Mission
The mission of International Educational Center (IEC) is to provide the highest quality instruction in English as a Second Language. In pursuit of this, IEC serves international and permanent resident students seeking to enhance language skills in order to successfully communicate in the cultural context of the United States as well as worldwide, further education, or to achieve career goals in a rapidly globalizing market. Using a student-centered communicative approach and interactive methods of instruction, the IEC curriculum gradually builds student competence in four language skills: listening, reading, speaking, and writing. IEC extends programming to include the analysis of authentic reading selections, thereby enhancing student appreciation for American culture and encouraging a deepening of critical thinking skills and more adept communication. To accomplish its mission the International Educational Center offers a multilevel ESL Program, Academic Writing, English for International Communication, and American Short Stories and Poetry. Through on-going assessment of expected learning outcomes by experienced, passionate, and culturally sensitive instructors we are dedicated to upholding the highest institutional and instructional standards. The center promotes diversity and is committed to understanding, thus improving, student learning process.
Methodology
The program is based on an interactive learner-centered communicative approach which builds students' competence in four language skills: listening, reading, speaking and writing. We believe that language learning is understanding how to communicate effectively in a cultural context; therefore, we pay systematic attention to developing functional as well as structural aspects of language. We encourage attempts to communicate from the very beginning by creating activities that carry out meaningful tasks because we think that only meaningful language to the learner supports the learning process. Our language teaching reflects the particular needs of the target learners. These needs are in the domains of listening, speaking reading and writing each of which is approached from a communicative perspective. Our curriculum encourages the use of "natural" practice involving the simultaneous use of a variety of integrated skills rather than practicing each individual skill at a time. The instructional objectives reflect specific aspects of communicative competence according to the learner's English language proficiency level and communicative needs. Our teachers facilitate the communicative process between the learners and act as independent participants in the learning-teaching group. Students interact with each other in groups and in pairs or via their writings producing language for genuine, meaningful communication. Performing classroom tasks prepares them for actual language use outside classroom. Our curriculum facilitates life-long language learning.
Talented Instructors
Our group of instructors go through rigorous scrutiny before joining our education family. At the same time, each instructor possesses a post-collegiate degree plus an additional area of expertise. Before signing up, we consider your ultimate goals, and will suggest different possibilities for attaining them based on instructor experience. At the same time, our multilingual instructors have already had years of experience and understand the difficulties associated with learning English in America.
