LAUREATE ENGLISH PROGRAM

Transcription

1 LAUREATE ENGLISH PROGRAM

2 INSIDE FRONT COVER

3 INTRODUCTION In today s competitive global marketplace, the ability to communicate in English is an essential skill for graduates. Within the next ten years, 28% of global GDP will be conducted in English. Large international employers are increasingly requiring a higher level of proficiency in English from candidates for recruitment. The Laureate English Program has been created to ensure our graduates are equipped to meet this new challenge. The ability to work in English will allow our graduates to gain employment, to reach higher levels of success in the workplace and to enjoy increased career mobility as they take up posts outside their native countries. Internationally, the standard for English proficiency is emerging as the B1 level on the Common European Frame of Reference ( CEFR ). The Laureate English Program will ensure that our students reach or exceed the B1 level. AGE ABILITY LEVEL CEFR LEVEL 22 years C2 20 years PROFICIENT C1 18 years B2 16 years INDEPENDENT B1 14 years A2 12 years BASIC A1 Entrance requirement for British and North American Universities Developing International Standard Majority of Laureate Students The Laureate English Program is a full-service solution delivered through a partnership of world renowned organisations in teacher training, content provision, assessment and quality assurance. This brochure will give you further details on all the aspects of the program and give you guidance about how you can implement the Laureate English Program in your university. LAUREATE ENGLISH PROGRAM 1

4 PROGRAM COMPONENTS The Laureate English Program comprises six key elements, which work together to create a world-class English language teaching and learning program. Assessment Product Development Curriculum & Pedagogy Quality Assurance Teacher Training Internal Consulting 2 LAUREATE ENGLISH PROGRAM

5 The Curriculum component World renowned Touchstone Course available in a variety of formats from traditional coursebooks to a fully online course Hundreds of hours of highly interactive materials, including audio and video Social networking extension to the learning material using Web 2.0 tools Blended learning integrates classroom and online contact Cutting-edge Learning Management System tracks learner s progress and allows sophisticated analysis of results The Teaching component Full practical training and induction for teachers to use materials and technology Professional development path through International teacher certificates CELTA and Delta Year-round expert Teacher Training Long term professional development path for teachers and teacher trainers Online collaboration for teachers across the Laureate network through Teachers Lounge The Assessment component Globally benchmarked assessment within the CEFR framework Internationally recognised examinations based on real life language skills Certification recognised by employers worldwide Extensive measures and reports available to Laureate universities The Quality Assurance & Development (QAD) component Clear framework and methodology to measure quality standards Focus on teaching, academic management and customer service Measures reported across all Laureate campuses Action logframe to ensure improvement and development LAUREATE ENGLISH PROGRAM 3

6 QUALITY ASSURANCE AND DEVELOPMENT The Bell Quality Assurance & Development (QAD) system provides the overall quality assurance and development for English language teaching operations under the Laureate English program. This ensures that Laureate can measure the operational quality and efficiency of centres delivering the program. The QAD system provides a framework and a methodology for: accurately profiling Laureate s language programs explicitly stating expected quality standards for a program assessing whether a program currently meets required quality levels in all areas of work encouraging exchange of information and ideas within the Laureate network helping to set goals for future development towards even higher standards To achieve these aims, highly trained Quality Assurance professionals conduct assessment and advisory visits focusing on teaching, learning and program management. The assessments are made within 14 evaluation frames, and adhering to 170 measurable criteria statements. Through a secure micro-site, Laureate has full visibility of all the assessments, the detailed reports, a dashboard with which to compare across its centers, and an Action Logframe which details actions taking place around its network, with the set timeframes for these to be achieved. TEACHER TRAINING FOR LAUREATE Within the Laureate English Program, Bell provides English language teacher training to help shape Laureate s own professional development continuum. Bell s experience and depth of resources enables it to provide training on demand at any time, and in any part of the world. Among Bell s portfolio of teacher training services are: BELL TEACHER CAMPUS Based at the University of Cambridge, Homerton College, more than 800 teachers per year attend specialist two-week courses in order to develop their skills. 4 LAUREATE ENGLISH PROGRAM

