometimes for continuing students.

 

 CourseNum CourseTitle

105-106

Elementary Listening

201/202/203/2 04

Intermediate Modern Standard Arabic

205-206

Intermediate Grammar

207-208

Intermediate Spoken Modern Standard Arabic (MSA)

209-210

Intermediate Listening and Speaking

301-302

Advanced Modern Standard Arabic

305-306

Advanced Arabic Grammar

307-308

Advanced Spoken Modern Standard Arabic (MSA)

309-310

Advanced Listening and Speaking

311-312

Advanced Colloquial Arabic

321-322

Advanced Writing

323-324

Advanced Business Writing

325-326

Advanced Reading and Writing

331-332

Advanced Printed Media

333-334

Advanced Aural Media

341-342

Advanced Translation

351

Readings in the Modern Arabic Short Story

352

Readings in Modern Arabic Literature

353-354

Readings in the Modern Arabic Novel

361-362

Modern Arabic Texts

365-366

Classical and/or Medieval Texts

371-372

Qur'anic Studies

381-382

Political Texts

383

Readings in Economics

386-387

Modern Egyptian History

 

 

Arabic Language Credit Courses (ALNG)

All Arabic language credit classes at AUC are administered and taught by the Arabic Language Institute . Up to nine AUC credits may be received for Arabic Language courses in any one academic semester. Exceptions for additional credits may be granted only by the chair of the department. For details of university Arabic language requirements, see the "General Academic Requirements" section, p. 50.

 

 CourseNum CourseTitle

101/102/103

Elementary Arabic

109-110

Introduction to Colloquial Arabic

111-112

Accelerated Elementary Modern Standard Arabic

201/202/203

Intermediate Arabic

204

Arabic of the News Media

211-212

Accelerated Intermediate Modern Standard Arabic

311-312

Accelerated Advanced  Modern Standard Arabic

321

From Reading to Writing

413-414

Arabic Syntax (Nahw)

415

Arabic Morphology (Sarf) and Prosody (‘Arud)

421

Professional and Technical Writing

425

Linguistics of Arabic

426

The Phonetics of Arabic

461

Professional Translation

 

 

 

English Language Institute

Director, English Language Institute: Y. El-Ezabi
Intensive English Program Coordinator: T. Farkas
Intensive English Program Testing Specialist: B. Alfred
English 111 Coordinator: M. Hafez
English Language Teachers: N. Aboul Fetoh, M. Ateek, M. Badawi, M. Bishara, J. Cargile, C. Clark, V. De Cozar, A. Demian, S. Esnawi, S. Farag, H. Garas, F. Hassan, M. Ibrahim, M. Iskander, J. Isteero, R. Jabr, L. Kamal, F. Kassabgy, N. Kassas, N. Khafagi, S. Makhlouf, G. Marquis, A. Mishriki, L. Moussa, H. Nashed, L. Nessim, M. Osman, P. Pattie, M. El Saady, M. Sarofim, A.  Shalaby, A. Shebeenie, C. Sheikholeslami,  A. El Shimi,  V. Stevens, N. El Taher, M. Witt, E. Yoder.

While the English Language Institute offers the master's and diploma programs in TEFL as described under "Fields of Study," the institute was founded in 1956 to offer intensive English language courses in its Intensive English Program (IEP) to prepare non-native speakers of English for study at the undergraduate and graduate levels in the university.  In addition, the institute offers English 100, Academic English for Freshmen, which serves as a bridge between the IEP and the Freshman Writing Program.

Intensive English Program

The intensive program for undergraduates offers English 98 (Intermediate English), and English 99 (Advanced English). Students are placed in one of the two levels according to their scores on the AUC English Language Proficiency Entrance Test (ELPET) or TOEFL with TWE.

Undergraduate students in the Intensive English Program (IEP) are allowed to take up to a full calendar year to reach the freshman English level (ENGL 100 or ECLT 101,102). For example, students entering the IEP in the spring who do not reach the freshman English level by the end of that semester may attend the summer session and the following fall semester. If at the end of one calendar year a student still has not attained the required freshman level, he/she will be suspended. 

Content of Courses

Students are placed in sections of up to seventeen students, according to levels of proficiency. Students are given a grammar review, extensive reading and composition practice, advanced vocabulary review,  instruction in study skills, and practice in listening comprehension. Integration among these skill areas is stressed at all levels. Grading in this course is on a Pass/Fail system.

Attendance

Attendance and participation are considered so important to this intensive language program that a student who for any reason misses the equivalent of seven days of class (thirty-five hours) in any one semester will be asked to withdraw. Students who withdraw from the IEP may not sit for the AUC  ELPET until six months have elapsed from the date of their last examination.  Applicants for readmission may not submit a TOEFL (plus TWE) score. If their score is IEP level, they will be allowed to return to the IEP. Students who are asked to withdraw but fail to do so will be suspended.

Suspension

Students who are suspended may apply for readmission with an ELPET score; TOEFL scores are not accepted for readmission.

Academic English for Freshmen (ENGL 100)

English 100 is a concurrent course in which classes meet five days a week  for a total of fifteen hours. A student who for any reason misses thirty-six hours (12 days) will be dropped from the course. A student who is dropped will be allowed to retake the course the following semester. Sessions are devoted to the comprehension and summary of university-level texts, the writing of essays on science and humanities topics and remedial grammar within the context of individual teacher-student conferences. Freshmen taking English 100 may enroll in no more than two academic courses with a maximum of  7 academic course credits. Any student who withdraws from English 100 must withdraw from the two other academic courses.

For new students, placement in academic English for freshmen is determined by their score on the ELPET or TOEFL with TWE.  For students enrolled in  the intensive English program, placement in Academic English for Freshmen  is determined by their score on the IEP exit test.

All students who have been admitted into ENGL 100 must satisfactorily complete the course work within a time period not to exceed two semesters.

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