From the director’s desk . . .

Dear ELI friend,

Last year in this newsletter I announced the 25th anniversary of the founding of the English Language Institute. This year marks the 25th anniversary of the relocation of the program from the University’s satellite campus in Dover, Delaware’s capital, to the main campus in Newark. Thus armed with a new cause for celebration, we have dedicated much of this year’s edition of the newsletter to commemorating this important milestone through feature articles and a collage of color photographs depicting students, faculty and staff “then” and “now.”

Director Scott G. Stevens

Some of us have grown a little grayer in the intervening years, but none is any less passionate about the mission of this program or less energetic about meeting our clients’ needs. If anything, as our faculty and staff have matured, they have become unrelenting in the pursuit of excellence in classroom instruction and student services. The source of this collective passion for excellence, I believe, lies in an awareness of our being part of a program that contributes in a small but significant way to making a difference in the world, to making our own contribution to global peace and prosperity.

Perhaps some readers may dismiss such an assertion as both silly and arrogant. After all, the Institute is just an English language program. But consider, if you will, the substantial evidence behind our claim. In recent decades, a nation’s English language capacity has become an absolutely fundamental, but often ignored, prerequisite for its economic development. All member nations appearing on the roster of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development evidence widespread use of English throughout their governments, tourist industries, ports of entry and corporate sectors. This fact has not been lost on developing countries, such as Egypt, Turkey, China and Thailand, which have dedicated substantial resources to the development of their populations’ English language capacity––particularly through efforts to upgrade the language skills of teachers and by incorporating the use of English throughout their higher educational systems. Chile has dedicated a sizable portion of its IMF funding to overhauling its entire educational system, with the integration of English from primary through tertiary schools a central part of its educational reform. To this end, Chile sends hundreds of its English teachers abroad each year to enhance their overall language proficiency and to acquire new teaching methods. South Korea, too, has provided funding for its various municipalities to send their secondary teachers abroad to upgrade their language skills.

Nowhere is the correlation between English skills and wealth more evident than in India. In a recent article in American Society for Information Science, B. Shadrach warned that “the so-called digital divide between the industrialized and developing nations is being replicated within many developing countries like India, widening the big gulf between the majority poor and a minuscule English language- speaking population. Although it is axiomatic to tout English as the “language of international trade and commerce,” that claim is reinforced by a simple statistic that best reflects modern business trends: English is the language of 80% of all web sites (M. Slavick, Oxfam.org, August 2001).

Given this reality, we should not be surprised by the sacrifices so many of our students make to study at ELI.We often have applicants who liquidate their savings, sell their cars, or even sell their homes to finance their ELI education. Why? Because they realize that the acquisition of strong English skills translates either directly––through promotions or new positions––or indirectly––through further higher education in the States––into professional opportunities they could not dream of obtaining any other way. For our many thousands of graduates, ELI has become the gateway to fulfilling their dreams.

But our program makes its impact felt worldwide on more than just an individual level. Over the past 20 years, ELI has become a major teacher training center, educating hundreds of teachers from over 40 countries––many of whom have become leaders in educational reform and helped to strengthen the English language infrastructures of their nations.We have also trained many legal professionals through our American Law and Legal English Institute. Judges and law professors from South America and Eastern Europe have graduated from ELI, returning home to usher in major judicial reform leading to the kind of transparency, accountability and equity in the courts that are essential for earning the trust of international investors.

And, after having lived and studied side by side for months with colleagues from 35 different countries, nearly all of our graduates leave the ELI having mastered not only English, but also the language of understanding, compromise and acceptance. Surrounded each day by ambassadors from around the globe and being witness to their life-transforming experiences, my colleagues and I can’t help thinking that we have the best jobs on earth. So please join us in celebrating 25 years of hosting the world, and may you, too, have cause for celebration in the year to come.

Sincerely,

Scott G. Stevens
Director