7 BELL ONLINE DELTA (Cambridge ESOL Diploma in English Language Teaching) Delta is considered by many people to be the professional level qualification for English language teachers, and is very suitable for progressing staff towards a role in teacher training and supervisory roles within the Laureate group. CELTA (Cambridge ESOL Certificate in Language Teaching to Adults) CELTA is extremely effective in developing teachers who have not obtained a formal qualification in practical teaching methodology. The primary focus of the course is on the basic techniques of English language teaching and their practical application in the classroom. BESPOKE TEACHER TRAINING COURSES Bell provides tailored teacher training programs for Laureate staff. This involves courses of differing length and content to meet the needs of the teachers at a particular institution. TRAINER TRAINING Bell runs trainer training courses to enable Laureate to build capacity for its campuses worldwide. The aim of these programs is to develop the skills trainers need to run in-service teacher training programs in their own campuses. BELL Bell is one of the largest providers of English Language and teacher training programs with a 50-year pedigree of English language development across the world. Its comprehensive Quality Assurance and Development system is used in every continent of the world. Every year, over 30,000 people, of more than 120 different nationalities, choose to learn at Bell Centers around the world, and more than 2,000 English language teachers join Bell teacher development courses. Bell s online service, has 130,000 current subscribers worldwide. Bell has more than 1,000 teachers working within its worldwide network. These include some of the most experienced language teachers, teacher trainers, educational managers, consultants and materials writers in the world. LAUREATE ENGLISH PROGRAM 5

8 EDUCATIONAL CONTENT AND SOFTWARE The learning content in the Laureate English program is a completely unique and cutting-edge development. Based on the Touchstone course, it offers the first truly blended learning solution for English Language Teaching. BLENDED LEARNING WITH TOUCHSTONE Touchstone is now available completely offline in the form of the existing course books and supporting materials and completely online with a full range of digital materials and collaborative tools, including a fully online version of the course. Laureate English teachers can use the materials as they please from 100% online to 100% offline or any blend of the two. The Touchstone Online Course content maps onto the Touchstone Student s Book at every step right down to the level of individual exercises plus there is additional material such as video explanations of grammar points to support self-study. This enables successful blending of the online and offline experience and means that the material can be used for a variety of purposes such as: Pre-class preparation Post-class revision, remedial work, extension, consolidation Replacing a class or allowing a student to make up a missed class Dealing with multi-ability classes quicker students have extra materials, slower students can repeat, recycle, review as often as necessary. LEARNING MANAGEMENT SYSTEM The Touchstone Online course is delivered to students and teachers in the Learning Management System (LMS). This software allows universities to set up English courses, monitor progress, create reports, administer assessment and create collaborative learning and portfolios. 6 LAUREATE ENGLISH PROGRAM

9 With Touchstone, learning is: Communicative video role plays and voice tools allows students to practice all language skills without a teacher Collaborative the use of Web 2.0 collaborative tools such as blogs and wikis allow students to work together outside the classroom Autonomous students can learn effectively on their own Benefits of Touchstone and the LMS: Adoption is possible whatever the level of e-maturity. The physical limitations of the classroom or campus are lifted allowing you to reach students wherever they are, whenever they want to learn. The amount of time that students can work without a teacher is increased. Continuous assessment is available through the automatic grading of student s work in the online course. Students who expect to use the digital tools of their everyday lives in their learning are motivated. Teachers who want to upgrade their teaching using technology are motivated. The Touchstone Course and the Learning Management System have been developed by Cambridge University Press. Cambridge University Press was founded by a royal charter granted to the University of Cambridge in Today the Press is one of the largest academic and educational publishers worldwide and a leading publisher of English language teaching and learning materials. With its offices in more than 30 countries, the Press continually researches learners needs and provides products, information,training and other support services to teachers. Six warehouses around the world and relationships with specialist as well as global retailers ensure that all Cambridge University Press products reach customers quickly and effectively. LAUREATE ENGLISH PROGRAM 7

