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Pathway to success

February 07, 2019 | by Andy Coughlan

English language program to host open house, Tuesday

Paris Clark, above, League City business and French major, does her homework in the language lab in the Maes building, Tuesday. Andrea Sierra, below left, Bay City industrial engineering and Spanish major, prepares her tutoring materials in the language lab at the Maes building, Tuesday. Juan Martínez, below right, Dayton French and Spanish major, practices his English-language skills through a computer program in the language lab at the Maes building, Tuesday. UP photos by Noah Dawlearn
Paris Clark, above, League City business and French major, does her homework in the language lab in the Maes building, Tuesday. Andrea Sierra, below left, Bay City industrial engineering and Spanish major, prepares her tutoring materials in the language lab at the Maes building, Tuesday. Juan Martínez, below right, Dayton French and Spanish major, practices his English-language skills through a computer program in the language lab at the Maes building, Tuesday. UP photos by Noah Dawlearn

Lamar University will host its first Pathway Program Open House, 10 a.m.to noon, Tuesday, in 106-A Montagne Center.

“It used to be TIEP, Texas Intensive English Program, and most people are familiar with that,” Cynthia McCartney, Pathway Program director, said. “When that program ended, this program took its place, and we are just wanting to have an open house so that people can visit, come by and see what we have here.”

The Pathway Program is designed to aide students with an English language barrier.

“We work with the students, mainly international, that have kind of a language hold on English and we provide instruction to help them,” McCartney said. “The courses are specifically designed to help bring them up to the English proficiency level that they need to succeed at the university.”

The open house will offer information about the program.

“It’s more for information because this program is relatively new,” McCartney said. “We want to ensure people are aware of it. They need to know what we have and what we offer here.”

Assistant director Alex Monceaux said he hopes for a good turnout.

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“The more people that come and ask questions, the better informed community we have,” he said. “People who are on campus may have friends or family that need language instruction, but if they don’t know the university offers it then they can’t talk to anybody about it.”

Students in the program will leave with an improved grasp on the English language, Monceaux said.14



“We offer classes to get their skills up so they can be successful,” Monceaux said. “Once you leave the program, we expect you are able to perform linguistically on an academic level equivalent to an American student.”

 Students can sign up for the program during the open house.

“They could sign up for a course when they come in and show interest,” Monceaux said. “We could say, ‘OK, we have these courses available.’ They could then be registered, but the courses wouldn’t start until after spring break. It’s a big process but you could definitely start that process.”

Light refreshments will be served.

For more information, visit www.lamar.edu/events, or call 880-7511.

Story by Tiana Johnson, UP contributor

Category: Features