Teaching English for First Graders - Where to Start?

Teaching English for first graders: where to start?

The HCM City Education and Training Department has decided that students will not have to sit the exam to be able to enroll in intensive English classes. Those students, who want to study English, will only have to register their demand with the schools. However, the problem is that there are too many students who want to learn English, while the number of English teachers remains modest.

“160 first graders have registered to learn English. The students are now put in the same classes with the students who do not have the demand to study English. However, they will be put in separated classes from the second semester. What I am worried about is that the splitting cause a great chaos,” said a teacher of Bau Sen Primary School in District 5 in HCM City.

Nguyen Xuan Bao, Headmaster of Bau Sen Primary School, said that he still does not know what to do with the students who have registered to study English. The students must be divided into four classes, while in current conditions, the school can only arrange two classes. “Recruiting English teachers proves to be the biggest problem now, because it will not be easy to find teachers if we can only offer modest pay,” Bao said.

Under the current regulations, the teachers who teach English to first graders, under the pilot programme must obtain TKT certificate granted by Cambridge ESOL. In order to obtain the certificate, teachers must attend a training course in English teaching skills with foreign teachers. However, the problem is that teachers themselves would have to pay the tuition for the training course, estimated at six million dong.

“I agree that TKT certificate is a necessary document which shows teachers’ qualification. However, it is unreasonable to force teachers, who have modest income, to pay for the training course,” said a headmaster of a primary school in District 3 in HCM City.

She went on to say that the school really wants to pay the tuition for the teachers, but it cannot arrange the money. Meanwhile, students only have to pay 50,000 dong a month for English classes, which is not enough to pay the teachers.

Shortage of classrooms also causes headache to primary schools. The city’s Education and Training Department has decided that every class can only have a maximum of 35 students. Meanwhile, schools say they cannot arrange enough classrooms for so many students,
“We have no idle classrooms. All the rooms have been used to ensure that all the children in the district can go to school,” headmaster of a primary school in Tan Phu District said.

It seems that many schools are puzzled when implementing the pilot English teaching programme. At some schools, students, who who want to study English, are put in the same classes with those who don’t. At other schools, students who study English are put in special classes. Yet other schools still have not begun to accept registrations from students who want to attend English classes.

Headmaster of a school in District 3 complained that his school is still awaiting guildelines from the local education sub-department. “Our teachers are very worried. They fear that when the classes are re-arranged, this will affect the teaching quality,” he said. As first graders are small children who may not adjust well and find it difficult when put in other classes where they have to sit with new friends and study with new teachers.

Though the HCM City Education and Training Department has decided that first graders can also begin to study English, some educators still believe that it would be better to start teaching English in the second grade.

Read more at http://www.vnnewstime.com/education-news/teaching-english-for-first-graders-where-to-start/

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Dance Training Helps Rural Chinese Children's Development

Dance training helps rural Chinese children's development.

Rural students rarely get access to dance training, due to lack of teachers and facilities. But in a rural school in Tongling County of Anhui Province, children are chasing their dancing dream thanks to a "Rural Dance Classroom" recently set up there. It is hoped that dance training can give the rural children a chance for greater overall development.

The Shun'an Town Central Elementary School of Tongling County is one of several rural schools in Anhui province that have created a "dance training classroom". Students here are rehearsing their newly learned routine, a dance piece with the theme of the Chinese classic "Three Character Primer". Yin Zi, whose parents are working away from home, hopes she can give them a surprise when they come back.

Yin Zi, student, said, "I will study hard, and when my parents come back home I can present my beautiful dance to them."

Like Yin, all the students here are experiencing the enjoyment of dance.

Cui Kelin, student, said, "I like to dance. And I will learn dance here as long as I can."

This school is among the first batch of Chinese rural schools to set up the "dance training classroom", a project aimed at improving art education among rural students. The China Dancers' Association and the Literature and Arts Association of Anhui province along with the local government have joined forces to put the initiative into practice.

Jiang Jianxin, principal of Shun'an Town Elementary School, said, "We will use this opportunity to improve our facilities and train our teachers, to give our students a better environment to develop comprehensively."

The Dance Training Classroom has also been set up in two mountainous villages in Tongling County.

Wu Xiaohe, director of Dancers Assoc. of Tongling, said, "We will train more rural teachers to let more rural students receive dance training."

Initiated by the China Dancers' Association, the rural dance training project also includes 15 dance pieces that are suitable to children's physical and psychological traits.

Read more at http://www.china.org.cn/video/2012-03/16/content_24915490.htm

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India to Help Vietnamese Teachers in English Training.

India to help Vietnamese teachers in English training.

Vietnam will be sending teachers to India for English training, besides sourcing English teachers from India, according to the ministry of human resource development. The objective behind the entire exercise will be to prepare 20,000 English teachers in Vietnam over the next few years.

Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Thien Nhan Thursday presented the proposal to union Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal.

According to secretary (school education), the Central Board of School Education could provide the necessary training in India, through its Sahodaya School network.

English and Foreign Languages University (EFL-U) Hyderabad as well as Delhi University (DU) and Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) have also agreed to cooperate with Vietnamese institutions.

EFL-U acting Vice Chancellor Amritavalli suggested that the university could prepare 300 master trainers over three years in two batches of 50 Vietnamese teachers every year. University could also send some experts to Vietnam.

India will also aid Vietnam in curriculum development. This cooperation would include the offering of Indian studies in Vietnam and Vietnam studies in India.

Read more at http://www.indiaedunews.net/Delhi/India_to_help_Vietnamese_teachers_in_English_training_15456/

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LanguageCorps Asia Partnership with Cambodian Children’s Fund to Provide Staff Training

LanguageCorps Asia Partnership with Cambodian Children’s Fund to Provide Staff Training.

LanguageCorps Asia, a leader in providing TEFL/TESOL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language/Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) programs across the globe, will be providing free TESOL training and certification for staff of Cambodia Children’s Fund. LanguageCorps, a Massachusetts-based company offers a variety of certification programs for talented people interested in travel, internationalism, and teaching abroad; empowering them to thrive as professionals while living in, working in, and learning about a different culture.

Cambodian Children’s Fund, founded by Hollywood film executive Scott Neeson, serves the needs of Phnom Penh’s most impoverished children...

Read more at http://languagecorps.bizbuzzweekly.com/2010/10/04/languagecorps-partnership-with-cambodian-children%e2%80%99s-fund-to-provide-staff-training/

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