Why is AGU Prep. Program set up in this way?
Some students only realise what Prep. is like after they come to AGU, but Prep. is so important that the significant features of the AGU Prep. Program should be understood clearly by students while they are choosing their university. There are seven fundamental things that new and prospective students need to understand about AGU Prep.
1. Skills and basic Language Skills
Because in EMI a student must be able to use English to read, to write, to listen, and to speak, the backbone of the Prep. Program, learning and assessment, is composed of 20 skills courses (and 5 language courses, the aim of which is to support skills development).
2. Precise and Delicate Level Placement
Because any student may be at different proficiency levels for different skills, placement of every student into each main course level is made independently of placement in other main course subjects. So, you might be in Writing 2 but Reading 3, or Writing 4 but Speaking 2.
3. Learning about the real world
Because effective learning of language use must connect language learning with learning about the real world, in addition to Language Skills courses the AGU Prep. Program contains courses that are based on content knowledge.
4. Real Motivation
Learning a foreign language to high level requires considerable, sustained, learner motivation. Because language learning motivation is an extremely complex area which resists superficial solutions the AGU English Language program provides approaches to motivation that are deep and structural. As a result, the AGU Prep. Program is different from every other prep. program.
What do AGU students experience in the Prep. system?
a) Prep students are treated like mature university students, and like in Faculty, AGU students earn credits for each course they complete in Prep.
b) As adults AGU Prep. students are given full responsibility for earning the credits they need. There are many different ways to get the credits necessary to graduate from AGU Prep.; there are 42 courses in Prep. of which you choose 34; but you only need to pass 26. So, you can strategize - depending on your interests, and your strengths and weaknesses, you choose your individual path to Faculty;
-
Which electives will you choose?
-
Which skills will you prioritize?
-
If you fail ‘The Environment’, will you try it again? Or will you focus your time and energy on a different course?
In this way, the whole Prep. Program into something very adult, and real-world. You will be in a mature, problem-solving, ‘game-like’ scenario where you decide, with guidance from the Administration, what you are going to do. This is called ‘personal agency’ - when studying, as in life, there is no greater motivation than your own agency!
5) International English
English is useful not because it is spoken by people in the UK or in the US, but because it is an international language used by hundreds of millions of people outside Turkey who also learn English as a second language. So, at AGU Prep., as long as your language is clear, English as spoken in Australia or Canada is no more or less important than the English spoken in India or Turkey.
This means that:
a) Some of your English instructors will be Turkish and some will not;
b) You will see different spellings;
c) You will hear different accents (from your teachers and in recorded materials). You will learn to hear and understand Turkish English and British English and Indian English and Canadian English and Nigerian English and so on.
6) Because we see that many new university students do not know how to study effectively, in AGU Prep. we explicitly teach, and assess, study skills. There are many types of study skills, including:
Self-management skills (time-management, responsibility, being in the right place, hitting (not missing) deadlines, setting goals, planning.
How to work with others (pairwork, teamwork, collaborating with a study-buddy)
How to learn (preview, note-taking using/constructing graphic organisers, reconstitution, practice, review, self-evaluation….)
How to think (classification, analysis, evaluation, thinking critically)
So, in AGU Prep.:
i. you will start by taking the key study skills course ‘University Transition’ (UT) course, where you will learn about our Prep. system, how to use our Learning Management System, and how to get ready for your first exams and classes.
ii you will learn special skills for each subject - for each of the main courses you will take mini skills lessons, where you will learn how to learn in the that subject. For example, in Reading 1 there are 8 Skills Focus lessons, which each teach you something that will make you a better learner in Reading.
iii. you will see that many things in AGU Prep. are learned by students experientially:
If you miss too many lessons you will fail a course on attendance;
If you do not submit work, you will not receive feedback;
If you do not receive feedback on your work for subjects like Writing, Summarising, and Presentation Skills, you will see that it is very difficult to pass.
7) Social Connections, Identity, and Belonging
Because you will feel happier and more motivated to learn when you have formed social connections, AGU Prep. classes are set up in three important ways:
a) We deliberately place you in classes with students from both your and from other departments.
b) You are placed into different classes for each course; at the end of Reading 1 you will find yourself with a new mix of students for reading 2, and so on.
c) Terms are very short (7 weeks + 1 week of assessment + 1 week break). This means that regroupings are very frequent – you will quickly get to know as many students as you wish to.
Furthermore, you will feel a strong sense of belonging. You will feel part of your future department, and you will also feel part of Prep.:
-
it is not an easy program, and you will feel close to other people who are working hard to meet the challenge;
-
AGU Prep is like a private club, and you will soon learn its rules and its special language.
