Challenging themes: radio English for learners and teachers
1. Challenging Themes: Radio English
for Learners and Teachers
Thelma Umeh,
English Projects Manager, Nigeria
and
Challenging Themes:
Paul Woods, English Manager, Sub-Saharan Africa
2. Challenging Themes: Radio English for Learners and
CTehaacllheenrgsing Themes: Radio English for Learners and Teachers
Our presentation is divided into four parts:
I will describe the context which has led us to develop
materials using radio as a channel
Thelma will tell you about the Teacher Development
programmes she produced in Nigeria
I will describe “Teaching English Radio: an
Introduction to Teacher Development,” and work
we have done so far on LearnEnglish Radio
There will be a few minutes at the end for questions
3. Challenging Themes: Radio English for Learners and Teachers
Context
Context
• There are
approximately 11.4
million English
language teachers and
1.1 billion English
language learners in
the world today.
• 750,000 of these
teachers and 100
million learners are in
Sub-Saharan Africa
There are
approximately 11.4
million English
language teachers
and 1.1 billion
English language
learners in the
world today.
750,000 of these
teachers and 100
million learners
are in Sub-
Saharan Africa
4. Challenging Themes: Radio English for Learners and Teachers
This meant we
had to explore
different
channels to
reach target
audiences at a
distance
Internet connectivity is
patchy and expensive
We wanted to reach
many more learners and
teachers using limited
resources.
5. Challenging Themes: Radio English for Learners and
CTehaacllheenrgsing Themes: Radio English for Learners and Teachers
Why radio?
Accessible and cheap
technology
Reaches audiences
in countries with low
levels of school
attendance
Low investment
for high impact
More effective
when backed up by
support materials
Effective at
Improving listening
skills
Widely available in
developing countries
Cost-effective in
extending reach
6. Challenging Themes: Radio English for Learners and Teachers
Nigeria: Context
• Nigeria is a second language country with a
population of over 195 million people
• English is the lingua franca as it is the language of
education, government and commerce
• English in Nigeria is very poorly taught and learned
with no attempt at innovativeness by the teacher
• In spite of the many professional development
programmes on offer, teacher professional
development is seriously lacking
7. Challenging Themes: Radio English for Learners and Teachers
Nigeria: Why Deliver Classroom Language
via Radio?
There are a large number of English language teachers
in Nigeria who need professional development in one
form or the other
• The British Council has a number of very rich teacher
development courses for face to face delivery, of which
Classroom Language is one
• Face - to - face programmes have basic limitations that
made it necessary to seek a more effective mode of
delivery
• Radio was one way to reach many more teachers in a
cost-effective way, while still creating good impact
8. Challenging Themes: Radio English for Learners and Teachers
Nigeria: How was Classroom
Language adapted for radio?
• The course was very clearly defined, but had a
skeletal nature which needed to be filled out.
• To do this the services of 2 ELT consultants was
enlisted and they derived from the global product,
content which will be suitable for radio broadcast.
• There was a script conference with ELT experts
and radio producers and presenters where a
production script was developed
• After this, we were ready to start actual production
9. Challenging Themes: Radio English for Learners and
CTehaacllheenrgsing Themes: Radio English for Learners and Teachers
Classroom Language
by Radio: Challenges
• Lack of personnel to work with
• Getting a national radio station to
partner with us
• The matter of the withdrawal of
the partners from the partnership
• Challenge of getting additional
content
• Getting sponsorship
10. Challenging Themes: Radio English for Learners and
CTehaacllheenrgsing Themes: Radio English for Learners and Teachers
Successes
• We secured a 3 year partnership
with a national radio station
• Programmes were broadcast on
the network belt of the federal
radio 7.00pm weekly
• Audience sizes were
approximately 5 million to start
with and steadily grew to 8
million in the following quarters
• Feedback was very encouraging
11.
12. Challenging Themes: Radio English for Learners and
ChTaelalecnhgeirnsg Themes: Radio English for Learners and Teachers
Ω Twelve 15-minute radio programmes aimed at
teachers of English working in schools where large
classes, a lack of resources and few training
opportunities are a reality.
Ω The first set of programmes provides advice and
training on teaching English at a basic level
Ω These programmes are intended for teachers of
English who may have low level qualifications and
lack confidence in their knowledge of English.
Ω The series includes clips from teachers and classes
in several different countries to give the
programmes global appeal.
