ABDULLAH GÜL UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF LANGUAGES (AGUSL)
This is Abdullah Gül University School of Languages (AGUSL)
dil okulu müdürü fotosu gelecek
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Welcome to AGUSL! Hello to all Students! On behalf of all of us here, I would like to sayHello! and wish you a warm Welcome! to the Language School, and to this brochure. Inside, you will find plenty of information about our language programs – please have a good look. One thing I will say straight away is that we are a friendly school! We are very proud of our warm learning environment. We care about language and we care about academic work and learning progress, but we also care about people. Every student who starts in the Language School quickly gets to know other students and a lot of teachers. As instructors and as administrators, we always have time to help students learn English! So, come in, look around and make yourself at home. If you come to Abdullah Gül University, this will be your Language School, the place where you use your skills and energy to work with our instructors to get better at English. Good Luck!
Daryl YORK AGUSL Academic Director
Hakan GOVER
Sedef HASŞERBETÇİ
Onur PARKAN
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WORLD LANGUAGES
WORLD LANGUAGES < FOR STUDY AND WORK!
FOR STUDY AND WORK!
One School -Three Aims ! The job of the Abdullah GĂźl University School of Languages (AGUSL) is to make sure that all AGU students can use English effectively in study and work, and perhaps learn other World languages. The three main aims of AGUSL are:
1. To get students ready to learn in English By means of its Prep. Program, AGUSL ensures that all students who enter an AGU faculty have the necessary knowledge and skill to study their courses effectively in English;
2. To get students ready to work professionally in English By means of its Faculty Acedemic English Program, AGUSL makes sure that all students who
graduate from an AGU faculty can communicate effectively and function professionally in English;
3. To offer students a third language By means of its Second Foreign Language Elective Program, AGUSL gives all students an opportunity to start learning a third language that has world significance. The Abdullah GĂźl University School of Languages is only three years old but in that short time it has fulfilled its three fundamental aims: in 2013/2014, AGUSL taught English to its first cohort of Prep. Students; in 2014/15 it taught its first classes of Faculty Academic English to First Year university students; in 2015/16 students were for the first time offered the opportunity to take an elective course in a Second Foreign Language.
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PREP. ENGLISH AT PREP. ENGLISH AT AGUSL < AGUSL A UNIQUE A UNIQUE PROGRAM ! PROGRAM ! There are many English Prep. Programs, in Turkey and in other countries, but since 2013, the Abdullah Gül University Prep. Program has established a unique professional identity. Several factors make AGUSL Prep. different from other Prep. Programs.
possible – in zero months, in 6 months, in 12 months, or more. Wherever they start in the Prep. Program, all students have a significant range of choices of courses that they can enroll in; no two students complete their Prep. Program credits via exactly the same route.
1. International approach. The Prep. Program at Abdullah Gül University is characterized both by a population of teachers and students from many countries; the English our students learn is not US English or UK English, it is World English.
5. Active learning in small and dynamic teaching groups. Students are level-placed into separate
2. Self-directed learning and self-awareness. The format of English learning at Abdullah Gül University is blended. This means that there is a mixture of direct face-to-face learner-teacher contact and learning that occurs at a distance using technology. This results in more self-directed learning and more self-awareness. 3. NO end of year exam! Students take a series of
separate courses, which are assessed separately, and for which students acquire separate credits. As soon as they have gained the requisite number of credits from these courses, students qualify automatically to be promoted from the language school into their faculty. There is no separate proficiency exam.
4. Personalized learning. Whatever a student’s English level when they enroll at AGU, they are placed in the right level to get them out of Prep. as quickly as
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teaching groups for our five main subjects: Reading, Writing, Listening, Speaking and Language Awareness. Depending on results at the end of each 8-week term, all teaching groups are generated anew at the beginning of the next term; this means that each student studies and interacts with many different classmates, and is taught by a great variety of teachers.
6. Opportunity to study in the US. A unique
feature of the Abdullah Gül University English language preparatory program is that many students, depending on their university selection examination results, are entitled, at no cost to themselves, to study at a language school in the United States for part of the summer. Apart from its obvious linguistic benefits, this opportunity has helped students learn responsibility, gain confidence and expand their worldview.
