Visiting scholar from Chinese university learns English through EAP program
Kim Chaudoin | 615.966.6494 |
In just its first few months of operation, the College of Education’s English for Academic Purposes program has not only worked with students whose first language is not English, but it has had a number of visitors from around the world who have wanted to improve their English-speaking skills.
Zhao Li, a visiting scholar and administrator from Hunan International Economics University in Changsha, Hunan Province, China, came to the United States to study and observe how universities are managed. He chose to come to Lipscomb.
“Lipscomb is a famous university,” says Li, senior vice president at Hunan, founded in 1997 and has an enrollment of more than 26,00 students. “The campus is beautiful and the education program is well known. So I wanted to come to Lipscomb to learn more about fundraising management and the culture of an American university.”
Li, who came to Nashville in March and will return to China in February 2016, has been meeting with administrators, faculty and staff to learn as much as he can about the Lipscomb community.
“Everyone is very friendly at Lipscomb,” says Li. “Lipscomb offers me the opportunity to learn much.”
While at Lipscomb, Li is also tapping into the EAP program to further develop his English language skills. The English for Academic Purposes program offers intensive English courses for undergraduate students who need to be equipped with, or to improve, academic English skills. Programs for international visitors such as Li and English camps are also EAP offerings.
Todd Beard, EAP program director, meets with Li and his wife, Quionglin Zhou, weekly for English lessons and gives his pupils opportunities to enhance their conversational skills.
“We want this to be a time for them to grow and learn as well as to improve their English skills,” says Beard. “There is so much we can also learn from Dr. Li. Being able to provide service like this to international visitors to our university and our city is a great way to expand the reach of the EAP program.”
The Lipscomb community had the opportunity to meet Li at a reception on July 22 that featured Chinese tea and food samples.
Part of the program Beard designed for Li and his wife include classes in Lipscomb’s writing lab to strengthen their English composition skills. In addition, the couple is participating in the FriendsSpeak program, which uses the Bible as text for teaching English, at Nashville’s Hillsboro Church of Christ.
Li and Zhou are learning about American culture while in Nashville. Li passed the Tennessee driver’s license test, and commutes to Lipscomb for his EAP activities. They are living in an apartment with their sons Yu Xuan Li, age 11, and Kam Seng Li, age 4, who goes to a nearby daycare when his parents are “in school.” During their free time the Li family drives to nearby cities to learn more about American history and culture.
For more information about the EAP program, visit learnenglish.lipscomb.edu or contact Beard at todd.beard [at] lipscomb.edu or 615.966.5070.