“From Laos with love”: Language twists and how not to lose your pet – by guest author Beate Pinisch
A post on facebook by a Lao friend got me thinking. It started with finding two words funny and ended with my theorizing about linguistic quirks of the Lao and German language.
My Lao friend had sent an article and added we should “lie” and “sae” (transcribed from original Lao spelling).
“sae” and “lie” on facebook
Why would they write (and speak) “lie” instead of “lie-K”? After all, there is a “k” (actually more than one) in the Lao alphabet. Are the Lao not able to pronounce a “K” sound at the end of a word? But they are! Take muak (hat), nok (bird), viak (work), or luk (child). Why not like? Well, while there are lots of Lao words with a “K”-sound at the end, none of them have an [aι] sound prior to it.
Chugging along my train of thought I also found the same after an [au] sound, as in [hau/s].
I think I found a similarity to the German language. Are you a cinema buff? Do you know how foreign movie makers characterize a German? Right, by letting them pronounce the [ð] like a [z]. “Look over zere, zey are already in ze building”, etc. Are we Germans not able to pronounce a correct [ð]? But we are! However, I remember thinking, when I was in ze school, and ze teacher introduced ze “th”, how awful zat sounded. Actually more like a lisp. And I did not want to sound funny or like having a speech impediment. No way. So of course I started out, like so many of my friends, pronouncing the [ð] as a [z]. That sounded so much better! Maybe it is the same feeling preventing our Lao colleagues to speak a [k] at the end of a word following an [aι] sound?
Different for the “sae” (share). There just is no sound such as [ʃ] in the Lao language. People quite successfully substitute that by speaking an [s]. So the transcription [sae] for “share” was quite logical. As far as I remember the Lao were quite able to pronounce such sounds that do actually not exist in their own language. When my children were small and we were quite poor I used to moonlight as an English teacher (giving private lessons for students who really really wanted to pass their exams). After a few tries all of them mastered sounds that had no equivalent in the Lao language. I also remember my first Russian lessons from my own childhood – very impressed at how they roll their “rrrrrs” I tried it, too. I could not do it. So in the course of the next few days and weeks I tried and tried and tried until I was proudly able to roll the [r].
What are your experiences in your work as teachers? Is it easier for you to teach sounds that are completely new? Or is it easier to train sounds that are already used, but in different combinations? How do you manage to teach complex sounds? What if there is more than one “strange” sound in one word?
Coming back to my very short experience as an English teacher, I confess I was quite unsuccessful in teaching when it came to more complex “sound-scapes”. Actually, having lost a dog to thieves I then decided to name our pets so their names were impossible to pronounce. I still have to see the thief who is able to call a cat that is named “Urlaub” ( [ˈuːɐ̯laʊ̯p], German for “vacation”). I was even meaner: I used “Strolchi” [strolçi] and “Maxl” [maksl]. Thus I was able to make up for my lack of teaching success and change a frustrating situation into an extremely pleasing one.
Text by B. Pinisch
Photo/still from video by V. Golla
We are Team VI!
Meet Team VI!
Top row, left to right: Julia Grüttner, Anna Hajek, Isabell Kämmer, Tasja Reule, Shirin Ud-Din
Bottom row: Ben Martin, Svenja Walschburger, Fabian Stober
Dear everyone,
Next week, our adventure begins!
We all applied for the project “Teaching English in Laos” last summer/autumn and were extremely glad when we heard that we had been accepted and invited to go to Laos. After many preparational classes and workshops in Prof. Martin’s “Global English” seminar, and lately many meetings and studying our predecessors’ weekly reports and other fine work both on this blog and on our new internal CMS (Content Management system = working platform) alfresco, we feel ready to take the challenge, prove ourselves, and tackle the project head-on.
Dear Lao teacher-students: We know that it must be hard getting used to a new team every time, so we will try our best to make the transition as smooth as possible for everyone. We hope that you are looking forward to meeting us as much as we are to meeting you!
Well then, time to introduce ourselves!
Julia Grüttner (Sikeud Secondary School, Sikeud Primary School)
Sabaidee! Hello dear all!
My name is Julia Grüttner and I am 25 years old. I will become a primary teacher and my main subjects are English and art. Art, history and politics are very interesting for me. I like riding my bike, walking, hiking, and swimming.
My main school will be the Sikeud secondary school and I am going to work with Mr Sackbong Boulapan and Mr Vienglakhone Keopaseud. I hope we will have fun together, support each other, and that you can improve your English skills further with my assistance. In addition to that I will teach some of the preschool pupils (“Mopsies”). Furthermore I will support my team being the housekeeper, therefore I am excited to spend time with Madame Engel and Ms Bouangeun Hanthavong, go to markets to do the shopping, and cook with the others.
Finally I am looking forward to coming to Laos because I am very interested in your culture and your traditions. In addition to that, this journey is my first one to an Asian country, therefore I am also keen to learn and observe everything about landscapes, animals, and food.
Anna Hajek (Lao-German Technical College)
Sabaidee! My name is Anna and I am 22 years old. I study in Karlsruhe to become a primary school teacher with the majors German and politics as well as maths as minor. Together with Tasja and Ben I will be teaching English at the Lao-German Technical College in Vientiane. I will manage the Beginner classes A&B and also offer lessons to the BHS students, prepare several workshops for the staff and organize a new “Spotlight English” evening (the former “Conversation Club”) at the college. I will be working with Mr Saythong Insarn when he has time and I am very excited to get to know him.
Besides my tasks at the college, I am the LGTC “media master”, i.e. in charge of saving new files on our external hard drive (for project documentation and future use, e.g. sharing files for workshops or blog articles), and keeping it updated. This makes us independent of our CMS alfresco, for which a reliable Internet connection is a necessary condition – which, apparently, is not guaranteed on campus.
I am looking forward to working with the teachers and students from the college and I am positive we will have a great time together.
Isabell Kämmer (Ban Phang Heng Secondary School)
Sabaidee! Hi, my name is Isabell and I am 23 years old. I study education with the main subjects English, ethics and history. Next to my studies of education I also study psychology. I am going to work at Ban Phang Heng Lower Secondary School. Furthermore, for my special task I am responsible for the Lending Library and the Didactics Room.
My tandem teachers are Mr Bounleud Sengsavangvong, Ms Souksakhone Sindavan, and Ms Donekeo Keositthivong and I look forward to working together with them over the next couple of months. Together we are going to prepare lessons and develop didactic materials for English classes. In my free time I like doing sports as well as dancing and meeting my friends. I am excited to work with the Lao teachers and I am sure that we all will have an unforgettable time.
See you soon!
