On the outside, it appears to be a red brick building located near the corner of Olive and Compton streets. Within its walls, students enrolled in the English as a Second Language program have referred to it as “our own little house,” bringing together persons from all over the globe to improve English skills.

The ESL program at Saint Louis University is a five-level preparation program for learning the English language. Established 35 years ago, the program currently consists of both students-at undergraduate and post-undergraduate levels-and non-students.

Courses offered through the ESL program include: a complete intensive English program; remedial, freshman, advanced and graduate research paper writing; pronunciation; a literature course; and any other courses needed to meet the English proficiency requirements of University-matriculated students.

Several SLU students also assist the ESL students in practicing their English-speaking skills. These undergraduates can earn their required cultural diversity credit by assisting and interacting with those students enrolled in the ESL classes.

“The classes offer a chance to practice intercultural communication between students from all over the world,” said assistant professor Linda Wallace Jones.

The program is not widely advertised, Jones said, but most students hear about it through recommendations by friends or relatives. Four students enrolled in the fall 2001 semester said that they first read about the program on the Internet, after conducting nationwide searches for such intensive English programs. Several other local colleges have similar ESL programs; however, SLU’s came highly recommended.

Ethel Castro, a graduate student from Colombia, heard about the ESL program from her husband, also an ESL graduate. “It’s important for people like me to improve their English skills. I think it’s very good that the University [offers] classes to people like me.”

Fellow student Utako Nogachi was one of those four students who read about SLU’s ESL program online. Her English-speaking skills have improved, she said, but more important are those friendships formed with her classmates. “At the end, we’ve come to understand each other . and found that we’re very similar,’ Nogachi said.

ESL students listed other benefits, including the fact that the courses concentrate on both grammar and conversational skills, not only through book learning, but through interaction with each other and SLU undergraduates.

Korean student Mirae Park also said that the variety of courses offered were another strength of the program. “My cousins, who lived in St. Louis, really recommended SLU’s program. The different classes have given me a lot of skills.”

The ESL program cites its mission as:

 strengthening SLU’s international links and helping to make it more of a “world community”;

 providing high quality values-based English language learning experiences;

 facilitating the academic integration and retention of people from non-English speaking backgrounds by offering university-wide, language-skills screening and appropriate courses; and

 offering University undergraduates a unique Cultural Diversity core requirement course.

Future Unknown

According to Associate Provost Ellen Harshman, changes are in store for the ESL program. A recent study proposed that the program could be better tailored to fit students’ needs, she said.

“Not all students have the exact same needs,” Harshman said. “How can we make [the ESL program] as flexible as possible? How do we package what we teach in a way that makes sense to our students?”

The redesigning of the program will help to make it “more concentrated,” addressing individual deficiencies.

Harshman said that approximately 20 to 25 percent of ESL students continue to study at SLU. “It’s not a terrific recruiting tool,” she said.

The ESL program would be reorganized to provide services only to those students who would pursue an undergraduate or graduate degree at the University, as opposed to non-SLU enrolled students. “We would focus on those students who come to SLU not only to learn English, but to pursue an academic degree,” Harshman said.

Cost is certainly an issue, Harshman added. “The program entails a huge outlay of resources. We’re asking how we could better focus those resources.”

“We are always trying to improve things,” she added.

Associate professor Phyllis Mithen disagreed. “To improve things, you have to have some problems,” she said. Mithen noted that SLU’s ESL program has had “excellent evaluations” from outside consortium groups and questioned what “improve” means.

“Every semester we redesign our program according to the students that we have,” Mithen said. “Every semester we reorganize how the material we teach is presented. We have a framework within which we work, and we deliver the courses in different ways.

“I think we do try to meet students’ needs,” Mithen said. “We feel it has always been SLU’s mission to have an open ESL program.”

Currently, the ESL program has two full-time faculty-Mithen and Jones-and eight adjunct faculty. In 1983, the program had four full-time positions; by 1998, two of those positions were eliminated. Both Mithen and Jones have terminal contracts, which means neither faculty member’s contract has been renewed for next year.

Harshman said that at least one full-time person would be needed to direct the program, but the number of staff depends on the program’s enrollment. The future of the existing two full-time positions “remains to be seen,” Harshman said.

Exact plans on how to go about restructuring the program should be known by the end of February.