Making a world of difference with free language training

Thousands of people around the world are saying “thank you”, and a whole host of other new English words, thanks to a free online training program launched by the Queen’s School of English (QSoE).

“During the COVID pandemic our student enrollment decreased and we got to thinking about ways to serve students whose English skills didn’t match with our intermediate English programs,” said Karen Burkett, MEd’05, Ed’02, Director of the Queen’s School of English. “At the same time, our School had gone through a visioning exercise and we wanted to find opportunities to give back.”

So, Educational Developer Steven McWilliams and Academic Manager Amie Pilgrim, Ed’10, began work on the English for Beginners at QSoE language course. This six-week course offers registrants 10 hours of learning each week, guiding them toward attaining an A2 level of English proficiency on the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR), which is considered an elementary level of language attainment.

“In layman’s terms, this would mean students would be able to have a short conversation about familiar topics, but more academic or esoteric topics might be beyond them without further learning,” said Steven.

The curriculum is based on the existing QSoE curriculum and was heavily influenced by the School’s beginner course that is equivalent to the A2 language proficiency.

“We co-built a thematic framework around the core grammar and functions we wished to communicate – so, for instance, when we wanted to talk about modals of obligation like must, have to, etc., which is a core A2 grammatical descriptor, we thought about natural situations that people might use that language and then built reading and listening exercises around them,” said Steven. “Being part of a co-writing team allowed us to bounce ideas off each other and also to take advantage of our relative strengths to ‘take charge’ of different aspects of the course.”

Work began on the course in 2021 and it launched 18 months later. In developing the course, McWilliams and Pilgrim received support from Queen's Continuing Teacher Education unit to help develop this certificate offering.

Since its launch, over 1,400 people from dozens of countries have completed the beginner English course. The course was also highlighted by Canadian Women for Women in Afghanistan, a group which strives to promote human rights for women based in Afghanistan.

“It is lovely the eclectic mix of students we get, from mums walking home in Kingston after dropping their kids off at school, to secondary school kids supplementing their English education in Myanmar,” added Steven. “We’ve had doctors from Iran, pastors from Mozambique, security guards in Argentina, and engineering students in France — it really is a global course.”
The course even includes content about Queen’s and Kingston, which once led to a situation where a student taking the language training ended up attempting to register for an appointment with the University’s Student Academic Success Service due to a live weblink embedded in authentic text borrowed as learning material.

Upon completing the course, and in addition to improved language skills, those global participants receive a certificate and an accredible badge which they can add to social media profiles such as LinkedIn.

Complementing the online learning is a weekly office hour, occurring at 9 am ET where students can ask questions and get support. As many as 90 students participate in a week.

“Over the nearly two years the course has been running, we have continually evolved the discussion hour offering to be better and more student-centred, and I am sure we will continue to adjust it as time passes and the context shifts,” said Steven.

The next project for the team is a free online English test, with the hope of having the content build on past learnings and performance in the course. The School of English has also considered using the course to help test students prior to their entry into paid intermediate language learning programs.

Signing up for the course requires a free Thinkific account and access is immediately available upon registering.