The state of English, globally taught and spoken as a second language, has matured, Bruce Morgan, director of International Education in the College of Liberal Arts at Wayne State University, says.

"Twenty, 30 years ago," he explains, "Americans would teach basic vocabulary and conversational English - survival English - to teachers and students outside the United States."

"Now," he continues, "the teachers in these countries have the expertise to teach at that level. They are asking for help to teach advanced speaking, reading and writing skills. Their students need advanced skills to communicate in business and in technical areas.

The exchange of information in the world is leading to a global need for advanced skills in English, Morgan comments. "The amount of information in English on the Internet, for example, is many times more than the content of other languages combined. Over the past three decades the concept of English as a global language has become more accepted."

"The job of American universities," he says, "is to provide the next step. In the old model people come to the university or the university sends people to a center in another country.

"In an updated model departments such as English, speech, communication, linguistics and computer science develop interdisciplinary packages. These education modules are delivered using modern technology - the Internet and video conferencing.

"The global need for advanced skills in English speech, reading and technical areas exists; teachers in many countries are asking for assistance. Universities have a marketable commodity and an opportunity for global education through technology," Morgan says.

For the past 10 years Morgan has traveled to various countries to present seminars on teaching and testing writing proficiency in English as a second language. This past August he was in Lima, Peru, as an invited presenter at the annual convention of the Peru Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages.

Spanish is not one of the five language he speaks but he found no problem traveling throughout Peru because English is spoken everywhere.

For more information call Morgan at (313) 577-2729.