10 ASSESSMENT The Laureate English Program integrates language assessment at all stages of the program, from curriculum planning through to providing students with recognized international qualifications which will enhance their résumés. Throughout the program, experts trained and managed by Cambridge ESOL will work with you to help measure the level of your students, monitor progress and deliver secure examinations. BENCHMARKING Before you start to deliver the Laureate English Program, or once it is under way, the Benchmarking service applies specially designed tools to give you a detailed profile of your students language skills. What is the average level of students in your university? How do they feel their English language skills vary? What are their particular strengths and weaknesses? What are their attitudes to learning English? What English language internationally recognized exam should the university be planning for and at what stage of the course? This service is provided to help you set appropriate targets, plan the curriculum, allocate your resources more effectively and select appropriate materials. PLACEMENT TESTING AND PROGRESS MONITORING Optional services are available from Cambridge ESOL: to help you assess individual students at the start of their courses, so that you can assign them to appropriate classes and tailor their learning to their particular needs to monitor general progress of individual students or classes as the course progresses. 8 LAUREATE ENGLISH PROGRAM

11 CERTIFICATION All students taking part in the Laureate English Program are encouraged to take the Cambridge Preliminary English Test or its equivalent the BEC (Business English Certificate) Preliminary. These internationally recognized qualifications are set at the CEFR B1 level, which is increasingly seen as the world-wide standard for essential competence in English. Higher level qualifications are offered for students who want to go beyond this level, to pursue higher education or employment in English-speaking countries or to work in international business. Your students will benefit from Cambridge ESOL qualifications that are trusted by thousands of employers, educational institutions and government bodies throughout the world: First Certificate in English Certificate in Advanced English* Business English Certificates * widely recognized as the standard for postgraduate courses taught in English CENTER STATUS As a participant in the Laureate English Program, your university will be invited to register as an authorized Cambridge ESOL center, allowing you to administer the exams for your own students. Cambridge ESOL provides formal accreditation for all authorized centers and offers a wide range of supporting services and benefits, including on-the-ground support from our network of regional offices around the world. UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE ESOL EXAMINATIONS Cambridge ESOL is the world s leading provider of qualifications for learners and teachers of English. Taken by over 3 million candidates a year in 130 countries, the exams are recognized by more than 9,500 institutions around the world. Cambridge ESOL is a department of the University of Cambridge and is committed to providing assessment services of the highest quality, characterized by fairness, reliability, relevance and positive educational impact. They are backed by an extensive program of published academic and practical research, quality assurance, customer service and support for learners and teachers. LAUREATE ENGLISH PROGRAM 9

12 PROGRAM OPTIONS The Laureate English Program is flexible, modular and scaleable. Universities can choose which options to implement and choose to phase implementation by adding other options later. MENU OF OPTIONS Teacher training Teacher certification Integration of digital learning content for use at home/off campus Installation of interactive classrooms Integration of digital learning content for use in class Product training for teachers using digital content English language placement exams English language exit exams Quality assurance Examples of universities in the Laureate network implementing the Laureate English program are provided opposite. 10 LAUREATE ENGLISH PROGRAM

