Fun way to pick up English
APOOR command of English, the world’s lingua franca, puts many local graduates at a disadvantage.
With employment opportunities aplenty, they face the frustration of being unable to meet the level of English proficiency required in today’s global marketplace. This is where INTI’s Laureate English Improvement Programme makes a difference in ensuring that students pick up the ability to articulate in English as it is an essential skill.
The Laureate English Improvement Programme is designed by Laureate International Universities, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge ESOL and the Bell Educational Trust to provide an outcomedriven learning experience and to encourage student autonomy in learning.
The programme’s Touchstone course offers the first truly blended learning solution for English language learning. Touchstone is completely available online with a full range of digital materials and collaborative tools. The Touchstone Online Course content maps out every step right down to individual exercises.
Additional materials, such as video explanations of grammar points, are available. This enables students to conduct self-study. With Touchstone, learning is communicative: video role play and voice tools allow students to practise language skills without a teacher; collaborative: the use of Web 2.0 collaborative tools such as blogs and wikis allow students to work together outside the classroom; and autonomous: students can learn effectively on their own.
“Studies have shown that Laureate English Programme students at universities in Turkey, Italy, Peru, Brazil and Japan were more active in their English language studies than they had been with traditional materials,” said INTI International University and Colleges director of English Programmes Rob Cummins ( pic). “They were enthusiastic about their online experience and found the content to be interactive and captivating.”
Cummins, who has been in the English language teaching industry for over 12 years, has spent the past two years with Laureate International Universities in collaboration with Bell Educational Trust in a quality assurance and teacher-training role across all Laureate universities throughout Latin America.
He has worked as a teacher, director of studies, academic director, trainer, IELTS/ BULATS examiner and business language consultant and been employed by The Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, EF English First and the British Council.
His latest assignment before joining INTI was the setting up of a new English department for a Laureate institution in Milan, Italy.
For further information on the Laureate English Improvement Programme, call 035623 2800 or visit www.newinti.edu.my