It’s not always easy for educators to know whether their students are learning.
For Veena Kumar, director of the Program in American Language Studies or PALS, an intensive immersion program for non-English speakers, that “a-ha” moment came as she was leading an advanced discussion group.
“You’re kidding,” blurted a student from Taiwan in response to her tale of morning New Jersey traffic.
The student’s reflexive use of this tidy little colloquialism delighted Kumar. “It made my day,” she said with a laugh. In that instant, several weeks of intensive study in PALS were clearly evident in the casually delivered rejoinder.
Such incremental achievements are a small part of the mission of PALS, which serves a unique cohort of international students who come to Rutgers exclusively to learn English. The program was established in 1976 and is under the umbrella of the English department in the School of Arts and Sciences. Its headquarters in Tillett Hall on the Livingston Campus welcomes international students and visitors with an array of photos of PALS gatherings and field trips to such culturally defining locales as Yankee Stadium.
Students attend PALS for a minimum of two, seven-week sessions offered at beginner to advanced levels. They spend 20 hours per week in classes and language labs conducted in Tillett and Lucy Stone halls on the Livingston Campus. Approximately 120 students are in the current session. Twenty are housed in Quad II, while the rest live locally or stay with family and friends in the area.
With its holistic approach to teaching language and culture, the PALS model is becoming the gold standard of English-language instruction. Globalization has intensified the demand for competent English speakers. In the last three years, the PALS population has shifted from primarily students who wanted to learn English for university study to educated professionals with well-defined goals.
“Sixty percent of our students will put it to immediate use,” Kumar said. “People come here with very specific objectives; they are extremely motivated. English is the language of global business. Anyone who is aspiring to step into the international workforce cannot survive without English.”
The majority of PALS students are from Asian nations and can range in age from 18 to over 60.
Lisa Lee, a travel agent in South Korea who has set her sights on going on to college in the U.S., put it more candidly.
“People study English because they get higher salaries,” she said.
PALS students keep written journals and create audio diaries, which are reviewed by the instructors. Classes focus on building proficiency in reading, writing, speaking, and listening while field trips and other activities introduce them to American culture.
“It’s not that we want them to speak exactly like Americans,” Kumar said. “We tell our students they should not get too concerned about their accents,” Kumar said. “The main objective is to get them to speak clearly, fluently and confidently.”
Yayoi Jimbo of Japan works in a patent lawyer’s office and needs to speak and write English proficiently in order to handle patent applications to the United States. “I have to translate Japanese into English and English into Japanese,” she said. “[PALS] is a very good experience.”
Yulia Skatova recently left her native Russia to marry her high school sweetheart, who is now an American citizen. An Edison resident, she is studying English with PALS so that she can resume her career as an accountant.
“I am getting a lot out of the listening and pronunciation in PALS. They are very important to me because I need conversation,” she said.
In a recent advanced class, students were asked to select an advertisement and do a presentation about its messages – a sophisticated assignment in any language.
“Giving an oral presentation calls on all of their skills – thinking, speaking, writing, and interpreting culture,” said Catherine Barrier, a PALS instructor since 1992.
Because they do not attend regular academic classes nor participate in college activities, PALS participants usually fly under the radar of most Rutgers students. Last year, however, a group of students on the Livingston Campus noticed their international neighbors in Quad II and decided to get to know them.
Steve Gowa, then a senior, encouraged other students to reach out and organize activities, like trips and lunches. He revived a dormant student group, “Pals for PALS,” which is now in the process of becoming a formal campus organization eligible for student-fee funding.
At an informal Pals for PALS lunch in the Livingston Student Center recently, Rutgers junior Han Fang said she wanted to befriend PALS students just as she would want someone to do if she were in their country.
“They pay a premium to come here but they don’t get a lot of opportunities to interact with American students,” Fang said. “I taught them some slang, plus you learn so many cool things about their culture.”
In addition to Kumar, the program has three full-time faculty members and 12 part-time, adjunct faculty, all with advanced degrees. Motivated by increasing global demand for trained ESL teachers, PALS began a new continuing education course last summer, “Teaching English as a Foreign Language,” in affiliation with the Division of Continuous Education and Outreach. It includes eight weeks of online instruction and in-class observations and practice teaching. Among its first enrollees were a former air force attaché, a New York City administrator, and three Rutgers graduates who wanted to teach English abroad. PALS has requests from Korea, Chili, China and Saudi Arabia for providing trained teachers.
PALS, is accredited by UCIEP (University College Intensive English Programs), a consortium of intensive English programs housed in different American universities. It also serves as an ETS testing site for TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) and the GRE.
In the future, Kumar hopes to take PALS overseas and is in discussions with institutions in China, Saudi Arabia, and Costa Rica for potential collaborations. She also is working to expand PALS’ offerings to meet the ESL needs of multinational corporations in New Jersey and members of the Rutgers community.
“We cater to a very large population with different goals and requirements,” Kumar said.