With a national consensus building that English language proficiency is a vital prerequisite of employment and survival in the globalised world — never mind protestations of untrustworthy politi-cians to the contrary — Indias middle class in particular is willing to invest time and money to master this globally endorsed lingua franca. Consequently a host of English coaching centres have sprung across the country, offering specialised training packages to suit differing needs. A recent (2006) entrant into this business is the Chennai-based Trax Academy which claims to offer a holistic approach to teaching-learning English by focusing on language standards, testing and assessment, training, faculty development, publications and ground events.Trax Academys flagship programme is TELSA (Test of English Language Skills Assessment), a language testing system developed specifically for the Indian education and professional environment. TELSA evaluates comprehension, speaking, reading, writing, grammar and vocabulary of students to help them build a strong foundation for learning English. While tests like TOEFL and SAT are prerequisites for admission into higher education institutions in foreign countries, no such tests exist in India. Trax Academy has devised TELSA for English language testing in India. Students and professionals taking TELSA tests get an accurate assessment of their English competence levels. The test has been piloted in Chennai with 550 students, professionals and others having taken the test. For those interested in upgrading themselves, we have tied up with six English language training institutes in Chennai and one in Coimbatore to provide additional training as per a curriculum designed by us, says Ganesh Venkateswaran, a commerce graduate of the University of Madras and promoter of Trax Academy. A serial entrepreneur and innovator with experience in telecommunications, financial services and trading, Venkateswaran is an eloquent advocate of the English language, and to that he attributes the promotion of Trax Academy in 2006, (after nearly a year of research and surveys). After successfully establishing TELSA, Venkateswaran devised a faculty development programme to expand the pool of competent English language trainers across the country. Therefore from August, Trax Academy will offer a 160-hour, 45-day training programme — TESOL (Telsa English for Speakers of Other Languages) — for teachers and trainers to upgrade their English teaching skills. Barring a few exceptions, most English teachers in schools and colleges have very poor spoken and written skills and are ill-equipped to impart proper training to students. TESOL will equip them with the requisite skills to teach in educational institutions or start their own English language training ventures. Trax Academy will establish its first TESOL training centre in Chennai within the next three months and our target is to train 10,000 teachers in five years, says Venkateswaran. To highlight the importance of English proficiency, Trax Academy circulates TELSA News, a four-page monthly tabloid focused on English language development. That sums up Venkateswarans long term goal and mission: to equip students, teachers, corporate professionals and others in the country with vital English language skills. Hemalatha Raghupathi (Chennai)
