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In English as an Alternative Language (EAL) at Garden International School, the philosophy is "Keep English fun". The programme is run by specialists, but they have received remarkable cooperation from mainstream teachers as well. |
Penny Weston-Indrasoot |
UK teacher Penny Weston-Indrasoot has a lifetime of teaching behind her. All of which was to serve her well when she took up her new position.
"I’d taught in the UK school system. I’d taught in Bangkok’s universities. I had my MA under my belt. I was ready for anything," she says smiling.
Seeking a fresh direction, Penny joined the Garden International School (GIS) just outside Ban Chang in Rayong. With its emphasis on educational achievement, highly qualified teachers and scenic environment, Penny felt she was coming home.
Garden International is now in its ninth year, with pupils from all corners of the globe. The syllabus is British through till year 11. Then students can study the International Baccalaureate Diploma for their final two years. So students graduate with qualifications recognised around the world.
"I became Head of the English as an Alternative Language (EAL), a support team to secondary students who aren’t fluent in English," Penny explains. "One of the things I like most about GIS is its belief in giving everyone a fair chance. That includes students who are non-native speakers but studying a curriculum in English. My job is to help these young people do their best. For these students the EAL. is essential if they are to gain credits needed to pass their academic studies."
The challenges
Even in paradise there are problems. Penny quickly realised that students requiring her support services faced their own unique hurdles.
"I think the most common difficulty is deciding which class to withdraw a student from." Penny observes.
George, a 17-year-old Russian student, puts it this way, "If you are taken out of class to go to EAL, well, then you’re going to have to catch up with that class somehow."
"You can’t be in two places at once," Penny says. "When students came to the EAL to practice their English, at the same time they were missing another subject, — whether history or physics. There’s no way round it! So their English gets better but they fall behind elsewhere! Moreover, teachers sometimes disagree on what subject can be most easily skipped. Some subjects are more language based than others."
Another thorny issue is where to start. "Do we kick off with social English, speaking skills for example, so the students can socialise and build confidence, or do we focus on academic English?" Penny explains.
For George, the need is clearly to start with social English. "I had studied grammar for several years in Moscow. Then I came to GIS and found that although I could understand what was said to me, I just did not know how to speak."
Sunny, from Korea, agrees strongly with George, her communication skills weak, she felt isolated.
"Despite learning in Korea, I couldn’t communicate," she explains. "Other school students seemed to make friends depending on language. So the English speakers formed their own social groups."
A much more complex challenge is the varying needs and strengths of the different cultures found inside the EAL classroom.
In EAL classrooms like this one with teacher Alan Cobain, students work on skills that build confidence. |
"That comes with the territory in multi-national classrooms," Penny observes. "While you can’t stereotype, different cultures tend to have different characters. Thais prefer rote learning, for example. They rarely ask the teacher questions.
"Koreans, and to a lesser extent Taiwanese, are the opposite. They are raised with innate learning skills. For instance, they automatically keep their own vocabulary books. So they bring a lot of gusto into the classroom. Thais love playing games, whereas Korean parents often see game playing as a diversion."
Then there are the lukkreng children, (half Thai and half Western), who have their own needs. While their speech can be exceptional, their spelling can be weak. They get their grammar rules mixed up. Some are not fluent in either language."
Teachers often complain about a lack of resources. Was this the case for Penny?
"Definitely not," Penny says emphatically. "However, when I took over, the EAL was equipped with reading books that, in my opinion, were not helpful. It’s a problem familiar to English teachers throughout Thailand; some Western texts have a cultural bias. Words like ‘hedgehog’ or ‘tractor’ trip up our Asian students. These texts aren’t geared for the international learning environment. So in that sense there was a resource problem. It takes time to order and import new texts."
In-class supportSo these were the problems blocking the path ahead. How did Penny tackle them?
"The In-Class Support Scheme was a totally new idea which we pioneered. Its success depended on the complete support of the mainstream teachers. Luckily for me they gave that support wholeheartedly," Penny exclaims.
"Teachers volunteered to support individual students in other teachers’ classrooms. So for example, a history teacher might sit with one student in a math class. The scheme was very dependant on goodwill, as well as a sensitive handling of the timetable by the school’s head."
So did it work?
"Absolutely, it was a roaring success," Penny recalls. "Not only did students see significant progress in their English; there were other knock-on effects.
"Firstly, teachers began to grasp the students’ individual needs. This insight they took back to their own classes. Secondly, it got teachers working together, for example on work sheets for the EAL kids.
"The in-class support scheme broke the ice. Some teachers went further and spent timeout with students. They focused on their weakest skills, listening, reading, whatever. Our music teacher even used singing. That really boosted the teenagers’ confidence."
But wasn’t it difficult getting teachers to agree in the first place – not only because they are busy but because teachers feel uncomfortable with other teachers ‘sitting in’ during their classes?
