9 February 2016 | Newbold College, Binfield, UK [Kirsty Watkins] Kärt Lazić, is brimming with ideas for an exciting future. She has just taken over as interim head for the newly rebranded English Language Centre (ELC) at Newbold College of Higher Education. The change in name is just one of a series of changes which will be rolled out during 2016 as the college responds to changing demographics in the teaching of English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL). Come September, most of the major changes will be in place ready for the new academic year.
Kärt has a decade of experience teaching ESOL, holds a Master of Arts in English Language and Literature, and is currently completing a doctorate on contemporary Anglo-Irish poetry and death through the University of Tartu (Estonia) where she also taught English Language, Academic Writing and Phonetics, and Phonology to students for whom English was a foreign language. “I am truly excited to now be able to take my experience from both fields and make it work to the benefit of the ELC,” Kärt said.
According to Kärt, the ELC aims to serve as a centre of excellence in English language while also creating an organic environment for diverse cultural discoveries; uplifting social encounters; and for contacts, discussions, and events that are spiritually inspiring. “The rebranding and restructure highlights our readiness to adapt to what our students, as well as our College, needs,” she said. “This readiness has always been there, but we are looking to implement increased flexibility in what we are doing and how we are doing it.”
The changes follow a June 2015 vote by the College’s Board of Governors which, according to college principal, Dr John Baildam, was “supportive of a new model of language provision and staffing which suits the current enrolment of full-time English Language students at the College.” A consequence of the restructuring, Dr Baildam states, was that “several long-serving colleagues – Pam Frost, Erica Hole, Ursula Lewis and Hazel Rennalls – took voluntary redundancy, while Andrew Layland, the former Director of the School of English, returned to pastoral ministry.”
Kärt is supported administratively in her new role by Dr Baildam and by Manfred Lemke, the College’s Academic Registrar. She is joined in the new ELC staff-room by long-serving colleague Sandra Pilmoor and by two new colleagues, Ana Costescu and Miriam Stoykov, both of whom are initially on semester-long contracts. “As our needs grow, the College will be inviting expressions of interest from those keen to offer their teaching services on a short-term contract basis. We very much remain in the business of providing a special spiritual, cultural, social and linguistic experience for all our ELC students, whether throughout the year or just for a few days,” said Dr Baildam.
From September, students will find studying English at Newbold a more flexible experience. The semester will be divided into two six-week segments of study and classroom work rather than one thirteen-week semester. This will be complemented by two weeks of cultural experiences: the British Culture Week, which will help students make the most of England’s history and heritage; and a trip to one of the great cities of Europe.
The ELC will benefit the wider student body by also offering classes in study skills, elocution and pronunciation. This will help degree students who wish to polish their English language and communication skills.
“We have a lot of different exciting projects in the pipeline, so expect to hear more soon! If you have ideas about how we could be of help to you, do not hesitate to share your vision with us. Let’s see what we can do,” said Kärt.
“The ELC will need a lot of care and attention over the coming year – as any intentional organisational reshaping does – and we appreciate the prayers and support from the Church community”, Kärt added. “I believe that the ELC has the potential to take care of its students in so many ways, and to be a really great tool in the hands of God.”
Kärt is feeling positive about the challenges ahead, and looks forward to working with the ELC team to create a space that matters. “I would like to know that the time I spent at Newbold somehow becomes a meaningful part of a person’s journey, and the possibility that this might happen is one of the greatest joys of this job,” she said.
For more information on Newbold’s ESOL programmes, visit the Newbold College website. [tedNEWS]
tedNEWS Staff: Victor Hulbert, director; Esti Pujic, editor
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