EF Education First launches research partnership

EF Education First launches educational research partnership at the University of Cambridge to study English language learning

EF Education First, the world leader in international education, has unveiled the EF Research Unit at the University of Cambridge's Research Centre for English and Applied Linguistics. With this research unit, EF has become the first education company in the world to partner with the University of Cambridge to examine the factors that lead to faster and more effective ways to learn English. The establishment of this unit is part of EF's multi-million dollar investment in research and development.

"EF has been focused on promoting innovation in teaching and learning English for decades. Through our newest research initiatives, we are spearheading studies on personalized, accelerated language learning," said Dr. Christopher McCormick, EF's Head of Academics. "Research is at the heart of our advanced learning system, available at our EF schools abroad (http://www.ef.co.nz/ ) or online at EF Englishtown (http://www.englishtown.com/ )."

Appointed as the Senior Research Associate, Dr. Dora Alexopoulou will lead the research team. EF will gather data from its vast network of English schools to create a rich database for language research studies.

EF's goals are aligned with the English Profile Programme, a collaboration initiated by the British Council, Cambridge ESOL, Cambridge University Press, EnglishUK, and other academic institutions.

About EF Education First:

EF, the world leader in international education, was established in 1965 with the mission to break down the barriers in language, culture, and geography. With 400 schools and over 15 million students, EF specializes in language schools, academic degrees, educational travel abroad, and cultural exchange. Originally conceived in collaboration with Apple, EF's Efekta(TM) System is the world's most advanced English learning method and is used to power EF's language schools and online English courses at Englishtown.com. In addition to helping 1,200 corporations with English training, EF was the Official Language Training Supplier to the Beijing Olympics and is helping Brazil prepare for the 2014 World Cup.

Study abroad with EF: http://www.ef.co.nz/
Englishtown: http://www.englishtown.com/

About University of Cambridge's Research Centre for English and Applied Linguistics (RCEAL, http://www.rceal.cam.ac.uk/ ):
RCEAL, established by the University of Cambridge in 1988, pursues an interdisciplinary and theoretically-based approach to English and Applied linguistics and is committed to further the development of the language sciences.

ENDS