Welcome!
The English Language Department at the Deanship of Preparatory Year and Supporting Studies congratulates you on choosing our program and extends you a warm welcome! We look forward to working with you to help you achieve your goals and to making the one year you will spend with us enjoyable as well. Your accomplishments will, insha’Allah, make our beloved country proud.
The Mission
We all know that the ability to communicate well in English is critical to succeeding in the world today. The English Language Department aspires to help young men and women like yourselves master the four skills of reading, writing, listening, and speaking in English. We also aim to help you develop your intellectual, cultural, and creative potentials. At the end of the Preparatory Year Program, you should be able to exchange ideas and information with people from other cultures and disciplinary backgrounds, and become cultural ambassadors of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
The Objectives
By providing you with an English-rich environment where courses are taught by native and near-native English speakers, you will be given an opportunity to cultivate good communication skills. We have designed our courses to help you transition from high school to undergraduate programs that place heavy demands on all four communication skills. The Preparatory Year English program will train you in general English as well as in English for specific purposes, especially in relation to fields such as medicine, science, and engineering.
Placement Test
All students who plan to join Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University are required to take a placement test. Based on the results of this test, students will be placed in English classes for Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced proficiency levels. The test comprises a written component worth 90%, and a speaking component worth 10%.
English Language Courses
Students are required to complete two courses, General English (ENGL 101) and English for Specific Purposes (ENGL 102). ENGL 101 lasts one full academic year. The first part of this course is completed in the first and second semesters, while the second part is completed in the third semester. English for Specific Purposes (ENGL 102) is taken in the third semester, concurrently with the second/third part of ENGL 101.
Credit hours for Health, Nursing, Science, Engineering/Design (both Science and literary streams), IT Computer Science, Business Administration and Architecture (referred to henceforth as all tracks) are distributed as follows:
| General English (ENGL 101) | 7 Credit Hours/per semester. |
| English for Specific Purposes (ENGL 102) | 4 Credit Hours |
