by Tracy Moore

BARBADOS IS POISED to become the hub for foreign language teaching and learning in the region with its new $10 million Barbados Language Centre.

Minister of Education Ronald Jones made the announcement yesterday at the Barbados Language Centre prize-giving ceremony at the Barbados Community College (BCC), Howell's Cross Road, St Michael.

"There is standing proudly on the hill, at the most easterly end of the college, an imposing three-storeyed structure . . . which will soon be officially known as the Barbados Language Centre . . . [and] I have been assured that it has reached practical completion," he said.

Government provided $2.2 million towards the state-of-the-art language centre as well as the design services, equipment and furniture, while the European Union (EU) provided the additional technical assistance grant of $7.8 million towards completion.

The fully air-conditioned, wheelchair accessible building will house 14 classrooms, three interview rooms, a general computer lab, teacher resource centre, multimedia room, administrative offices, and a student resource centre, among other things. It is set to officially accept students by the next school semester.

The minister lauded the efforts of the 27-year-old Language Centre Division of the BCC, which he said had evolved to become one of the most populated departments at the college.

"The invaluable nature of its activity has been so recognised that its programmes are integrated across divisions – commerce, hospitality, physical education and others," he said.

Jones added the new centre would be able to cater to the increasing demand for foreign language learning outside of the school setting. He called for Barbadians to use the centre to become competent in foreign languages, as Barbados "is dependent on the tourism product and is an administrative and business centre in the Caribbean".

"The need for Barbadians to have competence in foreign languages cannot be overstated," he said. "There is a great deal of intra- and extraregional travel for diverse purposes which dictates that Caribbean people be able to function in a variety of language situations."

The centre's doors would also be thrown open to welcome more non-English-speaking people to the English as foreign language programmes, said the minister, adding it would be a "viable income generator".

tracymoore@

nationnews.com