Heading Example

Programme Content

Listening and Speaking I & II (4 credits each)

This course is for non-native speakers of English who need to improve their listening and speaking skills in order to communicate more effectively in academic settings as well as in everyday conversations. Through a series of in-class and out of class exercises and activities that require individual, pair and group work, Listening and Speaking II focuses on achieving greater listening comprehension and speaking fluency, developing critical thinking skills, vocabulary, and pronunciation, and finally promoting a cooperative learning approach.

Grammar and Writing I & II (4 credits)

This course focuses on a systematic and rigorous study of English Grammar. Different parts of speech and word classes, their forms, and functions will be studied so that the students can appropriately use them in sentences and paragraphs.

Reading Comprehension I & II (4 credits each)

The course aims to improve students’ reading and comprehension skills, especially those who read for a BA in English Literature. Through this course students shall master strategies and techniques that benefit their general reading efficiency and comprehension.

Study Skills (2 credits)

The course introduces strategies and approaches that lead students towards successful completion of their studies. The learning curve of such approaches is ascending, moving from the very basics of language acquisition to advanced note- taking and reading techniques. This array of skills will improve students’ academic endeavors as well as their daily tasks such as assessments, organization and categorization of information.

An Introduction to English Literature 1 and 2 ( 2 credits each)

The course focuses on key concepts that concoct the foundation of fiction, Poetry and drama. The course has been designed to cover a vast range of texts in fiction, dramatic works, and poetry.

Letter Writing (2 credits)

The course is structured around certain skills required for composing effective letters. Through this course students shall appreciate various forms of letters.

Principles of Translation (2 credits)

The course introduces students to the ‘hows’ and ‘whats’ of translation as not just a skills but an art.

Advanced Writing (2 credits)

The course should be seen as a platform that will at once introduce students to the basics of paragraph development and teach them the skills required for composing effective academic writing. Paragraph development, cohesion and coherence, digression, redundancy, to name but a few, emerge as some of the most significant concepts within the boundaries of this course.

Oral Reproduction of Stories (2 credits)

The course will stretch our idea of what a story is and how it can be retold properly. The students shall push the boundaries beyond plain summaries and empty paraphrases, and appreciate narratological coherence and chronological accuracy. This will be reached by surveying the history of storytelling and literary storytelling.

Essay Writing (2 credits)

The course is structured around certain skills required for composing effective academic essays. Through this course the students shall appreciate various forms of essays, specializing in the art of criticism and critical essay writing regardless of the context of the given topic. In addition, students shall be given a breadth of texts to explore and appreciate that engage with literature and how essay writing has emerged as a vehicle for critical expression.

Practical Usage of Idioms and Expressions (2 credits)

The course enables the students to form a clearer understanding of idioms and expressions in English language.

Literary Devices and Techniques (2 credits)

The class shall be introduced to an array of literary terms and devices, starting with the basics and progressing all the way to the more advanced technical terms. They shall be given various texts in which they may identify such terms and their function properly.

Translation of Simple Prose (2 credits)

Drawing upon their experiences with translating texts, as especially laid out in Principles of Translation, the students will be guided on ‘hows’ of translation on a practical level.

Short Story (2 credits)

The course allows students to appreciate the very concept of short story and gain experience by reading a vast number of short stories.

Simple Prose in English (2 credits)

The course introduces the very concept of (simple) prose in English literature, and allows students to read, explore and examine samples from a variety of thematic forms. There are also brief introductions to a number of genres and their textual manifestations.

Reading Media Texts (2 credits)

After completion of this course students are expected to have developed the ability to sift through the messages media texts offer; to contrastively analyze the way the same news story covered in different newspapers; to use examples from the media to explore cultural values; to identify the role of ideology in media texts; and to use media skills to critique media texts.

A Survey of English Literature 1 and 2 (4 credits each)

The course serves as a context to trace the development of English literature and history from The Restoration to early twentieth century.

An Introduction to the Translation of Islamic Texts 1 and 2 (2 credits each)

Through the course students shall recognize and improve the skills required for an accurate translation of (notable) Islamic texts. By comparing various translations of a single text shall the class appreciate key points such as deletions, faults, redundancies, and improper structure.

Linguistics I (2 credits)

This is a two-hour credit course that introduces students to linguistics, the scientific study of human language. The aim of the course is to acquaint the students with the nature of human language and its origin, characteristics, components and functions.

