Aiming at helping new students better adapt to the English learning environment at UIC, the English Language Centre (ELC) organised a five-day English Enhancement Programme (EEP) for them, which began on 14 September 2020.
EEP helps students to integrate into the all-English teaching atmosphere that UIC provides in a short period through a lively and interactive learning method.
In EEP, lecturers from overseas share their personal experience and cultural background through everyday lectures. They emphasise interacting with students and encourage students to speak more English in addition to communicating in English, which paves the way for their future learning.
Li Xingru, from Broad-based Admission in Journalism and Communication, was looking forward to experiencing the English environment in UIC since registering on the first day. EEP trained her listening ability and helped her gain more native expressions in English. She explained that foreign lecturers would randomly pick students to communicate with, and this activity trained them to think and express themselves in English. She considers EEP, as her first lesson in university, a brilliant beginning that offered a rich experience.
During the activity class, freshman Wang Ailin did her first presentation in UIC. In the presentation, she introduced the Golden Beach in Zhuhai and made a poster with her teammates. Being the first presenter in her group, Wang Ailin felt nervous at the beginning, but she received a sense of achievement when finished her presentation. She considers EEP to help her accumulate experience for further presentations in UIC since she seldom had the opportunity to do public speeches in English previously.
Wang Yihui considers EEP different from all English classes she has had before. What most impressed her was an EEP lecturer said: “EEP is more like awakening instead of teaching. It is to remind you of the English ability and knowledge that you already have.” She admits that EEP truly helps her actively use the English knowledge she already gained to better adapt to all-English education.
Learning English and adapting to using English as the medium of instruction requires perseverance. EEP is just a beginning and in the following studies, freshmen will continue to take English classes and choose to participate in various tutoring courses and activities of the Independent Learning Hub (ILH).
ILH has a variety of learning resources for students to choose from, such as the Writing Resource Centre, Speaking Assistance Programme, Special Tutorials, English Speaking Corner, IELTS Workshops, English clubs, etc. Freshmen may also actively participate in independent grammar learning programs to improve their grammar application skills.
In the coming four years, the freshmen will be immersed in an all-English education environment. Through these four years of study, they are expected to develop and possess good bilingual skills, an international perspective, and an open mind to meet challenges.
From MPRO
Editors: Samuel Burgess, Deen He, Zhang Fan
