We work with departments to provide language upgrade and preacademic training both on our Buffalo campuses and as part of the University’s overseas programs.
For more than 30 years, the English Language Institute (ELI) has been a pioneer in developing specialized English language, teacher training and professional development programs — both overseas and on campus — to meet the needs of UB departments, overseas partner institutions, U.S. government agencies and other sponsors.
The Institute collaborates with partner institutions overseas to deliver intensive English, English for Specific Purposes, and teacher training programs to local students and professionals. To strengthen local departments and support program sustainability, ELI overseas programs promote the development of an indigenous English-teaching capability through teacher-training activities for local instructors both on-site and at UB. On-going teacher training and mentoring is provided on-site by U.S.
English as a Foreign Language (EFL) instructors who work with local faculty to develop curricula and course syllabi, implement standardized testing procedures, introduce communicative instructional techniques in EFL classes, supervise lesson planning and materials preparation, evaluate teacher performance, conduct in-service workshops on such topics as EFL theory and methodology and the role of culture in language learning, and transfer the organizational and administrative expertise required to run a language program.
The demands of increasing modernization, communication and globalization have brought about a worldwide recognition of English as the language of diplomacy, education, science and technology, and business and trade.
The English Language Institute has responded to the emergence of English as a global language and to the desire of countries to be integrated into the international English-speaking community by providing specialized, tailored programs of English language, professional development, and teacher training in the United States and abroad.
These programs, along with the qualified and professionally trained faculty and staff who develop, administer and teach in them, give the English Language Institute a comprehensive range of experience from which to develop future programs in international education.
Here are descriptions of selected programs developed and delivered by ELI since the 1970s for a variety of clients and institutional partners.
ELI established an English language program at the Tuzla Clinical Center to deliver classes of English for Bosnian health-care professionals preparing to visit hospitals and receive medical training in the United States.
ELI oversaw the establishment and development of the English Language Training Center (ELTC) in Phnom Penh in cooperation with CDRI, an organization established to meet the development and reconstruction needs of Cambodia.
ELI, in cooperation with USIRP, conducted a 10-week intensive English language-training program for employees of various government ministries and educational institutions.
ELI cooperated with GS FAME in providing classes of English for academic and professional purposes for students and businessmen in Jakarta.
ELI established an English language-training center in Jakarta in cooperation with STEKPI.
ELI developed and oversaw the delivery of English and preacademic training for students in Konan University’s Economics and Business Administration (EBA) Program at both Konan and UB, where EBA students come in their second year for two semesters of coursework in economics and business administration.
Since the summer of 1992, ELI has worked with the UB School of Management in a cooperative program with RTU to develop the Riga Business School (RBS) at RTU. RBS offers a master of business administration (MBA) degree based on the North American MBA program model. Full-time EFL instructors were hired in the U.S. and sent to RTU to teach at the English Language Center , which offers courses of English for Academic Purposes specifically designed to prepare Latvian students for graduate-level work in management.
UB cooperated with Stamford College in Kuala Lumpur to provide the first two years of undergraduate education to students studying in the fields of engineering, computer science, business, social science, and communications.
UB was invited by the government of Malaysia to establish a branch campus in Kuala Lumpur to provide the first two years of undergraduate education to Malaysian students in the fields of engineering, business, and computer science.
As part of an exchange agreement between UB and the Beijing Municipal System, ELI established a branch center at the Beijing Foreign Languages Institute to provide English language and preacademic training for local English teachers and graduate students intending to study in the United States.
ELI worked with the UB School of Management to deliver a program of intensive English language instruction for students admitted to UB's MBA program at DIT.
For many years, ELI has advised WMU’s English language program and provided lead faculty to teach in the program.
ELI’s program with CCU offers classes of general English and English for business purposes, with a strong communicative approach.