TELL2 Program Helps Pupils Learn English

From: Mdm. Ng Wee Gwek, SJKC Bukit Tinggi, Bentong, Pahang

This year level-one students at SJKC Bukit Tinggi in Pahang have had the pleasure of an extra English teacher every week.  TELL2 is a program placing native English teachers in mentor rolls. Each mentor has five assigned primary schools in a given region, and all level-one English teachers are paired with the mentor. Mentors help with lesson-planning, material creation, and creating a more learning centered environment for the students.

Mentor Evan Eames from the USA comes every Monday to work with SJKC Bukit Tinggi’s level-one English teachers. The kids get to sing songs, play language games, role-play and also write poems in English. Students find their time with Mr. Eames as exciting as getting a new toy. Having a day of the week to change up the common lessons gives teachers and students an opportunity to gradually shift the teaching style to a more learner-centered atmosphere.

Bringing his guitar to the lesson, Mr. Eames guided the students through a song and story. According to Mdm. Ng the year 5 class is rather hard to tackle; they are despondent and uninterested. Mr. Eames’s style is animated and humorous. He gives the students nicknames and helps them feel like they are all peers in the classroom.

Mdm. Ng said she was very surprised by the change in attitude when in the presence of a native speaker. The students learn English in English, and they know that he will not be translating anything that he says into Mandarin. “I noticed that even the sleepy boy, Hin Hin, sings happily with [Mr. Eames]” Making the students feel like the class was more of a group effort than a teacher centered lecture allowed the children to have a wonderful time, all the while learning.

Mr. Eames also took the time with Mdm. Ng to teach the students how to write Haiku poems. At first they had a hard time grasping the concept of the 5-7-5-syllable structure, but after using examples of the students themselves they caught on. They even had fun.

Once again, Mdm. Ng was impressed that the students understood so quickly. “I dare not try,” she admitted, ”guiding the children to write Haiku poem.” However, after seeing the step-by-step guidance, and the kids gain in confidence, Mdm. Ng had no problem participating in the lesson and having the students come up with pomes for the English walls throughout the school.

The TELL2 program is still new to the teachers of Bukit Tinggi, but they are learning that they can change the students attitudes as well as their own. Learning a language doesn’t have to be an arduous task that teachers and students dread; it can be fun, motivational, and an all around good time.