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INTERNATIONAL < INTERNATIONAL ENGLISH ENGLISH
In AGUSL Prep. our approach to English is international and global. We provide an international environment, and demonstrate an international approach to issues of global significance.
International English The Prep. Program at Abdullah Gül University is characterized by teachers and students from many countries, and by the expectation that all students, whichever country they are from, think internationally. It is important to appreciate that English is no longer
the language of one country: England/the UK or, even, the USA. No! English is the language of the world. It is not the aim of AGUSL to teach US English or British English, it is our aim to teach international English. This means that students need to recognize / recognise different spellings of the same word, but it also means that both recognize and recognise are correct. Similarly, there is no single correct way of pronouncing English: as long as you are clear, it does not matter if you sound American, British, Turkish, or from any other country.
In 2015 / 16 our instructors and students are from: • • • • •
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Australia Canada Egypt India Iran
• • • •
Kazakhstan Kenya Kirgyzstan The Netherlands
• • • •
Morocco Saudi Arabia Tunisia Turkey
• • • •
The United Kingdom The United States Yemen Zambia
ENGLISH FOR GLOBAL ISSUES
< ENGLISH FOR GLOBAL ISSUES In the AGUSL Prep. Program, as we learn to read, write, listen and speak in English, we consider many issues of signficance to the whole world - global issues.
Exposure to global themes gradually increases over Levels 1 & 2; from Level 3 onwards, treatment of global issues becomes a more explicit component of the program.
Global issues treated in the Prep. Program include: • Fair Trade
• Power and the Environment
• Ethics and Animal Rights
• Discrimination and Gender Role Stereotyping
• The Global Cost of Technology
• Innovation and the Future
• The Ethics & Economics of Cloning
• Natural Resources & Water Politics
• The Politics of Urban Growth
Refugees Gender Role
Ethics Economics of Cloning
Natural Resources Animal Rights Ethics Water Politics
Global Cost of Technology
Global Cost of Technology
Power
Migration Environment
Urban Growth
Discrimination Innovation
Gender Role
Animal Rights
Fair Trade
Animal Rights
Water Politics
Fair Trade Migration
Innovation
Future
Gender Role
Fair Trade
Discrimination Innovation
Urban Growth
Ethics Economics of Cloning
Animal Rights
Natural Resources
Fair Trade
Water Politics Urban Growth Global Cost of Technology Fair Trade
Fair Trade
Refugees Migration
Natural Resources
Future Global Cost of Technology
Power Future
• Migration and Refugees
Resources Ethics Natural Economics of Cloning
Refugees
Fair Trade Migration Ethics of Cloning
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ACTIVE LEARNING ACTIVE LEARNING FOR THE < REALTHE WORLD FOR REAL WORLD In the 21st Century, the days of sitting in a classroom listening to a teacher and waiting for homework and exams are over. At AGUSL, students learn English both in and out of class: they study with teachers, with peers, and by themselves; they learn from books, and on computers. Today, using the Internet to study in English, any person, at university or not, can find things to read and listen to. This ocean of material is great for students who know what they are doing, but often it can be too wide, and too deep for less autonomous learners. To help our learners find material in English which is not too difficult, but not too easy, at the center of AGU Prep. Program is an online Learning Management System. This LMS,
which is easily accessible to learners, any time of the day, allows teachers to deliver a comprehensive and extensive curriculum. AGU instructors have developed hundreds of hours of English learning tasks, activities and practice texts, which students can work with to improve their English in class or in the library or in the dorm, knowing exactly what they need to do in order to progress through the program and into faculty. As they use the LMS, our students are gradually expected to work between lessons independent of the teacher, and consequently develop life-long skills which enourage autonomous learning.
LEARNING TO LEARN < LEARNING TO LEARN Learning how to learn is not a process that is automatic, especially for students who are working in a new language. Thus, AGUSL students are taught how to study English, and are given support in a number of ways:
Cooperative and constructive teachers, advisers and administrators All of us who work at AGUSL want to see our students (however much we like them!) leave the Prep. Program as soon as possible to get into their Faculty. Students are always welcome to ask for academic and administrative help.