Tasja Reule (Lao-German Technical College)
Hello everyone, my name is Tasja and I am 22 years old. I am currently in my fifth semester at the University of Education in Karlsruhe. My subjects are English and biology. In my free time I love doing sports and dancing Hip-Hop. I have never been to an Asian country, therefore I am very excited to get to know the Laotian school system as well as the everyday life and culture.
Together with Anna and Ben I will be teaching at the Lao-German Technical College in Vientiane. Besides teaching some of the BHS students and two Elementary teacher-student classes, I am very happy to be assisting and supporting my Lao tandem-teachers Mr Thavone Sonavoung and Ms Akina Yadsadahuk. I am very excited to get to know both of them !
Anna, Ben and I will also restructure the former “Conversation Club” into “Spotlight English” evenings. For my special task I will take care of the Lending Library , the Didactics Room, and our regular team meetings.
I am very happy to have the opportunity to work with the Lao teachers and pupils and am looking forward to meeting everybody!
See you soon!
Shirin Ud-Din (Ban Phang Heng Secondary School)
Sabaidee! Hello, my name is Shirin and I am 22 years old. I study education with the main subjects English and biology in Karlsruhe. I am happy to participate in the project and grateful to have the possibility to work in Laos. I will teach the science teachers Mr Sackbong Boulapan, Ms Chanmany Thippachan, and Ms Khamsee Thanbounhueang at Phang Heng Secondary School and I am very excited to get to know them. For my special task, I am responsible for the “Science Laboratory” and I will offer an “Activity Time” in which the pupils can try out experiments. I am excited to work with the Lao teachers and cannot wait to start the project because it is a great opportunity to share – and test – my didactic and specialist knowledge with the Lao-teachers.
Besides, I love travelling to Asia, so I am looking forward to getting to know Laos, because it is a country I have not visited yet. In my free time I love dancing Zumba, which is aerobic combined with Latin American dances, spending time with my friends, and trying out international recipes, which is why I am looking forward to tasting Lao cuisine.
Ben Martin (Lao-German Technical College)
Sabaidee and hello everyone!
My name is Ben and I am 23 years old. I have been studying English and anthropology at Heidelberg university for two years now, and I am very excited to apply myself to this unique project. In my spare time, I like to work out, cook, go out with friends, visit music festivals, watch TV series/films, and read books. A few months ago, I began doing a bit of political education work with a youth organisation, and I enjoy it very much. Spicy food is my favourite, and I am curious to discover the flavours of Lao cuisine!
I will be working at the Lao-German Technical College together with my colleagues Tasja and Anna, and my main task will be teaching the Technical English class. Ms Moukdala Keomixai and Ms Viengkhom Phyathep will be my tandem-teachers, and I will assist them in their teaching and lesson planning. I am sure we will get along very well, and I cannot wait to meet everyone!
Furthermore, alongside Svenja, I will be responsible for managing this blog and coordinating our team’s efforts. I’ll also be staying for three months in total.
Since I have never been to Asia, I am looking forward to getting to know the Lao people and their culture in person. I am sure this project will be a very enriching and fascinating experience.
See you soon!
Svenja Walschburger (Ban Phang Heng Primary School & Sikeud Primary School)
Hey there!
I am happy that this journey is beginning so soon. My name is Svenja, and I am a 26-year-old student in the European teaching program for primary schools. I love using songs and dancing to get people excited about the English language in a fun and motivating way, which I was invited to do as a workshop for the Laos applicants in Prof. Martin’s last “Global English” seminar, thus I am very curious to see how my experience in Laos will unfold.
My focus for the next months will be teaching the preschool children, the “Mopsies“ as well as working with my tandem teacher Ms Bounpheng Singhalaht, who I am very excited to meet. In the afternoon, I will conduct the “ABC Club” and the “Singlish” Activity Time. Furthermore, together with Ben I will be one of the two new blog masters for this site, so you will be hearing more from me soon.
To me, the most unique part of this project is how close I will be able to work with the people in Laos. My hope is for everyone involved to have an enriching and enjoyable experience.
Fabian Stober (Ban Phang Heng Secondary & Primary School)
Hello everybody,
My name is Fabian, I am 26 years old and I just finished my fifth semester at the University of Education in Karlsruhe. I major in English and mathematics and study to become a primary school teacher. Most of my time I will spend at Ban Phang Heng Secondary School to work with the mathematics teachers Mr Vienglakhone Keopaseud, Mr Thongsing Sinnaphisith, Ms Toukham Chanthavong, and Ms Nalee Vonekhamxai (cf. our non-English teachers introduced by Team III).
For the first time in this project, after the English and science lessons, now mathematics lessons are to be developed, and so I will work with the maths teachers on material preparation and lesson planning. I am very excited and cannot wait to meet my tandem-teachers.
For four hours a week I will support Svenja and Julia with the “Mopsies“. Like Anna for the LGTC, I am responsible for the documentation of the project at Ban Sikeud and Ban Phang Heng.
This is going to be my first time ever to Asia and I am stoked to dive into the culture and everyday life and – like eveverybody else, it seems – the food!
Finally, all of us would like to express our gratitude towards Professor Martin and the Angels for Children Foundation for this unique opportunity. We are confident that we will meet your expectations and will try our best!
Guest author Richard Martin & Fabian Stober write: Stories are something to remember…
…so why not use them as a teaching device?
In the summer semester of 2017, Prof. Isabel Martin offered a seminar called “Children’s Literature: Reading and Telling stories”. When I signed up for this course, I did not really know what to expect.
I think everyone has some image in mind of what a story is. To start with, for me it was basically a collection of words that become something meaningful when put together. That collection has a meaning or a message to convey to the audience. After quick reference, one discovers multiple dimensions: “A narrative or story is a report of connected events, real or imaginary, presented in a sequence of written or spoken words, or still or moving images, or both” (en wikipedia).
Editor’s note: Reasons why future teachers should learn to employ children’s literature (oral and written) in their lessons:
- humans have a need for stories (motivation, positive mind-set towards the subject of English)
- humans want to find meaning in stories/life/the world (relevance)
- story sharing builds community (communication)
- stories allow learners to experience language in its original function (authenticity)
- stories help to build fluency in the four skills in risk-free situations (fluency)
- stories help learners to become aware of the sound of English (language awareness)
- stories provide opportunities for cultural learning and cross-cultural comparison (cultural awareness)
- stories can be linked to other subjects (cross-curricular teaching)
- stories invite further imaginative work (creative stimulus)
The seminar turned into a hands-on experience after a theoretical start: During the first part of the semester, we heard 25-minute-presentations on “The History of Children’s Literature”, “The History of Storytelling”, “The History of Picture books”, “Picture Book Authors”, “Postmodern picture books”, as well as “Pre-, While- and Post-Storytelling Activities”, “Language Activities with Crafts”, and “Digital Storytelling”. Furthermore we learned about structure and characteristics of stories and picture books.
