During the Academic Courses (AC’s) in each domain, there will be three modules. There will be a lecture each day for each of the three modules. So, 3 modules times 5 days is 15 lectures each week for approximately eight weeks. In addition, it is expected that the students will spend up to two hours studying for each hour spent in class. That means there will probably be up to another 30 hours each week in personal study. The total time needed for the course should be 45 hours per week. In some cases it may be necessary to teach modules in four week blocks. However, the total hours of study and class time will be the same.
The General Training and Assessment course (GTA) will be four weeks. The GTA will usually be offered in January. The Academic Courses (AC) will last for eight weeks.
The Institute for the Development of Languages and Translation in Africa.
In partnership with existing academic institutions, SIL i-DELTA will seek to meet thn partnership with existing academic institutions, SIL i-DELTA will seek to meet the training needs for translation and language development in Africa, at post-secondary through Master’s level in English and French.e training needs for translation and language-based development in Africa, at post-secondary through Master’s level in English and French.
Anyone who meets the admission guidelines and wants to develop his/her skills for the purpose of translation or language development is welcome.
ATP provided courses in French over 11 weeks. We found that these courses were very intensive and could not cover all the material that was needed. Also, the total length of the courses was too short to receive accreditation. Therefore, ATP courses will not be held after 2009. ATP will be replaced by SIL i-DELTA. ATP was offered only in French. SIL i-DELTA will be in both French and English.
Beginning in 2010, modules in the domains of linguistics, literacy, translation and Scripture Use will be offered. These same modules as well as assessment (survey) and Anthropology will be offered in English in East Africa beginning in 2011. All modules at this time will be at undergraduate level.
In 2010, 2011, and 2012 the courses will be offered in French in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. In 2011, 2012 and 2013 SIL i-DELTA courses will be offered in English in East Africa. The location is yet to be determined. In 2013, 2014, and 2015 we expect SIL i-DELTA courses to be taught in Yaoundé Cameroon to be more convenient for those in Central Africa. The pattern may then be repeated with courses offered again in Burkina by 2016. The Anglophone courses may be offered sooner than 2014 depending on staffing and demand.
If you do not have a secondary school certificate or a Bac, you are REQUIRED to attend the GTA. If you cannot produce the ORIGINAL certified copy of your Bac or secondary school certificate, then you are REQUIRED to attend the GTA. All others should attend the GTA even if they have their qualifications as many useful skills are taught during these four weeks.
If you are staying in the same domain (track) such as linguistics or literacy, then you may join the second academic course (AC2). However, due to changes in course content, those in translation and Scripture use will need to begin with AC1. If you want to do some cross-training in another domain, you may join in AC1. You do not need to take the GTA. For Linguistics and Literacy students, there will be an important assignment to complete before joining the AC2 course. Generally this assignment relates to collecting data so that you can work with those data during the analysis part of the AC2 modules.