English Programs for New Students

ENGLISH CLASS REQUIREMENT FOR UNDERGRADUATE INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS

To ensure that new international undergraduate students have the greatest chance of success at UA, the scores of students who meet admission minimum scores on IELTS, TOEFL, Duolingo, PTE, or another accepted English proficiency test will be analyzed further.

Those students not meeting the Duolingo cutoff score or those students with low sub-scores on the TOEFL iBT, TOEFL Essentials, IELTS, or PTE will be required to enroll in one or two English language support courses in their first semester of study, depending on the score descriptions below.  These English language support courses are administered by the English Language Institute (ELI).

Who Is Required to Enroll in English Courses?
You must enroll in the Undergraduate Academic Writing course (ELC111) in addition to your other undergraduate courses, if your English Test Scores for admission are as follows:

  • TOEFL iBT Writing sub-score is 17 or lower;
  • TOEFL Essentials Writing 8.0 or lower;
  • IELTS Writing sub-score is 5.5 or lower
  • PTE Writing sub-score is 50 or lower
  • Overall Duolingo (DET) Score is 120 or lower

NOTE: Enrollment in the Academic Writing course will count toward your overall minimum full-time enrollment requirement and carries 3 hours of academic credit.

You must enroll in the Undergraduate Academic Speaking course (ELC 110) in addition to your other undergraduate courses, if your English Test Scores for admission are as follows:

  • TOEFL iBT Speaking sub-score is 17 or lower;
  • TOEFL Essentials Speaking is 6.0 or lower;
  • IELTS Speaking sub-score is 5.5 or lower
  • PTE Speaking sub-score is 50 or lower
  • Overall Duolingo (DET) Score is 120 or lower

NOTE: Enrollment in the Undergraduate Academic Speaking course will count toward your overall minimum full-time enrollment requirement and carries 3 hours of academic credit.

 

Exemptions from the ELC 110 and ELC 111 English Course Requirements

  • You are exempt from the Undergraduate Academic Writing (ELC 111) course requirement if:
    1. your Writing sub-score is 18 or higher on the TOEFL iBT, or
    2. your Writing sub-score is 8.5 or higher on the TOEFL Essentials, or
    3. your Writing sub-score is 6.0 or higher on the IELTS, or
    4. your Writing sub-score  is 51 or higher on the PTE, or
    5. your Duolingo overall score is 120 or higher on the new DET scale for tests taken after July 15, 2019, or
    6. you have completed ELI Reading/Writing 6.
  • You are exempt from the Undergraduate Academic Speaking (ELC 110) course requirement if:
    1. your Speaking sub-score is 18 or higher on the TOEFL iBT, or
    2. your Speaking sub-score is 6.5 or higher on the TOEFL Essentials, or
    3. your Speaking sub score is 6.0 or higher on the IELTS, or
    4. your Speaking sub-score  is 51 or higher on the PTE, or
    5. your Duolingo overall score is 120 or higher on the new DET scale for tests taken after July 15, 2019, or
    6. you have completed ELI Speaking/Listening 6
  • You are exempt from both the Undergraduate Academic Writing (ELC 111) and Undergraduate Academic Speaking (ELC 110) course requirements if you have an ELI Proficiency Certificate or if you were admitted to UA with an English proficiency waiver.

Students who are required to enroll in either Undergraduate Academic Writing (ELC 111) or Undergraduate Academic Speaking (ELC 110) courses must complete this coursework in their first year of attendance and must complete all coursework prior to enrolling in EN 120/121.

Students will be notified during Bama Bound Advising if they must enroll in either Undergraduate Academic Writing (ELC 111) or Undergraduate Academic Writing (ELC 111) and will be able to register for ELC 111/110 instead of of EN 120/121.

INTERNATIONAL TEACHING ASSISTANT PROGRAM (ITAP)

INTERNATIONAL TEACHING ASSISTANT PROGRAM (ITAP) – For Graduate Teaching Assistants Only 
At  The University of Alabama, the International Teaching Assistant Program (ITAP) is administered by the English Language Institute (ELI), 101 B.B. Comer Hall.  The purpose of the ITAP program is to train, evaluate and screen international graduate teaching assistants whose native  language is not English. UA requires all non-native English speaking graduate students who accept classroom teaching or other instructional duties to successfully complete ITAP. Students need to be registered for ITAP by their departments.