The Speaking Center All students are strongly advised to make use of the Prep. School Speaking Center. The Center is where 12
they work outside class, with teachers and with other students, to practise and improve their English speaking. The Center is open 25 hours per week.
The Writing Center New in 2016/17, the Prep. Writing Center is where students get advice on how to improve their English writing. The Center will offer 1-to-1 support and useful reference resources.
Study Skills and Strategies This is a program to help students learn how to learn for themselves, which they start taking as soon as they enter the Prep. Program.
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STUDY SKILLS & STUDY SKILLS & STRATEGIES STRATEGIES SELF< SELF-STUDY FOR SELF-AWARENESS STUDY FOR SELFAWARENESS On the road to autonomous learning! Starting with basic lessons on how to learn, the Study Skills and Strategies program (SSS) is designed
to help our students who may be good at the passive receipt of facts, but less good at self-initiated, autonomous, skills-based learning. SSS sets out to promote studentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; academic success by fostering a sense of ownership over their own learning. The SSS courses are spread across three levels and gradually transform all our students from passive recipients into actively responsible and autonomous learners.
SSS Level 1
I will survive!
The first step in a transformation from passive recipient of facts into active, responsble and autonomous learner is at SSS Level 1, where students learn how to adapt to the culture of AGUSL. In SSS 1, students are presented with the necessary tools to help them adjust to their new language learning environment: how to understand the Prep. Program system and follow the rules; how to use the Learning Management System; how to communicate with teachers in English; how to get enough credits to pass into Faculty.
SSS Level 2 What will make me a better language learner? SSS Level 2 exposes our students to English language skills-based strategies. Students learn how to get the best from their Reading, Writing, Listening and
Speaking classes: how to learn more words; how to find help when they need it; how to study more effectively; how to evaluate their own progress; and how to identify their own strengths and weaknesses as English language learners. As in Level 1, in SSS 2, there are 1-to-1 teacher-student conferences, where students discuss and reflect upon their SSS Achievement Chart, which aims to raise self-awareness of their own learning skills and work habits.
SSS Level 3 In learning English, where am I and where am I going? In SSS Level 3 students continue to build on their strengths and to address their individual weaknesses. The aim of Level 3 is to show students how their intrinsic and extrinsic motivation can be used to power self-determination, to make themselves more effective language learners. To do this, students produce a personalized Language ePortfolio, a digital tool for reflection, used to make the process and progress of learning a language more visible to the learners themselves. In this way, our students gain a sense of personal ownership over their accomplishments. By the end of this suite of three courses, by means of a combination of workshops, student-teacher conferencing, blended and project based learning, Study Skills and Strategies thus teaches students the study skills, habits, self-awareness and strategies which are necessary for all our students to adapt, thrive, and succeed in their university environment.
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STUDENT STUDENT NAVIGATION: NAVIGATION: < NEEDS AND CHOICE! NEEDS AND CHOICE! At AGUSL, Prep. students take the courses they need, and decide on their own exit strategy to leave the Program as quickly as they can. It is important to note that students are not slowed down by the need to take and pass an end-of-year English Proficiency Examination â&#x20AC;&#x201C; if students have passed enough courses, and gained enough credits, they go into Faculty automatically. How can students do this? How can they decide on their own direction and strategy? What is the balance between their course needs and their course choices?
Students Course Needs First of all, it is very important that students be placed in the program correctly. Students are placed according to their language level and thus according to their needs. Some students are allowed to miss Prep. and go straight to Faculty. Some students are placed so that they can leave Prep. and start Faculty classes after just half a year. If students know little English, when they are definitely enabled to learn it at AGUSL, but it takes longer. Those students who come to Abdullah GĂźl University with no or practically no English start from the beginning, in the Foundation course, where they learn basic vocabulary, grammar
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and pronunciation. After Foundation, there are four levels (1-4) for each of the Main Course subjects: Reading, Writing, Listening, Speaking and Language Awareness, which make 20 main courses in total. Of these 20 courses students need to pass at least 17, of their own choice.
