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Short-term intensive ESL programs are organized for overseas groups coming to Utah to not only introduce them to aspects of American
culture and English language, but to help students apply this knowledge in their future work and studies. This specific program focuses on giving students real-life experience in using English beyond the walls of the language classroom through a variety of field trips, in-field surveys, cultural presentations, web page development, and group discussion.
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Students from International Buddhist University, Japan
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Students generally meet with their instructors from 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., Monday through Friday, for three to six weeks. Topics of instruction include greetings, lifestyles, education, shopping and dining, public transportation, sports and recreation, and Utah history. One major project is the creation of a program and individual student home pages like this one that report on the language and culture learned throughout the program, and students give final presentations on North American culture and language as their culminating project.
There are several purposes to creating this web site: (1) establish an online community where students can develop an awareness, knowledge, and appreciation of another language and culture through web-based activities, (2) build communications between family, colleagues, and teachers back in their home countries, and (3) help prepare them to develop basic computer skills, using English, that will be needed in any area of study and work in the future. The results have been
extremely positive from both students, university staff back in the home country who have participated in the program, and we hope to establish a tradition of making web sites for individual groups.
Contact the English Language Institute for more information.
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Trip to Dead Horse Point and Arches, Moab, Utah
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The purpose of these activities is to provide students with opportunities to participate actively in a variety of local cultural events and exchanges during their study in our program. Some of these activities include visiting the Utah State Fair, the capital building, Park City and Olympic Village, and Mt. Timpanogos Cave, as well as teaching arts and crafts at a senior citizen center, attending a university football game, and touring a historic pioneer village.
Students also have the opportunity to visit local elementary schools (see picture here taken at Hawthorne Elementary School) and teach children about Japanese traditional arts. During one visit, the group of students recently played games to share some fun moments with the children. They also interviewed one of the teachers about the school, and they felt they came away from the experience with a better understanding of the U.S. educational system.
One exciting part of the program is the creation of the Program Photo Gallery containing pictures taken each day of the classroom activities, and these pictures are posted to the site via a web-based interface. These pictures help family, friends, and school adminstrators in the students' home countries keep track of the daily events in our program, personalizing the experience for everyone. This website is also set up to allow students to even send electronic postcards using the pictures from the gallery [See Example]
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