FIRST EVER GRAMMAR CAMP FOR ESOL TEACHERS A Grammar boot camp for English language teachers has proven a big hit in Eastbourne. Graduates of Grammar Camp have just completed their basic training during what is believed to be the first ever intensive grammar training course for ESOL teachers (English for Speakers of Other Languages). The course is the first in a series provided by South East based charity English in the Community. EITC is a specialist provider of free English language lessons for refugees, immigrants and asylum seekers, and has taught over a thousand learners from 92 different countries during the last few years. The charity is supported almost entirely by a large team of volunteer qualified English language teachers, with a total of 170 having taught with the charity since its inception. The charity has a dual remit: to help non-native speakers integrate successfully into their communities via improved English language skills, and to improve the skills and work opportunities of English language teachers, who suffer notoriously high levels of under and unemployment. Grammar Camp© was designed after EITC volunteers consistently identified weak grammar teaching skills as their greatest barrier to gaining teaching jobs. Run across two weekends, the intensive four day course focussed on areas of grammar and teaching techniques designed to empower the non-native speaker. Participants also have to complete two observed practical sessions with EITCs beneficiaries before receiving a certificate of completion. Zephyr Grayland, Founder and Project Manager of English in the Community said: “This course is about teachers gaining the skills they need and giving them the confidence to overcome the more common problems encountered when teaching English. This is different from standard language school teacher training in that our students live in the UK permanently and much greater emphasis is placed on empowering the learner - putting them in control of their own learning - and concentrating on the areas of language needed in their daily lives. Over the last six years we’ve had a large number of volunteer teachers of many different nationalities and backgrounds. Many have identified grammar as the area in which they have the least confidence. Grammar Camp© is the result of years of input from these teachers and we believe it is the first ESOL focussed teacher training specifically addressing grammar and how to present it effectively in a community learning environment.” Funded partly through EITCs Big Lottery Fund grant, the pilot course was held in Eastbourne and a refined version will shortly be rolled out across the South-East. The first course has already been given a huge thumbs up with excellent feedback from participants who found the training enjoyable, increased their skills and would increase their chances of employment in the sector. Grayland continued: “We will take all this excellent feedback and, working with the tutors, will refine the course before offering it more widely to English language teachers interested in improving their grammar and ESOL teaching techniques.”
Posted on: Wed, 26 Mar 2014 18:12:00 +0000
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