Delivering English for Academic Purposes programmes and being a department within a Higher Education Institution can be a little frustrating at this time of year.
Just as many parts of the University are quietening down and colleagues in academic colleges and departments are preparing to leave or have already left for the summer period, whether to pursue further research or long vacations, we get set for probably the busiest time of the year!
We opened our doors this week to welcome an influx of 160 (so far) students from all over the world preparing to embark on English language
Presessional Programmes that will lead on to their academic undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in business, law, engineering, health related studies etc., on successful completion, in October.
We also welcomed a group of 51 young rugby players from Italy, Germany, the Czech Republic and Poland who are in Swansea with the
Ospreys Rugby Club for a combined rugby coaching and English course, a group of German students who are with us for language and work experience and a small group of students who have come simply to enjoy learning English and investigate the wonders that
Wales and
Swansea have to offer.
 |
| Presessional Students Exploring The Gower Coast |
For our Presessional students (and my teaching teams) the stakes are high and so is the workload over the next 9 weeks, as they get acclimatised to the expectations and culture of UK higher education and the culture of this, to them, very foreign country. They have 9 weeks to adapt to a whole new way of studying, cultural behaviours, pass a number of assessments, attend 200 hours of lectures and classes to successfully complete and thus ensure progression to their academic programmes. All in a language which is not only not their mother tongue but also (for our Asian and Middle Eastern students) completely different in terms of structure, vocabulary, grammar, orthography, style and conventions etc from their own.
It staggers me to think of how ambitious, brave and committed they are, imagine being from an English speaking culture and moving to China for the next 4 years to achieve academic success! I couldn’t now, never mind when I was in my late teens.
As teachers we have a huge responsibility to ensure they receive the very best support and service we can provide to facilitate their success and protect their well being, a responsibility we all take very seriously here at
English Language Training Services.
It's going to be an incredibly busy, dynamic, fulfilling and potentially life changing experience for all of us, as it is every summer and that's the way we like it to be.
