What can I expect?
Sometimes the question, “What can I expect?” can sum up all that we want to know about a future experience or event. If there is a decision to be made, this question can make our choices clearer. Today, I’d like to talk about what you can expect from one particular course in the EAGL department, The Kids Communication course.
EAGL graduates enjoy many different jobs and careers using their skills of speaking English.
Some become cabin attendants, others company employees with international connections; some work in the hospitality industry as hoteliers or tour guides, and others become teachers. These careers are beautifully varied and offer a wide range of international experiences and possible life-adventures. What all EAGL graduates have in common is that these opportunities are open to them because of their ability to communicate well in English.
How can I learn to communicate well in English?
Many EAGL students have asked themselves the very same question! After so many years studying English in high-school, you may have a vast knowledge of how English is built and how sentences are made, and yet still feel shy about using English in an active way for real communication.
Fortunately, the solution to this is simple: You can learn to communicate well in English by communicating in English!
The classes and courses in the EAGL department consider this practical application of English as one of the most important aspects of learning. Students can participate in fieldwork and internships where they use English in real situations for real communication. Classes are usually interactive and so students become active participants in their own learning and language improvement.
One such practical and interactive class is the so-called Kids Communication course.
Why ‘Kids Communication’?
The Kids Communication course was first developed to support student teachers and help them to prepare for their own teaching experiences. The course introduces how children learn and leads participants through the process of making and using various language learning methods and materials.
Students find out how making learning fun and enjoyable is the key to teaching children. And not surprisingly, it’s also important for everyone else’s learning too! Because of this, even students who don’t plan on becoming teachers enjoy taking the course.
One of the most popular class activities in Kids’ Communication is when the class plays language learning card games and board games where the aim is using English. After playing these language learning games and experiencing them for themselves, students then make their own games to play. In two workshop sessions, students work in groups, decide the English they want to practice and then design ways of making this target language come to life!
They make games and write rules and all of it in English!
As you can see, the workshop sessions have an active and exciting atmosphere as members collaborate to turn their ideas into games!
After the games are completed and have been played and checked and played again, there is a ‘playing each other’s games’ session. This is where everyone has the most fun as rules are read, dice are rolled, and games are played, evaluated and assessed.
It looks as though the Kids Communication course is all fun and games and indeed, much of it is.
A more serious side of the approach however, is that it gives students practical experience of different ways of introducing English to children and learning English themselves. All language learners know that practicing what we’ve learned is one of the most important ways of helping us to remember. Practicing for the sake of practicing can often be a little boring however, and we can soon lose our motivation to study.
Finding ways to make practicing fun means that learners are learning, even when they don’t realize it!
Another important aim of the course is to provide student teachers with actual ideas and materials that they can take into their new classrooms with them.
At the completion of the Kids Communication course, you can expect to have seen many different approaches to learning and practicing English.
You will know how to use and adapt games and other fun activities, so your classes can enjoy learning and practicing English. And because of the practical hands-on experiences you can expect to feel confident about using English yourself. This is perhaps the most important gain of the whole course, that self-confidence that you can expect to feel.
If you have any questions about the Kids Communication course offered here in the EAGL department, please don’t hesitate to get in touch!
