Faculty of Humanities and Educational Sciences
Language Center
About us: The Language Center (LC) at Palestine Ahliya University (PAU) supports the learning and teaching of modern languages throughout the University. It does so flexibly in accordance with the needs of its users. The LC at PAU uses IT to underpin its operations, and its activities are informed by relevant research in second as well as first language acquisition (SLA & FLA) and educational technology.
Besides, the Faculty of Arts & LC are looking forward to approving the MA Students’ Stipend System at PAU to employ the researchers enrolled on the Applied Linguistics MA program to teach some courses and care for their financial burdens.
VISION: To elevate the level of the English language among learners at PAU, the LC highlights the importance of recruiting some staff who have an MA degree from a British or US higher education institutions in Applied Linguistics, in general, and TESOL, in particular. This group of instructors are trained on not only theories of learning but also methods of teaching English to speakers of other languages.
MISSION: In cooperation with the faculties and departments at PAU, the LC aims to increase multilingualism amongst students and staff of the University, promoting, encouraging, and supporting the learning of languages for general, academic, professional, scientific, and specific purposes.
Objectives: The LC aims but not exclusively to:
• Ensure access to outstanding language teaching and support for language learning for all current students doing their diploma, undergraduate and postgraduate studies.
• Support the highest academic, professional and scientific achievement levels among students whose first language is not English.
• Design and teach some courses in modern languages, such as Arabic for non-native speakers, Hebrew, French, German, Chinese, Turkish, etc.
• Issue official certificates to the students who take some courses in the LC upon their request for recruiting purposes.
• Exploit the latest technologies and pedagogies to develop language teaching and learning materials across the University.
• Foster learner autonomy and mastery of learning within language learners, whether studying independently and/or attending courses within the University.
• Provide high-quality learning resources in multiple physical and virtual media in a wide range of languages.
• Collaborate and share expertise with other language learning providers within the University and other organizations nationally and internationally.
• Promote language learning and access to university language study to students in schools and colleges.
Course Paradigm: Categories, Titles, and Target Students
| Course |
Target students |
||
| Category | No. | Title | |
| Remedial courses | 110100 | Remedial Arabic | As admissions requirement(s) for poor fresh learners |
| 120100 | Remedial English | ||
| Service
courses |
110101 | Arabic Language Skills (1) | As university requirements for all fresh learners |
| 110112 | Oral Communication Skills in Arabic | ||
| 120101 | English Language Skills I | ||
| 120102 | English Language Skills II
|
||
| Modern languages | 110110 | Arabic for Non-native Speakers | As free courses for all students who are interested in learning modern languages |
| 110208 | Hebrew | ||
| 120104 | French | ||
| 120105 | Italian | ||
| 120106 | Spanish | ||
| 120108 | Japanese | ||
| 120109 | German | ||
| 144101 | Turkish | ||
| 144103 | Chinese | ||
| 120112 | English for Science & Technology (EST) | As a free course for medical imaging and IT students. | |
| 120113 | English for Professional / Occupational Purposes (EPP/EOP) | As a free course for Business Administration, MIS & Insurance students | |
| 120114 | Academic Writing for Research Purposes (AWRP) | As a free course for researchers | |
| Applied English | 120103 | Academic Writing I | Students from other departments are also encouraged to take one or more courses taught at the Department of Applied English |
| 120204 | Academic Writing II | ||
| 120208 | English for Mass Media | ||
| 120202 | Oral Communication Skills I | ||
| 120209 | Oral Communication Skills II | ||
| 120303 | Business English | ||
| 120308 | English for Administrative Work | ||
Course Descriptions
| Course No. | Service Courses at Language Center (LC) |
| 110100 | Remedial Arabic: The course is intended for the students who have already registered at PAU, but have not passed the Arabic language section of the placement test. It focuses on enabling the student’s linguistic and communicative competence in Arabic. |
| 120100 | Remedial English: The course is intended for the students who have already registered at PAU, but have not passed the English language section of the placement test. It focuses on enabling the student’s linguistic and communicative competence in English. |
| Service Courses | |
| 110101 | Arabic Language Skills I This course aims to enable the basic language skills: reading, speaking, listening and writing. It also aims to facilitate linguistic communication. This course also aims to enlighten students and provide the basic elements for its success. It introduces students to the linguistic levels so that they can learn about the eloquence of the Qur’anic texts, biography of Prophet Muhammad, to appreciate literary texts (whether ancient and modern, in poetry and prose, and to acquire mechanics of writing the modern article. |