After spending a very informative session in the American Library’s children’s books section around mid-term, we divided our group into teams of two to four students. Each group picked one book from five different categories: Traditional, Toy books, Concept books, Wordless, and Postmodern picture books. Over the next three sessions, our task was to create a teaching sequence (pre-, while-, post-activities) around our chosen book, as well as a digital story/movie.
We had been shown various movie-making software and were now lucky to be able to use several ipads as well as an “i-theatre“, which Prof. Martin had procured for the department a few years before by acquiring two large donations. We therefore had total freedom in what to use and how to make the movie. What can I tell you? It was A LOT of fun to record the scenes and do the voice-over. In the last two sessions, the seven groups micro-taught their teaching sequences with the class and premiered their films. You can see the results of our didactic work on the STORIES blog (ed. by Prof. Martin/M. Kiefer).
When the “Teaching English in Laos” project started in November 2015, a Lending Library was installed at the school in Sikeud, where teachers have since been able to borrow picture books, flashcards and other diverse teaching material. The teaching material provided on the STORIES blog can now be added to the existing collection – pick’n choose!
Storytelling may well have been the earliest art form. We, the students of the University of Education Karlsruhe, were fortunate to be able to take part in a Storytelling Workshop organized by Prof. Martin towards the end of term: She regularly invites Richard Martin, an internationally renowned storyteller, to work with her students. We were first asked to study Richard’s body language during storytelling:
Then he involved us in a “participation story”1 and step by step led us through the inevitable barrier of initial embarrassment until we were ready to try ourselves. Here are some impressions:
“The Strongest of Them All”
Jack, the tree, the ice, the sun, the cloud, the wind, the mountain
Jack slips on the ice
“BUT… I know someone who is stronger than me!”
The Laos applicants in Prof. Martin’s “Global English” seminar are also invited to the workshops, so you may recognize some familiar faces:
Storytelling workshop…
…in partner work…
… telling each other…
Isabella
Kerstin
Veronika and Tanja
Alyssa and Amelie
Tanja and Venetia
Fabian and Laura
After the four-hour workshop we were tired but really happy to have made our first baby-steps in the rather challenging art of storytelling: No book, no pictures, no flashcards, no props – just you and your voice and your face and your body!
Learn to use your hands…
… posture and face…
… and develop!
On one of his Southeast Asian tours, Richard visited the school in Sikeud in February 2016 to deliver one of his storytelling performances, as he had found Prof. Martin’s account of the project interesting. Unfortunately, Prof. Martin and the volunteers were not present at that time and thus could not prepare our Lao partners or the conditions for the performance. This is when one encounters “excitement but limitations“.
After the workshop in Karlsruhe, I asked Richard to describe the key to a good story:
“You ask about the power of storytelling. Well, perhaps I should tell you a tale.
Once upon a time there was a king who had three sons. Now the king, he knew that when he was dead and gone, his boys would have to be rulers after him. And so like all fathers he wanted the best for his children, and he wanted his sons to learn, to know the wisdom they needed to have as kings.
And so the king, he called for teachers. And now he thought, “At last my boys will learn to listen, and so they can learn.”
And the teachers began to teach. And do you think the boys listened? Of course they didn’t. You know what boys are like…”
“Now of course you want to know what happened in the rest of the story, right?
And you can watch me tell it all here: The boys who wouldn’t listen.”
Telling and acting out a story is fun, but also hard work for the storyteller. It takes more concentration than you may think. See how Richard takes the narrative lead and acts out the story with some of us participating:
Story: “The Strongest of Them All”
Story: “The Old Woman and Her Pig”
Stories can be a powerful resource in class to motivate and engage learners (of all ages!) in English as a Second language (ESL). That fact was utterly proved by Richard Martin on this memorable afternoon. After he had performed some more of his stories to us, in the second half of the afternoon it was our turn to practise and, in the end, even perform a story for the other students. What an exciting and fun afternoon we spent!
Through the power of words it is possible to transform a room into a fascinating fairytale scenery which envelops, even transfixes your audience and takes it on an imaginative journey with you, the storyteller.
“An amateur tells the words, a professional tells the story – but an artist tells the listener” (anon.).
And now we – the new Laos Team VI members – are getting ready for our very real journey, which starts… tomorrow!
Text by R. Martin & F. Stober
Photos & videos taken and chosen by I. Martin
Click here to read more about Storytelling in our project:
- Workshop ‘English Storytelling for young learners’ – Nov 2017
- Workshop #Storytelling: Pre-, while- and post-activities’ – Mar 2017
- Richard Martin’s visit to our schools in Laos
Note:
1 Martin, I. & R. Martin (2011). “Participation stories for your classroom. Enjoy the tales!” Grundschulmagazin Englisch – The Primary English Magazine 9 (2): 7-9.
References:
Martin, I. & M. Kiefer (2017): STORIES blog. https://picturebooksintefl.wordpress.com/ (last accessed on 16 February 2018)
Martin, R.: Tell a tale. http://www.tellatale.eu/ with teaching notes (last accessed on 16 February 2018)
Storytelling blogs. http://blog.storyandheart.com/blog/2015/1/5/9-best-storytelling-blogs-to-read (last accessed on 16 February 2018)
Storytelling course. https://www.khanacademy.org/partner-content/pixar/storytelling (last accessed on 16 February 2018)
World Storytelling Day. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Storytelling_Day (last accessed on 16 February 2018)
Project videos by Team V!
“Time flies when you are having fun.” (Albert Einstein)
We as Team V working in Laos certainly made this experience. The past months of our stay flew by very quickly, which left us with good-bye tears, but most importantly with tons of beautiful memories. In order to share some of our experiences made in the “Teaching English in Laos” project, we created two videos.
The videos were first shown during the info-session about the project we held at the University of Education in Karlsruhe on 31 January. Students from all faculties were invited to receive background information on how to join the project and what the actual work looks like.
(The next round of applications starts later this month.)
The first video shows the different areas in Ban Sikeud primary school, Ban Phang Heng primary school, and Ban Phang Heng secondary school, where the volunteers Hanna, Lea, Jessica, Lara, Marie, Veronika, and Rebecca worked. The second video gives a lively impression of the Lao German Technical College, where Sandra, Ariane, and Janina taught.
Now enjoy the first video (the second one will follow soon) and also take a look at our video gallery, where the videos of the previous teams can be found!
