Ethiopia’s Addis Ababa University (AAU), in partnership with the British Council, has launched an English proficiency training programme for more than 2 000 instructors from universities around the country.

The training, which is set to improve English language skills, identifies instructors’ level of academic English proficiency and decides upon the intervention required to upgrade their language competence.

AAU, which was established in the 1940s, is one of the largest higher learning institutions in Africa, but its graduates’ proficiency in English has often been criticised as ‘not perfect’ – hence the partnership with the British Council.

The Council is working closely with the AAU, assisting with the initial assessment of instructors’ academic English level.

The instructors have sat for the Council’s International English Language Testing System (IELTS) examination, which measures English ability across four skills sets – listening, reading writing and speaking. The test evaluates candidates’ ability to communicate in English in a way that is relevant to the real world.

British Council Ethiopia Director Barbara Wickham says IELTS is vital for anyone looking to improve their English proficiency.

‘IELTS an internationally recognised test used to assess the four language skills of reading, writing, listening and speaking and provides a benchmark language level for both Addis Ababa University and the students,’ says Wickham.

According to Wickham, AAU contracted the British Council to recruit internationally qualified teachers to carry out one-month intensive pre-sessional English language courses and produce related classroom and self-study materials.

Wickham says it is important that English is taught, as the students are all instructors, newly-enrolled in masters’ or doctoral programmes at universities all over the country, who will be the university teachers of the future.

‘English is important not only to make study for their postgraduate degree courses easier, but to enable them to teach the students of the future more easily in English,’ says Wickham.

By teaching English and providing IELTS services, the British Council is helping the government achieve its objectives.

‘The government of Ethiopia believes that for the country to be internationally competitive it needs an educated population able to fully participate at a global level,’ says Wickham. ‘The British Council is helping them achieve their goal.’

Want to know more about our English products? Click here to see what we have on offer.