"As the Spanish proverb says, He who would bring home the wealth of the Indies, must carry the wealth of the Indies with him. So it is with traveling, a man must carry knowledge with him, if he would bring home knowledge."
--Samuel Johnson
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"As the Spanish proverb says, He who would bring home the wealth of the Indies, must carry the wealth of the Indies with him. So it is with traveling, a man must carry knowledge with him, if he would bring home knowledge." --Samuel Johnson |
Dear ELI friend,
The underlying metaphor for this year's edition is that of "the world as our classroom." On one level, this has always been true of the English Language Institute, whose diverse student body encompasses over forty countries each session. With the integration of new technology and courses into our curriculum, however, ELI not only creates a global village within its classrooms, but also sends forth its students to explore the world.
Technology and ingenuity afford our teachers more options in creating interactive instructional settings. ELI students can interview shopkeepers on Main Street, Newark, or visit real time "chat rooms" and question store owners in New Zealand through the Internet. Our recently piloted News Class helps students use sophisticated language skills to analyze the current issues of the world--and to stay in touch with regional happenings in their home countries through foreign news broadcasts captured on the University's satellite dishes and accessed in any classroom through a 140-channel cable system.
The global possibilities of the electronic classroom need not exclude more personal interaction closer to home. Our Community Outreach class, for example, transforms Delaware soup kitchens, senior centers, and hospitals into language laboratories for ELI students to practice newly acquired vocabulary and structures while gaining an appreciation for the spirit of volunteerism so highly valued in American culture. To publicize the myriad of opportunities for community involvement, ELI's Desktop Publishing class "sampled" dozens of civic, recreational and religious organizations in the city and university before composing and publishing a helpful guide to be used by new students.
Business English classes visit nearby industries, as part of their case study research. Intermediate-level students teach games and songs to American preschool children. One class is so mobile that it literally has wheels: the Study Tour, which transports ELI students around the United States to test their comprehension of dozens of regional dialects and to discern the threads that knit together the many different cultural patches making up the colorful quilt that is America.
The English Language Institute is, for many students, the first leg of a lifelong exploration of the world around them. Having mastered English, our graduates carry a linguistic passport to world-wide personal and professional opportunities. Yet, our most fervent hope for ELI alumni is that, after having been touched and challenged by the world inside and outside of their classrooms, they carry away with them an open and compassionate regard for those whom they encounter on their journey.
Within the pages of this newsletter you can meet the faculty, students and staff who create the adventure that makes ELI a global odyssey of the mind and spirit.
--Dr. Scott G. Stevens, Director
Note: Special thanks to Barbara Morris, Ruth Jackson, Wendy Bulkowski, Patience Phillips and Lisa Grimsley for having produced another outstanding publication.