History of Department
Established in 1987, the Department of English has developed into a
multi-specialty department, offering courses in English language,
literature, linguistics and translation for students taking degrees in
Arts, Education and Translation. The first English specialists of the
BEd program were awarded degrees in 1990; the first English majors of
the BA program received degrees a year later; and the first students
of the Translation program were granted degrees in 2006.
With a core emphasis on language skills in all its courses, and
over 1300 students currently majoring in English, the Department
offers the following programs:
·
BA Degree in English based in the College of
Arts and Social Sciences
·
BA Degree in Translation based in the
College of Arts and Social Sciences
· BEd Degree in
English based in the College of Education
·
Elective courses in French and German
·
Diploma/Masters Degree in Translation
(proposed)
Graduates. Since 1990, 174 students have graduated with
BA Degrees in English Language and Literature, while 1049 have
received BEd Degrees in the subject. In addition to teaching,
graduates of these programs have taken up positions in various fields
in both the public and private sectors. Many male graduates in
particular have become translators, and some have gone abroad for
further studies in this field.
Faculty. In the current
academic year, the Department has on its staff 52 full-time members in
English, 17 of whom are Omanis. Of these52 members,36 hold the rank of
Assistant Professor or above (two Professors, nine Associate
Professors and 25 Assistant Professors). There is also one full-time
lecturer in French ( under the auspices of the French Embassy, Oman)
and one part-time instructor, who offer university electives as well
as courses tailored to the needs of the Department of Tourism. Most
members of the teaching staff are engaged in research and have a
substantial number of publications to their credit. In addition, in
order to keep abreast of the latest developments in their respective
specializations, regular participation in national and international
conferences is increasingly viewed by the Department as an essential
part of one’s academic responsibility.
Student activities. For the past several years, the
Department has encouraged its students to take an active part in
extra-curricular affairs. To this end, the English and Translation
Society focuses on developing the linguistic, literary and translation
skills of students by organizing courses, seminars, debates, workshops
and contests in translation, oratory and writing.
Laboratories and technical support. The Department is
equipped with sufficient technological facilities to support its
existing programs. Utilizing a multi-media laboratory, a translation
laboratory and a phonetics laboratory, it is able to integrate the
latest information technology into its courses. The translation
laboratory is a dedicated state-of-the-art system combining
multi-media, internet and interpreting facilities. It includes an
up-to-date Machine Translation system (Al Mutarjim X Pro 7) with
numerous on-line specialized dictionaries. Two CET technicians are
available full-time in the College to ensure the smooth running of
hardware and software.
UP
Mission Statement
The Department offers courses in four key areas: English language
skills, linguistics, literature and translation. The courses are
designed to meet the goals of education at Sultan Qaboos University
and the professional interests of the students upon graduation. These
goals include equipping students with knowledge and skills to enable
them to function successfully in professional life, help improve the
national economy, protect traditional Omani values, and interact with
a world that is increasingly globalized.
The Department is especially aware of how language is an integral
part of modern knowledge. The explosion in information and
communication technology parallels the rise of complex,
post-industrial and service-oriented economies that need constant
intermediary explanation. Hence a core component of the Department’s
mission is to train students to retrieve, assess and analyze
information, and to express their findings in clear and accurate
language, whether orally or in print.
To fulfill such a mission, the Department has some 40 highly
qualified faculty members from diverse cultural and academic
backgrounds, supported by state-of-the-art facilities that include
computerized laboratories for phonetics, translation and general
language development.
UP
Vision of Department
The Department operates within a national and international
environment of rapid change to which it must sensitively adapt.
Shifting debate around the nature and role of a modern university
jostles with changing discipline profiles and government concern to
produce graduates able to drive economic development and yet sustain
Oman’s special identity. Trends globally suggest that future
employment will involve constant retraining or even radical career
shifts. The Department, therefore, envisages a constant refinement of
the necessary tools it provides for flexibility and adaptability. The
analytical and interpretative skills arising from close linguistic and
literary study are precisely those that will empower its graduates to
adapt to the shifting profile of the national and international job
market. Through relevant lines of research and continued localization
of its teaching establishment, the Department is determined to
continually refresh current teaching strategies, identify and adopt
best practice, and thus emerge as a recognized centre of excellence
within the Arab world and beyond.
UP
Student Code of Conduct
Student Rights
To receive dedicated quality instruction.
To receive academic advice on performance from the instructor,
during announced office hours or by appointment.
