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New English Language Training Program for International Graduate Students
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Participants in the English Language Training Program (ELTP) come from a variety of arts, sciences, and engineering departments. |
On a recent Wednesday evening, Ningyu Zhao, a graduate student from China, delivered a presentation to fifteen fellow international graduate students. The presentation, which centered on a bridge collapse, marked a milestone of sorts for the first-year graduate student.
“This was my first time to give a presentation in English, individually,” said Zhao, who had only been in the United States for three months at the time of the presentation. “Sometimes, I feel sort of upset when I can’t express my meaning exactly (in English).”
Ningyu Zhao may not feel this way anymore after participating in the Tufts English Language Training Program (ELTP) last semester. The new program offers arts, sciences, and engineering international graduate students the chance to become more comfortable with the English language through weekly training in reading, writing, listening, and speaking each semester. The ELTP also provides participants like Zhao, a civil and environmental engineering graduate student, with the opportunity to meet fellow graduate students from a variety of different locales including Korea, Saudi Arabia, and Brazil.
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ELTP instructor Gosia Helmlinger |
Common Goals
“The biggest indicator that there is a need and a desire to have contact with a specialized language instructor was the enthusiasm of the graduate students who were part of the program,” says Jodi Hanelt, director of English Language Programs at Tufts, which offers the program with the support of Lynne Pepall, dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Sergio Fantini, associate dean for graduate education at the School of Engineering, Carmen Lowe, director of the Academic Resource Center, and Jane Etish-Andrews, director of the International Center.
Adds Hanelt, “International graduate students already have sufficient English skills to enroll at Tufts, but that doesn’t mean their language learning should stop. The goals of the class are to offer a supportive learning environment for students to fine-tune their language skills and to capitalize on the improvements they’re making while immersed in academic study. Graduate students also need to find their own niches for social interaction and the class is an opportunity for international students from different disciplines to meet each other and identify common goals for improving their language skills.”
When asked about the program, Wenzhen Zhu, a civil and environmental engineering graduate student, says, “I want to improve my writing English and the class on how to organize an essay was especially helpful.”
“I usually only read equations in the classroom, but now I’m reading a lot of English,” says Yuji Zhang, a physics graduate student.
Agatha Trindade, a psychology graduate student from Brazil, wished the program had been offered during her first year at Tufts.
“When I got here (to Tufts) my English was not so good and I had a very hard time in classes,” she says. “I had no idea what a syllabus was.”
Now that she has gone through the program, Trindade reports that it has helped her when it comes to grading papers and writing exams in her role as a teaching assistant.
An International Focus
Jodi Hanelt has worked for Tufts English Language Programs for eight years.
“I’m a double Jumbo,” says Hanelt, who earned a bachelor’s in history and Spanish (with a minor in Latin American Studies) from Tufts and a master’s in law and diplomacy from the university’s Fletcher School. Before coming to Tufts, Hanelt worked for Harvard University’s LASPAU, an organization that supports international educational exchange, and as a Spanish teacher for the Medford Public School system.
When the opportunity arose to take a position with her alma mater, it seemed like a good fit.
“My time at Fletcher reinforced that I wanted a career with an international focus and the English Language Programs offered me many opportunities for growth,” says Hanelt.
Along with the ELTP, Hanelt’s office coordinates exchange programs, such as a study abroad program for Taiwanese high school students, and has relationships with universities in other nations, such as the Kanazawa University and International Christian University, both of which are located in Japan.
“We’re always looking to expand our programs to any Tufts school that wants to offer language training for its international students,” says Hanelt. “It’s so important for students to feel comfortable in achieving their goals while completing their studies at Tufts.”
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Tufts University has offered language training programs to support international students for more than twenty-five years. These programs include, along with the English Language Training Program, the following:
English Today: An estimated eighty students enroll in the 4-6 week summer immersion program which combines classroom training in speaking, listening, reading, and writing English with afternoon and weekend “Discover America Excursions” to courtrooms, museums, the Boston Public Library, and cultural and tourist attractions.
Summer Institute for International Scholars: International graduate students from Tufts and universities around the country, such as MIT, Harvard, and Georgia Tech, enroll in seminar courses in research writing and academic speaking, as well as evening tutoring sessions, to foster the skills and confidence necessary to fully participate in a U.S. graduate degree program.
To learn more about either of these programs, go to http://www.ase.tufts.edu/ESL/Default.asp.
Article by Lisa Hayden, G07
