For the past 10 weeks, we’ve had the great pleasure of supporting a group of teachers from Honduras, helping them to improve their English skills.
This was part of the PRELIM (Partnered Remote Language Improvement) project run by the British Council, English UK and IATEFL. The project paired accredited language centres in the UK with English teacher associations in 20 different countries. You can read more about the PRELIM project here.
Developing Skills and Confidence
The main aim of the 10-week course was to develop the teachers’ confidence in using English in the classroom. With this in mind, we designed 10 one-week modules, each focusing on an area of language that the teachers could use with their students.
Some areas were based on vocabulary and functional classroom language (such as ‘Put your hand up’ and ‘How do you spell___?’); some areas were grammar-based (such as prepositions to describe the location of classroom objects or the modal verbs can/can’t/must/mustn’t to talk about class rules); and finally some modules were based on UK culture, as the teachers knew their students would be eager to know more about Britain, and it would generate interesting discussions about the difference between their country and ours.
A Wide Range of Tasks and Tools
We began each module with a live session on Zoom to introduce the weekly theme, and then teachers would complete follow-up tasks throughout the week – from language development to skills-based exercises and reflective tasks. A wide range of online tools were used, including Google Forms, Facebook Learning Units and WhatsApp. This enabled the learning to be collaborative, and by the end of the course, there was a strong sense of community and camaraderie among the teachers.
The final week saw the teachers prepare an action plan – both for themselves and to help them share their knowledge with their peers.
Congratulations!
We were delighted to see the teachers’ English bloom throughout the course, and we hope to stay in touch with our newfound friends from Honduras. We wish them the very best of luck with their English teaching!
More about our online courses for adults, juniors and teachers >
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