With very best wishes,
Team V
Marie, Lara, Prof. Martin, Hanna, Jessica; Lea, Rebecca, Veronika
The seven members of Team V working in Sikeud and Phang Heng join Ms Mittaphone Sichampa and Mr Bounleud Sengsavangvong for lunch
Text by J. Porscha
Photos by J. Porscha & V. Golla
Video schools by L. Herrmann
Video college by A. Kummetz (forthcoming)
Letters from Laos – “Cooperation between BHS and LGTC” by Phonesavanh Chachueyang
Editor’s note: Following Mr Phonesouk Inhtaxay’s post on his time in Germany in July and August 2017, his colleague Mr Phonsavanh Chachueyang from the Mechanical Department at the Lao-German Technical College also wrote down some of his impressions. Both received an eight-week training course in Weiherhammer. For four weeks the two received further in-service training in the UeBZO (Ueberbetriebliches Bildungs Zentrum in Ostbayern = inter-company education center in Eastern Bavaria; former subsidiary of BHS Corrugated), where they got to know the German dual training system, the training organization, the workshops, and the machinery.
During the other four weeks, they worked in the production facilities of BHS Corrugated and were involved in the assembly of machines that would be shipped around the world. They stayed near Weiherhammer and on weekends also had the chance to visit many different cities and towns in Bavaria, such as Munich, Regensburg, Straubing, Nueremberg, and Wuerzburg.
Mr Phonesavanh Chachueyang shares some impressions of his time in Germany:
Lao-German technical college (LGTC) has cooperated with BHS two years ago, the cooperation was for development human resources for staff of LGTC. At the moment BHS supports many things for development LGTC such as: equipment for learning, some English teacher for teaching and provides some training course in Germany for train to the teacher at LGTC.
I have joined the training course in Germany on July 2017, so I will let you know about my experience since I was in Germany for two months. I spent my time two months stay in Bavaria for training at BHS, I stay not so far from BHS it is about 3.5 km and I drive bicycle to BHS every day for the training. I really enjoy with my time in Germany very much because I attend my training course during the week and at weekend I have gone for traveling in each city.
BHS is a big company, since I have been there I trained in each department such as: quality control, assembly hall, produce management, welding hall, training canter… I have gotten a lot of knowledge and new technology from this training course, I saw many big machines I have never seen before and I interested with BHS very much.
I am looking forward to go to Germany again and look forward to see all of my friends in Germany.
Text & photos by P. Chachueyang
Workshop on 11 December 2017 – “Micro-teaching with a picture book in the classroom – what, why, when, and how”
English picture books are excellent material to use in English classes for primary pupils and pre-schoolers for many reasons. Here are the main ones quoted in the academic literature: “Stories are motivating, challenging and fun and can help develop positive attitudes towards the foreign language, culture and language learning” and “[l]istening to stories in class is a shared social experience.”
For this reason, in January and March last year (2017), Teams III and IV offered two workshops on this topic to our tandem-teachers. As expected, the results were promising to take root, so Prof. Martin produced her bibliography of picture books and selected 20 more titles that seemed suitable also in a Lao cultural context. She then asked me (Lea) to edit and process the book order, which the Angels for Children foundation agreed to pay for.
So, before my departure for Laos, I checked which titles were available as “Big Books” (picture books in very large format so everybody in a class can see the pictures). The list was ordered by the foundation in August, and the books that were available through a German retailer arrived in time for us to take them with us in September. The others, which had to be ordered directly from England, will take a bit longer to make their way to Laos.
I met up with the three primary school English teachers in the library of Ban Sikeud Primary School for my Workshop “Micro-teaching with a picture book in the classroom – what, why, when, and how.”
Picture book workshop with Ms Bounpheng, Ms Mittaphone “Mit” & Ms Phovang “Noy”
I only did a short introduction and revision of the use of picture books as teaching material in the EFL (English as a Foreign Language) primary classroom. As the teachers had had an introduction in the two previous workshops on what picture books are and why teachers should use them, and also a short sample lesson on how to – and how not to – work with them, I put the focus on micro-teaching one particular picture book. I wanted to show in detail and exactly how to work with a picture book in the classroom in tried-and-tested pre-, while– and post activities, step by step.
Western readers may wonder why picture books need an introduction. Well – “Laos is an oral culture.” This means there are not many books written in Lao to start with. If there are no books to read, oral culture continues. If oral culture continues, no books are written.
However, literacy is a sine-qua-non in the modern world, and reading is therefore now promoted. The very first Lao organisation to focus on producing and publishing fun educational books and distributing them to children is “Big Brother Mouse”. In 2006, they started so-called “book parties” in their new bookshop and have since then visited many schools in the country, read to many children, showed them how to read and treat a book, and left their books behind to promote literacy.
I chose the following picture book because it deals with the daily work of a farmer and different farm animals. Since some of the parents of the Laotian pupils are farmers themselves and have chickens and cows in their own yards, the children would be able to relate to the topic. Also being told or read animal stories is always fun and motivating for young children of any culture.
This book has two protagonists: A lazy farmer who stays in bed all day eating chocolate and reading the newspaper, and his hard-working duck, who has to deal with all the farm work and chores in the house, for example sawing wood, collecting apples, or ironing clothes.
One evening the exhausted duck collapses in tears and is soon comforted by the chickens. The farm animals are very fond of the duck and outraged by the farmer’s behaviour, so they hatch a plan.1
As soon as the farmer falls asleep they sneak into his room and kick him out of bed. He is so afraid that he runs away and never comes back. From this day on the farm animals live in peace on the farm and work together on all chores.2
Flashcards for introducing vocabulary
Pre-activities
Pre-activities in teaching are used for activating schemata (getting pupils to recall what they already know about the subject), predicting, and developing student curiosity and interest.
I started by micro-teaching some pre-activities because they are essential for the introduction of the main characters and the topic of the book for inexperienced learners.
One way to present the topic of the book is to bring realia to the classroom. I brought eggs, rice, and potatoes.
Realia: Rice, egg, and a potato
I asked the children where they can buy these things and their answer was that you can get eggs, potatoes, and rice at the market.
A market situation lends itself to the following pre-activity to practise the following exchange: One pupil is the farmer and another one is the customer.
Three dialogues, at different levels of difficulty, for differentiation:
Customer: I would like to buy some eggs.
Farmer: Here you are! (hands over the eggs) Here are ten eggs for you.
For more advanced pupils:
Customer: How much are they?
Farmer: Ten thousand KIP.
Even more advanced:
Customer: That is too much. I will give you five thousand KIP.
Farmer: OK, I will give you a discount: eight thousand KIP
Customer: OK. Here you are. (hands over the money)
Hanna and Lea buy eggs at the market
The dialogue cards can be handed to pairs of pupils or put on the blackboard for reference once the pronunciation of the sentences has been practised enough, and if writing is a regular feature of English lessons (which is the case in Lao primary classrooms). Three courageous pairs act out the dialogues in front of the class, with the help of the teacher. Then all pairs choose the level at which they want to practise themselves.
You can also create word webs for the word “farmer”.
Word web for a farmer
After this activity, I presented the picture book and asked my audience which animals they could see on the front cover and what they are doing. This activated some of the vocabulary waiting for us in the book.
