Via Lingua

Via Lingua International is partnering with the following charities to provide educational resources and tools for students and teachers around the world.

External Moderation

All Via Lingua courses are moderated by the prestigious ELT Institute, Hunter College, City University of New York. Hunter College, located in the heart of Manhattan, is the largest college in the City University of New York (CUNY) system. Founded in 1870, Hunter is also one of the oldest public colleges in the country. Currently, 21,000 undergraduate and graduate students attend the College, pursuing degrees in more than 170 different programs of study.
The English Language Teachers Institute is designed for teachers from around the world who want to refresh and improve their English language proficiency level while learning new teaching techniques and interacting with IELI teachers and New York City residents. Professional development seminars are held each summer on their New York City campus.
The International English Language Institute (IELI), founded in 1977, serves over 900 students from around the world each semester. All IELI teachers hold Master's degrees - most in Teaching English as a Second Language. It offers a complete range of full-time and part-time ESL classes in Academic Skills, English for Success, and Professional English programs. It is a member of AAIEP and UCIEP.
The Via Lingua Moderation Program covers both the quality of the course content and structure, as well as the local delivery of the course. The arrangements for external moderation are supported by regular internal reviews of our products and services.

Chief Moderator: Alison Rice, Hunter College, City University of New York
Alison Rice has worked in the field of English Language teaching for over twenty-five years as a teacher, teacher-trainer, author and. administrator. She is the founder and former Director of the ELT Institute at Hunter, and is currently a consultant for St. John's University, New York.

Alison is a frequent presenter at professional conferences and teacher-training workshops and Certificate programs in the USA, Latin America and Asia. During the past year she has worked with teachers in Chile and Vietnam, introducing them to the latest teaching techniques in EFL methodology, teaching listening and speaking, and using video in the classroom.

Alison is a past Chair of the Materials Writers Interest Section of TESOL, (Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages). This reflects her major area of interest: creating classroom materials and textbooks that are student-centered and communicative. She has also edited a TESOL publication for program administrators, which focuses on program innovation: Revitalizing an Established Program for Adults.

Moderation Report

Via Lingua is committed to ensuring the highest levels of academic and administrative excellence; therefore, it has developed a comprehensive approach to quality assurance. A central element of the QA process is the provision of external moderation visits, undertaken by reputable and highly qualified experts in the field of TEFL / TESOL.

The following extracts are taken from the external moderation report produced Ms Alison Rice, former director of the ELT Institute and International English Language Institute, Hunter College, City University of New York. The report was produced after a three day moderation visit to the Via Lingua International CTEFL training centre in Florence, Italy, from June 22-25, 2012.

Overall endorsement:

" ...I am delighted to report that I found Via Lingua to be an exceptionally effective program, both academically and administratively. Most importantly, Via Lingua�s CTEFL course fully meets its promise to students, to prepare them for classroom teaching after only 120 input hours and 10 practice teaching hours." page 1.

"I believe that the CTEFL curriculum provides well-thought-out training in best practices for classroom management, and a good basic introduction to the language awareness knowledge teachers need in order to teach language skills (reading/writing and listening/speaking) plus a thorough review of English grammar and phonology." pages 1 and 2

The curriculum:

"I was positively impressed to see for myself that the Via Lingua curriculum addresses the needs of future classroom teachers, both in language knowledge and in classroom management." page 4

The trainers:

" ...are completely professional and well-versed in TEFL methodology and good practice. Equally important, they are caring and sensitive mentors, and excellent classroom role models themselves." page 2

The administrative staff:

" ...provide services to students such as immediate response to individual questions and needs, and help in finding employment and housing, that I have not seen in comparable programs." page 2

The students (trainees):

" ...brought in visuals, music, charts etc. that demonstrated how seriously they had worked on their lesson preparation." page 5

Post teaching practice feedback and reflection:

"The focus was on what the (trainee) teacher felt went well and why: areas where he or she asked for help were then discussed in round table." page 5

"I was given samples of the extensive written feedback students also receive on their submitted lesson. Each contained both praise and concrete examples for ways to improve." page 5

Assessing trainee competence:

"In order to graduate, students (trainees) must pass a grammar test, produce a portfolio of their work, show competence in their practice teaching, pass quizzes and participate actively in class. I am confident that only worthy candidates receive the CTEFL." page 6

Commitment to success:

" ...a very impressive commitment that Via Lingua makes to all its students is the guarantee that they can retake the entire course, without charge, if they are not able to pass their initial program." page 6

Alison Rice, Former Director ET Institute and International English Language Institute, Hunter College, City University of New York

For further information, please contact info@vialingua.org, call toll-free in the US (888) 835-6207 or in the UK (44) 203-004-0943.
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