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English Preparation for Graduate Studies (Incoming MIIS Students Only)

The English Preparation for Graduate Studies (EPGS) is a 6-week program that prepares international students for success at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies (MIIS) located on the Monterey campus.

Dates and Housing

Dates July 10 - August 18
Housing (On-campus option) $2,850

*If you have been awarded a MIIS scholarship for EPGS, please contact your admissions advisor with any questions regarding your scholarship amount.

Apply

Incoming MIIS students should not submit an application but should email languages-miis@middlebury.edu.

Applicants are required to submit a TOEFL or IELTS score after completing the application. Score reports should be sent directly to the MIIS Admissions Office. For TOEFL score submissions, use the four-digit institution code 4507. A department code is not required. After applicants are accepted into the EPGS program, they will receive a welcome packet with an official letter of acceptance. For those applicants who require immigration documents, detailed instructions on how to obtain an I-20 document for F-1 visa status will be sent to you upon admission into the program. Passport copy not needed until after admissions.

Curriculum

After participating in the program, students will feel more confident communicating in spoken and written English. Faculty in the program use authentic materials, such as graduate school lectures and texts, to help students learn to critically analyze and respond to complex academic concepts. The program teaches students the conventions of academic communication, which gives students the confidence to communicate effectively.

EPGS Program Courses

Graduate Communication Skills Development: In-person instruction (1 unit)

The purpose of this course is to help students improve core skills that graduate school faculty believe are essential for succeeding in graduate school. Upon completion of this course, students will have reliably demonstrated the ability to handle social interactions in linguistically and culturally appropriate ways. Students will know how to communicate in oral and written form with an awareness of their own and others’ communicative intentions. Primary course activities involve watching graduate course lectures and responding to the lectures in oral and written formats. The course will help students practice participating in class discussions and leading class discussions. Students will be able to complete the majority of the course work independently during their own time. Students should plan to spend about 10 hours each week completing assignments for this course.

Academic Research and Writing: In-person instruction (1 unit)

This course is designed to help students develop skills for critically analyzing the effectiveness of writing. The course will help students develop skills for examining and improving all aspects of texts, including the macro and micro levels of writing. Students will develop the necessary skills to revise and edit their own writing. In this course students will practice reading critically, and students will deepen their knowledge of English grammar. In addition, students will learn new strategies for writing more clearly, concisely, and logically. The course will involve both short and longer writing assignments. Students will also have opportunities to work with peers to examine texts and revise texts. Students should plan to spend about 10 hours each week completing assignments for this course.

Translation and Interpretation Skills Development: In-person instruction (1 unit)

The goal of this course is to develop students’ awareness of language as a social resource that can be manipulated to achieve a variety of social purposes, or functions. Students will develop their awareness of a range of linguistic options for communicating, and students will practice communicating clearly, concisely, and with an awareness of their own and others’ communicative intentions. Students will be able to complete most of the course work independently during their own time. Students should plan to spend about 10 hours each week completing assignments for this course.

Reading and Critical Thinking: In-person instruction (1 Unit)

In graduate school you will be pushed to read more than you have ever read before, and you will be challenged to think deeper than you have ever thought before. This course will help you develop reading strategies that will help you manage the volume of reading that you will do in graduate school. Additionally, you will practice skills for engaging critically with the texts that you read. You will learn about logical argumentation and the ways of using logic to evaluate and respond critically to texts that you read.

EPGS Program Tracks

The EPGS program consists of two different tracks that students choose from. These two tracks are based on students’ program of study at MIIS.

  • T&I Track: Students who are in any of the translation and interpretation focused graduate programs at MIIS will enroll in the T&I track courses. Students in the following programs enroll in this track: Translation & Interpretation (T&I), Conference Interpretation (CI), and Translation (T). Students in this track will take the following three courses: Graduate Communication Skills Development m Translation and Interpretation Skills Development, and Reading and Critical Thinking
  • General Track: Students who are in all other graduate programs at MIIS will enroll in the General Track courses. General track students will take the following three courses: Graduate Communication Skills Development and Academic Research Writing, Reading and Critical Thinking