Students and professionals who participate in our programs and workshops learn to use English and other languages to communicate effectively in their studies and work. Starting from expressions of learner's own ideas and plans, we go beyond formal competence in language, encouraging learners to develop the autonomy necessary to continue learning on their own and in collaboration with others. As educators and language teachers, our work is needs-driven . Learners will always know more about these situations than we do, and finding out about what learners do, what they know and how they work, forms a major part of our program or workshop content.
Adult learners bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to our classrooms.
This process brings the collective resources of the larger group to support individual participants. Learning tasks are initially defined by the teachers, but as a program or workshop progresses, they are increasingly defined by the learners themselves. This paper details the languages' position on language in academic contexts, and how we believe it should be addressed.