Articles
Teaching English ... successfully
DWC professor wins a UK international award for innovative teaching of the language. Maysam Ali reports
- By Maysam Ali
- Published: 00:34 April 20, 2008
- Image Credit:
- Shaikh Nahyan Bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research grants English instructor Emma Pathare an award for her efforts in English teaching
Students are often intimidated by the thought of expressing themselves, let alone expressing themselves in a language other than their mother tongue.
Learning a new language requires continuous effort and practice and often the whole process becomes cumbersome - so cumbersome that it might result in students quitting.
This is where the role of professors becomes crucial in facilitating the learning process. Professors who go out of their way to ensure that students reach their academic goals deserve recognition.
English instructor Emma Pathare of Dubai Women's College (DWC) is one of them. Last month Pathare was conferred the International Innovation Award 2008 for English Language Teaching (ELT) by the British Council for creating The Vocabulary Course, a web-based programme for English language teaching.
She received an award from Shaikh Nahyan Bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research and Chancellor of the Higher Colleges of Technology (HCT) at a ceremony held at DWC.
At the ceremony, Paul Sellers, director of the British Council, hailed Pathare's efforts and her continuous endeavours to facilitate English learning. He also highlighted the role that HCT is playing in this regard.
On her part, Pathare expressed her happiness at receiving the award: "The course has been a great success for our students, and it is fantastic now to have this success recognised at an international level."
The programme
The Vocabulary Course is a year-long course that teaches students 40 new English words per week and tests them on their new knowledge.
It targets elementary English-language students who speak Arabic as their first language.
"The aim is to get students to learn and use the first most frequently used 1,000 words in English," Pathare said. "Native Arabic speakers face difficulties in learning English vocabulary because it is very far from Arabic and students are still in their first year of college.
The course is very focused and puts them in control of practice."
The programme is built on extensive academic research, as Pathare developed it as part of her master's dissertation at the University of Manchester, UK.
"The strategy-building component of the course was developed from this. The independent practice component of the course came next in order to provide a complete vocabulary learning course for our students," Pathare said.
Students are asked to employ the words they learn and are tested on the meaning of words, spelling and usage in sentences. They also practise listening and speaking in English.
Students can use the programme independently in their own time and can practise it together in the classroom.
"[The course] enables learners to increase their vocabulary both while using it and also throughout their language-learning life, as the students not only learn the target vocabulary, but also learn how to use effective learning strategies independently," Pathare added.
After going through the learning stages, the student, as well as the teacher, can view an evaluation of the student's achievement throughout the course.
The programme has an additional mathematics component that complements the vocabulary section, and is intended to fortify the learning of basic arithmetic in English.
Student feedback
A reported 3,000 HCT foundation students benefited from the course.
"Diagnostic testing shows that using the course results in significant gains in core English vocabulary skills – skills that are invaluable in both the learner's college and future professional life," Pathare said.
The students' response supported this. "The programme is excellent because it helps us improve our English. After doing these exercises, I feel my English has improved. My grades are a lot better," said Fatima Al Muhairi, foundation student at DWC.
Her colleague, Shatha Al Farsi, said that the programme had helped her memorise many English words within a short time. "We learn 40 words every week, and they get harder as we move up levels. The programme is user-friendly and I am satisfied with my results," she said.
Future plans
Besides developing students' English literacy, Pathare is involved in using music and sounds to develop learning potential.
Pathare plans to develop the programme further. "We as teachers need to continue exploring and developing innovative ways of teaching and learning, and we need to encourage our students to be excited about learning and what they can achieve if they really try," Pathare said.
The significance of the award
The British Council Innovation Awards recognises outstanding new language learning resources that use innovative ideas to help learners of English achieve their goals.
It also recognises innovative research that has clear practical benefits for English Language Teaching (ELT).
The award has two categories: UK and International. The latter is a new category that recognises ELT products and services developed outside the UK. Emma Pathare of Dubai Women's College has been awarded under this section.
She will be attending an official award ceremony in London. In the UK category, the awards were given to the BBC and Oxford University Press.
The former won for its two titles: Learning English: The Flatmates, a weekly online interactive ELT soap opera and Learning English blogs — teachers' and students' blogs. Oxford University Press won an award for its use of a reading group to create an engaging learning experience.
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