English Learning Center

English Language Center

The English Language Center (ELC) has been established within BUC since 2018. It also works in close cooperation with the various departments and colleges of the University to encourage students to develop their English language skills. These skills support their academic and professional life. The Center offers several English courses for general, academic, and special purposes in addition to a range of elective courses. These courses meet the needs of university students in different disciplines and colleges, as well as other courses and training courses that serve faculty and community members.

The Language Center is wheelchair accessible.

Location

Basement level of the Administrative Building.

Hours of Operation

Saturdays-Thursdays 8:30 am-5:00 pm

Vision

The ELC vision is to push the boundaries of limitations and exceed in providing high-quality English Language programs to various Faculties at BUC.

Mission

The ELC mission is to prepare the University students to undertake English-medium instruction in their relevant fields of study. Also, it aims at helping students use English as an effective means of communication in their prospective endeavors; promoting, encouraging, and supporting language learning for personal, academic, and professional purposes.

Goals

Preparing students to undertake their studies through English-medium instruction in their disciplines.
Providing credit English courses to those enrolled in theoretical faculties.
Establishing the cornerstone for the unified EAP and ESP courses for all students across the University Faculties.
Conducting academic research in areas related to English language teaching and learning.
Providing high-quality learning resources both physical and virtual, in a wide range of languages.
Collaborating and sharing expertise with other language learning providers within the University and in other organizations nationally and internationally.

Rules & Regulations

Dear students, please read the following rules and regulations mindfully to get familiar with the Language Center standards.

All classes are two hours long, and they run once a week. The morning classes are from 9:00 to 11:00 a.m., the noon classes are from 12:00 to 2:00, and the afternoon classes are from 2:00 to 4:00.
You are obliged to attend in the group assigned to you when registering on the student portal in the LC.
Attendance will be counted starting Day One of the course beginning.
It is important that you hear your name called by your teacher at the beginning of each class, and that you answer back “Present” in a clear and loud voice so that your teacher can mark you as present. The same applies when the follow-up department representative checks the students’ presence.
A first warning will be issued when you are absent for 2 classes.
A second warning will be issued if you are absent for 3 classes.
A denial (DN) will be issued if your absence exceeds 6 classes, i.e. 7 classes and above, resulting in not allowing you to sit for the final exam.
It is important for you to check the university website to check messages of warnings and DNs.

You are neither allowed to skip the class nor leave in the middle of it for the sake of any other lecture since all English classes are synchronized with the other classes in all departments.
If you are a graduating student or taking English (repeating the course) at a later term than your fellow students, then you will need to coordinate your class schedule with the Director of the ELC. In case the conflict cannot be resolved, you will be advised to consider your enrollment in the course based on your priorities.
You will not be allowed early leaves unless it is an emergency. All emergency leaves need to be approved first by the Director of the ELC.
You will be excused for your absence only in case of presenting a written medical excuse from the university clinic. All medical excuses are approved by the University clinic. Otherwise, you may be subject to receiving a warning.
You will also be excused for your absence in case you are traveling abroad if your request is approved by the Vice President for Student Affairs. However, you will first need to present your passport to prove your departure and arrival date through your faculty.

If you encounter a problem in the classroom, which may affect your learning performance, kindly communicate your complaint to your teacher to overcome it rapidly and continue learning with a restored fine performance.
If you would like to make a complaint (or even a suggestion to improve your class or the like) anonymously, you can write it down on a piece of paper and place it inside the LC Suggestion / Complaint Box.
In case of urgent or imminent complaints that your teacher could not give aid about, you are entitled to make a complaint to the Admin and in case it was not resolved, you may approach the Director of the LC, whether orally or even better in a written form in Arabic or English. However, after delivering your complaint, you will have to await the response on the date and time given to you.

You are expected to be in class on time (i.e. at 9:00 a.m. for morning classes, 12:00 a.m. for the noon classes, or 2:00 p.m. for the afternoon ones).
If you are beyond 15 minutes late (+9:15 a.m., +12:15), you will be counted absent and will not be allowed to attend the session.
If you leave any time before the session ends, you will be counted absent.
If you are counted absent on the session of your test/quiz day, you will not be allowed to take your test/quiz.
Students who miss the test/quiz cannot have a makeup unless there is a written excuse approved by the university. All makeup tests/quizzes will be conducted at the end of the semester.
All answers should be in either a blue or black pen. No pencil should be used.
Students are not allowed to leave before half the time of the test/quiz is over.

You are strictly prohibited from smoking inside both the classroom and the ELC floor.
You are not allowed to eat or to drink any beverages, except for water, inside the classroom during lecture time.
You are held accountable for the cleanliness of your desk and classroom, notably if you eat or drink in the classroom during break time.
You are to switch your mobile phone off or to silent mode during lecture time. In case of emergencies, you can use it outside the classroom only with permission from the teacher.
Any misconduct or immoral behavior will be met with an appropriate penalty by the ELC management.

