How English as a second language students prepare to start their undergrad at TMU
English as a second language (ESL) students from TMU’s English Language Institute were paired with students from two different institutions in Korea to explore global solutions that align with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.
When Taraneh Hosseinzadeh graduates from university, she wants to work in the medical field. She is one of the 17 students participating in TMU’s English Boost program, an eight-week intensive language program within the English Language Institute that helps ESL students improve their reading, writing, speaking and listening skills. Once they successfully complete the program, they are able to join a TMU undergraduate program.
Hossienzadeh, her peers in the English Language Institute’s English Boost and ESL Foundation programs, along with 62 students from two Korean post-secondary institutions (Pusan National University and Sahmyook University) who were visiting the English Language Institute for their own language immersion program, participated in the English Language Institute’s annual Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Solutions Day this past July.
“SDG Solutions day is a great day for students to demonstrate what they have learned in their English Language Institute program, said Ryan Doherty, student transition and engagement coordinator at the English Language Institute. “Our program curriculum is designed to encourage our students to think as global citizens. This event allows the students to put what they have learned into practice, demonstrating their improved critical thinking, research, and presenting skills in English.”
Doherty says the English Language Institute chooses to focus on SDGs, a global set of goals implemented by the United Nations to end poverty, protect the environment and ensure peace and prosperity, because it’s interdisciplinary and something that is connected to life as well as the academic experience.
“Bringing in various global perspectives creates rich discussion within our classes,” he said.
The winners of SDG Solutions Day addressed SDG number six - Clean Water and Sanitation. Doherty said the group of students developed a well-researched strategy for using solar power to capture energy to desalinate water in Somalia and improve the availability of clean drinking water in the country.
Taraneh Hosseinzadeh, will study biomedical engineering at TMU in the fall. She participated in SDG Solutions Day at TMU’s English Language Institute.
Beyond SDG Solutions Day, the programs that students take at TMU’s English Language Institute help build lasting relationships and share their cultural experiences. Hosseinzadeh, who is from Iran and will be studying Biomedical Engineering at TMU, says she has made friends through the English Boost program.
“Even if they aren’t in the same program or major, we are at the same university together.”
To learn more about TMU’s commitment to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, visit the university’s SDG website.