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With over 360 million English speakers across the world, it is not surprising that the English has been accepted as the global lingua franca. Dubbed the language of business, its international presence has also earned it the title of the world’s most influential language. Global communication is now predominantly done in English. The importance of having a fluent grasp of this foremost language has never been more real. Consequently, parents and schools alike invest much in young people learning English from a young age. A popular way to facilitate this learning has been enrolling on short courses in English speaking countries. But what are the benefits of taking part in a short language course? Can they really make a difference to a child’s language skills?
Although short courses may be brief in duration, they can provide solid long-term benefits for students of all levels. Let us consider some.
Immersion
Arguably, being immersed in the environment of the target language is one of the best ways to learn a language. From arrival at the airport (listening to announcements, reading signs, general surrounding chatter) to well crafted lessons given by local teachers, students are completely immersed in English. Even going to the shop is a learning experience; the student’s L1 is in that moment no longer useful, they must communicate in English to make themselves understood. The learned language is no longer just the language of a language teacher in a classroom, used once or twice a week. The student now sees it in its real context, thus it becomes more meaningful. ‘Children learn best when they are physically engaged, when language is viewed holistically, and when learning experiences are set in a meaningful context’ Ellen S. Silber. This is the case even on a brief course.
Intensive and Interactive Learning Environment
A summer school provides a focused academic environment with smaller classes. Because the duration of study is limited, teachers usually set very precise study goals. Students immerse themselves in a subject to gain solid grounding in the subject matter. A higher level of interaction offers students the chance to ask teachers for detailed information and participate in class discussions. Activities both inside out outside the classroom focus on helping students develop transferable skills, which can be successfully applied in a variety of real life settings. Communication skills, language skills, writing skills, critical and creative thinking, and much more, are just some of the most helpful tools you will learn to use during a MLA summer course.
Motivation
Most students recognise that these courses are fantastic opportunities to improve their language skills. Students can be more motivated to take advantage of the lessons/experience because they know it is a short course. They may be inclined to spend significant time working with natives of the host culture. With our abundance of activity leaders and academic staff, this is something that earnest students can take full advantage of. Apart from MLA staff, students clearly have opportunities to meet and get to know locals of the host countries, even if they are only visiting for a short period of time.
Increased Self-confidence
Successfully completing a summer school course might be a great way to prove to the student that they are a capable, self-reliant individual. As discussed in a previous blog, study holidays are often the first time a young person has gone away without their parents or family. This forces them to be more independent and grow in personal development; and students recognise this. Their successful completion of a short-term experience abroad helps students silence self-doubts and gives them the confidence to pursue new challenges.
Cultural Knowledge
Zamastil-Vondrova (2005) studied the impact of a short-term program to the Czech Republic and found that the program improved students’ basic understanding of language and culture. He also found that even though the students studied about the cultures they were going to visit prior to leaving the their home country, they had huge misperceptions. Thus, the first-hand experience was irreplaceable. Regardless of how long a student is able to experience living in a different country, being able to immerse in the culture helps students understand what it is really like to reside in a different part of the world.
Avoid the Summer Learning Gap
Research has found that during the summer vacation students are very likely to forget a lot of the information they have studied during the previous academic year. This period is referred to as the Summer Learning Gap. Studying during summer can be a great opportunity for learners to revise previously acquired language, while being given an introduction to new material in order to get a head start for the beginning of autumn.
MLA summer courses are more popular than ever. Far from being an ineffective way to acquire language, they provide very real benefits to a student’s long term learning.
Daniellar Amoah
UK Academic Manager
Bibliography
Good faith or hard data? Justifying short-term programs. Zamastil-Vondrova, K. (2005)– International Educator, 44–49.
Critical Issues In Foreign Language Instruction. Ellen S. Silber- Routledge 2012.
