Kigali Health Institute

I. MISSION AND OBJECTIVES

1. Mission:

KHI language centre has the vision of being a centre of excellence in the teaching of both general English and English for Specific Purposes- ESP- English for health professionals.

2. Objectives:

KHI Language Centre’s mission is to implement national policy on language learning/teaching in higher education, and thus to transform KHI students and staff into competent users of English Language as the language of medium of instruction at all educational levels in Rwanda . This mission can be translated into the following three objectives:

- providing English language teaching for KHI students and staff in need; - Creating informal language learning opportunities such as clubs and exchange dialogues in order to help students/ staff extend their language learning beyond the scholastic and / or working context;
- Providing English language training and consultancies for and with people outside KHI
community (outreach program). II. ENGLISH LANGUAGE COURSES OFFERED BY KHI LANGUAGE CENTRE

II.1. Intensive English Language Program (IELP):

This is a compulsory two-month course program (300 hours) that aims at upgrading first year students’ level of proficiency in English Language. The proficiency test is done before the beginning of the program in order to evaluate students’ language skills levels and therefore take the program focusing on their language skills gaps. Emphasis is put on productive skills and vocabulary to help students satisfy academic requirements without any barriers (or with very minimum barriers) in English language. Students are also exposed to listening to recorded materials of native English speakers to sharpen their listening skills towards standard pronunciations. The exposure to introductory medical English is another window of concern during the program and it assists students to be familiar with English related to health professionals. Students who successfully complete this course are awarded an English language certificate.

II. 2. English for Health Professionals and Communication Units:

These two units are offered as the part of Communication Skills Module for level 2 all departments and count respectively for four credits or forty hours and three credits or thirty hours (70 % of the whole module. These units focus on specific English (English for Specific Purposes- ESP) related to health and medical fields as well as suitable communicative skills students are likely to encounter for in their future medical/ health professional practices and in their daily lives. The units also help students enrich their writing and presentation skills necessary in their daily academic performances.

Notice: with the review of KHI Curriculum being done (especially for common modules), there is a proposal of having Languages Module both in Level 1 and Level 2 all departments throughout the academic year. These modules have been thought to equip students’ with enough language skills that will permit them to easily follow their studies and thereafter compete at the regional and global market.
II. 3. English Language course for KHI Staff (beginning, Intermediate, and advanced levels) This course targets KHI staff (especially those with purely francophone background) and intends to support them in their daily English language skills improvement. The course started in 2009 after the Rwandan government policy of upgrading English language to the medium of instruction. This blended course (face to face and online) counts for approximately 300 hours each year. The online courses have started since February 2011 after realizing the challenge of some staff that do not regularly follow face- to- face courses because of other workload constraints out of KHI campuses (mainly clinical placement supervision). Courses are dominated by the exposure to productive skills (speaking and writing) in a variety of contexts relating to learners’ academic background. For further information on online courses, you can visit the tutor’s education website www.eshuri.weebly.com.

II.4. Other English language Learning/ Teaching opportunities

Apart from formal teaching services, English Language learning is made through a number of non- formal learning opportunities. These include:

- Cultural exchanges and work experiences. With this kind of learning, Language Centre creates opportunities for KHI community to meet various English language users especially native speakers. This enables KHI students/staff and English language users outside KHI community to informally exchange many cultural aspects for the enhancement and betterment of their overall language skills;
- Language club in both campuses is the other window of opportunity for KHI students and staff to use English while debating and expressing their views on several subjects related to their daily lives and fields of study;
- Guidance services regarding learning and using English language. Such assistance mostly target students with particular problems in English Language skills because of their academic background.

III. LEARNING/ TEACHING MEDIA:

Teaching is done using various kinds of materials including print materials (course books, novels, handouts, etc), online materials as well as audio and video materials. This wide variety of Learning/ Teaching materials offers a wide range of choices and facilities to learners in their language learning progress.

IV. FUTURE PLANS:

KHI language centre is planning to create the Language Resources Centre (LRC), the language lab that will help both KHI community in particular and it’s surrounding in general the appropriate and equipped place to allow them improve their language and communicative skills to the maximum. The LRC will be made of reading , writing and listening materials, internet connectivity to access online language related materials, discussion tables for speaking activities, language related consultancies like translation and proofreading activities ( as the one of the way of generating incomes), etc.
KHI LANGUAGE CENTRE ACADEMIC STAFF

1. Prof. SABIMANA Firmard (PhD- Director and KHI Academic Registrar)
2. Mr. HAKIZIMANA Innocent (BA- Deputy Director; Master’s student- Educational Planning and Management)
3. Mr. SABITI Jacques (BA; Master’s student- MBA)
4. Mr. BASHEIJA David (BA- Master’s Student, MA-Linguistics)
5. Mr. NAYIGIZIKI Aloys (BA)
6. Mr. NDAYISHIMIYE Viateur (MA- TESOL)