English Program Office makes changes to elevate quality of English education
The English Program Office (EPO) was established with the goal of providing quality English education for Ewha students. To offer the most ideal environment for students to acquire English, the office has been employing many native speakers as instructors, as interaction with them not only improves students’ basic English skills but also enables students to acquire the language more fully and naturally by being exposed to, carefully observing, and especially participating in a different culture.
The EPO offers English courses as well as various programs to raise English speaking, listening and writing skills to an advanced level.
In addition, EPO programs such as Ewha Writing-Intensive School (EWIS), a program focused on writing, Ewha Intensive English (EIE), an immersion course focused on speaking, Writing Clinic, a tutoringservice for advice on writing, and E-PALS, a service that gives students the opportunity to interact with native English speakers, are provided to help students improve English skills.
EPO seeks changes to elevate the quality of its English education
At the beginning of this year, the officemade several changes that improved the quality and efficacy of English education. One of the major accomplishments of the EPO is its increased willingness to acknowledge students’ call for elevating the general quality of courses.
“We have decided to focus the classes even ㄷore on writing, enabling students to deliver their opinions more effectively and express their thoughts more fully,” said an official at EPO.
Consistent with this, a noticeable change has been observed in most of the EPO courses and programs.
With a strengthened emphasis on written expression, all of the courses and programs now require writing. Professors therefore give feedback on essays and research papers in all classes. Before this new change, the number of writing assignments varied depending on the teachers.
The ELounge, run by the EPO, intiated a program in spring 2013 called “E-PALS” that provides students the opportunity to interact with foreign students.
“Since I have never been abroad to learn English, I was searching for programs through which I could practice speaking the language,” Bae Eun-jin (Physical Education, 2) said. “Then I found E-PALS. I immediately signed up for the program and am excited to improve my English and meeting new friends. I was very impressed by the EPO’s efforts at providing effective programs for students. They are of immense help, especially for those like me who have never, or scarcely ever, had a chance to go abroad and acquire the language.”
New courses that will be offered in the spring semester 2013, “Rhetoric and Composition” and “Special Topics in English,” are also focused on improving writing skills.
Other efforts include turning a 4-week Ewha English Camp into daily programs such as EIE and EWIS for students’ convenience. The office will continue to develop new programs for students.
Oh Seo-jin
seojinoh@ewhain.net