Language Bridges recognizes 57 learners for fall semester

Faculty, staff and students gathered at Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar to celebrate the accomplishments of 57 participants in the fall 2016 session of Language Bridges. Participants showcased their work and received certificates of completion for the eight-week basic English program.

The Language Bridges program was developed by Silvia Pessoa, associate teaching professor of English, as a basic English language course that is contextualized for service workers in Education City. Since the vocabulary and examples are relevant to the workers’ jobs, the course gives them practical language tools they can use to practice and build on.

Language Bridges is a student-led initiative, with CMU-Q students organizing and teaching the classes. In the ninth cycle which just finished, a computer class was added for learners with advanced language skills. There were 34 student teachers who participated.

Qatar Foundation’s Reach Out to Asia’s (ROTA) Adult English Literacy Program (RAEL) now uses Pessoa’s program throughout Qatar in an effort to give language and literacy skills to workers in service and construction.