Word Travels Issue 06 - October 2016

October 2016

ELS Newsletter, Issue 06

Professors from Shanghai completed their APPEMI studies at the English Language School, Faculty of Extension.

Word TravELS |

Contents

English Language School Executive Director’s Message October 2016

ELS Strategic Plan: Planning for the Next 5 Years

Dear readers:

3

Welcome to the October 2016, Fall Edition, of Word TravELS. As late summer fades into fall, Campus and the surrounding river valley unfailingly announce the start of another school year with a splendid display of colour and sunshine. The University of Alberta celebrated the past September 23 as Green and Gold Day - an opportunity for students and staff alike to come together and show their University colours.

The natural beauty of our city and campus tells a story of Diversity. Here are hundreds of students, of all backgrounds and from different regions of the globe, united together and celebrating under the banner of Learning.

With the English language as the common denominator, ELS remains the proud catalyst. I welcome you to view us in action in this latest edition of Word TravELS, where through words and pictures you can learn all about our students, our teachers, our partners, our many adventures, and our love of learning and engagement.

Wishing you a very happy and successful fall season,

Mimi Hui Executive Director English Language School

ELS Student Corner: From learning English to teaching English

4-5 ELS Activities: A look inside an ELS classroom

5 APPEMI: Talking about Content and Language Integrated Learning

6-7 @ualbertaels on Instagram: a photo montage of ELS

8-9 ELS Events: Looking back on Thanksgiving and the past term

10 Final Words: Recipe, Top Ten column, and more

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Word TravELS | 2

ELS By The Numbers ELS Strategic Plan Planning for the Future: The English Language School’s Vision for the Next Five Years Dr. Martin Guardado, Academic Director, Associate Professor, ELS

Dr. Martin Guardado, Academic Director and Associate Professor

H

ello everyone!

It is an excellent time to address you through our

newsletter for several reasons: we are part of a dynamic and diverse learning community, we have just completed a remarkable term, and the English Language School is undertaking a comprehensive process of reimagining the next five to ten years. What does this mean? Simply, as members of the English Language School, we have the opportunity to provide input for the kind of school we want to create going forward. As part of this process, we will seek comments from our students about what they feel will provide future students the best learning opportunities and a memorable experience. We would also like to invite all instructors to share with us what they see as key elements of a great language school.

The University of Alberta recently launched its new Institutional Strategic Plan For the Public Good. This document lays out the vision of the university for the next five years. It also contains the mission, values, and

students and we have the responsibility to imagine appropriate responses to these rapidly changing realities.

In addition to a broad vision and set of values, we will also endeavour to draft more specific strategic goals that will help us remain grounded in reality and in accomplishable outcomes. The document to emerge out of this process will become our philosophical compass and road map as we strive to answer the aspirations of our students while supporting the broader plans of our faculty and university.

When I say that this is a special time, I truly hope that we can all feel excited to have a voice in the envisioning of the English Language School of the future, one that we can proudly call a leader in English language learning in Canada and beyond.

To provide comments, please click on this link: https:// goo.gl/forms/jHAI4Y2dj5bGsgU63 Happy Autumn!

strategies that will guide the UAlberta community in realizing its vision. Likewise, the Faculty of Extension is currently engaged in a consultation process to envision the faculty that we want to build in the years to come. It is in this context that ELS is launching its own strategic planning process, which will be based on dialogue in an inclusive and consultative manner. What kind of information are we seeking? We are thinking in terms of broad level goals that are visionary and responsive to the changing global and local contexts. These changes have a direct impact on the characteristics and needs of our

Dr. Guardado talks about the Strategic Plan with our visiting CSC professors

Word TravELS | 3

ELS Student Corner From Learning to Teaching

By Tracey Hilden, Social Media Coordinator, ELS

M

arwa Ali Ahmed Doufani went from studying English in Edmonton to teaching English in her home

country of Libya. Marwa originally came to ELS in Fall 2014 to take EAP 140 and 145 before entering the University of Alberta. She had planned to study nutrition so she could become a dietician in Libya, but during her time with ELS, Marwa’s goals shifted.

