Introduction to IAUSEL
Istanbul Aydin University School of English Language prepares students for English-medium academic study in the faculties and Anadolu BİL Vocational School of Higher Education of the university. The School of English Language comprises three parts; the English Language Preparatory Program, bringing students’ level up to the basic minimum required profiiency level for study in their chosen faculties and programs; the Faculty English Preparatory Program (FPP) which provides English language support to students in the areas of general and business English to meet their language needs in their faculties; and the faculty-based academic English courses, providing support to the students especially in academic writing to increase their abilities in written expression, and the Summer School, providing additional courses for those students who are below the necessary level of proficiency after the normal course of teaching during the academic year.  

Overall School Structure
Of the 89 instructors attached to the school, all of them are involved in Preparatory Program courses and specialist units, and the working in other fields specified above. The structure of the school is complex in view of its size. There is a Directorate which co-ordinates and manages the different activities within the school; three Teaching Services Units which are responsible for all staff and student matters of the three divisions right across the school; a Material Production Unit which constantly reviews and deals with, for example, extra support materials for teachers of all levels, registration and counseling for the large population of students; a Teacher Training and Research Unit (TRC) which provides academic support to the teachers throughout the year. Two Directors, one for the whole campus of the Preparatory Program and another for the English Preparatory Program, ensure the coordination within the Directorate for their specific areas of responsibility and, in addition, each academic and specialist unit has its own Head who forms part of the management of the school through its committee system.
The English Language Preparatory Program operates in a separate building about seven miles off the main campus called Bahçelievler Campus.

IAUSEL 2008-2009 Development Plan

The IAUSEL aims at:

Other Courses
IAUSEL also provides English language courses for the University's administrative staff to help them develop their English further.  It also works cooperatively with the Continuing Education Unit to serve internal and external language needs.

English Language Preparatory Program

All students new to the university have to sit and pass a proficiency examination named the Final Achievemnt and Certificate Teast (FACT) in order to enter their chosen faculty or vocational school. Those students who are unable to pass the FACT attend the English Language Preparatory Program for 1 to 2 years, receiving between 25-30 hours of tuition per week in mainly 8-week courses over an academic year, i.e. 2 courses per semester, courses are also taught at certain levels. There are on average 2000-2500 students in the English Language Preparatory Program at the beginning of each academic year.

Teaching Unit Structure (TU)

There are 7 Teaching Units in the Preparatory School. Every Teaching Unit is managed by a Head of Teaching Unit (HTU) who has line management responsibility for the teachers and the operations of the unit.
Teachers in the same unit generally teach classes at the same level, which allows them to share their experiences, classes and materials. Each unit holds regular meetings to discuss the teaching related and administrative issues of the week ahead. There are also regular weekly development sessions where various staff development activities are carried out. Such activities include presentations, workshops and swap shops on specific teaching related areas in line with unit or individual development objectives.
Ongoing evaluation of the courses allows the units to make autonomous and proactive decisions about the content and the processes of the courses they run along with the continuous assessment of their students’ learning. Students also take part in this evaluation process. ‘Evaluation of Learning’ cycle encourages students to evaluate their own progress and the input they receive, and ‘The Class Spokesperson (CSP) Meeting’ held regularly with the Head of the Teaching Unit gives class representatives a chance to voice the views of the student body.
The IAUSEL data base allows teachers and Heads to follow the student progress through direct access to student profiles and enables them to make decisions to meet the individual needs of the students before and during a course. Regular office hours and tutorials are also incorporated into the teaching programs to further help individual students with their studies.
Course operations of Teaching Units are overseen by the Head Coordinator who has line management responsibility for the Heads of Teaching Units. The operations are coordinated and synchronized through regular updates and head meetings.

Learning Center

In the preparatory School, students are exposed to an unfamiliar learning situation which often demands that they work independently outside the teaching environment. One constant element throughout the English Language Preparatory Program is the fostering of this independence to bridge the gap between language competence and performance. Weekly topics of interest are defined and each student has to register on of them during the week. They gather informally and discuss the chosen topic of their common interest with the initiation of an expert. This is based on the theory that learning is fostered by the hobbies of the learners. In further stages, students form these discussion hours independently and start to be autonomous learners.

CALL Center

Bahçelievler Campus has three language labs equipped with 150 computers specifically allocated to the Preparatory Program Students. Instructors can take their students to the CALL Labs for class access at the specified times given for their Head of Level. All computers have access to the language learning software designed to help students practice their English. The software is called Global English and provides on-line access to live English courses in California Language Center in the USA and students are allowed to take regular courses from the center 7 days and 24 hours in 4 different levels. The system also provides support to all levels of Language learning and has 8 General and 11 Business English Courses.

Curriculum and Testing Unit (CTU)

The Curriculum and Testing Unit is mainly responsible for further developing the EnglishLanguage Preparatory Program Curriculum, which is based on the needs of students in faculties and programs in terms of both language and academic skills. The specification of objectives in the syllabus ensures a gradual development in both areas so that the students are well equipped to deal with the language and skills demands of their future academic studies when they leave the Preparatory Program.
All aspects of the Curriculum and Testing Unit's work - syllabus, course outlines, Learning Portfolio components, materials, tests - are constantly evaluated through regular formal and informal evaluation, which allows the unit to constantly improve the quality of provision offered to students.
In the Preparatory Program there are course specific and level specific tests. Cumulative Achievement Tests (CATs) are course specific tests which contribute to a student’s continuous assessment grade. These tests are designed to encourage short and longer term revision of course objectives in order to assess student progress and diagnose weak areas for further attention.  These are specific achievement tests which constitute the benchmark students must reach in order to pass from one level to the next. Students on all courses at any one level sit the same FACT at the end of the academic year.
The Final Achievement and Certificate Test (FACT) is a general test of English language proficiency for students wishing to enter degree or associate degree courses at Istanbul Aydin University. It is produced by a specially selected FACT production team and is administered twice a year. Those students who pass the FACT exam can start their studies in their departments in the following term. Students may also qualify for entry into their departments through taking external exams specified elsewhere of the website.

Textbook Development (TB)

The Textbook Project is an additional duty of the Material Production Team. The members of the team were selected from the Preparatory Program’s teaching staff on the basis of their knowledge of English language teaching and proven ability in materials writing. Furthermore, they all receive additional training prior to starting work and during the project. Other members of the school are also centrally involved in the development of the textbooks. In particular teachers from a variety of teaching units try and give feedback on the materials before they are finalized. By involving as many staff members as possible in the material preparation process, the institution ensures that these materials meet our students' specific needs in terms of language and academic skills.
The textbooks are designed according to the objectives specified in the Preparatory Program’s syllabus with the development of writing skills being of central importance. The books provide graded materials covering all the language and skills work required at each level with special emphasis on the development of academic skills. The final units of each textbook are representative of the level that the students need to have mastered by the end of the course in order to successfully pass to the next level or enter the exit examination (FACT).
The textbooks for each level consist of:
• a Student Book;
• a Self-Study Workbook;
• a Teacher's Book;
• Initial skills books;
• an outside the class strand delivered through the CALL labs.