Student Course Choices In order to gain enough credits to graduate, students have significant choice in the courses they take: no two students graduate via exactly the same route. The biggest choice students take is whether they want to get 56 credits and, while studying their Faculty courses, go directly into English 101. To do this they are allowed to miss only one Level 4 main course. Or, alternatively, if students prefer to reach 52 credits only and, again while studying their Faculty courses, study English Bridge (before they go to English 101). To enter the Bridge program, a student is allowed to miss 3 Level 4 main courses, but needs to spend a further semester studying English before they can start English 101. Together with all this choice that students have in their selection of main courses, there is also a full array of Elective Courses on offer.
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THE AGUSL PREP THE AGUSL PREP. PROGRAM < PROGRAM ELECTIVE ELECTIVE COURSES COURSES AGUSL’s Electives are central to the Prep. Program’s belief that a rich learning environment can only be achieved through a commitment to student success and engagement. Every student is unique and each must have opportunities to achieve success according their own interests, abilities, and goals. Our Electives program offers our students the opportunity to enrich and personalize their language learning experience, through the pursuit of a wide range of elective options. These (more than 30!) courses are spread across four
main categories ranging from beginner (general interest) to more advanced levels (subject focus/ critical thinking). In other words, each category of electives gets progressively more challenging through the gradual introduction of more robust topics and assessment models. These flow in correlation with our students’ English language competency. Our Electives program further helps students own their learning by offering flexibility to earn credits (outside the main skills), through a selection of preferred classes.
Here are the electives that AGUSL has offered:
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Art Appreciation
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Movie Speech Study
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English for Travel and Tourism
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English for Logic
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Movie Vocabulary Study
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Gender and Issues
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English for IT
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English in Songs
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Creative Writing
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Current Affairs
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Karaoke English
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Student Publications
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Canadian Culture
English in Poems and Short Stories
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English Debate
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Turkish Culture
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The Mathematics of Origami
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Project Management
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UK Culture
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Healthy Eating
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English for Business
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Australian Culture
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Learning Vocabulary
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Critical Media Studies
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US Culture
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Paraphrasing
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Future Work
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Pronunciation
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Career Skills and Strategies
The Culture of Other English Speaking Countries
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Advanced Pronunciation
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The Language of Mathematical Proof
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World Geography and Cultures
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English for Football
The History of the English Language
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THE MAIN COURSES < THE MAIN COURSES
After Foundation, there are in total 20 Main Courses, made up of four levels in five subjects:
wish to pass are expected to spend at least five more hours in further, private study per week.
Reading 1-4 Writing 1-4
In all classes students learn in a very social environment:
Listening 1-4
• Small groups
Speaking 1-4
• Different classes for different subjects
Language Awareness 1-4 Students take each course for eight weeks, for four, or five, hours per week. For each course, students who
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• New groups every 9 weeks!
LANGUAGE AWARENESS < LANGUAGE AWARENESS
â&#x20AC;&#x153;The right words, in the right order.â&#x20AC;?
Robert McCrum
The English Language is a beautiful and rich system. Every student needs to be helped to make the best use of this language system, both to understand and to use English as effectively as they can. The role of Language Awareness is to have students answer these two simple but profound questions: 1. What words do we need to understand and use? 2. How are these words put together in ways that are understood?
Language Awareness is made up of four levels; as students move through these levels they start in Level 1 by examining grammar and vocabulary in language reference and exercise materials. In Levels 2 and 3, students continue learning a lot of grammar and vocabulary, but begin to apply them to real language use, in all four skills. In Level 4, students spend all their class time looking at longer, and authentic samples of discourse, and use a language textbook for reference and self-help only. At the end of Language Awareness, students know a lot about how to use English, and also know where to find and use resources to learn even more.
