Teaching English in West Africa

[Hannsky]

Hi,

I'm currently working as a volunteer for an NGO in Mali's capital, Bamako. Although the official language of Mali is French, many people are keen to learn English. This is an especially important issue of the long term members of staff in the NGO that I am based with. I have been asked if I would like to give 2 hourly informal english lessons a week to a group size max 10 of adults who have rudimentary, basic english, but want to learn basic conversational skills.

I am 18 years old, and though a native english speaker, have never taught english as a foreign language before! Could you direct me to any websites that would be able to provide me with lesson plans /ideas/activities with which to start teaching. Many thanks for your time

Hannah

[Lottie]

I reckon the best place to start is sitting down with them (with a translator if need be) and ask them why it is they want to learn English. Then, discuss what it is that they want to be able to say, write or do in English. Also, find out what kind of style of learning they are used to in their context, and how they would like to learn from you.

Try to identify common areas and themes among all of the ideas that they come up with. Also, be sure to get them involved with material production from the outset too.

You could then perhaps order those themes, say, in terms of practicality or difficulty.

Work out what kind of resources you have at hand; what kind of resources you could get your hands on for free (esp. from the Internet); contact the nearest 'language' Council or Consulates in your area to see what they can offer you for free; better still specifically look for material that has been generated by Africans for Africans....(Check out work that has been written by Africans on the topic of language appropriation)

Remember 'real' material is invariably the best material that is meaningful and interesting.

What a wonderful opportunity for you to work and learn one of their community languages (Not French!) and culture too....
Peace

Lottie

[kungzoo]

Yes, I agree - it sounds like a very good cause to be working on!

I also agree that you should do a thorough needs-analysis on the basis of the students interest areas with a schedule of a curriculum outline that you will work along. You only have 2 hours a week with them, though, which isn't really enough if they are to make serious progress. Perhaps you also have to consider homework assignments - perhaps they could build up an annotated picture dictionary. Or, technology allowing, howabout initiating a website project with them? Blogger.com will be great and simple. All they will need to do is perhaps upload pictures of their home and family and contribute basic sentences such as 'This is my mother. This is my...' etc. It could be a great community project.

Alternatively, if you feel the web project isn't appropriate, and just want to focus on basic communicative development, I swear by the OnestopEnglish.com Reward pack worksheets. They can be printed off from the website. They are really simple to use and mainly involve question and answers based on a grammar point. They are graded from Starter to Upper Intermediate and will fill the 2 hours wonderfully. Find the site on my resources guide: http://esl-teaching-resources.blogspot.com

Good luck and please report back to us on how it is going!

[Ina May]

Hi Hannah,

I am currently looking to work in Bamako, WA. Would you be able to recommend me the organisation you worked for and tell me a bit about what you did for them?

Thank you

Ina Haggard
[email protected]