Course Description (MA Degree)

Eng. 508 Semantics (3 Credit hrs.)

This course is an introduction to the issues of meaning and logical
interpretation in natural language. The first part of the course concentrates on
the issue of reference in natural language and presents some analytical
approaches to it. This includes the theory of semantic logical and predicate
calculus, the logical interpretation of full propositions and the semantics of
logical operators in natural language.

Eng. 510 Introduction to Generative Grammar (3 Credit hrs.)

This course discusses and evaluates the early transformational generative
approach to syntax. The conceptual and empirical basis for this approach as
expounded in Chomsky's Syntactic Structures and Aspects of the Theory of
Syntax will be presented. A variety of phrase structure rules, syntactic
transformational models will also be discussed.

Eng. 516 Introduction to Linguistics (3 Credit hrs.)

The course aims at introducing the students to the following: 1. Basic concepts
and terms of general linguistics (language, speech, competence, performance,
structure, grammar, feature, morpheme, phoneme, morphology, syntax,
semantics...etc.) 2. Historical development of linguistics, including a brief
introduction to different schools (Port-Royal, Neogrammarian, Prague Circle,
Firthian, Post-Bloomfield Ian, Generative-transformational, Case, Lexical,
functional..) 3. The relationship between linguistics and other disciplines; 4.
Major branches of "micro-linguistics" "(linguistics proper)", phonology,
morphology, syntax. and semantics.

Eng. 517 Structure of English 1 (2 Credit hrs.)

This course aims at providing a general introduction to English phonetics and
phonology. It deals with traditional and current views of English phonology
with special emphasis on the theory of distinctive features and generative
phonology.
Eng. 518 Structure of English 2 (2 Credit hrs.)
Fundamentals of morphological and syntactic analysis, the structure of English
morphology and English syntax (word formation, sentence, clause and phrase
types and structures) are the main focus of this course.

Eng. 519 Research Techniques (2 Credit hrs.)

This course is designed to acquaint the student with research techniques and to
clarify the relationship between the formulation and execution of a thesis and
research techniques used in the development of that thesis. The first part of the
course will involve training in research and active introduction to library
resources. The second part will concern itself with short papers that entail the
incorporation of research techniques. The texts used in the course will be
poems, essays and short stories.

Eng. 537 Chaucer (3 Credit hrs.)

Students in this course undertake an independent study of some short selected
poems, and read one of the poems aloud in middle English and translate it into
acceptable modern English.

Eng. 538 Renaissance or post- Renaissance poet (Milton) (3 Credit hrs.)

This course concentrates on Milton’s ‘Paradise Lost’, but introduces it with
analyses of ‘The Nativity Ode’, ‘Comus’, ‘Lycidas’, and some sonnets. Some
references will be made to ‘Areopagitica’. Background concepts like the great
chain of being will be discussed. Semester work will include at least two short
papers and a long paper on an aspect of Paradise Lost preceded by a class
presentation.

Eng. 541 Shakespeare 2 (3 Credit hrs.)

The students are required to read and watch dramatic production on tape of one
or two plays at least from each of the recognized sections of the Shakespeare
canon. Through a close reading in class of parts of the more important plays
they are helped to recognize the dramatic function of both verse and prose in
Shakespeare's plays.
Eng. 553 Practical Criticism (2 Credit hrs.)
This course lays down the basic background for reading critically. It acquaints
the student with different critical methods and critical terminology and tools
associated with each of them. Reading well-selected representative samples, the
student is expected to show competence in identifying the various critical
methods and benefiting from them in studying texts.

Eng. 586 History of Western Thought (2 Credit hrs.)

This course focuses on the development of Western thought as a context
necessary to a better understanding of Anglo-American literature. It particularly
sheds light on those aspects of Western thought most relevant to literature and
literary criticism.

Eng. 511 Modern Theories in Linguistics (3 Credit hrs.)

This course takes a look at traditional and current theories of language:
Structuralism, functional and Rank and Scale Grammar, Transformational –
Generative grammar, Government and Binding, Principles and parameters,
Head-Driven phrase Structure Grammar, Case Grammar, Lexical Functional
Grammar and the minimalist program.

Eng512 Translation (2 Credit hrs.)

This course has a theoretical component dealing with the history of the theory
of translation and some specific problems of literary translation. The practical,
which should be emphasized, deals with translating into English, selections of
creative material from various genres.

Eng. 515 Language Testing (2 Credit hrs.)

This course takes a look at types of language tests (achievement, proficiency,
aptitude, integrative, discrete point, communicative, etc.) Characteristics of a
good test (reliability, validity, discrimination) will be looked into from both the
theoretical and practical perspectives.

Eng. 518 Topics in Psycholinguistics (3 Credit hrs.)

