Gülşah Kırşan
Division Coordinator
English Preparatory Program aims at improving English language skills of students at English-medium departments and enabling them to use English at advanced levels in their future studies.
Mission:
The Istinye University English Preparatory Program aspires to offer quality English language education in Turkey by providing a well-rounded curriculum to help EFL speakers reach competent levels in academic English as well as develop the skills needed to succeed in their English medium instructed departments. In addition, the program strives to offer a positive work environment where all its faculty feel they can contribute knowledge while also utilizing the latest global research and up-to-date theories in the area of English language teaching.
date theories in the area of English language teaching.
Education:
Content-Based English, Academic English and General English courses are offered in English Preparatory Program.
Content-Based English:
Content-based language education courses focus on occupational topics and academic subjects students will perform at. This education provides you with the major language skills and content you will need both during your university life and after graduation. As a necessity of our approach and language education philosophy, Content-based course materials for each department and faculty are produced, developed and used by Foreign Language Education Department.
ISU Foreign Languages Department is the FIRST and ONLY department in Turkey to adopt this educational approach, to develop and apply their own language course materials.
Academic English Skills:
This course covers skills you will need in your academic studies such as academic reading, writing articles, literature review and presentations. Some of the materials used in this course are prepared by Foreign Languages Department while some are selected from a range of books widely known to be successful and quality around the world.
General English:
This course covers language content and skills you will need in daily life and international communication. Materials are selected from the books by internationally well-known and successful publishers.
Educational process:
In the English Preparatory Program, level-based English education is offered. For students who begin at the Mid level or above, the duration of the program is 2 semesters, that is, one academic year. For students who begin at the basic level, the duration is 3 semesters, and the summer term is compulsory for these students.
Before classes start, on the announced date, the English Placement Test is administered by the Department of Foreign Languages. Students are placed into classes suitable for their level. Students who do not take the English Placement Test are considered to be at level A1 and receive instruction at this level.
Level Education
Each level consists of 14 weeks of instruction. During this 14-week period, our students are evaluated according to the following assessment system.
Formative Assessment:
- 2 Content-Based Exams – 10% each
- 2 Quarter Exams – 15% each
Alternative Assessment:
- Vocabulary Assignments – 10%
- Skills Development Assignments – 20%
- Online Assignments – 10%
- Class Participation – 10%
EVALUATION CRITERIA
This type of assessment consists of two types of exams. One is the Content-Based Exam (CBE), which evaluates content-focused learning; the other is the Quarter Exam, which evaluates students’ academic English skills. These exams are administered twice during the semester: once in the middle of the level instruction and once at the end.
Attendance – students must not miss more than 25% of their classes in order to pass a level. All students are responsible for keeping track of their own attendance. You can check on your attendance through our OIS system, but don’t rely solely on this information because it may not be up to date at the time you check. If a student misses more than 25% of their classes, they will need to repeat the level and, in the case of High & Proficiency Levels it will result in ineligibility to take the ISTEP exam
- Class admission: It is important to remember that if you are more than 10 minutes late to the first class or you do not stay till the end, you will be marked absent for that class.
- Excuses for missing class: Medical excuses, health reports, family issues or part-time jobs are accepted within 25% absenteeism limit. For serious chronic diseases and death of a parent or sibling, please see the department head.
Skills Extension Tasks – students of each level are given weekly homework to practice their language skills. Here are descriptions of each task, who they are for, and how they affect your overall grade:
- Skills Extension Tasks– Basic/Mid (20%): Each week students are assigned an article to read or an audio track to listen to, then they answer questions based on this input. In addition to listening and reading tasks, students are given a writing prompt to write a paragraph about (around 150 words). Students turn in a first draft of their paragraph to receive feedback from their teachers and then, after making the suggested changes, submit a second draft to be evaluated and graded.
- Skills Extension Tasks - High/Proficiency (20%): Each week students are assigned an article to read or an audio track to listen to, then they answer questions based on this input. In addition to listening and reading tasks, students are expected to write a well-organized essay to discuss a given topic (around 300 words). Students turn in a first draft of their essay to receive feedback from their teachers and then, after making the suggested changes, submit a second draft to be evaluated and graded.
Vocabulary Tasks – All levels (10%): Each week students are assigned vocabulary tasks as a chance to practice the vocabulary learned in that week’s lessons.
Online Homework – Each week students are assigned online homework in the following platforms as a way to practice and improve the skills they have learned that week.
- Cambridge One – all levels (5%): CambridgeOne is an online assignment platform where students complete exercises related to their Grammar and Beyond, Unlock, Evolve, and Empower books. The site can be accessed at www.cambridgeone.org with a username and password provided to students at the beginning of the semester. Students are expected to complete the exercises of the units that are covered during the week until Sunday midnight of each week.
