This project was conducted in the same location as this post. It was an awesome experience encouraging an entire school in trying to speak English. This was such a great experience because English is one of the most dreaded subjects from where I'm from. Most of the students in schools speak English as a second language and it is extremely difficult to motivate children to speak and write in English.
If you have not experience it before, imagine if you were forced to speak a foreign language which you will be tested in all major exams. I was made to speak two other languages in school and the experience was rather...uncomfortable. However, these children need to learn how to speak and write in English as this opens up opportunities for them. These opportunities include education opportunities which would end the poverty cycle as well as giving them access to information that will better their lives. As this is a farming community, such information will help them improve their lives.
Image taken from source
As such, one of the initiatives that I did with my institution was to embark on a 6 month long project to encourage the students in a rural school to speak in English. Throughout the entire experience, here are a few important lessons learnt to create sustainable use of English. These lessons are applicable if you are trying to inculcate a habit in the classroom. It takes time, but the results are worth it.
Empower the teachers
The teachers teaching the class directly are the ones who knows the students best. As such, we kept the teachers at the school in charge and we were playing a facilitative role to provide the teachers with whatever support they need. Furthermore, if we were to leave one day, the teachers in charge of the class would carry on the work. This makes the program sustainable even if my institution was not involved anymore.
In addition, the success of the students would then be the teacher's. With that, the teacher can use this success as part of his/her resume which will help in their career. Thus, this gives an added incentive for them to see the program succeed.
Help the students focus on the prize
Motivation is the best tool of any teacher. For this project, the prize was a day trip to the zoo, a day at the mall and to perform at an event. With that motivation, the students were motivated to use English daily as well as to practice their performance everyday after school. Aside from practice, the students went through something called language immersion. This is where the constant language use and practice helps them master the language faster.
In addition, the prize may be temporary, but after 6 months, the students' positive attitude towards the language begin to show in their exam results and the classroom. As such, that helps lessen the fear in learning the language as a whole.
The children practicing after school
Let the parents see the children succeed
Once the teacher and the students are committed, it is important to get the parents on the same page. This was done by inviting the parents to the event where the students were performing. Due to budget constraints, some of the parents even made the long journey out of the rural area just to see their children perform.
When the students perform, you can see that they were beaming with pride. After the event was over, the parents even requested that the program continued and that was a good indication. That's because now that the parents are interested, the children will likely carry on using the language in school.
The children performing on stage in English
Conclusion
At the end of the day, the project was a success and has been replicated in other rural areas. I will continue to share more on the lesson plans that were used in this post. I hope this post would help with those who are involved in programs such as this.
Do let me know your thoughts in the comments below.
A picture of the area courtesy of Haslip, D.