McMaster English Readiness for Graduate Excellence (MERGE) Certificate

https://meld.humanities.mcmaster.ca/merge/

MERGE (the McMaster English Readiness for Graduate Excellence Certificate) is an intensive six-week summer certificate program for current or prospective graduate students from any institution who are looking to improve their English-language skills. The MERGE program offers over 200 hours of language training; 35 hours per week. Admission requirements include successful completion of an undergraduate degree and English language proficiency minimum requirements of TOEFL iBT 90 or IELTS 6.5 (with minimum category requirements). Target English proficiency upon program completion will be an IELTS score of 7-7.5 or Common European Framework Reference for Languages (CEFR) level C2.1, in keeping with graduate English proficiency admission requirements.

The MERGE program goes beyond essential training in speaking, listening, reading, and writing. It has been designed to support the integration of these skills as applied to real world contexts students will encounter during graduate school and beyond. As a stand-alone program, the MERGE certificate coursework cannot be utilized for advanced standing or credit towards degree studies

Certificate Requirements

The program is organized according to modules, one per week, that focus on different sets of skills. Skills are developed from the point of view of cultural understanding and practical implementation, emphasizing the language skills needed to be successful in each domain. The six modules are:

Module 1 - General social interactions: conventions and strategies for everyday social encounters students face
Module 2 - Academic feedback and critique: the role of critique in academia along with tools for both giving and receiving feedback or peer review
Module 3 - Academic reasoning: identifying, synthesizing, and presenting perspectives through academic debate and literature review.
Module 4 - Academic interactions: navigating relationships with supervisors, teams, and other faculty in person, through email, at conferences, and in seminars.
Module 5 - Teaching: principles of effective teaching including developing lessons, interacting with students, and grading.
Module 6 - Career preparation: best practices for CVs/resumes, job interviews, elevator pitches, and online brand building.