09 Jul HU Teams Leave for up to Five Weeks in China

On July 9, 2015, seven Huntington University teams with a total of 54 persons departed for five locations in China to lead English language camps.

Since 2007, HU’s Institute for TESOL (Teaching of English to Speakers of Other Languages) Studies has sponsored yearly English camps and training in China. This year’s trip will include six HU faculty members, 16 current Huntington students, seven alumni, and Dr. Luke Fetters (right), director of the Institute for TESOL Students at HU. They will train 195 teachers and 730 students will be trained.

The teams will provide English-speaking instruction and camps for students, as well as TESOL training for teachers in the cities of Changsha, Zhongshan, Zhuhai, and the district of Doumen. The university’s Institute for TESOL Studies organizes the programming each year, writing curriculum and recruiting volunteers.

Four of the HU teams will assist in the teacher training for two weeks before returning to the United States. Two other teams will return after three weeks, and one team will remain in China for five weeks. For HU students, the trip fulfills a practicum required a TESOL minor or certificate.

 The 2015 summer will conclude a five-year contract between HU and the Doumen district. Shoshannnah McKinney (right), associate director of the Institute for TESOL Studies, said by the end of the five years, every teacher within the district will have participated in the HU-sponsored training.

The summer program will continue to strengthen the relationship that HU has with China. “Over the past eight years, HU has grown in terms of being known in China,” McKinney said.

While the teams are in China, McKinney will spearhead another TESOL-sponsored program on HU’s campus. This program is a three-week TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) course that will certify 19 Chinese professors to teach English at their respective universities.