06:12, 29/12/2020

Effort to develop English language learning environment

Developing English language learning environment has been of much concern with various activities at many schools in Khanh Hoa Province...

Developing English language learning environment has been of much concern with various activities at many schools in Khanh Hoa Province.
 
Various activities for practicing English
 
Khanh Hoa Department of Education & Training has piloted a project on creating English language environment at all education levels in some schools since 2018 – 2019 academic year. The program has been widely developed since 2019 – 2020 and thus all primary and high schools in Khanh Hoa Province have promoted the foreign language learning motivation and considered developing English language environment among key educational tasks.
 

 

 

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Contestants in English speaking contest, school year 2020-2021, held by Nha Trang Division of Education & Training.
 
 
 
Based on the “handbook on building and developing foreign language learning and practicing environment” by the Ministry of Education & Training from 2019-2020, schools have organized various activities such as English speaking contests, including presentation, acting, extracurricular activities themed world festivals; designing English magazines; English speaking day, food and culture exchange, etc. The handbook also contains a list of activities designed for language learners.
 
Besides, the Divisions of Education & Training of Nha Trang, Cam Lam, Dien Khanh, Ninh Hoa, etc and some high schools have also organized interschool English language activities attracting a large number of students, according to Le Dinh Thuan, Deputy Director of Khanh Hoa Department of Education & Training. 
 
In addition, schools have improved and expanded activities of English clubs such as English interview, English language day and English corners encouraging learners to draw paintings about topics of their lessons and post them in classrooms. 
 
Efficiency and challenges 
 
According to Phan Thi Thao Uyen, Principal of Thai Nguyen Junior High School (Nha Trang City), English-language extracurricular activities have received positive feedbacks from teachers, students and their parents. Young learners are very excited and motivated to participate in the activities. This is an opportunity for students to exchange, show their abilities, improve their foreign languages and develop their confidence. Through extracurricular activities in English, the school finds that students' English skills have improved with more fluent communication and broader vocabulary.
 
One of the difficulties in developing English learning environment at school is lack of funding for regular maintenance to improve the efficiency of the activities, especially in rural areas and disadvantaged schools. In addition, there is limited human resources and time to implement activities to boost the environment for learning and practicing English, according to Le Dinh Thuan. “Most students have limited access to English language environment which is essential to build and improve English communicative skills. Therefore, it is difficult to find outstanding learners for promoting English learning motivation and developing English learning environment at school,” said Nguyen Thanh Tuan, Principal of Cao Ba Quat Junior High School (Nha Trang City).
 
H.Ngan
Translated by N.T