Design of Operation of English Language Skill Improvement Clinic for Honors Program Science Students: a Case Study at Hanyang University

Hanyang University operates a special program called Honors Program for science and technology talented students with the hope of developing them into global scientists and technology leaders at the international level. Unfortunately, these science oriented high school graduates typically have gone through specialized high school curriculum that has structural side effect of leaving them inadequately prepared in the English language skills. Many Honors Program students are less equipped to participate in the regular English-only classes than the general students. Honors Program designed a custom English language skill improvement clinic to overcome this gap for its students. This paper describes the design of this English Clinic program from assessment of the student’s English language skills to the portfolio of methods and tools to help the students improve on the core aspects of their English skills. Basic focus is on improving the students’ hearing, pronunciation and vocabulary skills. Additional focus is on verbal interaction skills at academic setting. We are currently at the design and assessment stage of the English clinic program operation.