Passing the test using a tried and tested method
FOUR teacher trainees walked the talk when they organised and conducted a Newspaper-inEducation (NiE) workshop at SK Petaling 1, Kuala Lumpur, recently.
The four trainees, Ahmad Haiqal Hasman, Jasli Jamil, Serdev Singh and Malket Singh from the Institute of Teacher Education, International Languages Campus (IPGKBA), Kuala Lumpur, got their feet wet when they used the newspaper as a methodology to teach the English language as part of their practicum assessment.
The workshop was carried out in a fun and exciting way with the Year Four Pupils of the school. The three hour session was part of their teaching practicum under the trainees’ supervising lecturer Manoharan Nalliah.
After studying a module on the use of the newspapers as a platform for an ESL (English as a second language) classroom, the trainees were convinced that the newspaper was a treasure trove for language as well as a good resource to use in the language classroom.
The workshop comprised 105 pupils from various levels of language proficiency. Five hands-on activities were carried out according to the pupils’ respective language abilities.
Assisting at the workshops were the English teachers at the school who took on the roles of facilitators. All the activities were designed in a fun and meaningful way.
This was seen when the pupils had fruitful communication as they carried out group discussions among themselves. The activities required the pupils to look for information from The Star.
Malket, a third year Teaching of English as a Second Language (TESL) student, was hopeful that the fun the pupils had at the workshop “would be the start of inculcating a reading culture among the children”.
The teachers from the school who had facilitated the session, were pleasantly surprised at the excitement the workshop was able to generate from the pupils.
The trainees felt that they had accomplished what they had set out to achieve.
Haiqal said: “The workshop was a good avenue for the pupils to explore the English language.
“The Star newspapers are filled with an enormous amount of words that help to develop the pupils’ mastery of the language.
“As they flipped through the newspapers, they were using the English language in various contexts. As the saying goes, Reading makes the mind,” he said.
Senior lecturer Manoharan, who has 35 years of teaching experience, had wanted his trainees to realise the effectiveness of using the newspapers in the classroom.
“This workshop has allowed the trainees to see for themselves the fun students had when using newspapers in their learning process.
“When the trainees attended the workshop (at IPGKBA), they were working with their peers.
“The question if it will work in the real classroom was answered when they carried out the workshop,” said the lecturer who has been teaching at IPGKBA for 10 years.
“As teacher trainers, we should create platforms for the teacher trainees to practise what they have learned and allow them to experience for themselves. The trainees came up with this idea and I must thank The Star for the support,” he added.