To have a fair hearing before the Department Grievance
Committee in the case of personal or professional complaints made
by students about faculty. The Grievance Committee consists of a
group of faculty members who handle student complaints.
Student Obligations
In Classrooms and Language Labs
Prepare thoroughly
Attend regularly and punctually
Participate actively in discussions
Complete assigned work on time and in the requested format
Turn off mobile telephones.
In the Faculty Offices
Respect the faculty’s office hours posted on their doors
Knock before entering and do not interrupt ongoing
conversations
If other students are in the offices, inform the
instructors that you want to see them and wait your turn
outside
Use your time with the instructors for academic purposes,
not for informal conversation
Do not ask instructors to help you with assignments for
other courses. (See the course instructor concerned for such
help.)
If you have a problem with an instructor, discuss the
issues with that instructor
Turn off mobile telephones in an instructor’s office.
In the Department Coordinator’s Office
Do not ask the Department Coordinator for faculty telephone
numbers or e-mail addresses
Limit your visit to the Coordinator’s office to official,
academic business.
Plagiarism
Plagiarism is a serious academic offense
because it
is dishonest and misrepresents the work of others as your
own
takes unfair advantage of those who do their own work
cheats you of the chance to learn
undermines the value of your degree and the reputation of
the institution.
How to avoid plagiarism
· Work done in
previous courses cannot be submitted in a new course. That
is self-plagiarism, stealing from yourself.
· Work done by
another person cannot be submitted as your own. That is also
plagiarism.
· Do not assume that
your instructor will distinguish between unintentional
(accidental) and intentional (deliberate) plagiarism. That
is hard to determine. Make sure you do neither.
· When taking information verbatim (word for
word), place quotation marks around the exact words if they
consist of fewer than three lines. Longer verbatim
quotations are indented ten spaces from each side and
single-spaced.
· When taking
information verbatim (word for word), place quotation marks
around the exact words if they consist of fewer than three
lines. Longer verbatim quotes are indented ten spaces from
each side and single-spaced.
· Paraphrasing a passage means putting it in your
own words. A good paraphrase keeps the meaning but changes
the form dramatically. To do this you have to read and
digest the passage then rewrite it so that it is
substantially different in form from the original. You
cannot simply change the tense or the order of the words.
That is plagiarism.
· As with exact quotes, paraphrased ideas must be
credited in the text following the APA guidelines.
· A complete
bibliography, listing all the sources used and in the proper
APA form must appear at the end of your paper.
Student Complaints
The following guidelines apply to
complaints made by students to the Head of the Department (HOD)
· The HOD
will urge the student to try to resolve the problem with the
instructor.
· If the problem is
not resolved, the student can pursue the matter by
submitting a written complaint in English to the Grievance
Committee.
· When the complaint
concerns a grade, the HOD will advise the student that the
grade could be lowered, raised or left unchanged.
· Before students
submit a complaint to the Grievance Committee, they
should review the description of grades which appears
in the SQU Academic Regulations Handbook, p.
35.
· The Committee will select three appropriate
instructors who will reassess the student’s paper(s) and/or
test(s) and report its decision to the HOD.
When the complaint concerns a matter
other than grading
· The Committee will inform the instructor of the
complaint and may request a written statement from the
instructor to resolve the dispute.
· The Committee will
then meet with the instructor and the student.
· The Committee will
report its findings to the HOD.
When the complaint concerns a charge of
plagiarism
If the student cannot present the sources
which may have been misused, the following steps are appropriate:
· The instructor may
ask faculty members who have relevant experience for their
informed opinion.
· When the committee
members cannot agree, especially about the student’s ability
to use such advanced language, the student will write under
supervision on a topic assigned by the Committee and related
to the assignment that aroused the instructor’s suspicion.
The student can use only a dictionary and a reference
grammar and will be allowed two hours.
· The Committee will
evaluate the student’s composition.
In all cases, complaints will be treated
confidentially. All decisions are final.
UP
Course Descriptions
(English courses only)
BA Degree in English
BA
Courses
BA Study Plan
BA
Prerequisites
Arts Prerequisites and Equivalences
BA Degree in Translation
BA
Translation Courses
BA Translation Study Plan
BA Translation Prerequisites
BA Translation Spring Intake
BEd Degree in English
BEd Courses
BEd Study Plan
BEd Prerequisites
BEd Prerequisites and Equivalences
UP
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