Wall Street Institute's Educational Advisory Board Focuses on Product Development, Teacher Training, and Assessment at its 2010 Meeting

BALTIMORE, July 5 /PRNewswire/ -- Wall Street Institute's Educational Advisory Board (EAB), which is composed of experts in the field of teaching English as a Second Language, held its 2010 meeting in Istanbul, Turkey on June 25 – 26, 2010.  The meeting focused on a variety of topics including using Web 2.0 tools in English language teaching, using technology-based teacher training, efficacy assessment, and the benefits of and approaches to English for Special Purposes. The meeting also included a tour of a Wall Street Institute center in Istanbul.

"The meeting was an insightful discussion on the agenda topics," said Simon Buckland, Wall Street Institute's Director of Curriculum Development. "Each board member has a unique specialty in the field of second language learning. They shared their perspectives on how Wall Street Institute can best achieve their goals in regards to product development, teacher training, efficacy assessment, and English for Special Purposes. The great part about this meeting was that the Board members were able to see first-hand a Wall Street Institute center, giving immediate relevance to the agenda topics."

The EAB discussed a number of topics related to present and future product development. Wall Street Institute currently is producing a Business English course, and the EAB indicated that such a course was the best solution given the wide possible range of learner needs of WSI students around the world.

The EAB also outlined ways in which Wall Street Institute could follow-up on the Common European Framework (CEFR) Alignment Study that occurred in 2006/2007. That study found that Wall Street Institute's curriculum aligned to the globally recognized CEFR English Proficiency Scales. The ultimate goal is to continue to assess the efficiency of the WSI method to ensure WSI is offering the best possible solution and experience for our students.

Wall Street Institute established the Educational Advisory Board in August 2008. The Board's Mission is to advise and guide the company on key issues related to English language learning. In addition to Wall Street Institute management, the EAB is made up of distinguished scholars from the fields of Second Language Acquisition and Online Learning:

• Dr. Mike Milanovic, CEO of The University of Cambridge ESOL Examinations
• Dr. Mike Long, Professor of Second Language Acquisition and Director of the School of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures, University of Maryland
• Dr. Carol Chapelle, Professor of TESL and Applied Linguistics, Iowa State University
• Dr. Klaus Schwienhorst, Director of the Languages for Special Purposes Unit, Leibnitz University, Hanover, Germany
• Joanne Dresner, President of English Language Learning Solutions, Pearson Education

Please visit Wall Street Institute's website at www.wallstreetinstitute.com for more information about the Educational Advisory Board and its members.

About Wall Street Institute

Wall Street Institute (www.wallstreetinstitute.com) is the premier provider of English instruction for individuals and corporate clients around the world. The Company's proprietary and innovative blended learning method integrates the best of proven learning approaches to provide the most effective English language instruction available for adults. Students listen, read, write, speak, and practice English with guidance and support from highly trained native English speaking teachers. Wall Street Institute's curriculum is aligned to the Common European Framework Reference for Languages (CEFR), according to a study undertaken with the support of the University of Cambridge English for Speakers of Other Languages Examination group (CESOL). Utilizing both company-owned and franchised centers, Wall Street Institute has provided instruction to over 2 million students in over 400 centers in 27 countries and territories in Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East.  Founded in 1972, Wall Street Institute's international offices are in Baltimore, Maryland in the United States, Barcelona, Spain, and Luxembourg. Wall Street Institute is owned by the private equity firm, The Carlyle Group.

SOURCE Wall Street Institute