Front cover prediction: “What can you see?”
While-activities
While reading the book out loud it is very important to make sure that the pupils are paying attention in order to be able to follow the story. As with storytelling, for picture book work you need to establish the rule that it has to be quiet in the classroom. If this proves impossible, you make a sad face, close the book, and say: “It is too loud. I will try again tomorrow.”
The next day, to make sure that the children pay attention, you can stop and ask questions while you are reading. Another way is to distribute little picture cards of different characters from the book and ask the pupils to hold up the card (silent) or say the name of the character or make different animal sounds (if this does not lead to turmoil…) every time their character appears. This technique is called „chorusing“, or „chanting“.
A little impression of reading out loud and “doing” the voices:
Post-activities
After you read the book you practise and extend the vocabulary used in the book with different techniques, for example a song that goes well with the story:
“Old Mac Donald had a farm
E-I-E-I-O
And on his farm he had a cow
E-I-E-I-O
With a moo moo here
And a moo moo there
Here a moo, there a moo
Everywhere a moo moo
Old MacDonald had a farm E-I-E-I-O” …
To quieten the class down again, while maybe playing the song a few more times, you can now ask the pupils to draw a picture about the story or colour a colouring page. As Lao pupils do not usually have sharpeners, you can wind down yourself by going around sharpening their pencils and crayons.
Colouring page: The duck carries a sheep.
Our tandem-teachers also came up with their own ideas, e.g. re-telling the story together and asking questions about the story.
In the end we read the story together once more for practice, and the teachers also imitated the different animal voices while reading, for more semanticization. The workshop was designed to enlarge the teachers’ methodological repertoire, of course, but apart from that it was great fun, too!
I hope they will use the material to try out a lesson with this book in their classrooms soon, because if the teacher enjoys her teaching material, her classes will, too!
And maybe, in the teachers’ kitchen during communal lunches, there might be new talk revolving around lazy farmers and hard-working ducks. Or newly lazy ducks and hard-working pigs. Or a happy hard-working community with a fair distribution of labour and income, like in this tale.
We read and imitate different animal voices together.
Text by L.Herrmann & I. Martin
Photos & videos by M. Kirsten
Notes:
1 Experienced readers will smile at the intertextual reference. All of a sudden, a “simple” picture book is charged up with strong satirical political connotations. This is an old story, and we already know the lazy farmer and his animal-slaves from one very famous allegorical novella which was published in 1945 and went on to become a world classic. The text is still read in English classes at German secondary schools and at university, nowadays newly framed by more recent “dystopian fiction“, which is very popular with young Western readers. We also know how the story ends, of course…
2 The happy ending raises questions and could lead to interesting discussions in an advanced classroom, especially in Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ).
References:
Primary
Wadell, Martin & Oxenbury, Helen. (1995) Farmer Duck. Walker Books Ltd.
Illustrated version of the Picture Book: https://vimeo.com/56772821
Secondary
Ellis & Brewster (2002) Tell it again! The Storytelling Handbook for Primary Teachers.Penguin English.
Bang, bang, scratch – The director’s signature
At Ban Phang Heng Secondary School three directors are responsible for the organization, structure, and bureaucracy. When it comes to getting official approval of something new, one has to go to the First Director.
One of our tasks at the secondary school is to offer “Activities”. Team I and II experimented with different Activity formats and tried out different artistic language-teaching techniques (songs, dance, games), and Team III established the first English Conversation Club. It took off really well, so Team IV added the Games Club, the ABC Club, and the Science Lab Activity Time.
Team V continued all four, albeit not on a daily basis anymore, and added the new Drama Club. Before our “Clubs” can officially start during “Activity Time” (3 – 4 p.m. from Monday to Thursday), however, they first have to be permitted. How exactly? With the director’s signature.
This is the procedure I followed to get the two Clubs I was resposible for, the “Science Lab Activity Time” and the “English Games Club”, approved:
Before the clubs can start they also have to be announced and promoted, of course, else nobody will know about them. So at the beginning of each project phase or at the beginning of a new club, we, the volunteers, advertise them. How? Through posters.
(Editor’s note: This proved to be a little tricky with the ABC Club. It was supposed to help pupils who cannot read or write the Latin alphabet. It turned out that translating the poster would not help much, either, as some pupils apparently also cannot read Lao. Lao is not the first or only language for all pupils, and in the remote rural areas children often still do not get regular schooling, for want of teachers or schools, or family reasons. Sometimes new schools are built in the remote areas by foreign aid, but then there are no teachers to put inside. In one ethnic group, there is also no written alphabet to start with. After figuring all this out, the Club was advertised orally, and the classroom filled up.)
Information board at Ban Phang Heng Secondary School
Signed poster
One could imagine that the posters are simply hung up on the information board, but there is a quite a procedure to go through from the copying machine to the pinning of the poster.
After having designed the poster for the Club, I print it twice. One printout is for the information board in the hallway outside,which all pupils pass all the time, and one is for the teachers’ Common Room. Before I go to the directors’ office, I ask one of the English teachers to accompany me in order to interpret, as the directors do not speak English. The directors’ office is located next to the teachers’ Common Room and divided into two parts. When you come in, first there are two desks on the right side, one for the Second and one for the Third Director. In the back of the office, separated by a glass door, is the desk of the First Director, Mr Khampheng Bounthalavong.
“I Spy…”: Certificates and photos of previous project teams!
When I pass the first two desks, I put my hands together and politely slightly bow and say “sabai’dee” in the direction of the two directors, and then knock on the glass door. After a short pause, the First Director calls me in. We greet each other in Lao and English and I receive and return a friendly smile. After bringing forth my matter, my interpreter interprets, the director listens patiently, and then he asks me to sit down. Before I take a seat, I put the two posters on his desk. These are then checked carefully by the Lao teacher, who translates for Mr Khampheng what is written on the poster. After the translation…silence… the director keeps his eyes on the poster. His friendly face now looks very concentrated.
I catch myself inadvertently holding my breath… until the First Director reaches for the first stamp – bang – then the second – bang – and I hear a scratching noise, which means his signature is on the poster now. Clubs approved? Yes!
The First Director
Now the posters are copied and the copies are put in one of the many folders the director has in his office.
Then, finally, the posters with the important red stamps and the bouncy signature are handed back to me. The friendly smile reappears on the First Director’s face and I smile back a second time. I leave the office with a “khop chai lai lai” – thank you very much – I pass the other two desks again and go next door to the Didactics Room to get some sticky tape to hang up my Activity Time posters.
Where the poster has to be signed…
… on my way to the First Director
Bureaucracy in Laos
Lao society is dominated by hierarchies. This becomes visible in the bureaucracy, originally installed by French colonial rule. It can be complex and very difficult for us to understand. Everything needs to be approved with one or more stamps.
