Upgrading the Quality of Teachers and Students
at the Basic and Higher Education Sectors
(from 31-3-2011 to 11-4-2014)
Upgrading the Quality of Teachers and Students at the Higher Education Sector
To promote the standard of English language teaching in Myanmar, nurturing the qualified
English teachers is the first priority to carry out among the multiple tasks. Therefore, after the
ELT task force was formed in November 2000, whenever new English tutors are appointed at
the higher education institutions, teacher training courses are conducted for them.
Three batches of 5-week training courses were
provided for the English tutors who were appointed in
2002 and 2005 and altogether 289 tutors benefited
from the courses. In 2010 and 2011, 198 English
tutors, recruited in 2009, were given a 10-week in the
Teaching of English Course in five batches at the
National Centre for English Language (NCEL).
Again in October 2012, the Upskilling Programme for
Freshly Appointed Tutors of English (UPFATE) was
conducted for 140 English tutors who were appointed in September 2012. The course lasted
for 9 weeks and the tutors were trained not only to develop their English language
proficiency and their English language teaching methodology, they were equipped with
presentation and public speaking skills. They were also taught how to carry out action
research which is a necessity for language teachers.
Similarly, to enhance the English language
proficiency of the English lecturers and to familiarize
the English lecturers with the latest teaching
methodologies
and
student-centred
teaching
methodology, three-week Refresher Courses for
English Lecturers were provided for them twice –
once in May 2013 and another in October 2013.
Altogether 88 lecturers benefited from the courses.
While teacher training programmes have been implemented to
raise the capacity of English faculty, English Language Course
for Higher Education Teachers have also been conducted for
tutors and demonstrators from other disciplines since 2002.
Since March 2013, 1412 tutors and demonstrators who were
appointed in higher education institutions in 2009 have been
trained in 5 batches and in each there are about 250 trainees
and the training of the last batch completed in March 2014.
For Myanmar to be self-sufficient with competent interpreters when it takes over the ASEAN
Chairmanship in 2014, 9 interpreter training workshops were conducted from June 2012 to
December 2013 by highly-qualified and experienced interpreters from the Sasakawa Peace
Foundation (SPF), Japan, in collaboration with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Myanmar) at
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the NCEL. Altogether 9 professors and lecturers from the Ministry of Education had an
opportunity to attend the training workshops. The trainees also had opportunities to
participate in the workshops on Capacity Enhancement of Myanmar Diplomats towards
ASEAN Chairmanship (2014) held in Tokyo, Japan twice.
After a series of workshops, conducted by the Sasakawa Peace Foundation (SPF), Interpreter
Training Cascade Courses were conducted for those teachers who are teaching translation and
interpretation at the universities twice in May 2013, and each lasted one week. Altogether
116 English faculty gained knowledge on interpretation techniques and took part in hands-on
activities during the courses. The same faculty members received another training which was
held concurrently in the NCEL and Mandalay University of Foreign Languages in March
2014.
Moreover, with the assistance of Temasek
Foundation, Singapore and the SEAMEO RELC,
the English Language Training Programme for
Teacher Leaders in Myanmar, which started in April
2013 is in progress with the aim of improving the
communicative competence and confidence levels
of Myanmar ELT professionals with regard to
spoken and written language in English; developing
their knowledge and understanding of the current
theories and methodology of English language
teaching; and imparting good practice and a range of models in the areas of classroom
observation and supervision. The programme lasted for a year and was implemented in four
phases. Altogether 50 teachers – 25 English lecturers
from higher education institutions (batch 1) and 25
teachers from education colleges (batch 2) –
participated in the programme. In the first phase,
participants from each batch took a 2-week course at the
NCEL where they were trained to enhance
communicative competence. In the next phase, they
attended a 5-week course at SEAMEO RELC,
Singapore to build up their capacity in ELT. Their
course components include ELT methodology and assessment, lesson planning, classroom
supervision and observation, and training the trainer so that they will develop into effective
trainers and supervisors in their respective universities and schools. In the third phase, a
series of cascading workshops were conducted and altogether 1068 teachers were trained.
582 assistant lecturers and tutors were trained by 25 lecturers from higher education
institutions in December 2013 and March 2014 and 486 teachers from education colleges and
senior and junior assistant teachers from basic education levels were trained in March and
April 2014. In May 2014, a post-course forum and certification ceremony will be held at the
NCEL.
Moreover, the English faculty from the higher education institutions in Yangon Region were
given training on ELT methodologies, American literature and assessment by teacher trainers
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from international organizations. Two teacher trainers from the UK, two from Australia and
one from the US are currently engaging in various training courses full time at the NCEL.
In addition to improving the quality of teachers, many tasks have
been carried out to promote the English language proficiency of
the students. One of the significant accomplishments is holding
English language competitions with the aim of promoting their
public speaking skills, communication skills, analytical thinking
skills, critical thinking skills, decision making skills, and creative
thinking skills. The competitions were held at three different
levels: the university level, the department of higher education level and the central level. In
the first semester of the 2013-2014 academic year, 909 students took part in the university
level impromptu talk competition, 139 students at the department of higher education level
and 30 students at the central level held in Nay Pyi Taw.