“My teachers really encouraged me a lot, and so I didn’t find it hard to work in class – I enjoyed it a lot,” Marwa says. “I have a special interest in language in general and I like teaching, so after my experience with the teachers here, I know that teachers have a key role in students’

Marwa was inspired at ELS to teach English

lives. I think that when I go back to Libya I will be a teach-

for Marwa as well. “I like the winter here! I have tried so

er, not a dietician. You’re helping people and it feels real-

many different winter activities – I really enjoyed skating. I

ly good.”

think I was born for the ice and snow! I was really good

During her studies with ELS, Marwa was exposed to not only the Canadian culture and the English language, but also the culture and language of her classmates. “I made lots of friends from many different countries, like Brazil, Japan, and China. I was engaged in a multicultural setting, and I am still in touch with the friends I made. In class, we

even though it was my first time. I could stand and move from the beginning. Extracurricular activities really help with your language. You have to use your English outside of class – you have to work on it yourself and you have to meet other people so you can speak and improve your language.”

often learned about the cultures of our fellow students

Marwa was a sponsored student who came to the Univer-

too. We even brought food from our countries for our

sity of Alberta under a scholarship from the Libyan gov-

classmates to try, and we discovered that we have many

ernment. The scholarship was offered to the top ten high

things in common despite coming from different coun-

school students in the country, one of which was Marwa.

tries. Some of my friends would even teach me some words in Portuguese, for example, and I would teach them some words in Arabic.”

Her English language courses with ELS helped prepare Marwa for undergraduate courses. “If I didn’t take these classes, I would struggle a lot in my academic classes. In

Marwa’s English improved through both activities in and

Libya, it is very different – you don’t learn how to write

outside the classroom. “My teacher advised us to read

essays, for example. Here I learned how to write essays,

the newspaper every day. I had never done that before in

how to cite, and how to avoid plagiarism.”

my life. He also encouraged us to check the dictionary, because online dictionaries feature a new word each day.

I really learned a lot of new words this way!”

Practicing English extended into extracurricular activities

Word TravELS | 4

“Marwa Doufani is among the most memorable students I have taught at the English Language School,” EAP teacher Nayar Lopez says. “It is difficult to imagine Marwa without a smile on her face, and this enthusiasm made

ELS Activities her a pleasure to interact with as a teacher and as a classmate (as evidenced by her peers’ attitude towards her).

Marwa not only did well in class but performed very well on all assignments. This was due to her strong work ethic and ambition to learn: Marwa would regularly follow up

Meiji Pharmaceutical University

O

ur visiting students from Meiji Pharmaceutical University made us proud with their group presentation at the

Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences.

with me to clarify lessons or inquire about further learning opportunities. Marwa is successful because of these qualities, and we are fortunate to have her studying at the University of Alberta.”

Take this chance. Enjoy it, because it’s really helpful especially before going on to academic courses. You can have fun and improve your language in an interactive way.

Now, back in home in Libya, Marwa is teaching English to children in a language centre. “I am having so much fun with them, and the good thing is that I am speaking English most of the day, so I won’t lose my language skills!”

MPU students during and after their presentation

Dr. Stuart Webb at ELS

T

he English Language School welcomed Dr. Stuart Webb from the University of Western Ontario to ELS.

Dr. Webb was the keynote speaker at the ATESL 2016

To all the prospective ELS students, Marwa says, “take this

Conference. Dr. Webb met with our teachers and shared

chance. Enjoy it, because it’s really helpful especially be-

insights on planning teaching activities.

fore going on to academic courses. You can have fun and improve your language in an interactive way. Although I was taking math classes at the time, I didn’t have much trouble because my teachers were really helpful. Just take the chance and enjoy it!”

Marwa’s young students in her English class in Libya

Word TravELS | 5

Dr. Webb interacting with an engaged audience

APPEMI APPEMI Applied

By Tracey Hilden, Social Media Coordinator, ELS

F

You’ve been telling me about some of the ideas you have about how this CLIL framework could impact your international journalism program.

