CASA Programs
The Center for Arabic Study Abroad (CASA) offers three programs:
- CASA I
- CASA II for Recent CASA I Alumni
- CASA III for Faculty (suspended for 2012-2013)
The CASA I program is designed for graduate and undergraduate students.
The CASA II program aims to provide further opportunities for CASA fellows who have completed the CASA Full-Year program within the past five years, to continue to enhance their language skills and advance their Arabic-based research in Egypt.
The CASA III program is designed to meet the linguistic and research needs of professors with specialization in Arabic and Middle Eastern Studies.
All CASA programs provide intensive language, culture, and specialized area studies training, with 9 to 20 hours of classroom instruction per week plus homework. A series of lectures, tours, and visits to places of historical interest, both in and outside Cairo are an integral part of the CASA programs. Efforts are made to provide opportunities for CASA participants to interact with their Egyptian counterparts and experience life in Egypt to the fullest extent.
CASA Program Policies
Testing and Evaluation Policy
Each fellow's performance is evaluated through written tests, oral presentations and interviews in each of the courses he or she takes. The evaluation component of each course is explained in detail in the course syllabus. In addition to the course-based evaluation, the CASA program utilizes two general testing tools aimed at helping the fellows gauge their progress in the various skills:
Pre-Testing
- As part of the selection process, all applicants take a comprehensive test of their listening, reading, and writing skills.
- Applicants selected to participate in the CASA program are further given in an ACTFL Oral Proficiency Interview (OPI) during the month of April, which serves as a pre-score and will be used to measure oral proficiency progress made during the course of their CASA year.
Post-Testing
At the end of their year-long program (in April or May):
- Fellows retake the written exam they took when applying to CASA. This helps provide each fellow with a tangible measure of his/her progress in the areas of listening, reading, and writing.
- Fellows are given another extended oral interview. The post program oral interview is an Interagency Language Roundtable (ILR) interview, rated on a scale from 1 to 5, with 5 being the level of an educated Arabic native speaker. The ILR style interview is used as the post test because it allows more detailed ratings at the upper end of the scale (3s and 4s) than the ACTFL OPI does and it is expected that most fellows will be functioning in this range by the end of their CASA year. The pre-program ACTFL OPI rating is comparable to the post program ILR interview rating for the purposes of measuring oral proficiency progress.
All interviews are conducted by ACTFL certified oral interviewers. These tests and oral interviews constitute an integral part of the program; full participation from all fellows is required.
Arabic-Only Speaking Policy
It is CASA policy to speak Arabic at all times both inside and outside of class. Speaking Arabic at all times will immensely facilitate your acquisition of vocabulary and structures, and will allow you to internalize them much faster. Restricting your use of Arabic to the classroom will severely limit your potential to become a fluent speaker of Arabic, and will restrain your progress in the language. CASA expects all its fellows to abide by the Arabic Speaking Policy and to help create opportunities for speaking Arabic both inside and outside the classroom.
During orientation in Cairo, CASA asks each of its fellows to sign a statement affirming their commitment to uphold CASA’s Arabic-Only Speaking Policy and create an Arabic speaking environment within members of the CASA group. The following is the text of the statement required to be signed by each CASA fellow:
I, _________________________, agree to use Arabic as my medium of communication during my time as a fellow in the Center for Arabic Study Abroad (CASA) Program at the American University in Cairo (AUC).
By signing this pledge I agree to observe the following points as part of the CASA Honor Code:
- I pledge to speak Arabic exclusively while on the campus of the American University of Cairo (AUC). I will also strive to use Arabic as much as possible when I am not on campus.
- I pledge to use Arabic exclusively with my CASA peers both on and off campus. I understand that using a language other than Arabic with other CASA fellows is a violation of this pledge and should be avoided at all times.
- I will make an effort to remind any fellow who breaks this policy at any time of their commitment to it in a friendly and non-confrontational manner.
- I understand that observance of the Arabic-only pledge can be suspended with permission from the CASA Executive Director or in case of an emergency.
- I understand that if I break this pledge, I will receive a written warning. If I receive more than two such warnings, CASA has the right to terminate my fellowship.
Signature: _________________________________ Date: ______________________
Absence Policy
CASA fellows may not leave Egypt without permission of the CASA Executive Director except during official school holidays. In case of an emergency requiring departure from Egypt, the fellow must notify the CASA Executive Director immediately to discuss the situation and request permission to leave. Failure to adhere to this policy will result in loss of fellowship and dismissal from the program.
Departure from the program before the end of classes or joining the program after the beginning of classes is not usually allowed but may be allowed under extenuating circumstances. It must be cleared with the CASA Stateside office, through the CASA Executive Director. Failure to adhere to this policy may result in the loss of fellowship and dismissal from the program.
