Page 11 - ELG1601 May Issue 436

ELEuropean Union
May 2016 Page 11
around us, English lan- Making progress in Poland

s everything changes
Aguage teaching does not
remain static either. In Poland
we have seen several new As the country sees an increase in the numbers of international students at its universities,
developments.
The live lessons that feature at Anna Rogalewicz-Galucka describes some innovative developments with Polish ELT
the Iatefl Poland conferences are
a unique opportunity for teach-
ers to observe their colleagues exercise there are no blanks but is why ESP has become the main
(including some well-known black blocks instead, so students focus of language education at
teacher trainers) teaching groups are not able to write there. Instead the university level. Thanks to
of students. Visiting skilled col- they jot down the answers in their this new emphasis, students gain
leagues as a means to improve notebooks. There are resources crucial language skills to make
our own skills is hardly a new available online but again most them more competitive in the
idea – all kinds of profession- of them are not interactive at all. jobs market, as knowledge of
als use classroom observation as It is just like looking at a pdf file ESP is appreciated by employers.
a way to learn more and more on your computer and not even At the same time the num-
deeply about their craft. Profes- being able to print it. The students ber of international students
sional educators have been doing have to do the digitally presented joining Polish universities is
so for years. We hope that this tasks in their notebooks. growing. This situation is good
form of workshop will become Experienced teachers for our universities as they
more and more popular among know how to work without a slowly become truly cross-cul-
presenters and conference par- coursebook, but newly quali- tural. Because of this university
ticipants, not only in Poland. fied teachers and those used language centres have gained the
Non-native teachers who do to lessons following a regu- new task of supporting teach-
not feel comfortable with their lar coursebook are finding the ing staff as far as professional
own command of English can reforms challenging and often language competences are con-
attend advanced lessons aimed frustrating. They were thrown cerned. At the same time these
at developing their language. into the deep end without any language centres often organise
Our conference has been the first training provided upfront. Many courses to help international stu-
teachers’ gathering to offer lan- started making their own materi- dents to bridge any gaps in their
guage development sessions for als, or printing worksheets from English language education, and
language teachers and to invite Courtesy Iatefl Poland online sources. by this enable them to take full
real students to live lessons. There have been many interest- advantage of what the universi-
If you look at the discussions ing developments in the area of ties have to offer.
online by people teaching Eng- language teaching on the tertiary The activity of Iatefl Poland
lish to young learners at Polish TARGET AUDIENCE School children were used as ‘live’ students for lessons at Iatefl’s level of Polish education. Stu- also mirrors these changes, as
state schools, the most common annual conference for English teachers at Jagiellonian University in Kraków last year dents finishing secondary school ESP and Global Issues special
topic is looking for materials to generally come to university interest groups have been set
work with. The reason is that in pupils borrow their coursebooks last three years. for teachers. The main thing with much better general English up, organising conferences and
2014 the government introduced from the library for the whole As much as parents like the is that students are no longer competence than in the past, so workshops which are a plat-
reforms – coursebooks are sup- school year and return them for idea of not having to pay for allowed to write in the student university language centres have form for experience-exchange
plied by schools free of charge other students to use next year. coursebooks, the new rules pre- books, which were adapted by modified their offer to meet the and networking, both Polish and
and are reusable. That means The coursebook is supposed to sent many challenges, especially the publishers. So for a gap-fill changed needs of students. That international. n

The not-so-little library

Matt Salusbury comes across a small-scale project providing

books in English that’s having a big impact in the Netherlands

THE LITTLE English Library, Tatia and other expatriates teachers’ of English. that ‘school teachers face a very
based in the city of Breda in the also missed the social activities Most primary schools in the mixed-ability English class’.
south of the Netherlands, was for children that libraries put on Netherlands start some kind Dutch primary school teachers
originally set up for English- in the UK. The initial plan was of – often informal – English often struggle anyway with what
speaking expatriate families, but for a box of books that could be activities as early as the first two to do with students and how to
after there was ‘suddenly a lot carried round to weekly events, years. Formal English language use English books inside and
of interest from Dutch friends’, but Tatia realised that ‘some- classes only become compulsory outside the classroom. For pri-
according to founder Tatia Gre- where where you could just go’ for the last two years of primary, mary school teachers, says Tatia,
unbaum, it now also serves was needed. but ‘many parents find that way ‘Teacher training doesn’t focus Now available on mobile
Dutch families, primary schools It was at this point that she too late’. The school where the a lot on English. Many teach-
and their teachers. noticed great general ‘interest library is based starts formal ers [feel] a bit insecure.’ They
The library is based at a pri- from parents to support their chil- English roughly a year earlier, don’t get much in the way of
mary school in Breda, with an dren with English language’ – not but many schools are ‘bringing specific EFL teaching skills and
open-door policy on children just among expats. So with ‘no it forward – some are jumping in are ‘often a bit concerned about Download our
and families coming to use the funds, nothing’ the Little English much earlier’. The Dutch gov- their own language skills’. Eng-
collection of children’s books Library became ‘something for ernment’s vision is that by 2032 lish books serve as an addition
– currently around 2,000 plus the native speaker, for expatriates, English will be taught right from to textbooks that help teachers app for free
some audio material. It runs but also for the English language the start of primary school. ‘address the mixed abilities in
Swap 20 schemes – free Eng- their classroom that they have
lish book lending for teachers ‘Children really do still appreciate identified as a big challenge’.
and teacher trainees. There’s paper-based books. Parents also The 123 Lists include teaching
also 123 Lists, an off-the-shelf tips for craft activities for the
library system to help primary enjoy the bedtime reading out loud’ younger children, links to school
schools with English books. subjects for the older children,
The Little English Library learner’. As luck would have it, There are eighty schools for example.
also donates books to learning the local state primary school nationally with a bilingual pri- ‘Donations? Always (via info@
centres for trainee teachers and was redesigning its library, and mary school stream (English and littlelibrary.nl)!’ They don’t take
runs workshops for teachers on ‘gave me library space and shelv- Dutch) as well as international money, but English books for chil-
using children’s books in the ing. They gave me open access schools and a lot of international dren aged three to twelve is what
EFL classroom. The library won – mums with their toddlers can pre-school day-care centres the Little English Library is look-
an innovation award from the roll in at any time, any child from opening locally. As well as Eng- ing for. There’s a lot of interest
(UK) Schools Library Associa- any school can borrow.’ After the lish-speaking expats, there is from ‘other cities with a vibrant
tion last year and was shortlisted next few months spent ‘knocking the increasing phenomenon of expat community to start Swap
for this year’s British Council on any possible door’, the library returned Dutch-national ‘inpats’ 20 book-lending programmes for
ELTons awards. opened in April 2014. who’ve worked abroad with primary school teachers’. Particu-
How did Tatia get the idea? ‘I Even in this age of ebooks, Shell or other multinationals, and larly welcome are any books with
arrived from England with two ‘children really do still appreci- whose children will have been ‘shapes, colours and animals, and
little children and my husband,’ ate paper-based books. Parents to English-medium international picture books especially on dino-
and at the International Wom- also enjoy the bedtime reading schools (usually in Dubai or saurs, pirates, bears, princesses,
en’s Club there was discussion out loud.’ In today’s Dutch pri- Hong Kong). Combine this with early readers, factual books or
about the difficulty of accessing mary schools, ‘early English is the presence of ‘kids who play a anything from the Dork Diaries,
English children’s books and the big thing’, so Tatia has ‘tried lot of computer games, so their Wendy Quill or Diary of a Wimpy
‘maintaining literacy’ in English. to shift my focus to support English is good’, and the result is Kid series’. n