Ilc

Welcome to INTERLINK

The INTERLINK Program

What is INTERLINK?The INTERLINK program provides English training for speakers of other languages, especially those planning to study at an American university. With centers on US university campuses, a professional staff and highly qualified teachers, INTERLINK strives to make your educational experience in the United States memorable, enjoyable and successful.

Intensive English Training(ESL)

Cultural OrientationAcademic Preparation

Locations

Indiana State University The University of North Carolina at Greensboro

Valparaiso University

Locations – Indiana State University

Indiana State University is a comprehensive state university with programs at the undergraduate, master's and doctoral levels. Popular degree programs include athletic training, business administration, criminology, communications, computer and electronics technology, gerontology, life sciences (ecology, microbiology, physiology), media technology, remote-sensing, robotics and technology management. Its 12,000 member student body includes approximately 800 international students representing some 81 countries.

From http://www.petersons.com

Locations – Indiana State University

Locations – The University of North Carolina at Greensboro

Dedicated to a global education with approximately 17,150 students, The University of North Carolina at Greensboro is a comprehensive university providing excellence in undergraduate and graduate education. UNCG is one of only five universities in the North Carolina educational system which has a chapter of Phi Beta Kappa, the nation's oldest honorary society. The university offers bachelor's degrees in more than 100 majors, master's degrees in 68 academic subjects and doctoral degrees in 18 areas of study. Majors include Biotechnology, Business, Computer Science, Interior Architecture, Music, Nursing, and Tourism Management. The campus is conveniently located near the center of Greensboro, which has been rated as one of America's most outstanding mid-sized cities.


Locations – The University of North Carolina at Greensboro

Locations – Valparaiso University

Valparaiso University, located in northwest Indiana, is well known for its rigorous academic programs and strong support for international education. Valparaiso University offers more than sixty liberal arts and professional programs (including Law) to a student body of approximately 4,000 students. Valpo offers 20 masters level programs and a Doctorate of Nursing Practice (DNP). Valpo's diverse educational programs and enviable student / faculty ratio (13:1) create a stimulating and welcome learning environment for U.S. as well as international students. Only one hour from the exciting city of Chicago, Valparaiso is a unique residential community of 30,000 which retains its safe, friendly, small-town atmosphere.


Locations – Valparaiso University

Features and Services

Academically qualified, serious studentsSmall classes (average: 8 students; maximum: 12)Concurrent university courses for qualified studentsStudent-centered, communicative curriculum

Access to university facilities and activitiesAssistance with conditional admission for qualified studentsAssistance with housing and host familiesAcademic advising and university placement assistance

Program Information

Typical Schedule(actual schedules vary by center and term)

Classes and Levels

Class Size – average 8-12 students; maximum 15 students

Calendar and Fees

Instructional Program - 1

What is unique about our program is that while other programs focus on what is taught, at INTERLINK we focus on what students learn. We believe that, in the words of Wilhelm von Humboldt, “A language cannot be taught. One can only create conditions for learning to take place.” The role of our teachers is not to teach about language but to facilitate language acquisition by engaging students in stimulating activities rich in authentic language use.

We believe that skills are acquired in one way only – by doing them. Swimmers, runners and musicians improve their skills by swimming, running and playing music. In the same way students become better readers, writers and speakers of English by reading, writing and using English as much as possible.


Six features pervade and guide classroom activities and insure that

students progress satisfactorily in their quest for proficiency in English.


A Student-Centered classroom is one in which each individual is respected and the needs of students come first. The students, rather than the material to be taught is the central focus. Individual learning styles and preferences are recognized, appreciated, and accommodated. A student-centered classroom is not one in which students run wild and do whatever they wish, but one in which their welfare is the primary concern and in which they have, as Earl Stevick phrased it, “primacy in a world of meaningful action.”


Experiential Learning means that students learn by doing and through exposure to content-rich learning opportunities. Learning takes place outside as well as inside the classroom and students learn inductively through their own language experiences. Students learn not only from their teachers but from their peers, acquaintances and any language source with which they come into contact. As Ralph Waldo Emerson put it, “skill to do comes of doing” and experiential language learning involves students in learning language rather than learning about language.


In a Holistic language class

a) each student is treated as a whole person with intellectual, emotional, social, and cultural needs. The student is not raw material to be molded and shaped through a factory-like educational process but a complex human being whose various needs must be met for successful learning to occur.

b) language is learned as a whole system and not a collection of isolated skills. The skill areas of listening, speaking, reading and writing are integrated, and authentic language use rather than assimilation of discrete rules or pieces of information about language is the objective.


A Needs-based class Is one in which the learning agenda is not pre-determined and planned in advance but individualized and customized according to what students know and are able to do. Understanding what students need to make linguistic progress drives the class rather than a syllabus of content and information pre-formulated by a textbook or curriculum. Linguistic, cultural and affective needs are

addressed to facilitate the learning process. Students’ actual needs may differ from their perceived needs and teachers must be skillful, experienced and perceptive to determine what activities and classroom arrangements can achieve the best results.


Interactive classes are ones in which students are actively engaged and participate freely instead of listening passively to lectures or performing tasks devoid of authentic communicative intent (such as repetition exercises or drills). The active involvement of the learner is the sine qua non for successful learning and a necessary ingredient for experiential, heuristic learning.


Heuristic Learning or learning through discovery is characterized by students solving problems instead of digesting information fed by a teacher, and tends to be inductive, experiential, creative, self-motivated, and dynamic. Discovery

promotes learning how to learn rather than accumulating discrete facts and pieces of information, and results in mastery of a process which can be used over and over, inside and outside of the classroom. Setting up situations from which a student can learn requires more skill and patience than dispensing information, but the rewards are proportionally great. In the words of Mark van Doren, “teaching is the art of assisting discovery.”

Housing Information

On-Campus HousingLiving in a dorm provides great opportunities for learning English and meeting people. Dormitory rooms are available for both married and single INTERLINK students.

Independent Off-Campus HousingEach center provides information and assistance to students who would like to live off campus.

HomestaysOne way for students to get the most of their cross-cultural experience at INTERLINK is to live with American families.

Standards

INTERLINK supports and complies with the standards for intensive English programs established by NAFSA: Association of International Educators; American Association of Intensive English Programs (AAIEP); and the Association of Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL). All U.S. INTERLINK Language Centers are accredited by the Commission on English Language Accreditation (CEA)

Applying

What’s needed?• A completed application form • An official copy of your high school or university grades • An official financial support statement from your bank, sponsor or guardian, certifying that you have at least US $5,000 available for your first term at INTERLINK • $100.00 non-refundable application fee• If you plan to stay in a university residence hall, a room security deposit

The End

Education

Ilc