This course aims at dealing with the major issues in psycholinguistics. These
issues include: language comprehension (construction, utilization, memory,
perception, inference), language production (plans, execution of plans),
meaning and thought (representation of meaning, uses, language and thought),
neurolinguistics, and communication disorders.

Eng. 520 Technology and Language Teaching (3 Credit hrs.)

This course aims at introducing students to technological aids to language
teaching: projectors, recorders (audio and video), language labs, television, and
computers. Methods of using these aids will be taught, and their potentials and
limitations will be discussed.

Eng. 521 Educational Linguistics (3 Credit hrs.)

The primary aim of this course is to introduce students to the various
techniques for teaching the four language skills, grammatical, and lexical
systems. Moreover, the techniques for teaching the cultural aspects of English
will be discussed.

Eng. 523 Contrastive and Error Analyses (3 Credit hrs.)

The course is intended to teach students the methods of both contrastive and
error analyses and their applications. Students are taught various techniques
and procedures of comparing the phonological, grammatical and lexical
systems of different languages, with a special emphasis on Arabic and English.
In the second part, the students are introduced to the concepts of "interlingua”,
errors, mistakes and their types and causes. Techniques and procedures of
collecting data, identification of errors, and their classification as well as
explanation will also be dealt with.

Eng. 524 Language Acquisition (3 Credit hrs.)

A survey of the major theories and research in first and second language
acquisition and their applications to language teaching are discussed.

Eng. 525 Bilingualism and Language (3 Credit hrs.)

This course deals with the notion of bilingualism in terms of the bilingual
individual and bilingual speech community, the study of the dichotomy of the
compound bilingual and the coordinate bilingual, the phenomenon of code-
switching, the notions of diglossia and the linguistic continuum, and the notions
of interlanguage and intralanguage.
Eng. 526 Trends in Educational Linguistics (3 Credit hrs.)
This course introduces students to various methods of foreign language
learning and teaching in use today. Recent trends and innovative approaches in
language teaching and their applications are presented.

Eng. 527 Research in Educational Linguistics (2 Credit hrs.)

The general aim of this course is to give the students the necessary knowledge
and skills for conducting research in educational linguistics. To achieve this
aim, the course will deal with the following general areas: (1) The concept of
research and its relationship to reasoning and science; (2) Modes of research
and the scientific methods; (3) Types of variables in research; (4) Elementary
descriptive and inferential statistics; (5) Measurements; (6) Writing a thesis; (7)
The use of computer in research; (8) Evaluating research.

Eng. 528 Language Teaching Materials (3 Credit hrs.)

This course aims at introducing the students to the principles and practices
involved in the preparation and evaluation of language teaching materials:
design, selection, gradation, presentation and evaluation.

Eng. 529 Discourse Analysis and Stylistics (3 Credit hrs.)

This course introduces the students to the fast growing research in the fields of
Discourse Analysis, including Pragmatics. Terms like discourse, text, register,
genre, and speech acts will be explained. The course includes pragmatics and
speech act theory, semantics, text linguistics, and ethnomethodology. Methods
of analyzing spoken and written discourse will be explored.

Eng. 530 Practicum (2 Credit hrs.)

This course is designed to give the students an opportunity to do some practical
work in the area of TEFL including critical observation, micro teaching and
practice teaching.

Eng. 535 Poetry 1 (3 Credit hrs.)

The aim of this course is to survey the development of Anglo-American poetry
from the Middle Ages to the contemporary period by examining representative
works by major poets. The generic continuity and development of poetry
provide a framework for the selection and discussion of poems, a process
conducted with a historical sense of the various factors at work in the history of
the genre.

Eng. 536 Poetry 2 (3 Credit hrs.)

This is a special topic course which takes a close look at certain issues, or
discusses the work of certain poets, in the Anglo-American poetic tradition.
The selection of the topics is preferably based on the needs of the students
taking the course and developing theses for their M.A. degrees.

Eng. 545 Drama 1 (3 Credit hrs.)

This course should include an advanced study of Shakespeare's dramatic work.
Students will have been exposed only to one Shakespeare course on the 400
level. They would be encouraged to read as many of Shakespeare's plays as
they possibly can. Much emphasis will be laid on the development of
Shakespeare 's art as a dramatists. Modern trends in both the study and
production of Shakespeare's plays should be emphasized.

Eng. 546 Drama 2 (3 Credit hrs.)

This is a special topic in the study of Drama. The course will be planned to suit
the needs of students choosing drama for their thesis topic. The range of choice
is unlimited and could offer special trends, special schools, influences from
drama in other languages, influences from other arts, etc.

Eng. 555 Novel 1 (3 Credit hrs.)

The Realistic tradition in the novel starts with the 18th century English novel
and proceeds to the great flourishing of the novel in the 19th century. Besides
the major English novelists, Austen, the Bronte’s, Eliot, Dickens, and Hardy,
French, Russian and American works should be included. The students
choosing this stream would have to do a lot of reading. They should be given
an adequate reading list before the term starts.

