EL Fellow Program
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Country Armenia
City Yerevan
Host Institution Yerevan State Medical University
Project Description
The goal of the project is to contribute to the quality of medical education in Armenia by developing the best strategies of teaching English to current university faculty and medical residents and by training young English faculty in new methodologies to make the teaching and learning process more effective. The project is to expand the teaching of medical subjects in English through improvement of the teaching of English to faculty, medical residents, and through enhancing the language teaching skills of young English teachers of the university. The EL Fellow will work with young English teachers through seminars/workshops in the methodology of English language teaching focusing on all four skills of TEFL, i.e. speaking, writing, reading, and English comprehension. These will be weekly meetings two hours each. The EL Fellow will teach English speaking to university faculty with a goal of increasing their comprehension and communication skills. A focus on medical terminology and content is expected. Each group will meet once a week for two hours. The EL Fellow will teach English speaking to medical residents with a goal of increasing their comprehension and communication skills. A focus on medical terminology and content is expected. Each group will meet once a week for two hours. As a result of the EL Fellow Project the percentage of the faculty that can redesign their courses and deliver them in English is expected to increase. The usage of English language professional materials as well as scientific articles should expand through various specialties. The English teachers should be equipped with up-to-date skills to teach English more effectively to their medical audience. The medical residents should be able to communicate with medical vocabulary and be ready to make presentations in English. As an additional activity the EL Fellow will be asked to look at the curriculum and assist with developing tips for English teachers to improve the teaching process.
Project Objectives
To enhance the language teaching skills of young English teachers of the university by familiarization with new methods and approaches, which includes learning new methods of teaching speaking, reading, writing, and comprehension skills; practicing the new skills through classroom activities and home assignments; developing skills of adapting various situations to different teaching methods; combining various methods to reach the same goal; working in teams to encourage joint results; formulating strategies of teaching English to various audiences (students, professors, residents, and mixed groups); using Internet resources to obtain new information and produce new knowledge; and developing short lesson plans. To expand the teaching of medical subjects in English through improving the teaching of speaking and comprehension skills to university faculty and medical residents, which includes improving students’ English speaking and comprehension skills; teaching through developing tasks in which students will utilize the medical terminology and tools; defining key terminology in the teaching process; creating interactive learning environment where students can benefit from group activities/projects and can involve in professional discussions in English; and developing presentation skills.
About the Host Institution The Yerevan State Medical University is the only state academic institution of higher learning in medicine in Armenia. Although there are several private medical schools in the country, this university is the most prestigious educational institution, which provides a medical degree program. To date, the university has trained over 25,000 doctors, of whom about 1,400 are citizens of twenty-six foreign countries. There are more than 3,000 students studying at the university and about 1,500 university faculty staff including training support staff members. There are four departments divided into sixty-four chairs covering specialties in general medicine, stomatology, and pharmacology. The university seeks international recognition and has been cooperating with European medical institutions on various programs. As a result there was a shift from Russian-language materials to the English-language ones. To enhance international cooperation and create opportunities for student changes and faculty training, the university joined International Association of Universities in 2000. Besides European organizations the university also cooperated with the Medical Board of California in the U.S. The English Language Department has seventeen teachers, the majority of which are young faculty members who have not participated in teacher training programs. Considering the limited resources the university is not in the position of initiating and covering costs for training the teachers. The U.S. Embassy considers this institution a strategic one. The U.S. Government has made substantial contributions in creating a public health sector in Armenia, however, very little was done to equip the faculty with specific English language skills to provide for international communication, to make use of a vast database of scientific knowledge, and to help the local academia integrate in world-wide scientific dialogue. Health is a primary human value which has a global importance. Improved English teaching will significantly contribute to the integration of the local medical community in the global health network.
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