In the news: Language and Culture Institute welcomes international Humphrey Fellows

Guru Ghosh (right), Virginia Tech's vice president for outreach and international affairs, welcomes Humphrey Fellows Hamid Meziane (left) of Morocco and Boldkhuu Nanzad (center) of Mongolia before a university reception at The Inn at Virginia Tech and Skelton Conference Center.

Boldkhuu Nanzad came to Virginia Tech from Mongolia to “improve my knowledge and gain experiences” to develop new ideas of thinking and working.

Deputy director of fuel policy management at the Mongolian Ministry of Mineral Resources and Energy, Nanzad is one of 12 midcareer professionals from around the world who are studying English at the Virginia Tech Language and Culture Institute as part of the prestigious Hubert H. Humphrey Fellowship Program.

This is the sixth year the institute has hosted the program’s English training component. The Fellows are focusing not only on their English and academic skills, but also on learning about academic life in the United States, developing intercultural awareness and leadership skills, and adapting to American culture, says Susan Neu, who directs the program at Virginia Tech.

Read more at: www.vtnews.vt.edu/articles/2013/05/051513-outreach-humphrey.html
See more photos at: www.vtnews.vt.edu/photo-galleries/2013/050613-humphreys/humphrey-gallery.html

VT News spotlights 2 Phi Beta Delta scholarship winners

Two recent recipients of Phi Beta Delta scholarships have been profiled by Virginia Tech News for a series of stories about graduating students.

The Virginia Tech Language and Culture Institute funds the scholarships for Phi Beta Delta undergraduate and graduate student members who will study abroad in credit-bearing programs with language and cultural engagement components.

Maggie Appel-Schumacher of Mackenbach, Germany, is a graduating senior with majors in German and international studies. She received a scholarship for summer 2012 for an internship with the German National  Association for Student Affairs in Munster, Germany. Click here to read more about her.

Victoria Heath of Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, is a graduating senior majoring in history and political science. She received a scholarship for summer 2012 for work with Lutheran World Federation on Refugee Issues in Kakuma, Kenya. Click here to read more about her.

More information on the Phi Beta Delta scholarships is available on the organization's website, www.oired.vt.edu/PhiBetaDelta.

Photos from the LCI spring picnic

LCI helps train South Korean engineers

Ten engineers from South Korea participating in a six-month civil engineering program at the Virginia Tech Research Center – Arlington began their studies with six weeks of intensive English training at the Language and Culture Institute in the National Capital Region.

For six weeks, the engineers learned strategies for producing intelligible speech, developed classroom presentations, participated in group work, practiced academic writing in the field (journals and citations), and explored Virginia Tech's extensive online resources through their research.

The skills acquired at the LCI provided the engineers with a strong foundation for the seminars, research, and writing they will perform during their training in procurement and projects.

Read more about the engineers and the VT-KPEA Global Engineering Program here.

More photos from Washington

AlJowhara took this photo of the Washington Monument during a boat trip to get a different perspective of the cherry trees.

After the LCI National Capital Region field trip to Washington, D.C., student AlJowhara created a photo essay showing off  the city's famous cherry trees and some of the capital's many monuments.

Click here to see more of AlJowhara's photos from Washington.

The 555-foot-tall Washington Monument, the most prominent structure in the city, is closed for repairs due to an earthquake in 2011.

I picked this shot for Martin Luther King after the park ranger explained it to us, AlJowhara says. His statue is the leap of hope from the two mountains. His status is incomplete because there are still some works to done for the civil rights.

 

I doubt that the grass is doing any kind of camouflage, AlJowhara says of the Korean War Veterans Memorial. I can clearly see the soldiers and so can the plane above.

Students take in beauty, history in Washington, D.C.

The LCI group stops for a photo in front of the statue at the Lincoln Memorial.

On April 10, LCI students and their professors in the National Capital Region made an unforgettable trip to the National Cherry Blossom festival in Washington, D.C.

Talking with the ranger at the Korean
War Memorial

After leaving the Metro, we walked around the west side of the Tidal Basin, where everybody took astonishing photos with the cherry blossom trees in full bloom and the Jefferson Memorial in the background.

 Our first stop was the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial, where one of the park rangers gave us an informative speech explaining the symbolism of the memorial.

The next stop was the Korean War Veterans Memorial, where we had the honor of listening to a park ranger who was a Korean War veteran; he was also present at the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom and listened to King's "I Have a Dream" speech in person. Not only did he share much valuable historic information about the Korean War that most of us were not familiar with, but he also told us about how he had been affected by segregation and King's work.

At the Martin Luther King Jr.
Memorial.

The last, and equally impressive, stop was the Lincoln Memorial. We took some time to explore the memorial and learn about the symbolism of it as well as the contributions of the man honored -- President Abraham Lincoln, who is regarded as one of America’s greatest statesmen.

The trip was a great success, both entertaining and educational. To make the trip as informative as possible, the LCI professors created a scavenger hunt to accompany the field trip. Students were split into a few groups at the beginning of the trip and were given lists of questions they were able to answer only if they had carefully listened to the park rangers' speeches and observed the memorials. Students were presented with their prizes last week.

LCI hosts conference for ESL teachers

Linda Sanford greets conference participants at the Virginia Tech Language and Culture Institute in Blacksburg, Va.

Ada Chrisman chats with colleagues during the lunch break.

Judy Radford, ESOL coordinator for the Virginia Department of Education,
presents on the WIDA ELD standards.

On April 13, the Language and Culture Institute hosted the first Southwest Virginia conference of the Virginia Association of Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (VATESOL).

About 100 people attended the conference in Blacksburg.

Participants had their choice of 13 sessions, many of which focused on teaching strategies. For lunch, participants ate in different rooms throughout the LCI and mingled with people from other institutions.

“We had a good mix of attendees from elementary, secondary, and tertiary institutions from all over Virginia,” said Melissa Tan, a member of the LCI’s Professional Development Committee.

The attendees also included two teachers from the University of Science Malaysia and a number of former LCI instructors.

Kay Gude, who traveled from Williamsburg, said she enjoyed her day at the conference, which she said was “well organized and attended with a nice variety of people and sessions.”

The association is a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting professional development, strengthening instruction, and supporting research opportunities at all levels for teachers and administrators of ESL/EFL/ESOL.

Photos by Linda Jilk. Reporting by Kama Weatherholt.