- Rootangle – all levels (5%): Rootangle is an online platform which provides students weekly academic articles based on their levels and weekly topics they cover in class. Students are expected to read the assigned articles and complete the pre- and post-reading activities. Basic, Mid ,and High levels are assigned 3 articles each week while the Proficiency level needs to complete 4 articles.
Class Participation (10%) – Showing up to class is only half the battle when trying to learn a new language. If you do not use the language you are learning and interact with the teacher and other students, learning a language can be more difficult. Students are expected to actively participate in their classes to get the most benefit and this comprises 10% of their final grade. Active participation increases the chances that you will remember and be able to use your newly acquired language skills.
English Proficiency Exam (ISTEP)
English Proficiency Exam (ISTEP)
İstinye University Test of English Proficiency (ISTEP) is administered four times in an academic year: in October, January, June, and August.
At the beginning of the semester in October, only students who score 70 or above on the English Placement Test (administered two days earlier) are eligible to take ISTEP. Students who score below 70 may not sit for the exam.
Students may take the ISTEP in January, June, or August if they have successfully completed level B2 or advanced beyond B2. Before each exam, a list of eligible students is published.
Students who score 60 or above on ISTEP are considered to have successfully completed the Preparatory Program. Those scoring below 60 cannot begin their departmental studies; they must take the next ISTEP and pass.
The ISTEP consists of Listening, Reading, and Writing sections:
- Listening (1 section):
Selective Listening: Students first see the questions and then answer them while simultaneously listening to an academic lecture. - Reading (1 section):
Reading 1: Students are given an academic reading passage of about 1,000 words and corresponding questions. They are expected to carefully read the text and answer the questions within 40 minutes. - Writing (1 section):
Students are required to write one essay of 250–300 words. The total time allowed is 40 minutes.
Evaluation: Each section is graded out of 100 points. The weighting is as follows: Listening 30%, Reading 30%, Writing 40%. The passing grade is 60.
Other Exams Accepted for Exemption
Students who submit the required official score reports from the internationally recognized exams listed below, by the announced deadline, are exempt from both the English Preparatory Program and the Erasmus English Proficiency Exam. Documents submitted after the deadline are not accepted.
The validity period of these score reports is 2 years. Expired documents are not accepted.
Note: For Erasmus English Proficiency Exam exemption, students submitting one of the valid certificates listed below are automatically granted a full score (100).
Students may be exempt from ISTEP and the English Preparatory Program by submitting official scores from:
- TOEFL (TOEFL iBT or TOEFL iBT Special Home Edition)
- IELTS Academic
- PTE Academic
- LanguageCert Academic
- CPE (C2 Proficiency)
- CAE (C1 Advanced)
- Oxford Test of English / Advanced
- Linguaskill General
- e-TEP
Students who successfully submit valid scores and are granted exemption will be announced weekly on the university website. The detailed requirements for each exam are as follows:
- TOEFL iBT: Minimum score 75. Scores must be sent directly via ETS to Istinye University, Department of Foreign Languages (reporting code: C821). Unofficial score copies (Test Taker Score Report, PDFs, emails, etc.) are not accepted.
- IELTS Academic: Minimum score 6.0. For verification, students must send their TRF (Test Report Form) number to foreignlanguages@istinye.edu.tr. Unofficial score copies are not accepted.
- PTE Academic: Minimum score 55. Students must send their Score Report Code to foreignlanguages@istinye.edu.tr. Unofficial score copies are not accepted.
- LanguageCert Academic: Minimum score 60. Students must send their certificate number to foreignlanguages@istinye.edu.tr. Unofficial score copies are not accepted.
- CAE (C1 Advanced) & CPE (C2 Proficiency): Minimum grade B for CAE and C for CPE. Score reports must be emailed to foreignlanguages@istinye.edu.tr. Unofficial score copies are not accepted.
- Oxford Test of English / Advanced: Minimum score 110. Score reports must be emailed to foreignlanguages@istinye.edu.tr. Unofficial score copies are not accepted.
- Linguaskill General: Minimum score 150. Score reports must be emailed to foreignlanguages@istinye.edu.tr. Unofficial score copies are not accepted.
- e-TEP: Minimum score 75. Score reports must be emailed to foreignlanguages@istinye.edu.tr. Unofficial score copies are not accepted.
English Medium High Schools
Students who graduated from a high school where the medium of instruction is 100% English (local or international) and can document this with a transcript or other official proof are also exempt from the English Preparatory Program. These students are not required to submit a test score. The certificate must be presented to the Student Registration Office at enrollment. (Note: Merely having taken English courses or having partial English-medium education does not grant exemption.)