Filipino teachers undergo language seminar
EDUCATORS from local schools in the country recently had the chance to undergo a three- week English language workshop offered by the Regional
RELO, an office of United States Department specialists who designs and also manages programs that promotes language learning in different countries, invited English teachers from schools around Metro Manila and Balanga City to further in the English language.
Teachers from Philippine Normal Universtiy and Bataan State University, and the administrative staff of DepEd were also invited to attend the workshops, which started last Feb. 20 and are ongoing until Saturday, March 10.
“We’re providing this opportunity because we want to help them [ the teachers] grow as professional. They have great knowledge, foundation and experience to begin with. We’re just trying to help them to build on that,” says Harry Samuels, the RELO representative assigned to the Philippines. Feb. 20 at the Bayview Park Hotel along Roxas Boulevard were teachers from the 7th, 8th, and 9th grades.
During the session, Christian Jay Y. Ilagan, a public school teacher from Quezon City ob- served that students lacked focus in their studies while the curriculum lacked interaction within the classroom.
“With the introduction to K to 12, we’re already doing the communicative language teaching. Little by little, we’re trying to understand what CLT is all about,” Ilagan added. After attending the workshop, teachers and schools became more determined to produce students who are competent when it comes to communication and interaction using the English language.
Of the topics to be discussed, the learner-centered education model will be highlighted in the sessions.
“Student- centered learning is the norm today, worldwide. It gets the students more involved…so that they’re using the language rather than just being an empty vessel that simply receives the language,” says Donna M. Brinton, the EL specialist expected to lead the lectures.
Brinton’s sessions include English language teaching methods, learner-centered education, and learning language through content.
Donna M. Brinton is a private educational consultant. She served as a lecturer in Applied Linguistics and Associate Director of the Center for World Languages at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). She has taught a wide spectrum of Applied Linguistics and English as a second language in her classes. Brinton will be visiting as a participant in the U.S. Department of State’s English Language (EL) Specialist Program.
The EL Specialist Program brings academics from the US to different parts of the world to discuss topics with select groups. This program is one of the Embassy’s several programs that promote the professional development of English teachers through face-to-face instruction and distance-learning programs taught by American experts.