Do students need a foundation year?
The idea of a foundation year has been around for some time in education. When I was at high school, Art students were asked to do one before starting college. The idea seemed to be to give them intense submersion into the subject.
Foundation years in ELT seemed to appear after the millennium. Before that, students did a year in the UK studying general English, EAP and IELTS. For students and teachers though, this wasn’t really enough for specialised courses. For instance, if an Asian student wanted to do a BA in Finance at a British university but didn’t have great Maths skills or statistical knowledge and hadn’t written any reports or done any presentations in English, he or she would have a hard time. Bridging the business and English knowledge and skills of the high school and year one of a British university did warrant a full year of serious study for most students. However, not all students needed it, depending on their studies, English level and determination; some good students had what they needed to start after just a few English courses. A lot of this was due to education systems. In Britain, we pride ourselves on essays, reports, presentations, group work and projects; working independently, reading and absorbing lots of information and the ability to study in an organised way. In theory! Not every country is the same. There is no good or best but just different. Some education systems stress Maths and are very good at this, but produce students who may not be great at communicating orally. Others may be used to reading and having lots of classes, as opposed to the lecture, study and seminar style we have.
About the author
Phil has taught and managed a range of courses at foundation, BA, pre-MBA and MA Level for over 15 years in organisations across the world. He has an MA in TESOL, a PGCE, the CELTA, DELTA Module 3 and is now studying Coaching and Mentoring. He was previously an IELTS examiner, Cert iBET tutor and has many years experience writing innovative printed and digital materials.