(Ms. Ellen Zuroski: Director, English Language and U.S. Culture Program)
2007年9月24日、ELUSC DirectorのEllenにインタビューを行い、ELUSCプログラムについて伺いました。
Q1. What do you think are ELUSC's strengths and weaknesses?
This program, now in its thirteenth year, was developed as a collaboration among faculty, administrative staff, and students at the Simon School, and we have continued to improve our offerings by integrating academic, cultural, and social aspects of business school life into our curriculum. As a long-time faculty member in the Management Communication area of the Simon School, I have worked closely with both international and domestic students, and have had the chance to observe our international student needs not only as they pertain to the business school classroom, but also as they pertain to our students' family, social, and professional lives. While I believe that I can say that the ELUSC Program is a focused, intensive, and successful MBA preparatory program, there is always room for improvement: We are working hard to incorporate introductions to new types of business knowledge into our classroom. In addition, we have recently adopted more detailed and regular student performance assessments within our program.
Q2. How does ELUSC program help the international students improve their English and prepare for their upcoming MBA life?
Our program, like most ESL programs, focuses upon refreshing and strengthening English language skills in the areas of reading, writing, listening, and speaking. What helps to make our program particularly effective, I feel, is the fact that all language skills are practiced within the context of business school and business communication. For example, nearly every morning, students participate in small group discussions about a reading from the Wall Street Journal, or a business case, or a reading from a business textbook. One student has the responsibility to facilitate or lead the discussion. This experience allows our students to have the real-life experience of being a team leader, to keep current with events in business, and to have exposure to the exact type of business study materials that they will be using in their MBA/MS program study. (They also receive immediate feedback on their performance, from both fellow students as well as instructors.) Students are also introduced to the case study method, practice high-volume reading, hear lectures from Simon business faculty, and prepare individual and team presentations and reports. All of these experiences help prepare our students for the challenges ahead.
One very important aspect of our program is our incorporation of many family-friendly cultural and recreational activities (sports events, trips to museums and the theatre, children's activities, a beach picnic) that help to make Rochester more familiar—and fun—for our students and their families.
Q3. Could you outline this year's teaching policy of ELUSC?
This year's program offers a number of diverse skill-building units and incorporates training from experienced language teachers, Simon alumni, career management professionals, Simon faculty members, and members of the corporate community. It is the goal of the ELUSC staff to provide integrated and continuous instruction across a number of subject areas and to provide students regular, individualized feedback on all aspects of his or her language development. The most important characteristic of our teaching is that we consistently aim to prepare our students for success in the real MBA classroom environment.
Q4. What is your general impression of Japanese students in ELUSC?
Our Japanese students come to ELUSC and Simon with sound educational backgrounds, and often with significant professional experience. They are in a great position to share perspectives and knowledge, especially once they have had the opportunity to feel more comfortable with their English language communication skills. In particular, I have found that our students from Japan are often pleasantly surprised at the effectiveness of our pronunciation modules and that they appreciate the ongoing conversation about the role that culture can play in communication styles. A number of our Japanese ELUSC graduates go on to play leadership roles in student activities and organizations, and I feel that ELUSC has sometimes helped them to feel more confident about taking that next important step toward such community involvement.
Q5. Do you have any specific advice for Japanese prospective and incoming students for Simon School?
For those contemplating, or planning, a graduate business education at the Simon School, I would say that some specific language and culture orientation (whether in Japan, at other programs in the U.S., or at ELUSC) is probably a very good way to begin your experience. So many of the positive experiences that our international students have begin with feeling more comfortable and more open to different ways of viewing the world, of communicating, of learning, and of doing business. In addition, it is important for you to have a clear understanding of your own educational objectives. What is it that you want to do when you leave the Simon School? Whether you are returning to a sponsoring company or seeking employment, you will want to make sure that the courses you take, and, especially, the experiences that you have, will prepare you well for the next stage of your professional life.