Prof. Mahmud Wardat
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Virginia-Yarmouk Arabic Program
Arabic as a Foreign Language (AFL) Program
The Language Center was established in 1979 and is one of the largest centers in the university. Every semester the center serves nearly six thousand students from various disciplines with the aim to improve the performance of students in the basic English skills. The center teaches three courses in the English language which are compulsory for the undergraduate level. Students may be exempted from one or two of them based on their scores in the placement test. All exams for the university compulsory courses are computerized to ensure rapid feedback and strict neutrality in the measurement of student performance and evaluation of their achievement. The Language Center also offers remedial courses for students who need training in the university requirements taught at the center.
Additional training is offered in collaboration with the Queen Rania Center for Jordanian Studies and Community Service for all interested in building skills for the local and international TOEFL tests. Skilled and experienced instructors teach these TOEFL courses serving not only the local community, but also the governmental and private sectors. The Yarmouk Language Center is also one of the certified national centers for executing the local TOEFL examination which is a requirement for admission into graduate studies programs in Jordan. These exams are directly supervised by the Educational Testing Services (ETS).
Since the beginning of the 1980s, the Language Center offers a program of Arabic as a foreign language in addition to Arabic for special purposes. The university has agreements with several international public and private institutions for teaching Arabic as a foreign language. One of the oldest Arabic-language programs for foreigners in Jordan is the Yarmouk-Virginia program which has served international students for over twenty-six years. There are other collaborations in this respect with international Universities like Minnesota and Richmond, Mississippi, Texas El-Paso, a number of European universities, Malaysian, Korean, Turkish, and Taiwanese universities, Embassies, and Diplomatic Missions. The Language Centre aspires to develop the Arabic as a Foreign Language Program and to expand its relations with local and international universities. It is also dedicated to strengthen its role and intensify its activities that are consistent with the goals and philosophy of the university.