English Language Institute Annual Report 2021-2022: Achievement, Development, and Ambition

Acting President of the University King Abdulaziz University (KAU), Prof. Hanaa Al-Naim, received the annual report of the English Language Institute (ELI) for the academic year 2021/2022 on Monday, December 26, 2022.

The ELI Dean, Prof. Abdullah Al-Bargi, submitted the report to her excellency in the presence of the KAU Vice President for Business and Knowledge Creativity, Prof. Tawfiq Al-Khayal and the KAU Vice President for Graduate Studies and Scientific Research, Prof. Amin Noman, the ELI Vice-Deans, directors of the ELI’s affiliated centers, and unit heads.

The report included the most prominent achievements of the ELI during the academic year 2021/2022, which began with organizing the celebration of the 91st National Day through a cultural competition in which male and female students of the ELI recorded personal videos in English about the process of uniting the country, its prosperity and development, and the aspirations of Saudi Vision 2030. The past year witnessed the provision of new services to the ELI students, such as the inauguration of a customer-oriented Student Services Center, the Student Counseling Center in cooperation with the Deanship of Student Affairs, and the English Language Club.

In the field of curricula and exams, the institute designed curricula and assessment tools for the two newly introduced English language tracks for the Colleges of Communication and Media and the College of Tourism. The Curriculum and Testing Unit also developed all English language curricula and exams for the KAU Preparatory Year Program (PYP) to match the new trimester system at the university. The Unit also enhanced the question bank by adding 2,500 fresh questions.

In order to ensure the quality of the Institute's graduates, the ELI conducted the University of Cambridge’s internationally recognized language proficiency test Cambridge Linguaskill on a random sample of its graduates in order to create a benchmark for its learning outcomes. The results of the test have consolidated the Institute's confidence in its educational outcomes.

The ELI launched a new program - Professional Master in English Language Teaching Practice. This program comes in addition to its existing MA TESOL Program, which is well on its way to securing accreditation from the National Center for Academic Accreditation and Assessment (NCAAA). The ELI Vice-Deanship of Graduate Studies and Research has made great strides in completing the Self-Study Report for the NCAAA site visit.

In the field of scientific research and with the support of the KAU Vice-Presidency for Graduate Studies and Scientific Research, the ELI has sponsored 40 research papers in professional development through its affiliated Center of Professional Excellence in English Language Teaching (CPELT). This research achievement has come along with the launching of five research groups, as well as continuing work on several research papers in cooperation with the University of Cambridge. The research activity at the ELI has reached new heights as more faculty members received distinction awards for scientific publication in top journals with high-impact factors.

When looking at the number of ELI students in the last academic year, is staggering. There were around 19,000 students enrolled in all tracks of the PYP, 1043 in the external program, and 167 in the e-Learning program. In the MA programs, there were 93 students in the MA TESOL Program and 13 in the Professional Master’s Program in English Language Teaching Practice.

The Center for Professional Excellence in Teaching English provided a series of professional development activities for faculty members, which amounted to 62 programs and workshops in both male and female campuses of the institute. The institute’s administrators also participated in 128 training programs.

The ELI-affiliated Academic Writing Center benefited 3,380 students from all KAU faculties through 59 individual private tutoring sessions, 113 dissertation writing training sessions, 5 in-class workshops, and 37 online workshops.

The ELI takes the quality of education seriously. The initiatives of the ELI Strategic Plan 2018-2021 hit a record-high of 90% completion. In addition, the requirements of quality specifications ISO 2009: 2015 have been completed. The Quality and Accreditation Unit, in cooperation with the Curriculum and Testing Unit, has aligned the components of the newly-designed PYP health sciences track curriculum with the curriculum and student achievement standards of the US-based Commission on English Language Program Accreditation (CEA). The ELI is fully accredited by CEA through 2028.

In the field of student activities, the ELI won 1st place in the KAU Gracious Names of Allah competition, 2nd place in the KAU Golden Sail Competition, the KAU Holy Qur’an memorizing of 30 juz’ Competition, and the KAU Ideal Driver Competition.

The various student activities committees on the ELI Men’s and Women’s Campuses organized 194 activities and events. Over 1030 students also benefited from private tutoring and remedial sessions, reaching 1178 hours given by a select group of teachers to low achievers to help them develop their language skills and complete their courses.

The Saudi TESOL Association, hosted by the ELI as the only recognized association of its kind by the Ministry of Education to operate in Saudi Arabia, organized a variety of events These featured leading Saudi and international figures in the field of English language teaching, including Professor Stephen Krashen, who gave a distinguished presentation on the Power of Self-selected Fiction. Over 2,000 members of the association attended the events online.

In the field of community service, the ELI organized 5 workshops for over 2,800 English language teachers from public schools across Saudi Arabia. The workshops were given by highly qualified and experienced ELI teacher trainers at the request of the English Language Department of the General Administration of Educational Supervision at the Ministry of Education.

The ELI’s achievements were rewarded with six KAU prizes related to student, scientific, and professional activities. The most recent of which was the winning of the University President's Award for Excellence and Creativity in E-learning for the Electronic Assessment System and Question Banks in its seventh session, 2022.