CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - A dozen undergraduate students from Senshu University in Tokyo will be arriving at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign early next spring to spend a month improving their English-speaking skills. They hope to find families in the community who will not only share some time with them, but also provide a welcoming home.
The Japanese students - seven women and five men ages 19 to 21 - will receive instruction from Feb. 19 to March 19, in a new spring program at Illinois' Intensive English Institute (IEI). The program was designed so that the students would stay in private homes, rather than in residence halls, which is why IEI "is looking for families who can provide a home stay for the students for the entire four weeks they are in Champaign-Urbana," said Anna Kasten, a lecturer in IEI.
According to Kasten, the students will live with their host families, taking breakfast and dinner together on weekdays, and three meals a day on weekends.
"The idea is that they eat together as a family as much as possible," Kasten said.
Families also are encouraged to involve their international students in typical family activities and outings, such as shopping, sports and movies. A stipend is provided to help compensate for the cost of room and board for home stays. Reference and background checks are required of selected home-stay host families.
The term "family" is defined fairly broadly, Kasten said. "Individuals, families and couples, including 'empty-nesters,' are welcome to apply as hosts."
The students come from a variety of majors: business administration and law, commerce, English, humanities, information science and psychology. They will be involved in their classes four hours a day five days a week.
Mamoru Obayashi, dean of Senshu University's International Academic Affairs Office, said that his university is developing study-abroad programs for the spring vacation, rather than for the summer, for several reasons, including, "the summer vacation at Senshu is being shortened. Also, a spring program allows students plenty of time for getting visas and for purchasing inexpensive airplane tickets."
"Senshu University is very happy with the home-stay family option for housing, since this way their students will be able to experience American family life as well as campus life during their stay here," Kasten said.
She also said that Senshu has decided to change the focus of its longstanding program with Illinois, from an emphasis primarily on conversation and culture to an emphasis on the academic skills necessary to be successful on the TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) exam.
According to Kasten, TOEFL is the leading academic English proficiency test in the world, designed to measure the ability of nonnative speakers of English to use and understand English as it is used in university settings.
A minimum TOEFL score is one of the requirements for internationals planning to study at colleges and universities where instruction is in English, she said. Many other organizations use TOEFL scores to evaluate English proficiency.
"In the case of the Senshu students," Kasten said, "even if they are not planning on studying in the United States for a degree in the future, improving their TOEFL scores will better their chances of getting jobs in the increasingly competitive job market in Japan."
The new home-stay room and board option began a few years ago at Illinois and has proven popular for students and hosts alike.
In years past, international students stayed in residence halls the duration of their intensive English courses, but participated with host families a couple of times a week in activities in and outside the home.
That arrangement proved to be somewhat disruptive, however, since the late summer IEI programs overlapped with the beginning of the fall semester at Illinois, meaning that the international students had to move out of their university rooms and into hotel rooms to allow incoming U. of I. students to move into their rooms.
The new home-stay program also gives families or individuals a greater understanding of other countries, cultures and customs.
Christina and Ryan Ploeckelman of Urbana corroborate that. They hosted a student from Konan University last August and intend to host another student this spring when the Senshu students come to town.
"It was fun to share our home with a person from another country," Ryan Ploeckelman said. "And we got to learn about a different culture."
The Ploeckelmans, parents of two children aged 3 years and 6 months, serve as hosts, because "When you can help people out, that's a good thing," Ryan Ploeckelman said, adding that as a result of the experience, his family plans to visit Japan one day.
IEI holds a host-orientation meeting to give hosts detailed information about their students. After the students arrive, a reception is held for hosts and students to meet and get to know each other.
The Host Program Application is available online. The site has a link to frequently asked questions.
More information is available by contacting IEI at 217-333-6598.