Bill Helz, Director of YALI, to the YT:”I think students come to YALI because they know we are the best – that seems very clear.” [Archives:2005/877/Reportage]
By Hakim Almasmari
Yemen Times Staff
[email protected]
After five years as Director of the Yemen-America Language Institute (YALI), Bill Helz will depart his position shortly, leaving behind an institute that during the past year has served nearly 20,000 students. Here he is interviewed on how English is affecting Yemen and on the success that YALI has achieved.
Q: Being in Yemen for five years, how important has English become to the Yemeni people?
A: Well, I don't think it's just in Yemen, but in every country it has become a tool of world communication. Almost all sources, such as on the Internet, are in English. And, to get an education – or a professional job – in many professional fields, such as medicine, engineering and the sciences, you need English. More and more Yemenis have come to realize this truth.
Q: What is the key to the great success that YALI has achieved?
A: YALI has been successful, first, because there is a strong need for English that has been recognized, especially by the younger generation of Yemenis who realize that future jobs may well depend on this. Now, there are many institutes in Yemen that teach English, so why has YALI, specifically, been so successful? I think there are many reasons. We have a system at YALI that encourages the learning process, from beginners to very advanced. We have quality teachers and a quality curriculum and, when we find problems in the learning process, we are quick to seek solutions to strengthen the program. So, I would say that YALI is never satisfied with what it is, but is always trying to get better, and I think this is one thing that separates us from many of the other institutes who may only be looking to get money are not able to adjust to the needs of their students as they discover that such needs exist.
Q: During your five years as Director of YALI, what has been the most difficult situation you have faced?
A: I'll put this in educational terms. Yes, there are occasional problems with world issues that go back to the U.S. Embassy and security and other things like this, but within what we are able to control inside YALI, I think the most difficult issue has been how to evenly address the language learning skills of our students, who are easily able to learn speaking and listening skills, which is a great strength at YALI, but who are much weaker when it comes to skills like reading and writing. Traditionally, Yemeni students of English have not been strong in these latter skills and through a number of adjustments to our curriculum, we have already made a lot of improvements, especially in reading. Now, with the steps we have taken this year, we hope that the quality of our students' writing will also improve in the future. We are beginning to see some signs of it, but it's a slow process. Our students don't really understand that reading and writing support conversational skills and that they will never be great speakers of English if they don't have the vocabulary – and grammar – they have learned through reading, especially, but also through writing. With grammar usage, written grammar use supports spoken usage greatly. So, the problems we experience are mainly in finding solutions to the weaknesses our students have. Other than such “professional” problems, I don't have problems. On a personal level, I have greatly enjoyed living in Yemeni culture and I think Yemenis make great students, with their high level of motivation and interest.
Q: Nearly six thousand students in two and a half months is not an easy task to accomplish. How did you do it?
A: Well, it's been for all those reasons I've already mentioned about how YALI is never satisfied with what it is, but is always striving to get better. I think our students recognize this and see the improvements we've made. And, I think students come to YALI because they know we are the best – that seems very clear. If you have any kind of “business” – and if you have a good product and you give good support to that product and to the “customers” who use that product, then you will succeed. In our case, this means that students will come to study. Marketing is a simple thing: have a good product, make sure your “clients” know what is available and when it's available, and make sure that you are consistent in servicing this product. Then, you will be successful.
Q: During Ramadan, student enrollment usually declines. What are your plans to further make YALI more successful during the holy month of Ramadan?
A: While summer is our highest season of the year, Ramadan is our happiest month. This is because we do so many interesting things. We recognize that many of our potential students may not want to work quite as hard during the month of Ramadan, but we also know that if they stop for one term – or, a full six-week period – they are going to lose some of their English. So, how can we encourage them to continue studying during Ramadan? We do this in two important ways. First, we reduce the tuition. Now, money isn't everything, but it's our way of giving a special bonus to our students to show them that we appreciate them for their patronage at YALI, and for their efforts in learning English. Secondly, and more important than just money – in fact, what is our great gift to our students, or our real Ramadan bonus for students who are registered during the term in which Ramadan occurs – are the many free “mini-courses” we offer. These are short courses of one, two or even three days, from one and a half hours to six hours per course, in which we give more than 300 hours of free courses at all different levels. These courses are designed to work on small points in the language that affect our students' English, such as learning points that may not be addressed completely in the regular curriculum, or other matters in English in which students might be interested, such as learning how to write a resume in English, learning something about the differences between British and American English, focusing on differences between Arabic and English, such as the [b] and [p] or vowel sounds. So, all of these different courses are good marketing tools, but more importantly, are good educational tools. And, as I have tried to say, good business is good education – and good education is good business. We are willing to give more; we are not a “for profit” organization. So, as long as we have money to spend, we will spend it on our students in finding better ways for them to learn English.
Q: Are there plans to further expand YALI for it to become an American university, like the ones spreading throughout the Middle East?
A: Our mandate, through the U.S. State Department, is that we are an English language institute, not a university. I think that YALI has a lot of positive attributes that many universities would do well to emulate, but we are not a full-range university. In terms of expanding YALI with what we do – which is teaching English – we do offer many courses related to other fields, but only to the English of those fields, such as with English for business, English for banking, or English for medicine. In terms of expanding YALI beyond the four buildings off of Baghdad Street, for four and a half years, I have been suggesting that YALI expand to other cities with what we do best, teaching English opening satellite institutes in other cities, such as Taiz, Mukhalla, Hodeidah, or Aden. And, if this could ever get off the ground, I think this would help serve not just Sana'a, but the whole country of Yemen. The other kind of expansion I would like to see with YALI is to establish a teacher training institute, whereby we would train Yemeni public school English teachers, helping them to teach English better in order to improve the overall quality of English teaching and learning in public schools.
Q: Many Yemenis are saying that Yemen is turning into an “English society”. What is your opinion?
A: My own opinion – and I'm not an expert on this – is that in any country's development, the key is in keeping those things that make you what you are, such as your religion and core culture, while accepting new ideas that other cultures might have to offer and which don't conflict with your own culture and your cultural values. One of our past students, who is a leader in Yemen, runs a religious institute in which he openly recognizes the importance of such things as computers and English in bringing the world to Yemen and fitting what is good into what already exists. In terms of language, of course I would say, “Never give up your Arabic – it's your native language.” But, it's always good to have another tool, and English is a world tool, as are computers.
Q: Do you have any closing comments?
A: I'm proud of YALI – of our staff and of our students. When I leave, I will miss it a great deal and there will always be a place in my heart for both YALI and Yemen. Thank you.
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