An analysis of the Progress Reports submitted by teacher-tutors after the
completion of the Teaching ESL Students in Mainstream Classrooms:
Language in Learning across the Curriculum course 2007/2008
Progress Reports written by the tutors were submitted after they have completed the course at
school and the following is an analysis of their comments.
Tutors’ reflection on their Roles
One of the major roles played by the tutors, as reflected by 80% of the respondents, was to
provide professional development for their colleagues. This was achieved by giving their
colleagues ideas and insights in pedagogy for classroom use. A further 80% remarked that
they succeeded in boosting their colleagues’ confidence in using English to teach in class,
fulfilling the whole-school approach of using English as a medium of instruction. Another
important role they played was that they had provided a platform for different EMI subject
teachers to share viewpoints in using English as a medium of instruction, thus in turn
promoted cross-curricular understanding and collaboration among different KLAs. This was
expressed by an overwhelming 90% of the tutors.
General response to the course from the tutor perspective
In general, the response was favourable. 82% of the tutors were pleased to admit that
participants were both supportive and cooperative. They were enthusiastic in their exchange
of ideas and sharing of experience, as shown in their willingness to contribute by presenting
their reflection on the between module readings and activities during workshops. 64% of the
tutors stated that the participants were positive about the course and found it a valuable
learning experience as it had raised their awareness of the role of language in teaching and
learning. Another 64% pointed out that some of their participants had tried out some strategies
learnt on the course and found them relevant and useful.
With the introduction of various new education policies, it was not surprising that 45% of the
tutors responded that some of their participants had difficulty in finishing the between module
assignments in time as the workload of teachers has grown considerably in recent years.
Evaluation of the Project
One of the major achievements of the project as pointed out by 80% of the tutors was that the
course had raised teachers’ awareness of student needs. They also believed that the project
had enhanced understanding among teachers. They had a chance to express to one another the
problems they encountered in teaching and this had promoted future collaboration among
teachers in different subject areas. 60% of the tutors were sure that the strategies learnt on the
course would be tried out as teachers had realised their responsibility to teach their own
subject language.
About 40% of the tutors remarked that some of the participants found the contents not
subject-specific enough and the latter would need more examples from other schools as to
how they could make use of the pedagogy learnt. Another 30% further pointed out that the
workload had been a bit too heavy for most teachers and it was difficult for them to cope with.
Last but not least, 70% of the tutors showed appreciation for the support provided by the
Project Team in paying workshop visits and giving constructive feedback.