13 CASE STUDIES UNIVERSIDAD DEL VALLE DE MÉXICO (UVM), MEXICO UVM has been using the Touchstone Course with interactive classrooms since January Their interactive classrooms use Interactive Whiteboard and Mimio technology. In September 2009, the university joined the pilot for the full online version of the Touchstone Course. In the initial phase of the pilot participating students and teachers were divided into three groups to use the content in different ways. Some students continued using the printed Touchstone course materials as usual. In the other groups, students used the Touchstone Online Course either instead of their face to face classes or on campus with a teacher available in class. The Dean of UVM, Carlos Enrique, visited students using Touchstone Online on campus and found that they were much more engaged in their language studies than they had been with traditional materials. Students reported that they found the new content interesting and interactive and were unwilling to stop working on the online materials when class time ended. During the pilot UVM took an important decision to invest in improved bandwidth to optimise students online learning experience. In addition, UVM has undertaken a large scale in-country Quality Assurance and Development (QAD) project for its English Program. In September 2010 a team of 3 Bell assessors were deployed to Mexico for a 2-year period. The project consists of a quality benchmarking process throughout the UVM campus network. This is followed by a series of Teacher Training workshops throughout the UVM network and ongoing QAD visits on all UVM campuses. QAD reports are accessible on the Bell-UVM Micro site and available to senior UVM and Laureate staff. During this process the Bell team will identify suitably qualified UVM staff to shadow the QAD assessors with a view to take over this role at the end of the 2 year period. The objective is to leave a lasting legacy of a permanent in-house QAD team working within the UVM campus network. BILGI UNIVERSITY, ISTANBUL, TURKEY Since September 2009, Bilgi has undertaken a full adoption of Touchstone Online materials including interactive classrooms featuring Mimio and Whiteboard technology. Bilgi also joined the initial pilot of the Touchstone Online course. Students there were so enthused by the online experience that they came into the language lab during their lunch hour for additional English practice on their own. As a starting point for their staff development plan, Bilgi engaged in a two-day Bell teacher training program involving four key speakers providing plenaries and workshops 97% positive feedback on quality of workshops, 100% on overall usefulness. The University has also engaged in a QAD assessment schedule for the full academic year. LAUREATE ENGLISH PROGRAM 11

14 PROGRAM BENEFITS STUDENTS An internationally recognised learning program with externally validated outcomes Demonstrable improvements in employability, benchmarked against a global scale A variety of learning modes to maintain interest and engagement Access to materials that stimulate and delight Motivated teachers who are in tune with the curriculum and the latest teaching techniques Apply and practise language skills in fun new ways (e.g. social networking) Convenience and flexibility to structure their learning around their university lifestlye TEACHERS A clear individualised professional development pathway within the Laureate network Access to internationally recognised qualifications and teacher training Increased opportunities to develop careers and take on additional responsibility Motivation to apply the curriculum with improved practical teaching techniques INSTITUTION Measure and demonstrate student progress using international standards Benchmark operational quality against other Laureate institutions Have a framework to ensure continuous development and improvement of the program Confidence from working with the world s leading organisations in curriculum, assessment and teacher training and development A turnkey English language program with clear implementation and performance milestones Added value to core educational activity and improvement of students employment prospects and marketability Attract and retain quality staff to a new and innovative English program, with excellent professional development opportunities 12 LAUREATE ENGLISH PROGRAM

15 NEXT STEPS LAUREATE ENGLISH PROGRAM When you decide to introduce the Laureate English Program in your university, the first step will be an audit of your existing English provision which will produce recommendations for implementation. For more information about joining the Laureate English Program, please contact: Gordon Lewis Laureate Education, Inc. Tel: EDUCATIONAL CONTENT AND SOFTWARE To find out more about the educational content and software, please contact: Bryan Fletcher Cambridge University Press Tel: +44 (0) TEACHER TRAINING AND CERTIFICATION For more information about teacher training and certification, please contact: Jim Kell The Bell Educational Trust Tel: +44 (0) PLACEMENT TESTS, BENCHMARKING AND ASSESSMENT For more information about placement tests, benchmarking and assessment, please contact: University of Cambridge ESOL Examinations Helpdesk 1 Hills Road Cambridge CB1 2EU UK Esolhelpdesk@cambridgeEsol.org Tel: +44 (0) LAUREATE ENGLISH PROGRAM 13

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