Anguilla Community College (ACC) is proud to announce that twenty (20) students have successfully completed a five-month course titled English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL). They received their certificates on Thursday, July 10, 2014.
As part of the College’s commitment to community-based programmes, the Division of Humanities and Education developed and implemented a curriculum utilizing material from the United Kingdom’s Department for Education and Skills, “Skills for Life” Programme. The curriculum is tailored to the City & Guilds course of the same name as it is hoped that students will eventually sit the external examinations for the varying levels and receive internationally-recognized certificates.
The course was facilitated by Mrs. Michal Romney, Senior Lecturer in the Humanities & Education Division, and Mrs Tracelyn Hamilton. They taught Beginner English and Intermediate English respectively.
The teachers used a combination of the Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) and the Direct Method approaches, popular ones in the Teaching of English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) arena. With CLT the focus is on the learner’s ability to communicate in real-world situations; asking questions, showing preferences to name a couple. The approach is taught through tasks and problem-solving. The emphasis here is on fluency and less on accuracy.
With the Direct Method, the teacher creates a student-centered class where the focus is speaking. Students learn the way a child would, through responses to the teacher, who corrects any errors and continually reinforces the correct use of English.
The goal is to help our Non-English-speaking residents to be better able to fully participate in life in the Anguillan society; whether it is attending their child’s parent evening, visiting the doctor, reading the local paper, or simply conversing with their neighbours.
One of the obstacles faced by the lecturers relate to the students practicing their English outside of the classroom. Most of them work with other Spanish speakers or in an environment that requires little speaking. And at home the mother tongue is usually spoken. The challenge is to help the students to look out for, and to provide them with, varying opportunities for them to practise their newly-acquired skills.
From the results of an anonymous survey given to the students, it can be concluded that students were pleased with their experiences at ACC. Quotes include, “Good English class!”; “ACC is excellent for English class!”; “The class is very good for Spanish speakers.”; “The class is interesting.”
More than half of the students indicated that they would like a longer class period. The classes were held twice a week for two hours.
The majority of the students have indicated that they plan to sign up for the next phase of the course when registration occurs in August 2014. There is currently a waiting list of persons wishing to start the new class, so persons are asked to indicate their interest to the ACC as soon as possible. Please visit us in George Hill (across from Rey’s Funeral Home), or contact us at 498-8395 or 497-2538 or via email at info@acc.edu.ai.
– Contributed
