UGA Intensive English Program

Mission Statement

The mission of the UGA Intensive English Program (IEP) is to offer engaging, supportive, and rigorous language instruction to help speakers of English as a foreign language improve their English proficiency, gain cultural knowledge and understanding, and obtain practical communication skills for a variety of social situations.

Our student-centered courses are designed to help students develop the English proficiency and cultural competencies they need to participate in everyday, academic, and professional conversations, enter and succeed in American universities and colleges, effectively position themselves on the American job market or take the next steps in their professional careers.

All courses use an integrated approach to second language learning where students can learn new vocabulary and grammar while practicing their listening, speaking, and writing skills at the same time.

Program Information

The IEP offers courses at the UGA Gwinnett Campus in addition to the courses offered at the UGA Main Campus in Athens. To find more information about our program in Athens, visit the IEP homepage.

The IEP will offer 5 course sessions each academic year beginning in August (Fall I), October (Fall II), January (Spring I), March (Spring II), and June (Summer).

Each regular course session is 7.5 weeks long.

Program Dates

* It is possible to join a course after it has already started.

** Depending on the course; see information below.

Courses

English for Academic and Professional Purposes

This course offers 8 hours of instruction per week on the advanced level of English proficiency. It focuses on developing students’ abilities to read and write academic and professional texts in English, but students will also practice their listening and speaking skills.

• Course Dates
  • Spring I: January 8 – February 27
  • Spring II: March 18 – May 9
• Class days and times (in Spring):
  • Mondays, 10:00am – 12:45pm (in-person); 15 min break
  • Wednesdays, 5:30 – 7:20pm (on Zoom); 10 min break
  • Saturdays, 10:00am – 12:45pm (in-person); 15 min break
• Classroom: UGA Gwinnett Campus, Room 134

If there is sufficient demand, the course or additional sections of the course could be offered at different days and times in the future.

The course content includes:

• Academic reading
  • Practice academic reading strategies
  • Read research literature in students’ specific fields of study
  • Learn about general & field-specific structure, reading & interpretation approaches, etc.
•  Academic writing
  • Learn how to write an application for Graduate School including Statement of Purpose and CV/resume
  • Practice how to plan, structure, and write seminar papers, a thesis, a dissertation, and research articles (Funnel: general-to-specific organization, IMRD structure, etc.)
  • Practice the use of grammar for academic writing (preferred sentence structure, logical constructions, etc.)
  • Learn how to use appropriate academic language and style (language of critique, strength of claim, flow, word choice, etc.)
•  Academic integrity
  • Practice correct use of primary and secondary sources (citation, paraphrasing, bibliography, field-specific citation & formatting styles)
  • Learn about the standards of academic research
  • Practice identifying and avoiding plagiarism and unauthorized assistance

English for Everyday Use

IMPORTANT:This course will only be offered if a sufficient number of students apply.

This course offers 8 hours of instruction per week on the high-beginner to intermediate level of English proficiency and is taught online. It focuses on developing students’ abilities to listen to and understand spoken English and speak, read, and write in English in everyday social and work situations.

• Course Dates
  • Spring: February 5 – May 9
  • Because the course is longer than 7.5 weeks, the tuition cost will be calculated accordingly for 14 weeks of class
• Class days and times (tentative; can be adjusted to students’ needs):
  • Mondays through Thursdays, 10:00 – 11:50am (on Zoom); 10 min break
• Classroom: Zoom

If there is sufficient demand, the course or additional sections of the course could be offered at different days and times in the future.