Yes. When we talked about bilingual journalism, we often

or the past two months, ELS has had the pleasure of

do it within its language. We use language tools to teach

hosting professors from the Chinese Scholarship

journalism, but I think CLIL could shed new light into our

Council in our Advanced Professional Program in English-

program, because with this theory, we can theoretically

Medium Instruction (APPEMI). APPEMI uses a teaching

put our program into frame – a CLIL frame in our curricu-

approach called Content and Language Integrated Learn-

lum, and also in our teaching for individual courses.

ing (CLIL). Our APPEMI Academic Team Lead Dr. Pamela Young recently sat down with one of our professors, Dr. Peiqin Chen, from Shanghai to talk about CLIL and the APPEMI program.

Can you tell us a little bit about who you are and what brought you to Edmonton?

You’ve been sharing this idea already from Edmonton to Shanghai, and you’ve told me a little bit about how some people at your university are responding to this new idea. Can you share a little about that?

Actually, after class I talked with our Dean - the Dean of the School of Journalism Communications - and I said

My name is Peiqin. I’m a professor of journalism, teaching

that I found that a new idea which might better fit our

journalism at the Shanghai International Studies Universi-

program. It’s CLIL, and I introduced this concept and the-

ty. I’m involved in the program sponsored by the Shang-

ory briefly, and they said, “That’s perfect. That’s our pro-

hai Educational Bureau to send 18 university professors

gram.” It’s a better term for our program than Bilingual

to the University of Alberta to be trained in teaching,

Journalism. I also talked with my other colleagues, and

mainly for English-medium instruction.

they said this theory fits us well. It’s a great discovery.

Now, you made a very big discovery very early in the

You mentioned that you always had some tensions

program. Can you tell us about that discovery?

between language and content in your faculty. Can

At the beginning of this program, our professor talked

you tell us what that situation was like?

about CLIL, and I think this theory is a very exciting theory

In our International Journalism program, we have at least

for me. In our International Journalism program, we think

3 categories of faculty members. One group is English

our program is a bilingual journalism program. When I

language teachers: they teach intensive reading, gram-

hear a professor talking about CLIL, I think it might be a

mar, and pronunciation - the basic English language. An-

better concept for our teaching, because we often have 3

other group is the journalism professors: they teach Eng-

parts in our curriculum: one is English-medium journalism

lish-medium instructions, like English news writing, or

courses, the other is English language courses, and we

other journalism courses. We have another group of in-

also teach journalism in Chinese.

structors who teach journalism in Chinese. So, we always

Can you tell us what CLIL means? What does it stand

have a kind of conflict between the English language fac-

for?

Well, CLIL is Content and Language Integrated Learning.

So, this theory indicates that we could combine our language teaching with content, so we teach content and in the meantime, we help students improve their foreign language.

Word TravELS | 6

ulty members and also the Journalism faculty members.

So, what is more important? Why are students here to learn the English language? Why do we have to learn the language? The students have to work very hard to improve their language and at the same time they also have to learn journalism.

CLIL then could help then in this situation.

CLIL would rationalize the existence of this language faculty, and also it tells us how helpful this kind of curricu-

You also mentioned that maybe CLIL could be applied to International Business or other international programs.

lum or arrangement is for our whole program. It’s not

Yes. I think for any international program, especially in a

that we have extra English language teachers – they are

non-English environment, that would be the best idea or

integrated as part of our program.

theory to fit any international program – international

You also mentioned that maybe the name of your whole program might change.

Yes, and already we have already changed that. So, we this year we have a program for international for MA stu-

business, international law, and international relations.

You’ve been doing some reading the past few weeks about CLIL, so have you come across anything yet about why CLIL works?

dents. We used to call our program the English-taught

I think CLIL works because it makes language learning

MA program, and now we changed it to English-medium

more purposeful. Students have more opportunities to

MA program.

practice their language. When they have the basic under-

You have also written an article, and you were talking to your writing partner about changing a phrase or two in the article.

Yes, we have already done that.

What have you changed it to?

We changed it from the Bilingual Journalism program into English-medium Journalism program.

You’ve been thinking about how other types of pro-

standing and basic skills in language, they can start to use it in learning subjects. So, I could also use this as a reason why we still need Chinese language journalism courses, because that will help the students understand the content better, especially in the terms of writing . They may be able to write English news stories, but they can be simpler. If they write in Chinese, they can be more complicated and comprehensive, so it is a kind of integration between Chinese, English-medium instruction, and also language learning.

grams could make use of Content and Language Integrated Instruction.

