Hsu-Hui Tseng studied English for many years in his native Taiwan, but he says he still had a lot to learn when he came to UD's English Language Institute in October.

And, he says, the intensive program at the institute--which recently became part of CHEP--helped him learn what he needed to know quickly and comfortably.

"In school at home, I learned the kind of English you need to pass tests, but I didn't have much opportunity to speak the language or to listen to natives speak it," says Tseng, who is preparing to enroll in UD's master of business administration program. "The program here gives us lots of practice speaking and listening, and I find that I'm improving a lot."

One of his friends in the MBA-preparation program at the institute, Damian Andres Alvarez, echoes Tseng's assessment.

"I picked ELI [the English Language Institute] because of the small classes and because it has many hours of instruction, which a lot of programs at other schools don't have," says Alvarez, who came to the institute in June from Argentina. "We have classes and tutoring and a lot of opportunity to get involved in activities, so I'm learning much more than I ever did in classes at home."

The program was set up to be intensive and to immerse students in the English language, not only through academics but also through social and cultural activities, according to ELI director Scott Stevens. He says students spend about 30 hours a week in classes that average about 14 members, allowing for a great deal of individual attention and opportunity for each student to join in discussions. They attend private sessions with trained tutors, language labs to improve their listening skills and computer labs to work on various projects.

"Offering all these different kinds of instruction enables ELI to be intensive, and it also lets us avoid being a one-size-fits-all program," says Stevens, who earned his master's and doctoral degrees in education at UD and joined the ELI staff in 1981. "Some students do very well in a classroom setting, but others learn better through individual tutoring or other methods. We make sure to offer them all the possibilities, to fit each student's own learning style."

The institute was created in 1979 with the goal of preparing and supporting international students admitted to UD by helping them develop their English skills enough to succeed in their University coursework. That academic preparation still is an important part of ELI, Stevens says, but the institute's mission has broadened in response to client demand.

When businesses with employees working in the United States from overseas asked for a way to help those employees sharpen their English skills, the institute began offering programs in business English for professionals and a corporate tutoring program. Educators who teach English abroad can now attend ELI's Delaware English as a Foreign Language Teacher Training Institute, and lawyers and judges from other countries participate in the American Law and Legal English Institute, often in preparation for earning a master of laws degree in the United States.

In addition, ELI offers short-term courses tailored to the needs of specific groups, and it works with international students who have graduate teaching assistantships at UD, preparing them--in the areas of spoken English as well as American classroom culture--to instruct undergraduates.

Last fall, the institute was accredited by the Commission on English Language Program Accreditation, one of only 25 U.S. programs to earn that status. Another recent milestone came when it became part of CHEP.

"We're pleased that the English Language Institute has become a part of our College," says CHEP Acting Dean Tim Barnekov. "ELI's national leadership among intensive English programs is both a great compliment to Scott Stevens and his colleagues in the institute and a very useful complement to our master's program in teaching English as a second language, offered by the School of Education. And, of course, ELI's contacts will be helpful as we work to increase intercultural and international experiences for CHEP students, faculty and staff."

Stevens says he also welcomes the move to CHEP as a good fit for both. "CHEP is very entrepreneurial as well as scholarly, and that's the kind of faculty we have, too," he says.

In addition to providing instruction, ELI helps its students get involved in University and community activities, partners them with American UD students for informal conversational practice, and matches them with local families who invite them to experience U.S. life firsthand by having dinner at their homes or attending social events with them.

"We see the academic component as only half of what we do," Stevens says. "Students can get good language instruction in their own countries. What they can't get is immersion in the language and the culture."

At any given time, about 150-200 students from 35 countries are enrolled in one of ELI's eight-week programs, which operate year-round. Most students stay for two or three sessions. The diversity of the student body, Stevens says, makes ELI "an ongoing microcosm of the world," where participants form close friendships, often with natives of countries they might never have met elsewhere.

"I chose ELI because the University is in a small town with friendly people, but I also like getting to know students from many cultures, not just Americans," says Charles Zongo, who came to the institute from Burkina Faso in West Africa to prepare for graduate school. "I live in an apartment with two Korean guys, and it's been interesting to learn about their culture."

Tseng says simply: "Meeting these other students has enriched my life."

In fact, Stevens says, attending ELI is such a pivotal experience for many young people that former students often visit--sometimes, wanting to share their fond memories with a loved one, they even stop by while on their honeymoon.

"I feel very comfortable here," Alvarez says. "I feel at home."

--Ann Manser, AS'73, CHEP'73