Welcome to the Department of English Language and Literature at King Saud University. One of the seven departments that form the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, this department is committed to serving the community by teaching first-class English language and literature in order to graduate knowledgeable students that meet the needs of the job market in the fields of education, translation, journalism, banking, and editing.  We, in the department, pride ourselves on maintaining high quality levels of instruction and research, with our vision fixed at reaching the excellence of internationally-reputed departments of English. We also have an enthusiastic, qualified, and experienced faculty, who take pleasure in giving professional teaching, both on the undergraduate and postgraduate levels, as well as conducting scholarly research in a diversity of specialisations, such as applied and theoretical linguistics, English and American literature, and literary criticism. Coming from different countries and holding high degrees from universally-acknowledged universities, the faculty members are vibrant, friendly, and dedicated to making the students’ learning a unique experience of benefit and delight.

 The Department of English at KSU offers a BA study plan to students who wish to specialise in English language and literature.  The study plan includes courses in the core areas of English in addition to a variety of elective courses students can choose from to suit their own interests. The lower-level courses in the plan are designed to enhance students’ listening, reading, speaking, and writing skills, while the upper-level specialised courses provide students with the practical knowledge in theoretical and applied linguistics and polish their skills to interpret, analyse, and criticise literary texts in the various genres of fiction, poetry, and drama. The department also offers MA and PhD courses in Linguistics, Literature, and literary criticism. These postgraduate programmes aim at fostering students’ critical thinking and creativity, broadening their knowledge in their chosen fields of academic sppecialization, and refining their academic research and analytical skills.

 In line with the fast progress in modern educational technology, the English Department has a number of smart classrooms and language labs that help students acquire knowledge and language skills more efficiently and effectively than ever.  A department library that includes a large number of textbooks and references is also available to both faculty and students to make research and knowledge acquisition easily accessible.

 The Department of English at KSU has a vision to assume a national and regional leading role in the teaching, training, and research of the English language, literature and linguistics. We aspire to assume a place among the leading regional and international departments of English. To reach that end, we invest in our distinguished faculty, revise and improve our course plans, and adopt up-to-date learning technologies and research techniques.  We strongly believe we have the expertise and the strong will to make our vision a solid reality.

I hope that this website will serve as an entry to the department and I look forward to meeting you soon.  The faculty and myself will be more than delighted to help you and to make our own contribution to this knowledge society we are part of.

Chair, Department of English Language and Literature