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'Intense' English program to help incoming international students

Adam Giffi, Senior Staff Writer

There are some in Ohio who likely cannot point to Miami University on a map; but if the plans of those behind the American Culture and English (ACE) program are fully realized, Miami will one day be recognized globally as a hot spot to learn English as a foreign language.

Robert DiDonato, director of global initiatives, said this semester Miami has implemented an intensive English program that is currently geared towards international students who have not performed high enough for admittance into Miami on the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) and/or the International English Language Testing System (IELTS).

He said there are three main goals of the program, one being to generate revenue from both the tuition of students in the program and from the students who then apply and are admitted for full-time status upon completion of the program. Additionally, another goal is to raise English proficiency among international students on campus.

"I can remember when I started at Miami in 1987, the Asian presence was very miniscule. Now look at the Asian presence and how the campus has really become open to international students," DiDonato said. "Now imagine if we can increase that with a Latin American presence, South American presence, presence from Arabic countries and places like that. It would be terrific."

Felice Marcus, associate director of ACE, which just received a formal name change from the American English and Culture Program, said prospective international students are currently required to have a 72 TOEFL score out of 120 or a 6.0 IELTS score out of 9.

Meanwhile, for admittance into the program designed to heighten English language and American cultural skills, students need to have between a 65-71 TOEFL or a 5.5 IELTS. Beginning with the fall 2013 semester, the regular minimum admission requirement will be 76 TOEFL/6.5 IELTS and the ACE requirement will be 65-75 TOEFL/5.5 or 6.0 IELTSA. In 2014, the requirement for general admittance will be up to 80 for TOEFL.

According to Marcus, based on what they have seen, the old standards have not always reflected that students are adequately prepared, especially as it applies to verbal skills, and therefore some students have not been able to excel to the best of their abilities. Marcus said Miami's new standards are more comparable to those of other leading schools.

Another goal is to diversify the international student population. This will be achieved partly by broadening the focus of the program. If this is successful, Marcus and DiDonato said anyone from an international business person with limited knowledge of the English language that is looking to heighten his or her competitive edge to someone with literally zero knowledge of English will attend the program and pay tuition along with those looking to get into Miami as students.

As the program expands towards this, the length will be more flexible, ranging from a single semester, the current length of the program, to multiple semesters for those learning from scratch, with the specifics still to be determined. This broadening will require additional staff, such as teachers trained to instruct a student with no knowledge of English, to be hired.

DiDonato said another initiative of ACE is to provide faculty and staff with more tips and strategies with handling the cultural differences that crop up when interacting with international students. These tips are partly on feedback from faculty.

"The tone of faculty feedback runs from very gentle and very nice all the way to frustration sometimes," DiDonato said. "This occasionally stems from the fact that they feel that they need to spend more time with international students, for instance, and that these students occupy their office hours more than is customary."

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DiDonato stressed that the frustration does not characterize the majority of feedback. He said faculty are very open and very accepting.

Senior Qin Zhang, an international student from Shanghai, supports Miami's decision to move in this direction.

"It will be very good progress. Because they have listening and oral section in the tests, if those that struggle can come too," Zhang said. "Also, Miami can get money from this program."

Sophomore Chloe Toman is excited by the benefits this program will provide Miami students and international students.

"I think it is very important for international students to come to Miami," Toman said. "I think it increases our diversity, gives those that can't go and study abroad to get a cultural view from the boundaries of Miami. But I also think it is very important for those that do come to Miami from international countries to learn our language, not so that that they can be more adapted to our culture for our sake, but so that they can easily communicate with professors, understand assignments more fully, and be able to comfortably learn and interact."

DiDonato said the individual interaction is now international. He said that prospective students can soon look forward to a unique campus experience.

"It's like going to a city that has incredible ethnic diversity and going through all the neighborhoods," DiDonato said. "Except you will be doing it on a world scale and you will be doing it here at Miami University."