HAU was created as a bilingual university, teaching in French and English, and in its early years, English was a mainstay of the curriculum. In recent years, French has become the prominent language of instruction on campus. The HAU Board of Trustees, many of them graduates of the early days of the university when English was more prevalent, want English to return as it will aid students and the university in many ways.
The HAU administration is responding with several activities including a required Remedial English course for entering students, a required course offered at each academic level, and English courses in the content area. This May, the University provided a week-long workshop for faculty to help them prepare to integrate English into their content areas. Many faculty have had training in English but don’t use it in their classes because they are uncomfortable or lack confidence in their usage from lack of practice and fluency. As a follow-up of the workshop, Friends of Hope Africa is creating a Language Partners Project (LPP) to pair HAU faculty with English speakers in the U.S. to help teachers improve their English skills. This project was mentioned in an earlier newsletter, and two U.S. Friends have already volunteered to become language partners. We had 13 HAU faculty sign up, so we need additional partners. If you are interested in participating, please contact Betty Overton at bjoadkins@comcast.net. Please label your email Language Partners Project (LPP).
