UoB’s College of Arts to Increase English Content in Its Curricula and Programs A Plan to Double Research, Improve Its Quality, And Develop Scientific Journals

Sakhir – University of Bahrain (Ali Al-Sabbaq)

The Dean of the College of Arts at the University, Dr. Abdulaziz Mohammed Bulaila, announced that the College intends to continue increasing the content taught in English in its University curricula, indicating that in some programs the percentage of content taught in English may rise to about 80%.

Dr. Bulaila noted that the prestigious College – which was founded 45 years ago – now has a culture of quality, and its students achieve high levels of performance and academic achievement, as evidenced by the awards and advanced positions it receives locally and internationally every year.

Moreover, he stated that the committees at the College are studying several programs to be proposed, after completing official approvals, and are developing current programs to keep pace with scientific and technical developments and the requirements of local and global labor markets.

 

Benefitting From the British Academic Accreditation Experience

The Dean of the College of Arts at the University explained that the College is well-prepared for the review cycle for academic programs that began in October by the Education and Training Quality Authority, by providing all files and projects, in accordance with the standards and procedures required by the Authority and approved by the University, indicating that the scientific committees in the College are working in full swing in cooperation with all concerned employers and external partners.

He stressed that the College has developed its structures, capabilities, and work system, especially after going through the British academic accreditation experience. As last year the College obtained the international accreditation certificate from the British Accreditation Service for International Colleges (ASIC), achieving the highest classification of the “Premier Institution” for 4 years, having met all approved quality and evaluation standards.

The College of Arts is one of the oldest colleges at the University, dating back to the year 1978, when the University College of Science, Arts and Education was established.

 

Quality Has Become a Culture and a Practice in the College

 

Dr. Bulaila stated that, “Quality has become a culture and practice in the College of Arts, compared to the first review cycle that took place in 2017,” stressing that this “had a positive impact on the levels of students and the excellence rates of graduates in the College”, and noting that “the College of Arts graduates a great percentage of students.”.

Furthermore, he explained that the College has put a lot of work into developing the faculty members and administrative staff, pointing out that the process of developing teaching methods and administrative and educational skills is ongoing, and does not stop at a certain level.

Regarding the College’s priorities in the new academic year, the Dean emphasized that one of the key priorities is linking academic programs to the requirements of the labor market, and providing students with the necessary skills that help them engage in the market and make them the first and best choice for employers.

The College of Arts takes second place amongst colleges in terms of the number of students after the College of Business Administration, as it includes about 5,500 students in 12 academic programs, at both the undergraduate and postgraduate levels.

 

Increasing the Content of Curricula Taught in English

Regarding the implementation of the recommendations related to increasing the amount of English content in the curricula, he said: “We have increased the content of the curricula offered in the English language in several programs, including, for example, the curricula of the Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Media and Communication, the Bachelor’s in Tourism, and the Bachelor’s in History,” noting that there are plans to increase content taught in English in some courses to exceed 50%, while in other programs it may reach 80%.

As to whether the College plans to offer new programs, the Dean confirmed that the College is keen to review and develop all its programs, and at the same time it is constantly working to introduce new programs according to scientific and market developments.

In addition, he pointed to a new initiative to study the development of an integrated program for teaching the Arabic language to non-native speakers, at different levels, similar to the foreign language teaching programs approved in the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages.

In addition, Dr. Abdulaziz Mohammed Bulaila mentioned that the College considers scientific research, revitalizing it, and increasing production in it a priority. He also revealed that there is a plan to double the number of published research, improve its quality, and develop peer-reviewed scientific journals in the College, as the College publishes the Journal of Human Sciences and the Journal of Educational and Psychological Sciences.

The College of Arts offers 12 academic programs at the undergraduate level (Bachelor’s) and postgraduate studies (Higher Diploma and Master’s), through five academic departments: Arabic Language and Islamic Studies, English Language and Literature, Social Sciences, Media, Tourism and Arts, and Psychology.