In the second semester of the same academic year, more
challenging English language competitions were held. In these
competitions, each contestant had to participate in all three
different kinds of competitions: essay, impromptu and round
table discussion. Altogether 1107 contestants took part in the
completion at the university level, 165 contestants at the
department of higher education level and 40 contestants at the
central level.
To train the students to be able to liaise with at international conferences and workshops, an
English Language Course for Liaison Officers was also conducted for university students.
Altogether 110 students attended the course and they could put into practice what they have
learnt from the course as liaison officers at the World Economic Forum on East Asia, held in
June 2013 and at the 27th ASEAN Sea Games hosted by Myanmar in December 2013.
English language curricula and syllabuses were also
reviewed and revised so that they will be on a par
with those of international institutions and since the
2012-2013
academic
year,
Straightforward
Coursebook published by Macmillan Publishers Ltd.
was prescribed for the foundation course (English)
of undergraduate courses in arts and science
universities to replace locally produced coursebooks.
Intensive trainings on the effective use of
Straightforword coursebook were provided by the textbook writers at the NCEL and
Mandalay University in October 2012 and October 2013. The trainings were conducted as a
whole group discussion as well as workshops and focus was on effective methods of teaching
language skills, planning lessons, managing different types of activities, testing and
assessment.
In order to stimulate students’ imagination, and to engage students and make language
learning more enjoyable, purposeful and hands-on, a Drama Society was formed at the NCEL
and students enjoy participating in drama activities and fun games. By taking part in these
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activities, students develop their creative thinking skills, collaborative learning and gain selfconfidence in using English.
Upgrading the Quality of English Teachers from the Basic Education Sector
With the intention of training the English teachers from education colleges to be more
proficient in English and to be able to teach English lessons using the English language, the
Training on Maximizing the Use of English in Teaching English at Education Colleges was
conducted for five days in December 2012. All the 114 English teachers from 20 education
colleges attended the course at the NCEL.
25 teachers from education colleges also participated in English Language Training
Programme for Teacher Leaders in Myanmar offered in
collaboration with Temasek
Foundation and SEAMEO
RELC. They have successfully
completed the courses they
were offered at the NCEL and
at the SEAMEO RELC and
they have now retrained 500
English teachers from basic education sector through cascading
workshops in March and April 2014.
International Collaborations
The National Centre for English Language has been
implementing the tasks to promote the English language
teaching in Myanmar with its own capacity as well as with the
assistance of international organizations. Five teacher trainers
from American Embassy, Australian Volunteer International
and British Council have been attached to the NCEL to provide
their mentorship and assist in teacher training programmes and
curriculum development. In addition, they teach undergraduate and postgraduate students
specializing in English at University of Yangon to promote the proficiency level of students
and to impart international ELT practice to them.
Moreover, for the professional development of the English faculty, scholarship awards have
also been offered to English faculty by many international organizations such as American
Embassy, British Council, Sasakawa Foundation, SEAMEO RELC, and the University of
Brunei Darussalam. In 2012, 5 English teachers from the Ministry of Education had a chance
to attend English Language Enrichment Programme offered under the Brunei-US English
Enrichment Project for ASEAN and 4 more teachers in 2013. Moreover, SEAMEO RELC
also annually offers specialist certificate courses, Postgraduate Diploma in Applied
Linguistics, TESOL Master Degree Programme and Teacher Leader Courses to English
faculty in Myanmar.
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In addition to conducting teacher training courses to
upgrade the qualities of teachers, many talks, seminars
and workshops were held to update teachers and
students on the latest language teaching
methodologies and new branches of studies. In 2013
January, a Workshop on International Writing
Program Reading and Lecture Tour in Myanmar was
conducted by a group of American writers at the
NCEL. English faculty and students gained knowledge in literary theories, how they can be
used to analyse literary works,
s, how to compose and recite poems, and how to conduct
creative writing classes.
In collaboration
ation with Department of Linguistics,
Linguis
Macquarie University, the National Seminar on Current
Issues and Future Trends in Applied Linguistics was held
in August 2013 and English faculty from all higher
education institutions and master students from Yangon
Region gained exposure and knowledge on current issues
and future trends in Applied Linguistics teaching and
research, language for specific purposes, and research
project
roject design and management.
A talk on The Asia Pacific Sign Linguistics Research and Training
Program (APSL) was also organized at the
NCEL with the assistance of the Centre for
Sign Linguistics and Deaf Studies from
Chinese University of Hong Kong, in
January 2014. 82 faculty members, who
teach linguistics and 18 Master’s students
from Yangon University attended the talk.
They
learnt
misconceptions about sign languages, linguistic analysis of sign languages, sign linguistics
research and deaf development
nt project.