Many processes in daily life need to be checked and confirmed and this does not only concern official matters such as marriages or ID cards. In our case, we need to be declared and registered with the local authorities to be allowed to work at the (state) schools in Sikeud and Phang Heng.
When Lao people go to the offices for bureaucratic affairs they dress “properly”, take off their shoes before entering, and wait patiently until they are asked about their matter.
This is why it is not surprising, after all, why a poster announcing an English Club has to go through such a procedure. It is part of the country’s rules and routines. Even if the procedure might seem awkward or unnecessary to us at first – is there really such a big difference to our own (German!) bureaucracy? A director of a western school also wants to know what is happening in his institution.
Text by V. Golla
Photos by V. Golla & I. Martin
The good soul of Ban Phang Heng Secondary School – An interview with Ms Saysamone Singhalath
Ms Saysamone Singhalath is 26 years old and has taught history at Ban Phang Heng Secondary School for six years now. In addition, she takes care of the Didactics Room. This means she opens it in the morning, takes care of the equipment and materials and checks if everything is working as it should be.
She also joined our “(Non-English) teacher Beginners” lessons in 2016 and 2017 to improve her English and has made a lot of progress since. From Monday to Friday she also visits the private English lessons in Ban Phang Heng Primary School, offered in the evening by different Lao teachers of English for adults and pupils.
As a “Beginner” learning a foreign language, she practises a lot and made a lot of headway during this past year. Ms Saysamone is very open and readily speaks in the foreign language without hesitation now, so communication with her is easy, always fun, and also a rewarding and enriching experience.
With her very friendly attitude and always smiling demeanour, it is always a pleasure to meet her in one’s daily school life – she lights up even the worst day with a smile or a joke and everyone can count themselves lucky to have her as a companion and friend.
Ms Saysamone in front of the Science Lab in Ban Phang Heng Secondary School
LM: “Did you learn English at school? What were the lessons like?”
Ms Saysamone learnt English at school. As she told me, it was “a lot of listen and repeat”, but she always thought that the lessons were good. Still, it was not one of her good subjects and she did not know how to improve. “When I was a student, my English was not really good and I didn’t understand it. I can’t even pronounce ‘thank you’,” she laughed. “Two years ago, I didn’t study English in evening class.” She would have had to pay money for it. After finishing school she dropped the idea of improving her English, but that changed about two years ago.
Her first teacher of English after school was Ms Monika Schellberg, a private volunteer for the Angels for Children foundation. She taught her and some other teachers. In addition, the director of the evening school told her that as a teacher at Ban Phang Heng Secondary School she would not have to pay for the English courses. Since then, she has studied hard and has had a lot of fun while learning English.
LM: “How does learning English now with the volunteers from Germany and your teachers in evening school differ from learning it at school?”
“I think both is very good for me, because when I talk to you I have to know the pronunciation. When we speak, you correct me directly and that’s what I can remember.” In evening school, she learns how to build sentences in a correct way, also grammar rules and how to apply them. The combination of practice and theory is what she thinks is best for her improvement. “If I only talk to you, I know how to talk, but not how to make a [correct] sentence. If you just learn and study, but I don’t talk English, my English will be not so good. Talking makes your English better!”
LM: “Did your responsibility for the Didactics Room help you to get in contact with the volunteers from Germany and improve your English while talking to them?”
“It’s very good for my English, because normally I’m too shy to speak and now it’s my work and I have to talk to you because we have to work together.” Ms Saysamone is convinced that taking care of the Didactics Room makes her English better. As a “non-English teacher”, she says it is her only chance in school to practise: “When there are no people I’m talking to, I will forget everything.”
Apart from her special task in our project, the “Non-English teacher” lessons played an important role in her development. After the beginnings with Ms Schellberg, she had different teachers: Ms Pauline Kern, Mr David Schrep (Team III), Ms Venetia Dariou (Team IV) and Ms Jessica Porscha (Team V). All of them helped her to gain confidence in speaking English!
Ms Saysamone with Jessica and Prof. Martin at Jessi’s farewell “Baci” in November
LM: “What did you think about the project when you first heard about it?”
Anika (Team III) asked her to take care of the Didactics Room. “I was so exciting and happy to hear that I should take care about it.” She reported that she knew Team I and II, “but I didn’t talk to them because I didn’t know how to speak.” Ms Schellberg was still at the secondary school at the same time, so the English and Non-English teachers were taught in different ways. Therefore, at the very beginning of her English speaking career, she was still very insecure.
Before the project started, no one told her that the German teachers from the University of Education Karlsruhe would come to Laos, so this came as a surprise for her. Two years-and-a-half later, she really likes the new system and “if it’s possible I would like to learn English like the English teachers, about 2 or 3 hours per week”. (Editor’s note: We started out with 5 lessons a week for the English teachers, and as they became more confident, used two of those hours for preparing lessons together instead.)
LM: “What do you like about English?”
“For me I think English is very important because English is a very important language because all the world has to know about English. When I can speak English I can go everywhere. For this school, we have foreigner that come to our school every year and then it’s better if I can speak English to talk to them and to help them. I wants to help you because you are very important for our school.”
This appreciation, even from someone who does not benefit from the project as much as the English teachers do, makes me even happier about having joined and being part of this project. This is also what this project is about: Not only teaching/learning English, but making new friends and connecting to others’ lives.
“I think if my English is better when I speak with you or we communication. If I say somehing, but I didn’t mean it like this, there will be misunderstandings. English is a very important language and I’m very happy to speak English. I never think that I could speak English or this moment would be possible. Not possible without Monika because she was the first person I talked to and she supported me. Ms Monika told me to study English and how I can learn it.” She told her that only talking to people will improve her English continuously.
LM: “What would you like to achieve in the next 5 years?”
“First of all I would like to be a good person and I feel about improving my English. I want to speak English very well and confidently.”
LM: “Can you please name three wishes for your future?”
“The first thing, I would like to do something for my family, parents, they should be good and happy everyday. The second thing I would like to buy a new house for me and my family. I will take care of my parents when they are old. The last thing, I would like to be a good teacher and I would like to go to university to improve myself and to get a higher level.”
Right now, Ms Saysamone has a high certificate in History, but she would like to get a Bachelor’s degree. “People in Lao want to be bachelor degree.”
Striving for more is a well-known phenomenon for most of the people in this world with many opportunities. In my opinion, Ms Saysamone already improved a lot, even in the short period of my four months in Laos, and I hope she stays keen on learning a foreign language and developing her skills!
Ms Saysamone in “winter clothes” on the schoolyard
Text by L. Malchow
Photos by R. Dengler & L. Malchow
Workshop on 20 November 2017 – Creating and using teaching material
Extra teaching material and lessons – nowadays, two inseparable things when we think about teaching. To work only with the set course book is nothing we would consider anymore.
