Special Programs | Oral Communications for Mathmatical Finance Graduate Students

Congratulations on your acceptance into the Boston University Graduate Program in Mathematical Finance!

The Center for English Language and Orientation Programs (CELOP) has designed a pre-program course for non-native English speaking students entering the Mathematical Finance Program. It is a 20-hour per week intensive English program developed to meet the oral communication needs of students entering this rigorous graduate program.

4-Week Program 
Dates: August 5 - August 29, 2008

This program is only open to students who have been accepted into the Boston University Graduate Program in Mathematical Finance. For more information about the graduate program, please check the program website. If you have questions about the CELOP program or about the application process, please contact Jen Duclos.

 

Program Application
Program Invoice

Program Details

Tuesday, August 5

Registration for the program begins at 9:00 on Tuesday, August 5. Please report to the CELOP lobby at 890 Commonwealth Ave 2Fl at 9:00 and bring the following:

• Passport / Visa
• I-20 Form
• I-94 Card (this is the card you received on the plane)

CELOP Multimedia Language Lab (MLL) Class

During selected classes, you will work in the CELOP MLL. CELOP has three modern Multimedia Language Labs (MLLs) available for you to do homework assignments, prepare for tests like TOEFL, GRE, and SAT, improve your grammar, listening, pronunciation, and vocabulary, check and send E-mail, or surf the Internet. The MLL offers over 70 networked computers for CELOP students and faculty to use in classes and on their own. All labs feature high-speed Internet access and multimedia capabilities to enhance English language instruction.

See the MLL site for more information about the labs or the FAQs for answers to many questions about computing at BU/CELOP. New students should also read the Computing at CELOP/BU Orientation material.

COURSE OBJECTIVES

The Oral Communications course will focus on developing and improving oral and listening language skills in order to better manage your experience at Boston University. This course will help you function in the American graduate school classroom by exploring expectations required by professors. You will practice reading efficiently, getting to the point or stating the bottom line, organizing your ideas in order to convey your message directly, engaging in discussions and delivering effective presentations. Job interview in the American corporate context will be explored.

Speaking

• Participating in classroom discussions
• Delivering an oral summary of a listening or reading passage
• Using appropriate language in professional, social and academic situations
• Delivering an effective oral presentation in front of an audience
• Producing words, phrases and sentences using appropriate sounds, stress and intonation

Listening

• Taking notes in class
• Understanding a range of functional language used in social, academic and professional settings
• Understanding academic and professional discussions with multiple participants

Reading

• Identifying the main idea and key details
• Retelling the main idea and key details
• Demonstrating increasing knowledge of mathematical finance vocabulary

Writing

• Paraphrasing
• Summarizing
• Writing a coherent essay
• Using citations

RESOURCES

CELOP MLL Language Resources for Students
Campbell Harvey’s Finance Glossary
Campbell Harvey’s Finance Links
UBS Dictionary of Banking
Recommended reading: My Life as a Quant by Emanuel Derman

CELOP FACULTY

Jacqueline LoConte
Ms. LoConte has taught English as a Second Language at Boston University’s Center for English Language and Orientation Programs for 27 years. Her main interests are English for International Business, high intermediate to advanced academic courses, teacher training and curriculum design. Since January 2005, she has also been teaching Global Communications to junior and senior executives at Boston University’s School of Management in their Asia-Pacific Executive MBA Program in Boston and Kobe, Japan. In the summer of 2006, Ms. LoConte taught in CELOP’s Taiwanese Teacher Training Program, and in spring 2007, Ms. LoConte traveled to St. Petersberg, Russia to teach in the Boston University-Herzen Institute Teacher Traning Program.

At CELOP, Ms. LoConte currently holds the position of Core Coordinator. Some of the responsibilities of this position include interviewing, orienting and observing new teachers, placing students into level appropriate classes and keeping teachers up to date on curriculum and proficiency scale issues. For several years, she chaired the Curriculum Committee and sat on CELOP’s Operating Committee. She has spent years working on CELOP’s curriculum design and proficiency scale development.

Her most recent research interests include evaluation of advanced student’ reading skills and tracking pronunciation improvement. Ms. LoConte has presented at several state, national and international ESL conferences. She has traveled extensively in Europe and Asia. She has also taught Italian at Georgetown University. Ms. LoConte worked as a bilingual French/Italian teacher/interpreter/translator in elementary schools in Massachusetts and Connecticut. From time to time, she edits ESL texts. Ms. LoConte also serves on Georgetown University’s Alumni Admissions Committee.

Ms. LoConte spent her undergraduate years studying at Vassar College and Georgetown University where she earned a degree in Italian and French. Her Master’s degree from Georgetown was awarded in Romance Languages and Linguistics.

 

Sue Mackarness has worked for more than 30 years as an ESL teacher, Educational Consultant and International Teacher Trainer. Her background includes founding and directing language schools and training centers in several countries, including US, Mexico, Czech Republic and Ecuador. Sue has also written specialized language training courses and materials for various institutions and organizations worldwide. Ms Mackarness' classroom experience includes teaching and training international students of diverse ages, nationalities, linguistic abilities and socio-economic backgrounds. She enjoys all aspects of her career, especially the travel and contact with international students. For the past few years, Ms Mackarness has had a particular interest in writing and implementing courses in cultural awareness and the power of language.

In 2007, Ms Mackarness worked at CELOP on the PLEAD project. Her specific contribution was writing on-line international legal English vocabulary courses for Boston University, Translegal and Cambridge University Press. For the past several years, Ms Mackarness has run teacher training courses, workshops and seminars in various countries. She has also given blended learning on-line Business English teacher training courses for international students, and combined this with teacher and program evaluations on 3 continents. The course, written by Ms Mackarness, consists of on-line modules and on-site practicums in various countries, including US, Czech Republic and Ecuador. Since 1990, Ms Mackarness has spent part of each year as a student leader and travelled with groups in Eastern and Western Europe, Mexico and South America.

Ms Mackarness was raised in UK, came to US as a college student and then went to live in Africa for 2 years. These early travelling experiences set the tone for a lifetime of travel, teaching and learning. Sue has long recognized and appreciated how rare it is to combine work, travel and life experience; she has always felt fortunate to have found a career which has combined several passions. Currently, Ms Mackarness divides her time between North and South America and greatly enjoys the contrasts and challenges of living between 2 such diverse cultures.

• Fall/Spring Semesters
• Summer Semester
• Elective Course Descriptions
• Levels of English
• Special Programs
• Part-time

BU | CELOP | August 6, 2008