Eng. 556 Novel 2 (3 Credit hrs.)

This is a special topic in the study of the novel. The course will be planned to
suit the needs of students choosing to write their theses in this field. It could
involve choice from a number of topics: the experimental novel, narrative
techniques in the work of a particular author or a particular novelist, feminism
and the novel, the novel and other arts. The range of subjects is unlimited and
the choice depends on the special interests of students.

Eng. 561 Modern Schools of Criticism (2 Credit hrs.)

This course has two essential purposes: firstly to familiarize the students with
major developments in 20th century Anglo-American and European literary
criticism, and secondly, to develop the students' practical critical skills. The
course will focus on cultural, historical, psychological, ideological and formal
approaches to literature, touching on more recent developments such as
structuralism and deconstruction. It will also encourage the students to pay
close attention to the methods a particular critic develops her or his argument,
how he/she reaches conclusions about a literary work, either complete or
partial.

Eng. 563 Renaissance and 17th Century Literature (3 Credit hrs.)

This is the first of three survey courses covering English literature from the
Renaissance to the present. This course moves from Thomas Moore to John
Dryden. Following the movement from Renaissance to Seventeenth Century to
Restoration Literature, the course emphasizes central philosophical trends,
historical events, social structures and their change in order to enable the
students to relate individual works to a coherent context and background. Major
writers such as Spencer, Milton, Donne and Dryden are taught side by side with
minor figures such as Daniel, Drayton, Herrick and Butler, in the process of
building up a comprehensive portrait of these interlocked periods.

Eng. 570 American Literature (3 Credit hrs.)

This is a survey course of American literature at an advanced level. It aims at
introducing the student to the major authors, works, and trends in the various
genres and consecutive periods. Special emphasis is given to major
representative works from the colonial, eighteenth, nineteenth, and modern
periods.

Eng. 574 American Literature 1 (3 Credit hrs.)

"The American Tradition" is what this course delineates by examining major
literary works from the various periods and trends of American literature. At
the heart of the tradition are the distinctive qualities derived from the American
cultural, geographical and historical experience, and reflected in the work of
writers such as Emerson, Melville, Twain, Stevens, and Faulkner. Selected
writings by authors such as these will familiarize the student with the
"Americanness" of American literature.

Eng. 575 American Literature 2 (3 Credit hrs.)

This is a special topic course in American literature tailored as far as possible to
the students needs. The course focuses on the work of a certain author, a group
of authors or an issue of particular significance, which should help the
student(s) arrive at a better understanding of American literature and possibly
formulate an M.A. thesis.

Eng. 581 Comparative Literature (3 Credit hrs.)

The first course in Comparative Literature should start with a systematic
introduction to the traditional areas and methods of comparative literary studies
and with a discussion of contemporary theories of literature. The students must
be aware of the various dimensions of comparative studies: East/West,
Classical /Modern and of the different approaches through genre, form,
movements and influences. The relations between Arabic and European
literature should be included.

Eng. 582 Comparative Literature 1 (3 Credit Hours)

This involves a detailed study of cultural influences between East and West
including: (1) The rise and development of Orientalist studies; (2) the tradition
of Oriental (particularly Arabic) texts into European languages; (3) the
influence of such translations on Western literature; (4) translations from
European languages into Arabic; and (5) foreign influences on Modern
literature.

Eng. 583 Comparative Literature 2 (3 Credit hrs.)

This is a special topic course in Comparative Literature designed according to
students' interests. It may include advanced application of comparative
analysis, or discussion of theoretical issues.
Eng. 591 Classical Heritage (3 Credit hrs.)
This course is designed to familiarize students with prominent works of
Classical Greek and Roman authors who have exerted a continuous influence
upon subsequent world literature. Beginning with a survey of the distinctive
characteristics of Greek and Latin literature as well as the social and intellectual
history of the Classical Age, the course will proceed to the study of specific
representative literary texts. The latter are selected to provide an understanding
of the ways English literature, since the High Middle Ages, has drawn upon the
classical heritage.

Eng. 592 18th Century and Romantic Literature (3 Credit hrs.)

This is the second survey course. It surveys the major figures, genres, and
trends of Neo-classical and Romantic literatures. Emphasis will be given to the
important changes in literary sensibility.

Eng. 593 Victorian and Modern Literature (3 Credit hrs.)

This is the third survey course. It surveys Victorian and Modern Literature
(English and American) excluding the novel. Emphasis is laid on the
transitional changes leading to the emergence of the Modern period.

Eng. 597 Seminar in Applied Linguistics (3 Credit hrs.)

In the seminar various topics in applied linguistics are chosen by the class and
/or assigned by the professor, researched by the students and discussed in class.

Eng. 600
Thesis