In 2019, BUC announced its partnership with America-Mideast Educational and Training Services, Inc. (AMIDEAST) Egypt resulting in raising the benchmark for its admission against international standards. AMIDEAST, the exclusive provider of ETS assessment in the MENA region, is a private American non-profit organization engaged in international education, training, and development assistance. BUC is proud to make use of AMIDEAST expertise to provide the TOEIC Bridge and the TOEIC Exam for all university graduates.

Attendance

All classes are two hours long, and they run once a week. The morning classes are from 9:00 to 11:00 a.m., the noon classes are from 12:00 to 2:00, and the afternoon classes are from 2:00 to 4:00.
You are obliged to attend in the group assigned to you when registering on the student portal in the LC.
Attendance will be counted starting Day One of the course beginning.
It is important that you hear your name called by your teacher at the beginning of each class, and that you answer back “Present” in a clear and loud voice so that your teacher can mark you as present. The same applies when the follow-up department representative checks the students’ presence.
A first warning will be issued when you are absent for 2 classes.
A second warning will be issued if you are absent for 3 classes.
A denial (DN) will be issued if your absence exceeds 6 classes, i.e. 7 classes and above, resulting in not allowing you to sit for the final exam.
It is important for you to check the university website to check messages of warnings and DNs.

Excuses

You are neither allowed to skip the class nor leave in the middle of it for the sake of any other lecture since all English classes are synchronized with the other classes in all departments.
If you are a graduating student or taking English (repeating the course) at a later term than your fellow students, then you will need to coordinate your class schedule with the Director of the ELC. In case the conflict cannot be resolved, you will be advised to consider your enrollment in the course based on your priorities.
You will not be allowed early leaves unless it is an emergency. All emergency leaves need to be approved first by the Director of the ELC.
You will be excused for your absence only in case of presenting a written medical excuse from the university clinic. All medical excuses are approved by the University clinic. Otherwise, you may be subject to receiving a warning.
You will also be excused for your absence in case you are traveling abroad if your request is approved by the Vice President for Student Affairs. However, you will first need to present your passport to prove your departure and arrival date through your faculty.

Complaints

If you encounter a problem in the classroom, which may affect your learning performance, kindly communicate your complaint to your teacher to overcome it rapidly and continue learning with a restored fine performance.
If you would like to make a complaint (or even a suggestion to improve your class or the like) anonymously, you can write it down on a piece of paper and place it inside the LC Suggestion / Complaint Box.
In case of urgent or imminent complaints that your teacher could not give aid about, you are entitled to make a complaint to the Admin and in case it was not resolved, you may approach the Director of the LC, whether orally or even better in a written form in Arabic or English. However, after delivering your complaint, you will have to await the response on the date and time given to you.

Punctuality

You are expected to be in class on time (i.e. at 9:00 a.m. for morning classes, 12:00 a.m. for the noon classes, or 2:00 p.m. for the afternoon ones).
If you are beyond 15 minutes late (+9:15 a.m., +12:15), you will be counted absent and will not be allowed to attend the session.
If you leave any time before the session ends, you will be counted absent.
If you are counted absent on the session of your test/quiz day, you will not be allowed to take your test/quiz.
Students who miss the test/quiz cannot have a makeup unless there is a written excuse approved by the university. All makeup tests/quizzes will be conducted at the end of the semester.
All answers should be in either a blue or black pen. No pencil should be used.
Students are not allowed to leave before half the time of the test/quiz is over.

Code of Conduct & Ethics

You are strictly prohibited from smoking inside both the classroom and the ELC floor.
You are not allowed to eat or to drink any beverages, except for water, inside the classroom during lecture time.
You are held accountable for the cleanliness of your desk and classroom, notably if you eat or drink in the classroom during break time.
You are to switch your mobile phone off or to silent mode during lecture time. In case of emergencies, you can use it outside the classroom only with permission from the teacher.
Any misconduct or immoral behavior will be met with an appropriate penalty by the ELC management.

Partnerships

FAQs

No, the ELC does not award course credit. Since there are no associated course numbers for such classes, there is no way to award credit. If you score well enough on the exam (that is, your proficiency level meets or exceeds that required by your college or school), the LC will request a waiver of your foreign language requirement from your college or school.

If you achieved a high score that is higher than the 11 courses that we offer at the language center, you can get a language waiver however you still need to sit for an Exit TOEIC Exam before graduation.

The LC does not have practice exams or test preparation materials. The best way to prepare is to practice your reading, listening, and speaking of the language.

You will take your exam at the ELC Laboratory, which is located at Rm# 013 & 014 in the basement of the Administrative Building. We will work with you to arrange a day and time during our office hours for you to take the exam.

The time for tests depends on the source of the test. You are allowed up to 2 hours for the TOEIC Bridge Entry Exam.

The amount of time varies substantially depending on the test vendor. The entire process can take up to a week for online tests’ results.

No, you can’t retake a language exam.

If you have read and reviewed these FAQs, but you still have questions, please feel free to contact us at info@buc.edu.eg or by phone at 19592 Ext. 1123.