Challenging themes: radio English for learners and teachers

Thelma Umeh,

English Projects Manager, Nigeria

and

Paul Woods, English Manager, Sub-Saharan Africa

Challenging Themes:

Challenging Themes: Radio English for Learners and Teachers

Challenging Themes: Radio English for Learners and TeachersChallenging Themes: Radio English for Learners and Teachers

Our presentation is divided into four parts:

I will describe the context which has led us to develop materials using radio as a channel

Thelma will tell you about the Teacher Development programmes she produced in Nigeria

I will describe “Teaching English Radio: an Introduction to Teacher Development,” and work we have done so far on LearnEnglish Radio

There will be a few minutes at the end for questions

Context• There are

approximately 11.4 million English language teachers and 1.1 billion English language learners in the world today.

• 750,000 of these teachers and 100 million learners are in Sub-Saharan Africa


Context

There are approximately 11.4 million English language teachers and 1.1 billion English language learners in the world today.

750,000 of these teachers and 100 million learners are in Sub-Saharan Africa

This meant we had to explore different channels to reach target audiences at a distance

We wanted to reach many more learners and teachers using limited resources.

Internet connectivity is patchy and expensive


Why radio?


Accessible and cheap technology

Reaches audiences in countries with low

levels of school attendance

Low investmentfor high impact

More effective when backed up bysupport materials

Effective atImproving listening

skills

Widely available indeveloping countries

Cost-effective in extending reach


Nigeria: Context • Nigeria is a second language country with a population of over 195 million people• English is the lingua franca as it is the language of education, government and commerce• English in Nigeria is very poorly taught and learned with no attempt at innovativeness by the teacher• In spite of the many professional development programmes on offer, teacher professional development is seriously lacking


Nigeria: Why Deliver Classroom Language via Radio? There are a large number of English language teachers in Nigeria who need professional development in one form or the other• The British Council has a number of very rich teacher development courses for face to face delivery, of which Classroom Language is one • Face - to - face programmes have basic limitations that made it necessary to seek a more effective mode of delivery • Radio was one way to reach many more teachers in a cost-effective way, while still creating good impact


Nigeria: How was Classroom Language adapted for radio?

• The course was very clearly defined, but had a skeletal nature which needed to be filled out. • To do this the services of 2 ELT consultants was enlisted and they derived from the global product, content which will be suitable for radio broadcast.• There was a script conference with ELT experts and radio producers and presenters where a production script was developed• After this, we were ready to start actual production

Classroom Languageby Radio: Challenges

• Lack of personnel to work with • Getting a national radio station to

partner with us• The matter of the withdrawal of

the partners from the partnership• Challenge of getting additional

content• Getting sponsorship


Successes

• We secured a 3 year partnership with a national radio station

• Programmes were broadcast on the network belt of the federal radio 7.00pm weekly

• Audience sizes were approximately 5 million to start with and steadily grew to 8 million in the following quarters

• Feedback was very encouraging


Ω Twelve 15-minute radio programmes aimed at teachers of English working in schools where large classes, a lack of resources and few training opportunities are a reality.Ω The first set of programmes provides advice and training on teaching English at a basic levelΩ These programmes are intended for teachers of English who may have low level qualifications and lack confidence in their knowledge of English. Ω The series includes clips from teachers and classes in several different countries to give the programmes global appeal.




Addressing key issues in

classroom practice

Motivating teachers and providing a ‘catalyst’ to improve morale

Reaching as many

teachers as possible

Encouraging more learner-

centred strategies and

making learning more effective

Supporting notes for teachers

Programmes can be re-packaged and delivered via pod-casts

Programmes can be adapted

The British Council can support seminars or workshops


Topics • Finding and using resources • Using Group work in large classes • Pair and group work in practice • Developing Teachers’ English • Using English in the classroom • Teaching new language • Teaching reading and teaching listening


Promotional pack for radio

Stations

10,000 sets of 3 audio CDS



Follow-on Series - topicsGetting the most from the course bookManaging different levels in one large classIntroducing writing activities Using marking schemes and encouraging accuracy in written workWhat to correct and when to correctEncouraging students to help each otherA visit to a reading class Teaching pronunciationSetting homework and doing revisionPreparing for exams and testsMore great activitiesEnjoying our teaching

Potential audiences Huge – eg MONUC’s Radio Okapi in

DRC has 50 million listeners

By 2013 we expect to reach up to 20 million listeners in Sub Saharan Africa with our programmes

In Nigeria the Teacher Development series reached a potential audience of 8 million


Challenges• We’d prefer not to have to

pay for airtime• Finding locally delivery

partners • It took far longer to

produce the first series than we originally anticipated


LearnEnglish Radio

Developing the concept then looking for a

strategic funding partner We wanted to tackle developmental themes

We produced a flyer and approached a range of

potential sponsors We approached potential

strategic partners


Results and next steps• So far we’ve not managed to find a strategic partner• We have widened the scope to include other regions (eg

the Middle East and China) and changed the focus to concentrate on English for work situations

• We are commissioning sample programmes which we will try out with focus groups

• We hope to produce a core of material which can be used in different countries/regions but adapted/localised

• We look for delivery partners at country level – eg to sponsor support materials


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Education

Challenging themes: radio English for learners and teachers