Nov. 4, 2011
For Immediate Release
Campbellsville University’s ESL Department is pictured here during a group tour of the area around the historic Tebbs Bend Battlefield in Taylor County. Front row, from left– Evelayne Pereira, Belo Horizonte, Brazil; Tess Turner, adjunct instructor; Maryann Matheny, ESL endorsement specialist; Xiaoying Li of Beijing, China; Jin Pan, Dandong, Liaoning, China; and Travis Kennon, adjunct instructor. Second row– Khishigjargal Tserenjamts, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia; Jungmin Lee, Yanji City, China; Odgerel Erdene, Ulaanbaatar, Mongola; Eun-Sil Park, Busan, South Korea; Bianca Otero, Zulia, Venezuela; Hanako Abe, Koriyama Fukushima, Japan; Naho Ohara, Nagoya, Japan; Huanhuan Guo, Yongkang, China; Xueyan Qui, Beijing, China; and Jose Miguel Ramirez Sevillano, Caracas, Venezuela. Back row– Andrea Giordano, assistant director of ESL; Hyo Rim Lee, Yanji City, China; Yuya Kaburagi, Niigata City, Japan; Dr. Tetyana Oliynyk, visiting foreign scholar of Ukraine; Lidiane Macedo, Mesquita, Brazil; Pei-ju Lai, Caotun, China; Shu-Hua Lin, Sanchong, Taiwan; Danielle Souza, Hartford, Conn.; Misa Yuri, Hyogo, Japan; Ashley Boyd, adjunct instructor; Maryse Silva, Rio de Janiero, Brazil; and Hsin-I Guo, Yongkang, China. (Campbellsville University Photo contributed by ESL)
By Aaron C. Presley, student news writer
CAMPBELLSVILLE, Ky. – What is ESL? Good question. ESL means “English as a Second Language.” The Campbellsville University ESL Institute is home to students from all over the world — including Brazil, China, Colombia, Ecuador, France, Japan, Mongolia, South Korea, Spain, Taiwan and Venezuela, to mention a few.
This year, the ESL Institute has record enrollment with 95 ESL students. The ESL program instructs international students in the areas of listening, speaking, reading, grammar and writing at three levels: beginning, intermediate, and advanced.
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| CU’s ESL Institute, under the direction of Dr. Sandra Kroh, at left, held an open house for guests who wish to know more about ESL on campus. From left are: Kroh, Xiaoying Li of Beijing, China; Vicky Campbell, adjunct instructor; Andrea Giordano, assistant director of ESL; and Dr. Tatyana Oliynyk, visiting foreign scholar from Ukraine. (Campbellsville University Photo by Linda Waggener) |
Students are placed in the ESL program based on their English placement test scores. Students are evaluated for their level of comprehension and then placed into the proper level. Once students reach the “advanced” level of study and have passed these courses, they are considered ready to take their undergraduate or graduate classes.
The ESL program recently had an open house in which they shared the above information as well as other information concerning international students and how professors can help an ESL students’ transition into classes after ESL.
Suggestions to professors for more engaged former ESL students included learning the correct pronunciation of their names, encouraging them to seek help when they aren’t sure of material, and encouraging them to participate in student activities on campus and to interact with English-speaking students.
Information was also provided about culture shock, a possible problem for international students who become overwhelmed with their lives at an American university.
The ESL Institute at Campbellsville University also shared information about “ESL Conversation Partners,” an experience that allows ESL students to collaborate with education students and promotes growth for each. This is said to “initiate academic conversation on the points of culture and education” between education students and ESL students. For some students, The Conversation Partners experience is the first time they have been exposed to the lives and culture of international students.
The ESL Institute exists to help international students transition into their lives as English-speaking students and to equip them with the understanding necessary to pursue and be successful in the fields of their choice.
The following serve as full-time faculty and staff for the ESL Institute: Dr. Sandy Kroh, ESL programs director; Andrea Giordano, assistant director; Maryann Matheny, ESL endorsement specialist; and Raquel Cunha, secretary. Dr. Tetyana Oliynyk is a visiting scholar teaching in the Master’s of Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) program.
ESL adjunct instructors include Ashley Boyd, Adrienne Butler, Ray Hollenbach, Lyuda Ivanyuk, Travis Kennon, Xiaoying Li, Dr. Shirley Meece, Edwina Rowell, Tess Turner, Hector Urbaneja, and Misa Yuri.