Special programs

Chilean Teachers
ELI expanded its teacher training programs this year with the arrival of 25 elementary school EFL teachers from Chile. The group, sponsored and selected through a highly competitive process by the Chilean Ministry of Education, arrived in Newark in September for a specially designed program involving elementary EFL/ESL trainers and specialists from throughout the Mid-Atlantic regions. Participants were also given numerous opportunities to visit elementary ESL programs, observe classes and meet colleagues, not only in the Christina School District with which ELI has been associated for many years, but also in the nationally recognized Arlington and Fairfax, VA school systems. The intensive eight-week program, coordinated by Grant Wolf, also included ample occasions for experiencing American cultural life, with a weekend visit to New York, a week-long visit to the nation's capital, and personal visits with foreign language teacher/host families in Delaware.

The program is part of a major initiative undertaken by the Chilean government to prepare its children for the new millennium through curriculum revision, the integration of technology and the training of its public school teachers.

DEFT Program

DEFT participants at their graduation in August

This year's Delaware English as a Foreign language Teacher Training Program (DEFT) expanded into cyberspace, as distance learning via the Internet emerged as its major focus. Working primarily with a group of EFL professors from Middle Eastern Technical University in Ankara, Turkey, ELI and UD faculty provided training and support in the development of a Turkish government-sponsored internet test preparation course. Using cutting-edge technology and instructional methods, the group produced a pilot program to use in their country, with only four very busy weeks to complete it.

Academic coordinator Grant Wolf, along with orientation coordinator David Quayle and core trainers Pat Sine, Naomi Migliacci, and Dr. Barbara Gillette, were all deeply impressed by the dedication, skill and energy which this remarkable group brought to the DEFT Program.

Colfuturo
Since 1996, ELI and the Fundacion Para el Futuro de Colombia (Colfuturo) have worked together to provide special programs for Colombian professionals. This past year three separate groups arriving in May, July and September participated in programs coordinated by June Quigley and Joe Matterer. In addition to their language classes, the participants attended workshops and seminars given by University of Delaware administrators and faculty on academic, cultural and professional topics.

Linguistic Gymnasium No. 91
This summer ELI hosted students from Ufa in Bashkortostan, formerly of the Soviet Union. The six students were escorted by Inna Fenina, their English teacher in their school, Linguistic Gymnasium No. 91. The students attended ELI classes for four weeks and participated in a busy schedule of trips and cultural activities. Ms. Fenina, who organized the program in Ufa, had participated in the summer of 1998 in the University of Delaware's Excellence in Teaching Program.

Moroccan Business Students
In July, 13 Moroccan students, nine of whom had just graduated from L'Ecole Superieure de Commerce, a prestigious business school in Morocco, arrived for a three-week intensive English course before beginning their MBA studies at universities in the U.S. They were accompanied by Professor Kamal El Fouadi. The students attended an ELI listening/speaking business-oriented class designed for their specific needs and regular reading/writing classes. Academic coordinator June Quigley arranged visits for the group to the Port of Wilmington, the MBA program at the University of Delaware and MBNA headquarters in Wilmington.

Royal Thai Embassy Scholars
Sixteen students sponsored by the Embassy of Thailand spent seven weeks at ELI this past summer. All recent high school graduates with outstanding academic records, they attended a seven-week program designed to refine their English skills and provide an orientation to American culture and to the US education system. Instructors Bonnie Raimy and Suzanne Stadnicki readied the group to go on to some of the best preparatory schools on the East Coast for the coming school year. Following this year of preparation, the students plan to attend top universities in the United States. In addition to class instruction, the program consisted of visits to St. Andrews School and other nearby private high schools as well as to Princeton, Johns Hopkins and the University of Pennsylvania.

ITA Program

Graduate student Xinming He of the Computer and Information Sciences Department demonstrated his teaching as part of the ITA Training Program.

Sixty-five graduate students participated in the International Teaching Assistants (ITA) Program this past summer. The four-and-a-half-week program, coordinated by associate director Kathy Schneider, screens international teaching assistants from all University of Delaware departments for oral language proficiency and helps them to prepare for their instructional duties at the university. This year's participants included ITAs in the biology, physics, chemical and mechanical engineering, computer science, mathematics and linguistics departments who took classes in oral intelligibility, culture and pedagogy. The majority of students came from China. Other countries represented were Brazil, France, Germany, India, Korea and Turkey.

Monbusho Program
ELI hosted a small group of English teachers from Japan for the second year in a row this summer, as part of a program sponsored by Monbusho, the Japanese Ministry of Education. Two high school teachers and one junior high school teacher arrived in Newark one week prior to the beginning of the summer session for an intensive orientation week, then joined regular program classes for the summer. The teachers lived with local families to enhance their exposure to local culture and to practice their English as much as possible. Upon leaving Delaware, the Monbusho teachers traveled to Niagara Falls and Chicago en route to the University of California, Irvine. There, they, with some of their colleagues who spent the summer at other English programs around the United States, studied classroom methods and curriculum design before returning to Japan to apply their skills.

Chile
In Chile, the New Year's Day holiday comes in the summer. As 1999 began, however, 21 Chileans chose to spend it in Delaware, while their families at home were warm at the beach. When these newcomers, aged 17 to 59, braved snow as well as biting cold upon arriving here, it was their first realization that the eight weeks would be no vacation.

Members of the Chilean group visited Philadelphia with coordinator Wendy Bulkowski (fourth from left)

From many professions, including public relations, journalism, government, academia and business, the Chilean group joined regular ELI classes and got to know each other well as they traveled with academic coordinator Wendy Bulkowski to major cities such as New York, Washington, Baltimore and Philadelphia on weekends and after classes.

Many of the participants promised to return, and several have continued to study English at their sponsoring institute, Instituto Chileno Norteamericano.

English teachers from the former Soviet Union
For the third year in a row, ELI offered a six-week summer course for English teachers from the former Soviet Union. Forty-five recipients of the Excellence in Teaching English and American Studies Award, 15 each from Russia, Kazakhstan and Kyrgystan, traveled to Delaware under a program developed by the University of Delaware's International Programs and Special Sessions office, funded by the United States Information Agency and administered by the American Council for Collaboration in Education and Language Study.

With the help of ELI teachers Leslie Criston, Joe Matterer and Naomi Migliacci, the participants gave demonstrations in class for a language teaching conference which they participated in, including how to integrate American and British culture into the classes they teach. In preparation for assisting their students with English language this fall, the teachers practiced grammar games, watched videos, wrote poetry and learned more about American culture.

Hankuk University of Foreign Studies
With 31 participants, this year's delegation from Hankuk University in Seoul was one of the largest ever from that institution. Accompanied by their escort, Professor Sang-Yong Lee, the students attended four weeks of classes and enjoyed special events and trips to New York, Philadelphia and Washington, organized by academic coordinator Margaret Cassling.

Kobe Shoin Women's University
Thirteen students from Kobe Shoin University, the University of Delaware's sister school in Japan, arrived at the end of July with their escort, Professor Tsutomu Yura. The students joined regular classes for four weeks and participated in excursions to Baltimore, New York, Philadelphia and Washington, DC, organized by academic coordinator Tim Gould. Currently, ELI instructor Janet Louise is teaching at Kobe Shoin University as part of a university exchange agreement.

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