Bridging the Gap

Abstract

This book is designed for pre-college, international students, who plan to pursue business-related majors in university, in which English is the only medium of instruction. These students’ ages range from 17-19 and their English proficiency is intermediate-mid to advanced-low, according to ACTFL. This book caters to those mainly from ESL learning contexts, in their respective countries. While these students have been exposed to, and acquired, quite a lot of English, they do, however, still need further support in order to smoothly transition from high-school English to the academic English courses, that are required for their post-secondary studies. This book seeks to provide a systematic curriculum for optional University Preparation Courses, held during summer/winter breaks; ideally, classes would consist of 12-15 students. From observation and informal needs analysis, this target group of students consistently struggles, due to the considerable gap between their current English levels, and those which they are required to have, in order to perform well in their university courses. Having studied business in a university, in which English was the sole medium of instruction, myself, I am aware of the challenges that international students face, as they grapple with having to negotiate their way through English-only lectures, English textbooks, and academic articles published only in English. Even more challenging, is then, having to apply the course (business-related) content to assignments, in which students are expected to think critically, formulate their own opinions, and express them in group discussions. Therefore, to aid in increasing these L2s’ confidence in using English in university academic settings, this book aims to provide students with ample opportunities to practice the 4 skills, through meaningful tasks and projects, with all of the content relating to their business studies.