My university is an International Studies university, but we started as a Language university – Russian language university. In my university we offer about 30 languages.

We rank the first in China in language teaching and research; we are very strong in literature and language studies. In the 1980s, we started a program which combined language study with a subject. So, we started our Journalism program, and Law program and invited trades and even Political Science – all of these are based on the language studies. The students will learn the language and in the meantime they also use English as a tool to learn their major. The whole university is based on the idea of CLIL without knowing that!

Dr. Peiqin Chen, professor from Shanghai International Studies University, teaches journalism in Shanghai

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@ualber Instag

Word TravELS | 8

rtaels on gram

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Faculty ELS EventsSocial EAP Sports Day

Japanese FAM Tour

E

I

AP students enjoyed a sunny fall day in Kinsmen Park, partaking in activities including soccer, Ultimate

Frisbee, Capture the Flag, and many more. Thank you to everyone who came out to enjoy the day.

n September, ELS welcomed Ms. Misako Terauchi, Ms. Yukari Kato, and Ms. Azusa Kawamichi to Enterprise

Square during part of the Japanese media familiarization tour of ESL programs in Canada. They had an opportunity to meet the ELS staff, tour the classrooms, and meet with some visiting students from Japan. It was a pleasure to host them at the English Language School!

Thanksgiving

I

n order for our students to have a taste of Thanksgiving in Canada, we had pumpkin pie for in the Atrium at

Enterprise Square. It was great to see so many students participate in this Canadian custom!

W o r d T r a v E L S | 10

Final Words International Recipes

T

he English Language School has a diverse body of students which brings a wide array of culture, tradi-

tions, and of course, food. To celebrate this diversity, we will feature an international recipe for you to enjoy. This month, ELS had pumpkin pie to celebrate Thanksgiving, so here is the recipe if you’d like to make this treat for yourself.

Pumpkin Pie Ingredients:  1 egg  1 tablespoon all-purpose flour  3/4 cup white sugar  1/2 teaspoon salt  1 1/2 cups pumpkin puree  1 1/2 cups evaporated milk  1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon  1/2 teaspoon ground ginger  1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg  2 tablespoons light corn syrup  1 9-inch pie crust Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C).

2. Add the sugar gradually to the pumpkin puree. Beat



well an stir in the flour, salt and spices. Stir in the corn syrup and beat well. Stir in the slightly beaten egg, then slowly add the evaporated milk, mixing until well blended. Pour the batter into the unbaked pie shell.

Bake at 450 degrees F (230 degrees C) for 10 minutes then reduce the oven temperature to 325 degrees F (165 degrees F) and continue baking pie for an additional 30 minutes or until a knife inserted into the mixture comes out clean.

Recipe from: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/9189/pumpkin-pie/?internalSource=hub% 20recipe&referringContentType=search%20results&clickId=cardslot%202

Top Ten... …things Canadians should be thankful for.

In October, Canadian families celebrate “Thanksgiving”, a time to enjoy the company of family and friends and reflect on and offer thanks for the many wonderful things and people in our lives.

Canadians and people living in Canada have SO many things to be grateful for, so it was very difficult to assemble a list of the “Top 10 things Canadians should be thankful for”: #10.

A truly free and democratic system of government

#9.

Multiculturalism

#8.

Free Wi-Fi in quite a few places!

#7.

Martin Short

#6.

Public healthcare

#5.

Lobster poutine

#4.

The letter “u”

#3.

Hitchhiking: totally legal!

#2.

Safety instructions provided in English and French on Air Canada flights!

#1.

8 months of winter guaranteed...or your citizenship returned free of charge!

H

ave a photo or story to share? Please contact Tracey Hilden, Social Media Coordinator (ELS).

Email: hilden@ualberta.ca Phone: 780-492-4906 Room 1-004, Enterprise Square Stay connected! Find us here: facebook.com/UAlbertaELS/ twitter.com/UAlbertaELS instagram.com/ualbertaels/

o r d T r a v E L S | 11 Remember:W UAlbertaELS!