A Case Study of the English Language Center :: Research Papers

A Case Study of the side of meat words means Three blocks away from the hustle of Market Street, the main thoroughf are of Drexel Universitys campus, an modest building nestles in a quiet neighborhood. The street, lined with narrow sidewalks and trees, take mystifys virtuosoness a feeling of coziness and safety. Other than the faint sounds of city traffic, repose presides over this neighborhood scene. At 229 North 33rd Street stands a long, rectangular, light-colored brick building two stories high. The low green shrubs at the acuity of the building and the grassy areas spotted with trees to either side of the entrance give one the sense that this building belongs to the neighborhood. Looking up at its facade, one would not think that at bottom this modest structure lies a microscopic view of the solid ground as it could be in the next millennium-a humankind where countries from all corners of the globe come together in harmony, a non-politicized world where borders , political divisions separating ethnic groups, dissolve and give rise toboundaries, permeable areas that throw out the acknowledgement of and mutual respect for linguistic and cultural diversity. What is this place? Who are the inhabitants? Walking up the entranceway steps lined with black beseech railings, one immediately encounters an outer glass door inscribed with the dodging of an umbrella-shaped image encasing the letters AAIEP. Above the umbrella stand the words American Association for International English Programs (AAIEP) and underneath, English Language Center, Foreign Language Center, and ESL Writing Center. These words only begin to frame what goes on inside this building. On the other side of the entranceway lies a safe haven--a place where people from around the globe to come together to say English, a place where words are transformed into language. But more goes on at 229 North 33rd Street than just the learning of English in the traditional sense of le arning a language or the teaching of specific skills reading, writing, listening, and speaking. At Drexels English Language Center (ELC), students learn about American culture as well. While knowledge of vocabulary, syntax, and grammar make to enhance ones linguistic ability, they do not necessarily promote communicative competence or the appropriate use of language in situations of terrestrial life. Because the rules and norms of language cannot be separated from culture, developing communicative competence enables a student to use a language for a wide pluck of social and expressive purposes (Schiffrin 323).