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EADING
< READING
“The more you read, the more you know; the more you learn, the more places you’ll go.” Dr. Seuss
Reading is a window that lets us see what other people think and feel about the world. By taking us to other places and other ideas, and letting us compare them with what we know and think, reading creates curiosity. The AGUSL Prep. Reading program builds on this curiosity to expose students to ideas and issues that they may not have given much thought to. Through Reading, students not only learn a lot of English but also analyze and understand the ideas of others, and how to clarify their own ideas and opinions. In their time here, students read and analyze some 150 texts on a wide range of topics ranging from daily routines to global issues. In addition to these texts chosen by their instructors, students learn to select texts for themselves that are appropriate to their level of English, to their interests, and to the topic of study. Students are encouraged to compare ideas across texts and look at the same issue from different viewpoints as well as recognize purpose and bias. By the end of the course, students have the strategies and confidence to work with a large variety of texts along with the ability to use those texts to evaluate ideas and solutions to the problems the world faces today.
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RITING
< WRITING
“I don’t know what I think until I write it down” Joan Didion
The AGUSL Writing program is designed to show students how to express, in clear English, ideas and understanding about the world around them. We acknowledge that many of our students have rarely, if ever, written long form texts in their own language, so writing in a second language brings with it many challenges. To address this, we begin with concrete ideas and descriptive writing at Foundation and Level 1, moving, by the end of Level 4, through to more abstract ideas and academic writing, giving students detailed guidance in how to write about the ideas of others. We want students to understand that writing is a process, encouraging drafting, editing, correct attribution and reflection; and that the end product of this process is an artefact of well organised thinking and meaningful expression. Our mission as Writing instructors is to send our students into their Faculties and professions with the confidence that comes from a solid set of writing skills they can build upon for years to come. By the end of the Prep. Writing program, students combine their ability to compare, to classify, to describe, and to analyze, in substantial pieces of clear writing in English, including effective reports, accounts of the opinions of others, and infographic-rich fact sheets.
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ISTENIN
< LISTENING
â&#x20AC;&#x153;One of the great arts of communication is the skill of listening to peopleâ&#x20AC;? Sunday Adelaja
At many institutions, Listening is seen as somehow less important than other skills; less time is often given to Listening than to Speaking. At some universities, even where Listening is done in class, it can be considered by some to be nothing more than a stimulus for work in other skills. However, in the AGUSL Prep. Program, we believe that the only way learners can really understand English is by listening to it carefully for hundreds of hours. Thus, Listening is taught as an important subject in its own right; four hours a week are given both to the development of listening skills and vocabulary expansion that helps students understand more of what they hear. The teaching and learning of Listening is highly rewarding for students and teachers alike. Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s so much you can learn when you can listen! And there is, especially via the Internet, so much available to listen to. By the end of Listening 4, students are equipped with the proficiency and the strategies, especially notetaking, they need to survive in an academic listening environment in their Faculty. Furthermore, students are able to find useful online texts to listen to, and continue to learn English from, according to their own interests and needs.
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PEAKING
< SPEAKING
â&#x20AC;&#x153;Small minds talk about people; average minds comment on events; great minds discuss ideas.â&#x20AC;? Adapted from Eleanor Roosevelt
Speaking is about English vocabulary and grammar, but it is also about confidence. No learner of a second language speaks without any errors, but at AGUSL all learners are encouraged to express themselves as much, and as well, as they can. Mistakes can be forgiven, as long as students work hard to speak clearly and authoritatively. In the AGUSL Speaking program, students build their confidence by starting gently; at the lower levels, students are asked to speak about what they can see, and what they know. Going into Level 2, and higher, students talk about a variety of topics in a way that is more analytical. Students are challenged to go past superficial reporting of events to think and talk about what lies beneath, and how the various relationships between ideas interact and influence the world around us. Students practice and perform speaking tasks in a variety of formats, both in class, and in the time between lessons, in the Speaking Center. Extensive practice slowly builds proficiency. In presentations, students learn how to present information clearly and accurately. In discussion panels students apply problem-solving skills to the description and analysis of real-world issues and dilemmas. Students also learn how to respond and interact in interviews and formal panels. This gives them valuable practice and experience, not only for English Speaking examinations, but also for 1-to-1 meetings and interviews in their future academic and professional lives.