Teaching in general has become a much more deliberate, thought-through, and well-researched progress. The older instructivist ways of teaching like lecturing and rote instruction aim at foundational knowledge and memorization. Modern methods stress the importance of meaningful learning and active learning and therefore focus on the learners in the constructivist teaching approach, in which pupils are helped to learn to think independently rather than to remember. This involves using teaching techniques like, for instance, collaboration, task-based instruction, Total Physical Response activities, or team games. We therefore need new, additional materials to realize these new techniques.
In every subject, the more advanced teacher would want use different materials to create a more meaningful, active, fascinating, concrete, and sustainable learning environment – also in a more instructional lesson phase like introducing new words. A teacher wants his or her class to stay concentrated, interested, and excited – and the more enthusiastic the teacher is about his or her subject and pupils, the better the teaching results are.
This is why it is one of our major tasks to show new techniques and materials to the English teachers in Ban Sikeud Primary School and Ban Phang Heng Primary and Secondary School, to be used in their concrete lessons. We follow this planning stage up by tandem-teaching and then independent teaching and finish with an evaluation and feedback before we continue building up the next step.
Therefore, we offered a workshop about creating and using teaching material on 20 November 2017, to build on what former Teams had done before. As the teachers were already familiar with games and Singlish, i.e. ways of teaching English playfully, and also with how to teach vocabulary in different ways, we could build on these techniques in planning our workshop.
In our preparation, we asked the primary school teachers what they exactly would need next for their lessons, and we also studied the Lao English course books for secondary school to decide what kind of materials would be useful next for the secondary teachers. All of them already knew about word- and flashcards and how to use them from their various previous workshops and tandem-lessons by now, but for our tandem-teachers making them takes a lot of effort and initiative and needs extra time and organization, which explains why they still require or welcome our assistance. Our task as their present tandem-teachers is to continue to support them in this and act as role models at the same time, which we strive to do in general in our daily school routine anyway. We would just not like to walk into a classroom with an unprepared, meaningless, or boring lesson.
We therefore decided to offer a special window of time to create new material together, and we divided the workshop into five parts.
PART 1 – Introducing a lesson
At the beginning we started with a chant to get everybody relaxed and to show one more example of how to introduce a(ny) lesson in an interesting and motivating manner.
PART 2 – Why is it important to use different material?
We continued with the question about the importance of different material, to refresh their memories. The teachers were asked to collect their ideas, and we then completed the list:
- to make it more interesting (motivation)
- to activate the pupils (participation)
- to improve one’s teaching (professional self-development)
- to learn with different senses (multi-sensory learning)
→ to allow different types of learners to remember e.g. grammar or vocabulary better - to show a word by using an object or picture (and not just read and listen, semanticization)
- to make the word real, to actually experience it (to connect the word to real life, contextualization)
- to generally include the pupils more and give them more variety and opportunities for thinking (constructivist approach)
Getting into the topic
PART 3 – What kind of different materials do you know?
Thus prepared, the teachers could now start to draw up a mindmap about our workshop topic. They collected their ideas about material which is useful or rather necessary in class.
Mindmap of different material
The list of their ideas was made with guiding questions and a little help from our side, but most of the material is indeed what they now use, or try to use, in their daily lessons.
Readers may wonder about missing audio- or digital materials. These are not listed in the mindmap for a reason. There are no modern medial devices in Lao classrooms, only blackboards and (white) chalk. Schools may own a CD-player, but we never saw one in use until we introduced Singlish. Also, songs and games themselves are no “material” material but can be used as if they were. By using them, the teachers make their lessons more interesting and various.
PART 4 – Creating teaching material
Now we divided the participants up into groups of two to three: Ms Bounpheng, Ms Mittaphone and Ms Phovang (“Noy”) as the primary school group, Mr Boundleud and Ms Souksakhone as the first and Mr Vienglakhone ‘Noy’ and Ms Donekeo as the second secondary school group. In these groups, flash- and word cards were now created which represented different topics like numbers or emotions, but also grammar topics like adjectives or subject pronouns.
The teachers were also asked to make a list of different ideas of how to use them in class, and then to laminate and cut them in the correct size and needed form(at) so they would be big enough for pupils to see them even from the last row in the classroom.
Additionally, on the rather more technical side, we made sure to demonstrate again how to deal carefully with such material, e.g. to save space while laminating.
Ms Bounpheng laminates her material
Ms Mittaphone and Ms Phovane create flashcards
Flashcards with emotions and numbers
Ms Mittaphone and Hanna cut the laminated flashcards and word cards
Ms Souksakhone and Mr Bounleud create word cards
Lara shows the topic (adjectives) which goes with the word cards
PART 5 – Using the designed material
We finished by showing even more examples of how to use the material in various, interesting, and more fun ways. See for yourself the three games we played with the whole group, using the material they designed plus several fruits as realia:
In addition to the flash- and word cards, we showed our tandem-teachers how to include realia like fruits, vegetables, or office supplies. We used them for visualization of vocabulary or as a material basis for games.
After a few weeks we were noticing that the teachers were using the material we created with them, and they were also bringing different realia to show and use in the classroom!
This makes us very happy – it is motivating for us to see their progress.
Text by H. Glass, L. Malchow & I. Martin
Photos & videos by R. Dengler
Letters from Laos – “The history of my football team” by Bounthavy Siphonephat
Many boys and young men in Laos still play the traditional ball game “kator” (in Lao), or “sepak takraw” (เซปักตะกร้อ [seːpàk tàkrɔ̂ː] in Thai), meaning “kick the braided ball”). Kator dates back to around 1500 and is similar to volleyball, with the main difference that the players must pass the ball over the net using their feet, heads, chests, and knees, but not their hands. Also, the ball is essentially made of rattan. Here is a little sample from the schoolyard of Ban Phang Heng Secondary School:
Besides, football has also become a very trendy sport in Laos, getting more and more popular especially in the cities.
Mr Bounthavy Siphonephat, an employee in the Electrical Department at the LGTC since 2005 and one of our students in the English Elementary class, is a very passionate player in the LGTC football team. For him as well as for his colleagues and friends, training or matches after work mean exercise and fun to begin with. Then, playing football in a team with colleagues is also an excellent way to combine sports and collaborative activities: Being successful together is the incentive, but more important is the team spirit and being part of a hopefully winning team.