The course content includes:

• Vocabulary and grammar
  • Expand vocabulary for various social life and work situations
  • Study grammar to express thoughts, ideas, and information on everyday and work-related topics
•  Listening and speaking
  • Practice listening and speaking abilities in everyday, social life- or work-related conversations
  • Practice the use of conversation strategies, such as clarifying a request for information, catching up, apologizing, getting attention, declining politely, etc.
  • Practice clear pronunciation with a focus on reductions and stress
•  Reading and writing
  • Read non-academic texts for general understanding, vocabulary reinforcement, identification of main ideas and supporting details, and understanding from context
  • Practice the writing of short texts of daily communication, such as text messages and emails
  • Write 1-2 paragraph compositions to express thoughts and opinions on various everyday topics and to practice and demonstrate understanding of vocabulary, grammatical structures, and basic writing skills, such as parallel structure, avoidance of run-on sentences and fragments, creating topic sentences, and providing supporting details

TOEFL Preparation Course

IMPORTANT:This course will only be offered if a sufficient number of students apply.

This course offers 8 hours of instruction per week on the intermediate to advanced level of English proficiency and is taught in-person and online (hybrid). It focuses on developing students’ abilities to read, listen, speak, and write in English with the specific focus on preparing students to pass the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL).

• Course Dates
  • Spring: February 5 – May 9
  • Because the course is longer than 7.5 weeks, the tuition cost will be calculated accordingly for 14 weeks of class
• Class days and times (tentative; can be adjusted according to students’ needs):
  • Mondays, 5:00 – 6:50pm (in-person); 10 min break
  • Tuesdays, 5:00 – 6:50pm (on Zoom); 10 min break
  • Wednesdays, 5:00 – 6:50pm (on Zoom); 10 min break
  • Thursdays, 2:00 – 3:50pm (in-person); 10 min break
• Classroom: UGA Gwinnett Campus & Zoom

The course could be offered entirely online if they majority of students prefer.

The course content includes:

• Reading:
  • Reading longer passages of complex texts in a short time frame
  • Answering overall and detail-questions about the texts
• Listening
  • Listening to lectures, discussions, conversations
  • Answering questions about the audio
  • Practicing effective note-taking
• Speaking
  • Practicing fluid, intelligible, sustained, and error-free speech about a variety of topics
• Writing
  • Writing short but well-developed and well-organized essays about a variety of topics
  • Practicing the use of relevant explanations and detailed support
  • Learning how to demonstrate unity, progression, coherence, syntactic variety, and appropriate word choice with minor grammatical errors
• Completing practice activities and exams

In the table below, you can see what courses are offered on a regular basis:

Depending on demand, additional courses (e.g., English for Beginners; English for Business Use) and sections of existing course could be offered in the future.

Cost

Application

Before you apply to the IEP, you must carefully review all information on this page. If you have any questions, please contact us at iep@uga.edu.

When you are ready to apply, please complete the application form and pay the application fee. (Please notice that your application cannot be processed if you do not pay the non-refundable application fee!) We are looking forward to receiving your application and to meeting you soon.

Application Form: Click here to apply now. (For the UGA Gwinnett Campus only)

To apply to our program in Athens, you must visit this page.

IMPORTANT: You do not have to be enrolled at UGA as a student to participate in the Intensive English Program, and you do not have to apply to the UGA Graduate School. Our courses are open to everyone!

Eligibility Requirements

Language proficiency

Currently, we accept students from the high-intermediate to advanced level for our courses at the UGA Gwinnett Campus. If you are a high-beginning to intermediate speaker of English, you can participate in our intermediate level courses in Athens (more information here). We are planning on offering more courses and levels on the UGA Gwinnett Campus in the future. If you are not sure about your proficiency level, you can contact us at iep@uga.edu and request a short Zoom meeting with an IEP staff member to have your language proficiency assessed.

Age

We accept students who are 18 years and older. You can apply when you are 17, but you must be 18 years old when you begin your studies in the IEP. We welcome older students in our program. Nobody is too old to improve their English proficiency!

Legal Status

You can only take IEP courses on the UGA Gwinnett Campus if you are already legally in the U.S. (on a visa, Green Card, etc.). The IEP does not offer full-time courses on the UGA Gwinnett Campus for students who want to come to the U.S. If you want to come to the U.S. to study English full-time, you must attend our program on the UGA Main Campus in Athens.