Translation of Literary Texts 1 and 2 (2 credits each)

Where Translation of Literary Texts 1 focuses on literary texts in English, the second part of the course allows the students to gain experience in analyzing and evaluating Persian translations of English fiction.

Simple Poetry (2 credits)

This course is an introduction to poetry in English. The course will train students in the analysis, evaluation, and appreciation of poetry by familiarizing them with the elements, forms, and practices of the genre.

Greek and Roman Mythology (2 credits)

Through readings various texts, the students will explore how versions of myth cohere and contradict, how different societies adapt myth to express their own meaning. While providing a general overview of Classical mythology, the course will focus on several mythological figures and their stories, including (but not limited to) Demeter and Persephone, Iphigenia and Agamemnon, Orpheus, Romulus.

A Selection of Literary Prose (2 credits)

The course takes students beyond the authentic clarity of simple prose, and enables them to explore and examine a multifaceted dimension of prose.

Linguistics II (2 credits)

This course is a sequel to Introduction to Linguistics I and addresses issues such as language acquisition, language and the brain, social aspects of language and language use, and language history and change among other issues.

The Novel 1: the 18^th and 19^th century (2 credits)

The course surveys the emergence of the novel as a dominant form. Students shall read from the authors whose cannon has been regarded as a source of inspiration.

English Poetry (2 credits)

This course is a study of poetry in English. The class shall examine the use of techniques and effects derived from painting and music. We also consider the poets' experiments with free verse and open form, their reworking of traditional genres; the role of irony, ambiguity, and obscurity in the new verse, resulting in the poet's growing isolation from the general audience. As part of this exploration, we will also hone our close-reading skills and learn to write about poetry in clear, well-organized prose.

Literary Criticism (2 credits)

The course introduces students to the “main theoretical frameworks” of modern literary criticism. Students, therefore, can practice reading literary texts based upon the “methods of reading” drawn from these theoretical frameworks.

Classic and Renaissance Drama (2 credits)

This course aims in part to correct a grave injustice by surveying the extraordinary output of playwrights whose names have largely been eclipsed by their more luminous compatriot: Marlowe, Jonson, Webster, and Ford, among others. This period bears witness both to the emergence of English theatre as a secular, commercial form (whose lineaments are visible even today), and to widespread changes that affected all aspects of social life.

Teaching Methodology (4 credits)

This course introduces students to approaches, methods, and techniques for the teaching of foreign languages in general and English as a second language in particular. The course begins by a review of the theories and basic concepts pertaining to the field of second language acquisition (SLA) and then moves on to introduce factors that influence second language (L2) learning. It continues with the history of language teaching methods so that students can solidify their current beliefs on teaching. It ends with a discussion of the issues and techniques in teaching and assessment of the four macroskills (listening, speaking, reading, and writing); attention will also be given to microskills, especially vocabulary and grammar.

World Literature (2 credits)

The course encourages learners to explore literature from different countries and cultures. Through study of great novelists, poets and dramatists from around the world, learners acquire lifelong skills in interpreting and evaluating texts. They learn how to develop and communicate an informed personal response to literature from around the world.

The Novel 2: 20^th century (2 credits)

The course traces the formation and transformation of the novel as a critical and resistant form. The class will be introduced to a number of thematic concepts prevalent in the modern novel such as urbanism, neurosis, split identity, identity formation.

Language Testing (2 credits)

This course is intended to introduce BA students to basic concepts in language testing and help them design, construct, and develop content-valid, practical, and reliable teacher-made tests.

Contemporary Literature (2 credits)

The essence of this course is critical reading, writing, and discussion of selected contemporary novels, poems, and short stories. The term “contemporary” refers to the works from the time of Joseph Conrad and James Joyce to the present. We will examine the texts from multiple viewpoints, examining the works not only for themes, narratives, and style, but also through application of a variety of critical theories.

Drama: 17^th to 20^th century (2 credits)

The course provides opportunities for students to build their knowledge, understanding and skills across the dramatic works produced between the 17^th and 20^th century to create, perform and respond to drama situated in a variety of contexts to achieve different purposes.

American literature (2 credits)

Students will examine both nonfiction and fiction texts written in America by Americans examining the nation’s voice as it develops from the early American settlers to present day modern Americans. Throughout the course students will determine what it means to be American, as well as evaluate the process that Americans have taken to establish an identity over the years by examining: informational materials, advertisements, prose both fiction and nonfiction, and poetry.