LANGUAGES Canada, a new Canadian national organization of public and private language training programs, was launched recently to ensure that language training in Canada is of a high quality, Canada NewsWire has reported.
The association was formed from members of the Canadian Association of Private Language Schools and the Canada Language Council — jointly representing the language-training programs at universities, colleges and private language institutions across Canada.
Canada has developed its language-training capacity for over forty years without a comparatively uniform quality standard before Languages Canada adopted a comprehensive system of rigorous standards that apply equally to all public and private schools in Canada. To qualify, a school is evaluated in a number of categories including curriculum, teacher qualifications, student services, student admissions, marketing, promotion, facilities and administration. The stringent quality standards guarantee that international students who come to Canada to learn English or French can expect to receive a uniform level of excellent instruction.
So far, a total of 144 language-training programs, public and private, English and French, have met the standards. They will have to re-qualify in three years. About two dozen other schools failed to meet all standards and may be re-evaluated in the future.
According to the Economic Assessment of the Canadian Language Industry — March 2007 by the Conference Board of Canada, Canada’s language training sector accounted for about 15 percent of the market share of global language training business. Canada ranks third among destinations for English language training after UK and US. Calum MacKechnie, President of Languages Canada and President of York University’s English Language Institute, says if Canada wants to fully take advantage of the economic potential of its language-training sector, it needs to make sure the world knows what the country has to offer.
