University of Oregon language programs help Iraqis learn English

EUGENE, Ore. -- (Nov. 5, 2008) -- The University of Oregon's American English Institute (AEI) is helping Iraqis learn the English language from thousands of miles away.

Oregon-Iraq Guided Online English Studies is a program that provides a self-directed online learning course with feedback and guidance from Oregon-based instructors to Iraqi students. Approximately 50 Iraqis are participating in the pilot program this term.

The program is a collaboration between the University of Oregon's American English Institute, U.S. Department of State, Wasit Provincial Reconstruction Team, University of Baghdad, Wasit University and the Iraqi Ministry of Education's Open Education College.

According to Leslie Opp-Beckman, distance education and technology coordinator at AEI, the project will expand next term to include Al Ahrar Secondary School for Girls and other Grade 12 educators and English language learners from public secondary schools in Iraq.

AEI now offers another online training course geared specifically for English as a Foreign Language (EFL) educators. "Shaping the Way We Teach English," is a 14-module teacher training video series. The video series incorporates classroom scenes from around the world and is accompanied by a teacher trainer manual and additional readings.

"Online training is an excellent way to address the challenges inherent in trying to provide training in a war zone, such as Iraq," said Kay Westerfield, director, International Business Communication program at UO. "The Iraqi teachers are enthusiastic about the opportunity to grow professionally through the online exchanges, because they have felt cut off from everything outside Iraq."

Approximately 50 additional Iraqi educators have participated in the online course to date from institutions including the University of Baghdad, Wasit University, the Iraqi Ministry of Education's Open Education College, Karbala University, Kufa University and Ahlul Bait University.

EFL educators have also been participating in the AEI online training course about critical thinking skills, which was made possible with a five-year grant from the Office of English Language Programs and the U.S. Department of State. In the third year of the program, the UO has two EFL educators from Iraq this term, along with 48 educators from countries around the world.

One of the primary goals of the AEI program is to help Iraqi educators replicate similar kinds of online learning in the future.

"I participated in the AEI program to get new methods of teaching in English language and to apply it in our class," said Hussein Gumar, Iraqi educator and former AEI online participant.

Gumar applied the learned modules at the school where he teaches and it has become so popular that he is sharing the lessons with other instructors to expand the number of students who benefit from the tools.

The UO educators participating in the program report personal and professional benefits from the programs.

"The importance of this project for me is that I have the potential to make a difference in Iraq," said Robert Elliott, AEI instructor. "There is a different, possibly broader, type of impact that may extend to Iraqi classes that I will never be a part of and Iraqi people I will never personally know."

About the University of Oregon
The University of Oregon is a world-class teaching and research institution and Oregon's flagship public university. The UO is a member of the Association of American Universities (AAU), an organization made up of 62 of the leading public and private research institutions in the United States and Canada. Membership in the AAU is by invitation only. The University of Oregon is one of only two AAU members in the Pacific Northwest.

Contact: Julie Brown, 541-346-3185, julbrown@uoregon.edu

Links:
Oregon-Iraq Guided Online English Studies, http://aei.uoregon.edu/de/iraq/index.html

Shaping the Way We Teach English, http://oelp.uoregon.edu/shaping.html

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