Department [ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND APPLIED LINGUISTICS] Detail
Department Details
Name :
ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND APPLIED LINGUISTICS
Establishment :
The Department of English Language & Applied Linguistics was established with the inception of ALLAMA IQBAL OPEN UNIVERSITY in 1974.
Introduction :
The Department offers English language courses and Teaching of English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) programmes. The language courses, which are functional in nature, are offered as compulsory subjects at SSC, HSSC and BA/BS levels. These courses, which have been written according to the guidelines given by the Curriculum Wing, Ministry of Education and the Higher Education Commission, are aimed at developing students' language skills and preparing them to use English for different communicative purposes. The students enrolled in these courses are assigned study centres to attend tutorials to seek guidance from their tutors in studying the course material. Courses have an audio cassette in addition to the text books where required. The students are, therefore, advised to listen to the cassette programmes to develop their listening skills and learn correct English pronunciation. The Teaching of English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) programmes are offered at Diploma (postgraduate) and Master's levels. The students enrolled in the TEFL courses have to attend compulsory classes and workshops which provide them an opportunity to discuss various issues concerning English language learning and teaching. Further details on the TEFL programmes are given under 'M.A in Teaching of English as a Foreign Language' and 'Post Graduate Diploma in Teaching of English as a Foreign Language' on our website. The faculty at the Department consists of highly qualifed trained Enlish language teachers and has a wide range of experience in English language teaching, training English language teachers, research, curriculum development, use of technology in teaching and teacher development, etc. The Department has enjoyed a close collaboration with the British Council (BC) and the United States Information Services (USIS) in developing its academic programmes. It has remained in fore- front in encouraging professional forums like the Society of Pakistan English Language Teachers (SPELT) and has facilitated opening the SPELT Islamabad Chapter. It gives material and academic support for holding SPELT academic sessions and international conferences at the AIOU premises.
Compulsory Courses
The Department offers the following compulsory courses at graduate and undergraduate levels:
Course
code Credit hours/credit
BA /BS compulsory English I 1423 3/half credit
BA /BS compulsory English II 1424 3/half credit
HSSC Compulsory English I 0386 3/half credit
HSSC Compulsory English II 0387 3/half credit
SSC Compulsory English I 207 3/half credit
SSC Compulsory English II 221 3/half credit
Courses Offered for Other Departments of the University
The Department runs a variety of courses in English language for other departments of the university also. These courses are as follows:
Course
code Credit hours/credit
BBA Functional English 130 3/half credit
BCS Functional English 130 3/half credit
BCS Foundation English Course 1321 6/full credit
BEd (Arabic) Functional English 2605 3/half credit
Short-term Educational Programme (STEPS)
Objectives :
The Department offers courses in English language keeping the following objectives in view: 1 To develop students’ listening skills to enable them to listen to lectures effectively when they go to institutions where the medium of instruction is English or come across other similar situations. 2 To develop their speaking skills so that they are able to speak the language with some confidence in different situations such as speaking before a selection board for an interview, for a job, or making contribution to class discussions where the medium of instruction is English and so on. 3 To teach them different reading strategies, ie skimming, scanning, etc to make them profficient in reading skills. 4 To enable them to write different types of applications, letters, etc, and narrate and describe different things in written form in everyday life and in the institutions where the medium of instruction is English
Future Plans :
The Department is planning to offer the following programmes in future:
MPhil in TEFL / Applied Linguistics
Certificate level courses in ELT
Certificate in English for Specific Purposes
A non-broadcast video on phonology
A non-broadcast video on microteaching
A series of television programmes on conversational English
Academic Facilities :
The University has a modest collection of books on English language teaching and linguistics at its central library.
Postal Address :
Allama Iqbal Open University, H-8,
Islamabad
Phone :
051-9250068 (Chairman)051-9250108(Fax and Faculty)