| 110112 | Oral Communication Skills in Arabic: This course aims to provide students with a simplified idea of the concept of communication, its components and objectives and to familiarize them with the importance of communication in our practical and functional lives. It also aims to teach students communication skills in the Arabic language at its listening, speaking, writing and reading levels through classroom training on oral communication skills, such as questioning, speaking, public speaking, listening, personal communication and speaking: personal interviews, problem-solving, discussions, and others. |
| 120101 | English Language Skills I: This compulsory course is intended for all the students who have already enrolled into PAU, and passed the English language section of the placement test. It aims at enabling the student’s linguistic competence and accuracy for a general, communicative purpose. |
| 120102 | English Language Skills II: This compulsory course is intended for all the students who have already enrolled into PAU, and passed English Language Skills I. It highlights mastery of learning, i.e. learning is a matter of time. Thus, it aims at enabling the student’s linguistic fluency and performance for a general, communicative purpose. |
| Modern Languages | |
| 110110 | Modern Standard Arabic (MSA): This course to be at taught PAU, deals with Arabic as a modern international language. It focuses on the standard form (whether written or spoken) used in specific social domains, such as media, education, curricula, research, literature, and religion. A specific part of the course will be concentrated on the holy Script of Islam as a lingua franca, used as a means of communication among Muslims. |
| 110208 | Hebrew: This course to be taught at PAU, deals with Hebrew as a language of last occupation in the 3rd millennium. It differently presents Hebrew firstly as a second language through which one category of Palestinians has to learn it for a survival purpose, and secondly as a foreign language through which another category learns it for a specific purpose. Thus, the course concentrates on the spoken form used in social domains, such as media, politics, and daily routines. |
| 120106 | Spanish: This course introduces students to the culture and language of the Spanish-speaking countries. Students develop an ability to communicate in real-life situations by acquiring reading, writing, listening, and speaking skills. This course is intended for students with no prior knowledge of Spanish. |
| 144101 | Turkish: This course to be taught at PAU, deals with Turkish as a language of power in the Middle East. It aims at introducing Turkish as a beneficial variety for Palestinians in the social domains of education, tourism, trade, and international relations. |
| 144103 | Chinese: This course to be taught at PAU, deals with Chinese as a language of trade and power in the 3rd millennium. It aims at introducing Mandarin as the biggest variety in logographic languages in East Asia. The course will focus on the characteristic features of the language used for daily communication, international relations, financial affairs and the emerging modern technologies. |
| English for Specific Purposes (ESP) | |
| 120110 | English for General Academic Purposes (EGAP): This course is intended for the students who have already enrolled into PAU, to do a degree in human, social, and education sciences. It aims at enabling the student’s linguistic competence, fluency and accuracy for a specific, academic purpose. The course isolates language learning skills into listening, speaking, reading, and writing, and trains the students on each. |
| 120111 | English for Specific Academic Purposes (ESAP): This course is intended for the students who have already enrolled into PAU, to do a degree in natural and life sciences. It aims at enabling the student’s linguistic competence, fluency and accuracy for a specific, academic purpose. The course integrates language learning skills into listening and speaking or reading and writing, and educates the students on each pair of skills. |
| 120112 | English for Science & Technology (EST): This course will be given as a free course to the students who have already enrolled into PAU, to do a degree in natural sciences and IT. It aims at enabling the student’s linguistic competence, fluency and accuracy for a specific, scientific purpose. The course integrates language learning skills into listening and speaking or reading and writing, and educates the students on each pair of skills. |
| 120113 | English for Professional / Occupational Purposes (EPP/ EOP): This course is intended for the students who have already enrolled into PAU, to do a degree in business and life sciences. It aims at enabling the student’s linguistic competence, fluency and accuracy for a specific, professional or occupational purpose. The course integrates language learning skills into listening and speaking or reading and writing, and educates the students on each pair of skills. |
