Alan Wilson（艾伦·威尔逊，英国）
江苏国际预科学院EAP及IELTS教学组组长，2001年获林肯大学工商管理专业学士学位，在金融，教育和能源产业多元化领域均具有丰富的就职经验。该教师喜欢旅行，曾周游澳大利亚及亚洲的很多国家。为人开朗，待人随和，喜欢与人交流，上课内容生动，课堂气氛活跃，深受学生喜爱。
对于学生出国留学来说，语言是最大的障碍。江苏国际预科学院不仅能为学生提供良好的外语学习环境，同时拥有专业的中方员工共同协助管理。学院课程全部经过专业的设置和精心的安排，以便帮助学生提高英语交流的能力，提供出国留学必备的信息与技能。学院采用国外教学模式，使得学生在学术英语技巧方面有一定的了解。
我们外教的职责简单来说就是帮助学生做好进入国外大学学习的准备。学生出国留学必然会面对很多挑战，而帮助他们成功地迎接这些挑战就是我们的首要任务。
今天我首先要讲的是中西方教育的差异。最主要的差异就是中国学生是被动的学习接受大量的知识，而国外的学生则是要学会去应用知识解决问题。我们外教现在的责任就是要教中国的学生如何去适应这种模式。
对于学生来说，要完全掌握这样一门高强度的课程是有难度的，我们会尽力从每一个阶段入手帮助学生取得进步。我们在确保课程难度的同时，还要让学生产生学习的兴趣。如何做好留学前的准备，关键在于学生能否写出质量有保障的学术论文。每个国外大学必须要求学生要写出一篇经过细心研究、参考资料完备的论文。如果学生不能够做到这一点，那么他们会产生挫败感，家长也会感到失望。因此，论文写作课程是我们学院学生必修课程。从学生进入学院的第一天开始，我们会帮助他们加强写作技巧，提升自信心，最后成功地完成课程。
而对于之前提到过的学生兴趣问题，我们主要从两个方面来培养学生。
首先通过我们所教授的课程来培养学生兴趣。通常他们学习的内容在国内高中从没有涉及过，比如商务这门课程，中国的高中课程是没有的。我们不仅教授他们关于商务和经济方面的概念，同时我们还教授一些商务实用技巧，例如让学生做商业计划等等。
其次通过我们的外教来培养学生兴趣。包括我在内的所有外教拥有渊博的知识和丰富的经验，对于中国和我们本国文化的了解使我们充满工作热情，明白中国学生真正的需要，知道大学需要学生准备什么以及学生该如何准备。
许多在中国的外教都很疑惑，究竟该如何和中国学生交流。因为中国的教育模式是老师占主导，学生被动接受知识，根本没有机会表达自己的想法；而西方的教育模式则是老师作为向导，学生是主体。我们知道如果我们不能给予学生足够的机会、勇气和能力让他们说出自己的想法，那么就会误人子弟。所以从进入预科学院的第一天开始，我们就开始培养学生的自信心，鼓励他们表达自己的想法。
能给予学生必要的帮助，增强学生在国外成功学习的自信心，很高兴。但是最自豪的是学生回国以后能跟我们畅谈他们国外顺利的学习经历。
It goes without saying that the language barrier can be a very frightening prospect for students wishing to study abroad, but here at the college we provide an environment where students can study in English with professional foreign teachers, whilst still living in an environment they are comfortable with, with supportive Chinese staff and peers to share their experiences with which brings me to what we teach. We provide for our students courses which are well structured and well arranged. The content of these courses is not only designed to enable our students to communicate in English at universities, but also designed to present them with the information and skills they will need when studying abroad. The structure follows a western format and provides students with an awareness of issues and academic skills, that, although students abroad have for granted are often unfamiliar to Chinese students.
Our role here at the college is, in principle, a very simple one. We prepare Chinese students for studying at western universities. In practice however, there are a lot of challenges forcing students who want to study abroad, and we take great pride in helping them tackle these challenges.
I’d like to start today by identifying for you the key difference in the way that students are educated at universities abroad compared to their experiences in high schools here in China. That key difference is simply that during their students in China they are taught, and expected to retain vast amounts of knowledge, whereas in western universities they are expected to apply that knowledge, and to look at problems in a way they are unfamiliar with. It’s our role to teach your children how to do this.
We understand how different it is for students to undertake such an intensive course such as we provide here, but we help our students every step of the way.
We ensure that the content is not only challenging, but just as importantly, we ensure it is interesting. A crucial component of preparing students to study abroad is ensuring that they are able to write a well researched and well referenced academic essay. This is required in every facet of every degree at any western university. Being unable to do this will result in frustration to the students, disappointment to their parents and almost certainly a failure in their studies.
However, the writing of an academic research essay is an integral part of our courses here, and from day one, we give our students the skills and encouragement to do it successfully. This is not taught in Chinese high school.
I mentioned earlier that we ensure that our courses are interesting, and we do this in two ways.
Firstly, it is through the things we teach. The subjects our students study are often things that they have never been able to study before. Often the most exciting thing for them is the study of business. As far as I’m aware, no Chinese high school teaches business, but here we teach not only the concepts of business and economics, we also give students practical business skills such as look keeping reinforce the theoretical knowledge, but also to help students realize how achievable a career in business is for them.
The second way in which we ensure we keep our students interested is through our teachers. All our students here, myself included, have a broad range of academic experience. This coupled with a cultural awareness both of China and our native countries, gives us a passion for what we do, and a sensitivity to our students needs. We know what they must be prepared for, and we know how to prepare them.
Some foreign teachers here in China struggle with communicating with their students. The Chinese teaching style as I’ve mentioned before hinges on the teacher giving vast amounts of knowledge to their students, and as such students do not have the opportunity to speech much themselves. This demonstrating of knowledge to the teacher is again crucial in western universities. Our teachers know this and know they would be failing our students if we did not give them the ability and confidence to proudly and openly speech of their knowledge and opinions in public. From day one we begin a process of encouragement and support that gives our students the ability to talk about their research and opinions under assessment conditions just as they are required to do at a western university.
In conclusion, as teachers give our students the support, encouragement and confidence to succeed at western universities，the only thing that delights us more than our students succeeding here, is when our students return to tell us about their successes abroad.
