Program Overview

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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

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.

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.

• A student who misses five classes of a given class for any reason 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.

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:

1. The student must submit a written petition by email to the IEP director explaining the reasons for excessive absences and enclosing any supporting documents.
2. 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.
3. The student must continue attending class and make it a priority not to miss more hours.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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