Head of Department of English language
2- The Department of English Language and Literature
Dr.
Head of English Department
Email: marwan.abdi@uod.ac
In times of growing language internationalization, the department of English seeks to advance foreign language proficiency and cross-cultural competence. Speaking a foreign language is a privilege for the speakers; there are great opportunities for those who know a foreign language. Nowadays, the demand for language professionals is immense in every aspect of life, including public service, media and communication, travel and tourism, science and technology, and research and education, to name only a few. Therefore, a BA degree in English language provides solid language skills and intercultural abilities that are much needed in all these fields. It also prepares teachers of English as a foreign language at secondary, and high school levels, as well as researchers and scholars at the academic circle of the university.
The English department was founded in 1994 as part of the College of Arts. It began as a small department with very limited capacities. But in the course of time, the department grew bigger and the number of faculty members and students increased substantially. Today, the English Department has 28 teachers: 6 PhD, and 22 MA holders. It has graduated hundreds of undergraduate students since 1996, and tens of postgraduate students since 2007 when the MA programme was first started.
Recently, in 2016, the English department has become affiliated to the newly- established College of Languages. Below is a brief description of the focus, aims and objectives, vision and mission statements of the English Department, College of Languages, University of Duhok.
- Focus of study:
- Undergraduate: English Language, Linguistics and Literature
- Postgraduate: Masters in Linguistics, and TESOL.
- PhD program in applied linguistics and translation
- Duration of study
-Undergraduate: 4 years (morning and evening classes)
- Postgraduate (MA): 2 years
- Postgraduate (PhD): 3 years
- Department aims and objectives
- To enhance and encourage continual professional development of the faculty.
- To provide a curriculum that serves the needs of all emphasized areas in the department. - To develop the students’ communication skills and mastery of the English language. - To foster the students’ ability to read closely, think critically, and write persuasively through the disciplined study of English language and literature. - To train the students to conduct correct linguistic and/or literary research by finding and using sources in the library, on the internet, and in the field.
- The Vision of the English Department
We seek to foster knowledge and a love of language and literature in our students. To this end we
- provide students with a coherent curricular framework and relevant, well-structured courses.
- teach a variety of linguistic and literary analytical, pedagogical, and theoretical skills. - teach students to speak, read, and write effectively.
- encourage students to think deeply and to reflect on what they have learned. - encourage a love of, and an appreciation for learning and education.
As teachers at the English Department, we also seek:
- To welcome the responsibility for always placing quality as the most important goal in all activities.
- To foster a climate of trust, peace and understanding that enhances the learning experience for all students.
- To cherish and constantly renew team spirit and supportive attitude among all members of the English department family.
- The Mission Statement of the English Department
- To build and foster language competency in students.
- To develop critical thinking and cultural awareness through foreign language learning.
- To acquaint students with English literature on the understanding that literature is employed for the sake of building language skills.
- Curriculum and Credits
First Year-Semester 1
Credits
Subjects
6
English Grammar 1
6
Listening and Speaking 1
6
Reading and Writing 1
4
Academic Debate (in English)
4
Computer Skills (in English)
4
Kurdistani Studies (in English)
30
Total
Second Year -Semester 2
Credits
Subjects
6
English Grammar 1
6
Listening and Speaking 1
6
Reading and Writing 1
4
Introduction to Poetry
4
Introduction to Novel
4
Introduction to Drama
30
Total
Second Year -Semester 4
Credits
Subjects
6
English Grammar 2
6
Listening and Speaking 2
6
Reading and Writing 2
4
Poetry
4
Novel
4
Drama
30
Total
Third Year- Semester 5
Credits
Subjects
6
Pedagogical Grammar
6
Academic Writing
4
Linguistics
4
Translation
5
British Literature
5
World Literature
30
Total
Fourth Year
Third Year- Semester 6
Credits
Subjects
6
Pedagogical Grammar
6
Academic Writing
4
Linguistics
4
Translation
4
Methods of Research
6
World Literature
30
Total
Credits
Subjects
6
Syntax
8
Topics in Literature
4
Criticism
4
Linguistics
4
Translation
4
Methods of Teaching
2
Graduation Research
32
Total
The MA Linguistics Programme at English Department, College of Languages University of Duhok, 2020-2021
An MA in linguistics can cover different aspects of language study including the study of a selected language, the comparison of various languages, the study of the acquisition and learning of language, the study of various language theories, and in effect, the application of those theories in numerous areas, including artificial intelligence, computational linguistics and cognition.
In the process of language study, students may opt to describe a language, or to conduct an in-depth analysis in one in every of the areas of linguistics; namely, phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, pragmatics and discourse analysis.
A Masters’ degree in Linguistics provides the graduate with a wide range of interesting and highly demanded careers worldwide, since the world is changing and progressing at high speed in many aspects, language and linguistics being at the core of this change.
The MA Linguistics at English Department, College of Languages at Duhok University is a two -year programme that consists of two stages. The first stage comprises two courses, an autumn course and a spring course- each of 15 weeks duration-and a research (or a thesis) stage. The courses expose the students to the core subjects of linguistics, engage them in critical academic discourse and reasoning, and prepare them for the next stage. In addition, it trains them in advanced research writing, as the students produce a term paper in each of the core subjects in fulfillment of one of the requirements of the programme. In the thesis stage, the students are expected to employ the knowledge and the training they have obtained from the first stage to conduct and produce original research that contributes to the field.
Our MA Linguistics programme has the following goals:
- To train students to demonstrate analytic knowledge of language structures and to relate them to theoretical perspectives. In other words, the programme seeks to train the students to transmit in-depth knowledge of the structure and function of language and its use from various theoretical perspectives.
- To train students to demonstrate understanding of the social and cultural dimensions of language use in everyday contexts and to instill in them an appreciation for the diversity and dynamic nature of human languages and cultures.
- To train the students to use advanced critical thinking and analytical skills in reading, writing and research skills, demonstrated in their understanding of research methodologies in linguistics and carrying out original and independent research on a linguistic topic.
The PhD program in English department
The PhD in applied Linguistics is a research training program which combines foundational and advanced courses in the core areas of linguistics, training on research methods and research work leading to a dissertation. The program is in applied Linguistics and translation with the focus on the study of English language and the application of that study in teaching. The curriculum will provide training in English linguistics and applied linguistics with focused research in several areas such as phonetics, the phonology of English, syntax, semantics, pragmatics. Second language teaching and learning, TESOL (teaching English to speakers of other languages), sociolinguistics, discourse analysis, or any field of linguistics that matches the interests of one of our members of staff. The PhD in Applied Linguistics and translation is designed to enhance specialized linguistic knowledge through academic study and research. The program is suitable for all those interested in exploring how linguistic knowledge can be applied to everyday real-life phenomena such as language learning, language policy or translation. The course emphasizes state-of-the-art research methodology appropriate for conducting linguistic research projects, using a wide range of linguistic research methods.
PhD- Applied linguistics and Translation:
Name of Teacher
Academic rank
Name of subject
Contact hours
Number of ECTS
Dr. Hussein Ali Ahmed
Professor
Applied Linguistics
3
6
Dr. Alya Mohammed Hussein
Professor
(Translation Pedagogy)
3
6
Dr. Mohammed Basil Qassim
Professor
(Phonetics and Phonology)
3
6
Dr. Mohammed Salih Abdullah
Assistant Professor
Syntax
3
6
Dr. Izzideen Rajab Mohammad
Assistant Professor
Discourse Analysis
3
6