Bringing real life scenarios into classrooms
The final round of NiE workshops at Menara Star for the year drives home a point that content and context go hand in hand during language lessons.
WITH Merdeka Day around the corner, the Newspaper-inEducation (NiE) workshops held earlier this month at Menara Star, Petaling Jaya, were peppered with activities that had patriotic themes.
“Don’t be a road bully” and “stand at attention when the national anthem is played” were some of the examples teachers put forth when asked to share examples of ordinary people being patriotic.
The teachers from primary and secondary schools in the Klang Valley donned different hats at the workshops with most activities calling for them to take on the role of “students”.
Although aimed at boosting English language proficiency, the NiE workshop demonstrated how rich a class lesson could become when supplemented with the newspaper.
Freelance Star-NiE consultant trainer Lucille Dass, who conducted the sessions, underlined the importance of teaching vocabulary building and grammar lessons in context.
“You’ve got to teach it in context, and not in isolation. All words are grounded in the context. Different meanings come through in different situations.”
Putting things in perspective was teacher trainer Manoharan Nalliah, who posed this pivotal question to a room packed with English language teachers: What is the purpose of teaching English in schools?
A teacher was spot on when she answered: “Students will need it when they enter the job market.”
Nalliah, who is a lecturer at the Institute of Teacher Education, international languages campus, Kuala Lumpur, explained that one of the teaching objectives in the English Language curriculum is for students to be able to communicate in the language at work and reallife settings.
“If I am going to teach English and if I want to make sure that they can use the language in the real world, I need to bring the real world into the classroom through the newspaper. Just grab a copy and flip through its pages – there is so much of information that you can use,” he said.
Tan Wei Wei from SJK(C) Chen Moh, Petaling Jaya, said that the workshop gave her lots of ideas for class lessons. “I can try some of the activities with my pupils. I like how there were simple activities. I can actually use the newspaper with my lower primary pupils.”
“I usually print out pictures, but now I think I can just use the newspaper. It can actually save cost,” she added.
Faridza Mohd Shuraimi, who teaches at SAM Bestari, Subang Jaya, said that she found the workshop relevant and inspiring.
“I really enjoyed the entire session. I was actually introduced to NiE a long time ago — from the time when I was a student!
“Now that I’m a teacher, I use the newspaper in my class and students generally accept it well as they like working in groups.”
She also added that she liked how the trainer shared her teaching experiences.
“It motivates us to think out of the box. The activities I learnt in the workshop will help me make my lessons more enjoyable and more hands-on.
“With the newspaper, students will also be more in touch with the current news and what’s happening around them.”
Ahmad Farid Wee Abdullah from SMJK Yu Hua, Kajang, left nothing to waste as he collected artwork that teachers created during workshop activities as valuable samples for himself.
The teacher who teaches Form Four students said: “It’s something new to me. But after learning firsthand from the expert, I feel confident doing this activity with my students. The activities do make lessons interesting in class.”
The workshops were held in collaboration with the Selangor State and Kuala Lumpur Federal Territory Education Departments and the Institute of Teacher Education, International Languages Campus, Kuala Lumpur, to mark Star-NiE’s 20th anniversary.
The final “sharing” session slated for Sept 19, invites teachers who have attended previous NiE sessions to share their NiE experiences in the classroom. For more information, teachers can contact Esther Siow at 03-7967 1695.