| 120114 | Academic Writing for Research Purposes (AWRP): This practical course is intended to teach the undergraduate as well as the postgraduate student how to write a graduation/ a thesis proposal and research or thesis. It helps students to write a working title, the study background, the research objectives and questions, literature review, methods… etc. The course highlights modern technologies for citation, paraphrasing, text converting, note-taking, and proofreading. |
| Applied English | |
| 120103 | Academic Writing I (Mechanics):
This writing course helps students master the standard organizational patterns for paragraphs. The study of rhetorical patterns and the writing process are integrated with practice in mechanics and sentence structure. The course adopts a writing-as-process approach, with emphasis on steps in the writing process (prewriting, writing, rewriting) and various techniques for prewriting. |
| 120204 | Academic Writing II (Essay): This course introduces students to essay writing after having developed their skills in writing paragraphs. It adopts the process of academic writing which emphasizes the following steps: prewriting, drafting, revising and editing. Four rhetorical modes are introduced: Logical division of ideas, supporting an opinion, comparison-contrast and cause –effect. |
| 120208 | English for Media: This course aims at introducing the students to the necessary English language skills used in mass media, such as radio, TV, journalism and multimedia. In general, students will be introduced to the English language of information. The course will cover writing and editing news items, reading reports from the international news agencies, taking notes, and then writing their own reports. |
| 120202 | Oral Communication Skills I: This course aims to develop the students’ fluency in spoken English and to increase their listening comprehension skills. Students will be exposed to a variety of spoken English. The course mainly aims at developing the students’ conversational ability by discussing various topics of general and specific nature concentrating on the organization and development of ideas. Electronic software, such as Power point, is highly encouraged for oral presentations. Students are expected to be interactively involved and are assumed to acquire strategies needed for effective communication. |
| 120209 | Oral Communication Skills II: This course aims at building the students’ self-confidence so that they will be able to interact effectively. It also aims at helping the students acquire communicative skills and strategies through interacting with others in academic contexts that require attentive listening and appropriate response. |
| 120303 | Business English: This course is designed to help students understand and use essential business vocabulary in English. It systematically covers the words and expressions that frequently occur in business contexts. The course also aims at developing the students’ abilities to use the vocabularies of business and shows what the words mean, how they are used and how they relate to each other. The course provides key words, and typical word combinations are explained in their grammatical context. |
| 120308 | English for Administrative Work: This course is designed to help students who are expected to carry out administrative tasks in English and function successfully at their future careers such as secretaries, personnel, or administrative assistants. The course focuses on the central needs of the students to master oral communicative skills in both written form and the spoken form of the language (orally and in written forms). The course aims at developing students’ skills and abilities to use the language that is appropriate to telephoning, dealing with visitors and difficult clients, business correspondence (emails, letters and reports). It also aims at developing students’ use of vocabulary needed in the work context. |
Other languages to be taught as training courses
Italian: This course introduces students to the culture and language of Italian as a modern language. Students develop an ability to communicate in real-life situations by acquiring reading, writing, listening, and speaking skills. This course is intended for students with no prior knowledge of Italian.
French: This course introduces students to the culture and language of the French-speaking world. Students develop an ability to communicate in real-life situations by acquiring reading, writing, listening, and speaking skills. This course is intended for students with no prior knowledge of French, or those who have had two years or less of high school French.
| Japanese: This course to be taught at PAU, deals with Japanese as a language of trade and power in the 3rd millennium. It aims at introducing Kanji as the biggest variety in logographic languages in East Asia. The course will focus on the characteristic features of the language used for daily communication. |
| German: This course provides an introduction to the language and culture of German-speaking countries. It emphasizes listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills along with basic grammar and vocabulary within the cultural context of modern German-speaking societies. It uses an eclectic method of instruction, with extra attention given to oral and written proficiency. It requires a weekly lab. |