Photos: Spring II Orientation

Post by Virginia Tech Language and Culture Institute.

Language program helps Malaysian teachers speak better English in their classrooms

Claire Peters (right), assistant principal at Washington-Lee High School in Arlington, Virginia, gives a tour to Virginia Tech Language and Culture Institute instructor Christine Bobal (second from right) and a group of visiting high school teachers from Malaysia.

Nolie Binti Shamshudin, a math teacher taking part in a Virginia Tech Language and Culture Institute program, expected to improve her English and learn to better integrate technology into her classroom in Malaysia. Among the skills she did not expect to pick up: throwing a snowball and making snow angels.

More accustomed to the tropical greenery of Southeast Asia, she found herself knee-deep in the wintry weather of the National Capital Region, where Virginia Tech's facilities include a learning center in Fairfax.

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Photos: National Capital Region End of Term party

Post by Virginia Tech Language & Culture Institute: National Capital Region.

Students tour the Capitol and U.S. Botanic Garden

Language and Culture Institute students in the National Capital Region recently toured the U.S. Capitol and Botanic Garden.

Below, you can read some of their essays and see their photos from the trip.

Photos: Field trip to the U.S. Capitol and Botanical Gardens

Post by Virginia Tech Language & Culture Institute: National Capital Region.

Afternoon classes canceled in Blacksburg

Virginia Tech has canceled classes effective noon today, February 16. Campus offices to close at 12:30 p.m. See www.vt.edu or call 231-6668 for details.

Blacksburg Transit may have limited hours. Visit the Blacksburg Transit website for bus information. http://www.blacksburg.gov/index.aspx?page=791 

Seeing it differently: New perspectives in art education with international students at Radford

Two Radford students discuss perspectives with a student teacher from Mexico.

Random objects, creative name badges and mask making brought new insights when Radford University art education majors shared an interactive class with nine students from Mexico.

On the Covington Center classroom front desk sat four items: a glue gun, a rock, a hammer and a stuffed animal. Discussing the similarities and difference among these items, RU students mingled with their international guests.

In this exercise, Richard Bay, professor of art education, explained such activities used in an elementary classroom setting help school children increase their perspectives through the comparison of the objects’ textures, weight, volume, size, materials and usage.

Seemingly different items have more in common than one might expect, much like the two cultures that combined during this unique class opportunity. The inverse can be true as well. It is all about perspective. Through this class, both cohorts gained a deeper understanding about each other’s perceptions and cultures.

“When RU students interact with international students, they acquire a different set of skills,” said Charlene Dandrow, associate director of the Language and Cultural Institute at Radford University (LCI@RU). “They develop an important 'literacy' that enables them to successfully engage with diversity, which nowadays is a crucial skill to have in the competitive global market.”

Read more about the visit.