Academic language
As has already been said, without a high language exam score, no university will accept you. But if you have already been admitted to a university and your exams are passed, does it mean that before the start of classes you should not spend an extra month or two on the language? More precisely, additional - extra classes never hurt. After all, you have the summer ahead, which can be spent usefully - on adapting to the conditions of a foreign university and improving your language skills.
Of course, the optimal option is to complete a course “Foreign Language for Academic Purposes” (Language for Academic Purposes, or LAP). These courses, specially created for international applicants, are taught both at universities and colleges, and at language schools in various countries.
The peculiarity of LAP is that, along with the foreign language, students are taught the skills and techniques that every student must master for successful university study. Most students require additional special academic training regardless of their language level.
One problem is that most often such programs are designed for a long period. In Britain, as a rule, it is 12-16 weeks; in the US and a number of other countries, one-year courses are more common. But do not think that all is lost and that if classes at a foreign university start in September-October, you no longer have time for such courses. Everything depends on your initial knowledge of the language. Of course, if your level is that of secondary school, then you still need to study and study. But at an above-average level, you will only need to polish your knowledge and familiarize yourself with the specifics of university studies. And this will not require much time. And if you make an effort, you can also find short-term LAP courses - from two to twelve weeks. That is, the summer will be quite enough for you.
Programs Without Flaws
In short LAP courses, students are taught the same as in long-term ones. At the forefront, as a rule, is the teaching of reading and writing for academic purposes: after all, without this, you cannot get anywhere at university. Students are taught to apply different reading methods in accordance with the task: for example, one text needs to be carefully worked through, another one summarized, which means highlighting its key points; a third is enough to skim through, and so on. Everything read in class is subject to discussion, and thus students learn to critically evaluate an educational or scientific text.
Writing an essay or report even in one's native language is for many an almost impossible task. Therefore, the courses teach the culture of written speech, elements of practical stylistics, and the technique of writing various kinds of student papers.
Listening comprehension is one of the stumbling blocks for all language learners, and in LAP courses it is the second most important skill that students master. The teaching of conversational speech is also subordinated to the requirements dictated by the university audience.
Naturally, the program includes phonetics and grammar, vocabulary expansion, and elements of language theory. Teachers teach students to distinguish functional styles of language and to use language means adequate for one or another type of utterance.
Often, at the end of the courses, graduates, like real students, defend a “term paper” - an essay written on a subject related to their future specialty, and in the process of study they practice the technique of taking exams, methods of presenting material, and the art of thesis defense. Some programs also include computer training - in a text editor and on the Internet, as well as skills in using reference books, dictionaries, and library catalogs.
Many LAP programs, especially those at universities and colleges, also include simulation of university classes: students listen to lectures by subject teachers, take notes, and participate in seminars. This type of activity helps students understand what awaits them after the language course, and, it must be said, brings quite a few surprises. For example, our applicant cannot imagine that in Western universities it is customary to prepare not only for the seminar, but also for the lecture, to which one comes having already read the required literature on the topic.
School or University?
When choosing LAP courses, the question may arise: where is it better to go - to a language school or to a university, since such courses are taught both there and here. Actually, there is no difference between the programs themselves. Nevertheless, many educational agents believe that a university is preferable. After all, a good LAP program always includes elements of adaptation and introduces the international student to the way of life accepted in the academic environment. Naturally, if classes are held on a university campus, this is much easier to do. LAP students have equal rights with university students: they can use the library, computer centers, and sports facilities. It is not for nothing that some universities, especially American ones, conduct special adaptation courses for future students right in the summer, before the start of classes.
But language schools also have their advantages. In universities, teaching language for academic purposes is only one, and not the main, aspect of activity. And in language schools, which deal exclusively with this, enthusiastic teachers work, deeply interested in every student and always ready to help.
In favor of language schools also speaks the fact that the timing of classes in them is not as rigid as in universities. The location of schools also offers a wider choice: many are located in small towns, where it is easier to adapt to life in a foreign country.
Schools Waiting for You
The schedule of LAP courses at the Cambridge Arts & Sciences institute, as well as at the institute's language school Stafford House School located in the British city of Canterbury, is very convenient. The program starts every Monday - in Canterbury from 25 June to 27 August 2006, and in Cambridge from 8 July to 2 September. The course gives you the opportunity to improve your English language proficiency (speaking, reading, writing and listening) and expand your vocabulary in the field of academic disciplines (natural sciences, mathematics, computer science, biology, geography, history, political science, general business fundamentals, etc.). The program can last from two to nine weeks, but you need to have at least an intermediate level of English.
Those who plan to study in Britain should also pay attention to the well-known London school International House. The English for academic purposes course here lasts four weeks and is offered to students with an English level of at least Upper-Intermediate, and can be a supplement to a general English course. Intensity: 15 lessons per week, classes are held in the afternoon. During the course, students write a research project and present it at the end of the course.
A minimum period of 12 weeks can be chosen at the Australian language school SELC, one of the oldest language educational institutions in Australia, where young people from 20 countries of the world study. It should be noted that the school works in close contact with universities, colleges, private and public secondary schools in Australia. You will study English for academic purposes 20 hours a week and will have time to prepare well for your studies, provided, of course, that you already have an English level above intermediate.
Are you planning to study in New Zealand? Then you should take a language course in that country as well. For example, in Auckland, at the Worldwide School of English. Your studies here will take eight weeks. By the way, this school, in addition to a purely language course, offers a serious program of adaptation to life in the country and to study at its universities.
Exactly the same - eight weeks - you will have to spend at the British school The English Language Centre, located in the resort town of Brighton, to master the intricacies of the language for academic purposes. And do not envy the students of vacation programs studying at the same time at the same school: there is enough sea and beach in Brighton for everyone...
In recent years, more and more of our compatriots have been coming to LAP courses. So do not waste time: a summer spent on such courses will significantly ease your further studies.