Education Development > English Immersion Camp for English Teachers in Baojing County

English Immersion Camp for English Teachers 2009

English Immersion Camp for English Teachers in Baojing County
4 August - 7 August 2009

Organized by Institute for Integrated Rural Development, Hong Kong
Supported by Baojing County, Western Hunan, China
Sponsored by Chan Deng Social Services Foundation

On 4th August 2009, a group of volunteers organized an English immersion camp for the teachers in Baojing County, Hunan Province. The camp lasted for three and a half days. It is an extension from last year’s immersion camp. Last year, the focus was on primary school teachers, whereas this year secondary school teachers are the focal point. There are altogether 38 participates from 16 secondary and vocational schools. The camp aims to enhance the teachers’ confidence in teaching English and improve their teaching methodologies, benefiting the tens of thousands of students in the region.

Drawing from last year’s experience and the engagement of several participants from last year’s camp, we were able to customize teaching sessions and activities to better suit our partcipants' needs. Upon arrival, the preparation for the camp got off to a good start when the volunteers met face to face with the officials and participants of the camp. During the meet and greet occasion, English games were used to allow the participants to get to know each other. English pronunciation was also taught.

On the first day of training, voluntary trainers helped to improve the participants’ English pronunciation. They also illustated the effectiveness of using games in English teaching in order to arouse students’ interest in learning English. Participants learnt of the significance of games in increasing interaction between teachers and students which in turns allows them to better understand their students' progress and areas of need.

On the second day of training, the volunteers organized a demonstration class for the participants. One of the volunteers, a native English speaker, conducted a demonstration class with 50 students. The volunteer integrated lots of games into her teaching to increase the interaction between teachers and students. After that, 38 participates were divided into 4 groups. A representative from each group used what they had just learned to teach a lesson. Although the representatives were really nervous, they tried their best to finish the task. They all agreed that this task increased their confidence in using games and employing other techniques in English teaching.

Participants showed great improvement in English teaching on the third day of training in terms of ideas and ability. At the concluding part of the camp, they were able to apply concepts illustrated in the past 2 days and and designed a host of English games that were both interesting, creative and original.

This camp is just a starting point. We hope that all the participants can make good use of all the teaching concepts and techniques to make their lessons more interesting and meaningful so that their students, mostly from remote rural villages, can grasp the International language, English. This will allow them to achieve higher grades (English is a compulsory subject in the higher secondary school examination), have better job prospects, bring a wider horizon to their lives and to gain more confidence in life.

We promise to provide different kinds of support, for example, the provision of an on-line English learning platform which is sponsored by i-Learner, an online English learning platform based in Hong Kong, the publishing of teaching material, CD player, and sponsorship for further self-learning groups. We have also asked our participants to contribute their ideas on a teaching material pack we are working on. After further modificaiton based on their suggestions and feedbacks, we aim to publish and circulate the pack amongst more English teachers working in other poverty-stricken regions.

We understand that education helps children and their families to improve the standard of living and escape from poverty. As a matter of fact, a large number of children from the remote area of China do not have the opportunity to receive education due to poverty, health problems as well as social problems. Moreover, the quality of education is usually poor due to outdated teaching methods and teaching materials. Hunan is just the tip of the iceberg. We will continue to do the best within our ability and hope that every one of you can give a helping hand to the students and teachers in rural areas so they can receive better education and teaching resources.

Photo albums

Volunteers List

Feher Rachel Marie	Experienced Teacher (Hong Kong)
Atkinson Sarah Jane	English Education Consultant (England)
Tse Sze Wan, Shirley	Analyst (Hong Kong)
Wong Hei Fung	University Student major in linguistic (Hong Kong)