DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH PROGRAMS

Academic Mission & Program | MA TEFL | Certificate Programs | Research Center | DEP Faculty | MA Thesis Abstracts | Writing Support Center

Center for Research in Applied Linguistics (CRAL)

The Center was initially established in the academic year of 2003 within the Department of English Programs. Its mission is to conduct, encourage, publish and disseminate research with primary focus on promoting effective language teaching at all levels in Armenia and the region.

Specific goals of the Center include: conducting research on the teaching of English as a Foreign Language and the teaching of other languages; implementing relevant research findings to the Armenian context; facilitating interaction between center personnel and their counterparts in relevant educational systems; developing research projects that train and support TEFL students; educating and training TEFL professionals for academic and leadership positions; and supporting academic activities for faculty at AUA and elsewhere.

In addition, the Center provides opportunities for MA students to conduct their research in relation to their MA theses. The center also seeks opportunities to hold local, regional, and international conferences on issues related to applied linguistics.

Experimental English Classes

As a community service, DEP is offering English language classes to children of Armenian community. The aim of these classes is twofold. Firstly, it provides the children with the possibility to learn English through communicative methods of teaching. Secondly, it is to provide CTEFL students with a practicum experience that will allow them first to see Communicative Language Teaching in practice and then to try out the new methods in their own teaching.

English for General Purpose Classes

DEP is offering general English classes to potential AUA applicants. These classes are conducted following the latest methods of teaching in a systematic way.

The DEP Debate Club

The Debate Club was established by the Department of English Programs in 2003 and is open to students from all local universities. Over the years, the club has grown in popularity, attracting up to fifty students from nine different universities at its weekly meetings, and organizing parliamentary debate tournaments twice a year.

In addition to developing their own skills, club members have taken the principles and practice of debate beyond AUA, organizing debate events at various schools, universities, and NGOs. The DEP Debate Club is a founding member of the Debate Club Network ( www.debate.am ).

For more information or to join the Debate Club, please contact Melissa Brown ( mbrown@aua.am ).

Writing Support Center

One of the objectives of CIERD-TEFL is to help the AUA students to promote their professional writing skills. This is accomplished by offering assistance to all AUA students (faculty members upon request) to improve their writing skills and refine their term projects by referring to the Writing Support Center at the DEP. In the Writing Support Center, a DEP faculty member is available to work with them on an individual tutorial basis.