Academic English
For multilingual and ESL students.
International Institute for Applied Communication
Practice-based communication training — across cultures, across high stakes
IIAC partners with universities and graduate programs to embed practice-based communication instruction — in academic English for multilingual students, cross-cultural communication, high-stakes negotiation, and risk communication — directly into the curriculum.
Cross-cultural communication
Working across cultural difference.
High-stakes negotiation
Agreement when interests diverge.
Risk communication
Conveying evidence clearly.
The work
We turn communication from something students study into something they can do.
IIAC designs and delivers applied communication training for graduate and professional programs. We work alongside faculty to embed instruction into existing courses — pairing behavioural science with structured, repeatable practice, so students graduate able to perform under pressure, not just describe what good communication looks like.
The model is built for institutions: curriculum that maps to learning outcomes, delivery that fits an academic calendar, and assessment that gives faculty something to point to. Public health, professional, and graduate programs are where this work matters most.
Areas of focus
Four areas where the cost of communicating badly is highest.
Academic English for multilingual students
English-language communication for international and ESL students in an academic setting — seminars, presentations, supervision, and group work — so language is never the barrier between a capable student and their work.
Cross-cultural communication
Working and leading across cultural and linguistic difference, where meaning is easily lost and trust is slow to build. Essential for programs preparing students to practise globally.
High-stakes negotiation
Reaching agreement when interests diverge, pressure is high, and the working relationship still has to survive the conversation. Structured practice in claiming and creating value.
Risk communication
Conveying uncertainty, danger, and complex evidence clearly — to colleagues, institutions, and the public. Central to public health, science, and policy training.
Leadership
Simba Nyazika
Founder & Executive Director
- BSc Neuroscience & BSc Psychology, University of Alberta
- Edify Business Leader of the Year, 2023
- Featured by CBC Radio, CTV & Authority Magazine
- 12,000+ trained across in-person and virtual programs
IIAC was founded by Simba Nyazika, a behavioural scientist and communication specialist who has spent more than a decade translating research on how people communicate into training people can actually use.
He began his career as a behaviour consultant supporting children with autism and other developmental and mental-health diagnoses — work grounded in evidence-based, practice-first method. He has since trained more than 12,000 people through in-person and virtual communication programs. That combination — rigorous method and hands-on instruction — is the foundation IIAC is built on.
How a partnership works
Built to fit your program, not replace it.
01
Co-design with faculty
We map the communication skills your graduates are expected to have to the learning outcomes your program is already accountable for, and design the practice around them.
02
Embed in the course
Instruction drops into existing courses and the academic calendar — structured, repeatable practice with real-time feedback, not a bolt-on lecture.
03
Measure what changed
Students are assessed against those outcomes, so faculty finish the term with evidence of improvement they can point to.
Partnerships
Skills are built by practising them, not by hearing about them.
IIAC programs are practice-based. Students don't sit through lectures on communication — they do the real thing in a structured setting, receive real-time feedback, and repeat until the skill holds under pressure. It happens in a judgement-free room built for trying, getting it wrong, and getting it right.
We work with universities, graduate programs, and professional schools to design training that integrates with an existing curriculum and its learning outcomes. If you lead a program where communication is part of what graduates are expected to do well, we'd welcome a conversation.
Practice, not theory
Every session puts students in the situation they need to master, doing the skill themselves.
Real-time feedback
Specific, immediate coaching in the moment — when it's most useful and easiest to act on.
A judgement-free room
A space designed for honest attempts, so students build genuine confidence rather than hide gaps.
Start a conversation
Or email
simba@iiaceducation.comOffice
10060 Jasper Ave, Tower 1, Suite 2020
Edmonton, AB T5J 3R8
Entity
International Institute for Applied Communication