"You’re right," Penny conceded. "But we were lucky enough to have a mature staff group. The fact is we all feel uneasy about our peers watching in. However, it does help with communication and trust among the staff. That was another benefit of the scheme."
Were there any costs to running the scheme?
"None whatsoever. The teachers kindly volunteered. It was within their working day. Absolutely no gadgets, technology or books were required."
Penny turns to Boy, a Thai student who took part in the scheme, and asks him what his feelings were. "Be perfectly honest," she adds encouragingly.
"I think it’s good," he begins eagerly. " The teacher can’t explain to me about something I don’t understand. He’s busy explaining the lesson to the rest of the class. He has a lot of jobs to do. So it’s good to have a teacher stay with me in class.
"It’s good that the in-class support teachers were not EAL teachers. They had the specialist knowledge about that subject, science and so on, to help us, like with vocabulary."
Self-Access Centre
It's not only EAL students who use the self-access centre, mainstream kids, too, find it's a relaxed place to practice and sometimes just to hang out. |
"The Self Access Centre was something else we set up in the EAL. For next to nothing it paid huge dividends," Penny says.
OK, but what exactly is a self-access centre?
Penny puts it into context.
"Simply an area in the EAL classroom which we declared a self-access centre! The students and I tidied it up, beautified it with pictures and stuff — recycled shelves, books, display boards, worksheets, stationary etc. We borrowed, indefinitely I might add, a computer and printer, and violá, we had a Self Access Centre."
But how did it work? What did students do there?
"The students could study unsupervised. They were given time to go there and redraft written work. The point is, it was a pleasant environment. Other students, the mainstream students, started to peek round the door to see what was going on. Then they came in. Next they were hanging out there," Penny explains.
"This was crucial," she says. "You see, the mainstream students saw the EAL Centre with stigma. They considered our kids as something of a failure. The Self Access Centre helped change that. Spending time there became a positive thing."
And did the increased contact between EAL students and the mainstream students have any pay-off for language?
"Absolutely," she exclaims. "The mainstream teachers reported back that my students were talking more and socialising more in the mainstream classes."
Can this Self-Access Centre be used for anything else?
"Whatever the needs of the school are," Penny replies. "We showed videos there, with original soundtracks, that is. This was very popular with the kids, popular and educational. You’d be surprised how much listening practice kids get from an OST movie. They don’t HAVE TO listen, like in a formal listening comprehension. They WANT to listen. That’s a big difference!"
George and Sunny give their hearty support to this point. "Listening to movies is something I really enjoy in English." George says.
Publish and be displayed
In-class support and self access sound like enough reforms for one teacher. Were there any other strategies that helped?
Penny draws a big breath as she begins a topic dear to her heart.
"I can’t stress this enough. Confidence building is half the battle of language teaching.
Here is a booster and it costs nothing. One thing we say to ourselves in the EAL is —publish and be displayed! It really helps if you can publicise your students’ work. Put display boards up in the school lobby. Use them to show off the kids’ projects, poems, pictures and stories, whatever.
Spend time on the Net. There are all kinds of web sites that will accept and show poems, stories, etc. No, they don’t pay, but the kids will get such a boost when they log on to see their work. Similarly there are some magazines and anthologies that will accept your students’ work."
The Results
George lists speaking as one of his strengths. The very same boy who started out as shy, is now known for his sociable personality and articulate manner.
"Once I got to GIS my English started improving every day," he announces proudly.
Sunny and Boy have had similar success with their speaking skills.
"In Korea we really look up to those who can speak English," Sunny says. "They are seen as real smart. So now I can speak it too, well, it just makes me happy. It gives me a better standing in society. And I’m not left out anymore."
Boy adds, "I like English because it helps me outside school. It’s an international language. It will help me in the future."
They all attribute their success to the EAL and its innovative strategies. They’re not the only ones.
"After we started In-class Support and the Self Access Centre we saw some significant growth. At the end of term, our Head made a specific announcement congratulating us on the progress the kids in EAL had made," Penny remembers.
Summing up
Good teachers round off their lesson with a summary. Penny is no exception.
"At the end of the day the most crucial thing is individualised learning programmes, taking into account a student’s culture. For example, Thais are accustomed to rote learning. Great! Use it; turn it to your advantage.
"Secondly, mainstream teachers really need to be exposed to TEFL teaching. That goes double in an international school."
High school teachers who come to Thailand and teach English language say "explain and discuss with your students." They write whole textbooks around this tenet. But, as any qualified TEFL teacher will tell you, that only works for native speakers.
TEFL teachers ‘demonstrate and practice’ with their students. So it’s an alternative methodology that non-language teachers could really benefit from taking onboard."
Penny gives the last words to her EAL students.
"You have to enjoy your learning, "George and Boy conclude, " because then you have motivation to do it."
"If you think English is hard, then it will be hard," Sunny thinks. "If you like it then it seems easy."
They all agree on one thing. English should be fun! With Penny Weston in charge, it certainly is!
terryfrd@ksc15.th.com |