INTERNATIONAL students at Walsall College have been boosting their English skills following the launch of a new English Language club.
The club is designed to encourage further integration between home and international students and gives those from other countries such as Saudi Arabia, India and Iraq, the chance to practice and improve their English conversational skills through structured discussion.
The project is being supported by specially appointed international mentors and the aim is to build the confidence of students in an informal setting while developing new friendships and encouraging cultural exchange.
Sessions involve discussions in small groups led by the mentors and are based on a topic of interest, such as sport or an issue that has been discussed within class. Students are then challenged to feedback to the group as a whole, which encourages the development of their presentation skills.
Anninder Dhanda, Walsall College's International Learner Welfare and Support Officer, said: "The international mentors are HE home students who have volunteered to work with the International team to increase their knowledge of different cultures and to interact with new people.
"As a result of this, the International Welfare Team launched the English Language Club to help International students practice their conversational English, in a relaxed and sociable environment."
The International students are also being encouraged to meet with their mentors within an organised social environment in order to develop their self-confidence in a social setting.
Elsewhere, college duo Hayley Ramadhar and Charlotte Hall are on the brink of being chosen to compete in the 2015 WorldSkills International Competition.
The two Year 13 students, who are studying a Level 3 Advanced Diploma in Engineering, have received letters inviting them to be part of the Squad UK Pool ahead of the 43rd WorldSkills competition, which is taking place in Sao Paulo, Brazil, next year.
It will enable them to take part in further specialist training and general preparation, leading to the final selection of Team UK for the contest which is considered to be the world's biggest Vocational Education event featuring 1,000 competitors from 60 different countries.
The students have been selected after impressing judges in the national UK WorldSkills Finals which was held during the Skills Show at Birmingham's NEC in November.
Hayley, aged 18, and Charlotte, 17, took part in the process control competition, sponsored by Festo and Siemens, where they had to programme and diagnose faults on an industrial fluid control rig using a variety of software. They finished fourth in the UK and received a Highly Commended medal.
Gordon Mills, Director of Business Engagement at the Black Country UTC, which is sponsored by Walsall College and Wolverhampton University, said: "As well as the skills gained in the training they also learned to work under pressure using their own initiative and also fault find and problem solve during the competition. They also had the opportunity to meet and work with other competitors from around the country gaining valuable life skills."
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