‘I never thought that learning English could be so much fun!’ – said one
student from Bilal Gul Shaheed School, Pallandri in Kashmir after participating
in two days of an immersive and intuitive English Language Improvement Workshop
organized by a team of YES Alumni and volunteers. This student was one of more
than 130 students from three different schools that benefitted from such Workshops
under the broader project titled ‘#EnglishWeek’. Accessibility to English
language through a new perspective on learning language, using available
resources to the greatest extent and having fun alongside were the core ideas
behind #EnglishWeek.
Funded by the US State Department under
the WYLTE Program (http://www.americancouncils.org/programs/workshop-youth-leaders-teaching-english), ‘#EnglishWeek’
comprised of 3 Workshops and benefitted 9th-10th graders in the rural area of
Pallandri – a small town in the province of Kashmir from August 7th-13th,
2014. The basic purpose of this project was to help boost the confidence and
self-dependence of these students in English which will ultimately help them in
their professional and personal lives for years to come. These students are
geographically cut off from the rest of the ‘developed’ Pakistan – they had
neither the exposure nor the confidence to speak, write, read and practice
fluency in English language. Through #EnglishWeek, these students learned the
necessary tools to become self-independent in acquiring (not just learning)
fundamental and some advanced skills of English language. Through extensive
sessions on each sphere of language (Listening, Speaking, Writing,
Pronunciation, Grammar, Tenses and Reading), #EnglishWeek provided the students
with the necessary impetus that they can utilize to compliment the learning of
English language in their classrooms.
The sessions presented during the
Workshop were based upon hands-on activities and intuitive ways that helped the
students overcome their fear of learning English as a language and not just as
a subject. Such activities included ‘Jumping Words’ and ‘Fill in The Blanks’
that used song lyrics to improve listening and vocabulary; ‘Ultimate Picture
Description’ and ‘Proverb Charades’ that improved overall communication skills
and ‘Written Pandemonium’ that improved students’ communication skills,
vocabulary and writing skills.
By conducting #EnglishWeek, I along
with other YES Alumni intended to make a difference in the lives of the
students that certainly deserve better particularly in the field of English
language. This project provided them with the attention and care that they needed
to become confident as English language learners and exposed them to an
innovative approach towards learning English. These students belonged from
schools where English language is not taught effectively and #EnglishWeek
provided them with the lift they needed to become independent language
learners. I did not need any more encouragement to conduct this project than
the fact that Kashmir with its high tourism potential and culturally-rich
population needs to have its youth with a strong base and fluency in English to
prove their worth.
The beauty of this project is that it
will not only benefit these students but also their families. During the
Workshops, the students were encouraged to become independent learners of
English language as well as leaders in teaching and disseminating their learned
knowledge in their communities. The ripple-effect created will be long-lasting
and will benefit a major demographic of the young population of Pallandri. The
team of this project is also planning to hold Book Drives in our communities to
collect books for the libraries in these schools which we found were quite
underfunded. We would also like to urge other Alumni to hold such workshops in
their communities all over Pakistan as they are very easy and cost-effective to
organize and super-effective for English Language Improvement.
This project invited English teachers
and other WYLTE Alumni and YES students to join the conversation on effective
English language teaching by using the #EnglishWeek on Twitter and received an
extremely positive response on all social media. Testimonials were also
recorded from many students and will uploaded in the form of a documentary on
this project soon!
For complete picture albums of the
Workshops, please visit:
1st Workshop at Bilal Gul Shaheed Shaheen School: on.fb.me/1kW4e9Q
1st Workshop at Bilal Gul Shaheed Shaheen School: on.fb.me/1kW4e9Q
Facebook: http://on.fb.me/1owPleD
Presentation materials for the Workshops can be requested by sending an email at moizleo1@gmail.com with the Subject “English Workshop Materials Request”.
Presentation materials for the Workshops can be requested by sending an email at moizleo1@gmail.com with the Subject “English Workshop Materials Request”.
