Milo Adventist Academy has started a new department, which will help expand its horizons and help international students integrate better.
In the spring of 2007, the newly formed English Language Learning Department began to develop a state-of-the art English as a Second Language program—focusing on helping students become proficient in the language.
In the past, limited-English speaking students at Milo had to develop their own methods for learning English. Even though they had been proficient in their own language, in an English-speaking academy, these students often struggled with language and cultural issues. The new ESL program, English for Academic Achievement, now provides international students with a systematic approach in developing listening, reading, writing and speaking skills in the language concurrently with their academic studies. In this program, students are able to feel confident in their ability to communicate, and therefore able to integrate more rapidly into mainstream classes and activities.
In addition to helping students in the classroom, the department will be able to help them by offering the Test of English as a Foreign Language at Milo. In the past, international students taking the TOEFL had to arrange to test at another location. Sabbath was often an issue, as the test is usually offered during Sabbath hours. For international students, the TOEFL is required for most universities in North America.
With the development of the department, 15 new international students from Korea, Mexico and Rwanda enrolled in the ESL program, bringing the international student body to more than 22 students for 2007–2008.
It is expected students will enroll from different countries, including Taiwan, Japan, Micronesia, and from the former Soviet Union as well as Korea and Mexico. "Students from other cultures have expanded our understanding of the world, and to a large degree enabled us to see from other perspectives," says one constituent.
It is the hope and prayer of this new department that these students will enable the gospel to go “…to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people.”
Students are now able to first learn English and then blend into the mainstream classes when they are ready.
Marisol Angelino, from Mexico, and Junseok Yoo, from Korea, enjoy the joint interest of learning English together.