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US STUDY < US STUDY PROGRAM PROGRAM • Study English in the US • Learn about a different culture • Learn about life
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If you are admitted to AGU in the first 20,000 of Turkish university entrance exam candidates, you have the chance to study English for a month in the United States. And it will not cost you anything! Between 2013 and 2016 more than half of all Abdullah Gül University students have done this. These young people have learnt English, and about America, and about life; they have done it in 15 different states from California to Massachussets, from Florida to Wisconsin, living in and visiting cities great and small from Dallas to Chicago and Boston to San Francscso. Next year, it could be your turn!
< EXPERT, EXPERIENCED INSTRUCTORS
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THE FACULTY THE FACULTY ACADEMIC < ACADEMIC ENGLISH ENGLISH PROGRAM PROGRAM After students complete (or are exempted from) the AGUSL Prep. Program, they continue, as Freshmen, to study English in the Faculty Academic English Program (FAE), which is made up of compulsory and elective courses. The compulsory core of AGUSL FAE consists of English 101 and English 102, one semester long each, taught for four 50-minute periods per week.
• Critical reading;
Like in Prep., there is a focus on issues of global significance; themes covered include:
• Logical argumentation;
• Threats to Humanity including Extinction • Sustainable Development • Business Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility • Crime and Punishment • Man and Technology: ethical issues/practical challenges English 101 & 102 build significantly on the core skills in Academic English gained by students in the Prep Program, with a much greater, and more explicit, emphasis on:
• Effective research skills, including the critical evaluation of resources; • Further note-taking; • Summary/Summary Response writing;
• Production of longer pieces of academic writing, which demonstrate audience awareness and appropriate register, including the correct citation of appropriate sources; • Integration of the four skills of reading, writing, listening and speaking. In Faculty Academic English, students do not take examinations, but are expected to produce substantial texts and presentations; to pass English 102, they demonstrate the ability to present findings in writing and orally, with or without visual support such as slideshows, posters and fact sheets. Graduates of Faculty Academic English must be able to present a clear expression not only of information but also of personal views, justified by means of logical explanation and defense.
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FACULTY LANGUAGE ELECTIVES < FACULTY LANGUAGE ELECTIVES
In addition to compulsory courses English 101 and 102, students have the opportunity to take one or more of three very interesting elective courses. All three of these electives require students to have completed English 102. Students also have the opportunity to learn a third language.
academic writing and writing for the general public. The goal is for students not only to be able to passively identify academic language, audience and genre, but also to complete a variety of spoken and written tasks which challenge them to use the skills that they have been working on during the course.
i. Professional English
iii. Writing a Good Research Proposal
The Professional English elective enhances studentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; communicative abilities with a direct focus on professional application of language, by marrying English usage to professional requirements that students will need, both during university and after graduation. By the end of the course, students gain advanced writing skills germane to a professional context, in the following genres: E-mails, memos, letters, CVâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s, minutes of business meetings, reports of progress and recommendations .
This elective introduces students to the art of writing research proposals, which will be necessary for upper year students and especially for those who want to continue their studies beyond the undergraduate level. The course will address the various elements that make up a proposal, examining both the structure and organization as well as issues surrounding content and the use of academic language. Students will be exposed to a variety of different techniques for writing proposals, as well as samples drawn from different disciplines in order to better understand what makes up a good proposal.
ii. Academic English For students who have completed their Core Curriculum requirements, the purposes of the Academic English course are twofold. First, students further refine their critical stance to the ideas of others. Second, as the students are now expected to produce very well thought out and precise department specific work, Academic English explores more deeply such topics as audience, academic language, genre, and the similarities and differences between specialized 30
iv. Second Foreign Language Students have the choice to take elective courses in a Second Foreign Language. The scope of these electives is to give students a basic introduction, over one semester, to a language of world significance. In 2015/2016 the first Second Foreign Language offered was French. In the future, the University plans to teach Chinese and Russian.
Abdullah Gül University Sümer Campus 38080 Kayseri, TURKEY www.agu.edu.tr