Johannes Zeck, BHS project leader of “Teaching English in Laos”, also always tries to join the training of the LGTC football team when he gets to Vientiane. We (female team members) therefore learnt not to schedule team meetings for Wednesday evenings! We understand why now:
Hello, my name is Mr Bounthavy Siphonephat
Mr Bounthavy, Mr Khamsavay and Sandra
The LGTC football team was created in 1982 around the same time when I was born under name Lao-German graph vocational training team and wearing yellow shirts and black shorts. The Lao-German graph vocational training team under coaching by Mr. Koeoudone eventually earned the gold medal for Lao-football club in 1986 (the now defunct) and upgrade to division one team until 1995, during this time the team didn’t play very often anymore and finally stopped.
1993 – with the former director of the LGTC (LGTS) Mr Soulikone (in white on the right side)
1995 or 1996 – you can see the present Acting Director Mr Khamsavay at the back on the left side
In 2005 Mr Bounthavy, Mr Syphone and Mr Saythong had idea for created new football team under name “jigsaw man team” and wearing yellow shirts and blue shorts. we played at saysettha stadium, thanongart stadium and phonpapao stadium (all in Vientiane) with team from TVET (Technical vocational education training) schools and other teams.
In 2008 our team changed name to my style and our team usually had a winner for match and had a more persons from LGTS want to join in my style team than Mr Soutsakhone would like to return team from teacher in LGTS. so LGTS team was born in 2009 in during our team had match for TVET football championship and team had a winner and has a gold medal.
Now my team under name is LGTC (Lao-German Technical college) team and coaching by Mr Khamsing. The team has about 25 persons and every person has different year old, some persons very young around 23-30 years old (Mr Phonesouk, Mr In, Mr Phonesavan, Mr Phonethavy, Mr Kila, Mr Joy, Mr Lir, Mr Kou, Mr Saysongkham Mr Sychanh, Mr Othong and Mr Maney) some persons around 30-40 years old (Mr Souliya, Mr Bounthavy, Mr Syphone, Mr Saythong, Mr Phomma, Mr Sakounsay and Mr Souney) and some persons very old around 55-58 years old. (Mr Khamsavay, Mr Koukeo, Mr Khamsing, Mr Soutsakhone, Mr Phetmanivone, and Mr Anongsack).
LGTC team has match every Wednesday evening our played at Hakban stadium, Victory stadium and New arena stadium (all around college) with student team from LGTC, team from TVET schools and other teams.
2011 or 2012 – the former director Mr Somlith was part of the team, too
LGTC football team in 2014
LGTC team is a best of Teacher football teams for college in TVET because LGTC always winner when team had match for TVET football championship and has a gold medal.
2015
I am very happy to join in LGTC football team.
BHS students against LGTC teachers
Text by B. Siphonephat
Photos by B. Siphonephat, S. Uhlig; Video by I. Martin
New places available for internships starting in September 2018: Join the info session on 31 January 2018!
Interested in an internship?
On 31 January the University of Education Karlsruhe and the Angels for Children foundation will hold an information session on internship possibilities in Laos from September 2019 on (Team VII). Details on placements, the application, and the deadlines can be found on the internship page.
PH students and graduates from all subjects and degrees are cordially invited to join the info session on:
31 January 2018
6:00 – 8:00 p.m.
Room 3.311
University of Education Karlsruhe
Volunteers of Team V, Team IV, and even from the first three teams will be there to report on their work and answer your questions.
Prof. Dr. Isabel Martin (English), Johannes Zeck (AfC foundation), and Julia Friedl (AAA) will also be present to give you information on formal matters, e.g. funding, credit points for “Profilbildung”, new contacts and openings in Laos, duration of stay, and possible later stays planned for February 2019 onwards (Team VIII).
We are looking forward very much to your visit!
Laos Volunteer Teams, Prof. Martin, J. Zeck & J. Friedl
Life is full of drama – so why not join the (drama) club?
New English “Drama Club” at Ban Phang Heng Secondary School
Pupils can spend an hour after their regular classes to improve their spoken English in the English Conversation Club and the English Games Club. To offer yet another “English Club” during Activity Time for the pupils to learn and practise English, Marie and I started the Drama Club at Ban Phang Heng Secondary School. Every Tuesday and Thursday up to ten pupils join our new club and participate.
In the regular English lessons at school, the pupils can also practise speaking English, due to the improved teaching techniques our Lao English tandem-teachers now use. However, there are many pupils who still like to practise speaking English even more. During Activity Time, therefore, we give them the opportunity to speak in a smaller group.
Practising a short play together
With drama, pupils can acquire meaningful language structures in a playful and fun way. It offers the possibility for every pupil to speak on her or his own, but in a guided context and framework, i.e. with the necessary scaffolding.
Another great benefit of using drama for learning a foreign language is that pronunciation and prosodic features can easily be practised. Prosodic features are the suprasegmental aspects of a language, which appear when we put together single sounds in connected speech, e.g. intonation, stress, or rhythm. For Lao learners, English pronunciation, stress, and intonation particularly are very difficult to learn. Lao is a tonal syllable-based language, and stress and intonation therefore work completely differently. For this reason, acting out sentences and over-exaggerating are very good ways to practise these aspects of the English language.
In the Drama Club, we noticed that playing and practising drama improves the pupils’
1. pronunciation, stress, and intonation,
2. expands their active vocabulary and syntactical and grammatical structures, but it also
3. improves their confidence in speaking English on their own.
When we started the Drama Club, the pupils were very shy and it took them several minutes to gather their courage to answer our questions or just to say an English sentence in front of the others. There was a lot of giggling. From each time to the next, though, we could see how their confidence increased. Also, when pupils joined later who had not been to the Drama Club before, you could see a great difference between the confidence of the pupils who had been there almost every time and those who had newly arrived.
Getting more and more confident to act… and speak!
It is most difficult for most pupils to speak spontaneously. Therefore, we mostly select participation stories. These are stories in which the audience is being engaged while the story is being told. The audience speaks along, gestures, and acts. Sometimes the whole group acts and sometimes single persons are chosen to act out a specific character. One example is the story “The Ghost with One Black Eye”, which has easy, repetitive language structures reoccurring with slight variations in an easy, circular plot structure, or easy plays written specifically for early foreign language learners.
With these stories and mini-plays, the pupils can speak along first and then speak on their own after some practice. After they are confident about what to say, we encourage them to act it out and show them how to say it, e.g. surprised, happily, angrily, fast, annoyed, etc. Once the pupils have overcome their first reticence, they have great pleasure in acting out the dramas. (We experienced a “same same but different” phenomenon ourselves – after stepping out of our comfort zone – in the “Singlish” workshop.)
Even though acting in general and then acting in English in particular is a major challenge for most of the pupils at Ban Phang Heng Secondary School, it is a great way to get them to speak, to practise pronunciation and especially prosodic features, and to shed their inhibitions of using English in lively interaction, and to speak in the foreign language in front of others.
The “trick of the trade” is easy: If you act a role, it’s not you speaking, is it?
Text by R. Dengler
Photos & video by M. Kirsten & D. Dengler
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