13. Challenging Themes: Radio English for Learners and Teachers
Addressing key
issues in
classroom
practice
Motivating teachers
and providing a
‘catalyst’ to improve
morale
Reaching
as many
teachers as
possible
Encouraging
more learner-centred
strategies and
making learning
more effective
14. Challenging Themes: Radio English for Learners and
CTehaacllheenrgsing Themes: Radio English for Learners and Teachers
Supporting notes for teachers
Programmes can be re-packaged and delivered via pod-casts
Programmes can be adapted
The British Council can support seminars or workshops
15. Challenging Themes: Radio English for Learners and Teachers
Topics
• Finding and using resources
• Using Group work in large classes
• Pair and group work in practice
• Developing Teachers’ English
• Using English in the classroom
• Teaching new language
• Teaching reading and teaching listening
16. Challenging Themes: Radio English for Learners and Teachers
Promotional pack for radio
Stations
10,000 sets of 3 audio
CDS
17. Challenging Themes: Radio English for Learners and Teachers
Follow-on Series - topics
Getting the most from the course book
Managing different levels in one large class
Introducing writing activities
Using marking schemes and encouraging accuracy in
written work
What to correct and when to correct
Encouraging students to help each other
A visit to a reading class
Teaching pronunciation
Setting homework and doing revision
Preparing for exams and tests
More great activities
Enjoying our teaching
18. Challenging Themes: Radio English for Learners and Teachers
Potential audiences
Huge – eg MONUC’s Radio Okapi
in DRC has 50 million listeners
By 2013 we expect to reach up to
20 million listeners in Sub Saharan
Africa with our programmes
In Nigeria the Teacher Development
series reached a potential audience
of 8 million
19. Challenging Themes: Radio English for Learners and
CTehaacllheenrgsing Themes: Radio English for Learners and Teachers
Challenges
• We’d prefer not to have to
pay for airtime
• Finding locally delivery
partners
• It took far longer to
produce the first series
than we originally
anticipated
20. Challenging Themes: Radio English for Learners and
CTehaacllheenrgsing Themes: Radio English for Learners and Teachers
LearnEnglish Radio
Developing the concept
then looking for a
strategic funding partner
We wanted to tackle
developmental themes
We produced a flyer and
approached a range of
potential sponsors
We approached potential
strategic partners
21. Challenging Themes: Radio English for Learners and
CTehaacllheenrgsing Themes: Radio English for Learners and Teachers
Results and next steps
• So far we’ve not managed to find a strategic partner
• We have widened the scope to include other regions (eg
the Middle East and China) and changed the focus to
concentrate on English for work situations
• We are commissioning sample programmes which we
will try out with focus groups
• We hope to produce a core of material which can be
used in different countries/regions but adapted/localised
• We look for delivery partners at country level – eg to
sponsor support materials
22. Challenging Themes: Radio English for Learners and
CTehaacllheenrgsing Themes: Radio English for Learners and Teachers
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Editor's Notes
Our presentation is divided into four parts:
I will describe the context which has led us to develop materials using radio as a channel
Thelma will tell you about the Teacher Development programmes she produced in Nigeria
I will describe our new product “Teaching English Radio: an Introduction to Teacher Development,” and the work we have done so far on LearnEnglish Radio
There will be a few minutes at the end for questions
Context
There are approximately 11.4 million English language teachers and 1.1 billion English language learners in the world today.
750,000 of these teachers and 100 million learners are in Sub-Saharan Africa
Internet connectivity in Africa is still patchy and generally too expensive for teachers and learners
The British Council wanted to reach many more learners and teachers using its limited resources.
This meant we had to explore different channels to reach our target audiences at a distance – including radio, newspapers and mobile phones
You may say – radio is old hat. It’s all been done before by BBC English. True, radio has been around for a long time, but there are still very good reasons for using it, especially in Africa.
There are a large number of English language teachers in Nigeria who need professional development in one form or the other
The British Council has a number of very rich teacher development courses for face to face delivery, of which Classroom Language is one
Face - to - face programmes have basic limitations that made it necessary to seek a more effective mode of delivery
Radio was one way to reach many more teachers in a cost effective way, while still creating good impact
Twelve 15-minute radio programmes aimed at teachers of English working in schools where large classes, a lack of resources and few training opportunities are a reality.
The first set of programmes provides advice and training on teaching English at a basic level.
These programmes are intended for teachers of English who may have low level qualifications and lack confidence in their knowledge of English.
The series includes clips from teachers and classes in several different countries to give the programmes global appeal.
Objectives
Addressing key issues in classroom practice by exploring and sharing well tried strategies to improve the teaching and learning of English.
Motivating teachers and providing a ‘catalyst’ to improve morale
Encouraging more learner-centred strategies and making learning more effective.
Reaching as many teachers as possible.
24 pages of supporting notes for teachers are being supplied to educational institutions, teacher training colleges, etc in advance of the broadcasts.
Programmes can be re-packaged and delivered via pod-casts, thus also reaching more technologically-equipped communities.
Educational broadcasters can adapt the series to suit their own needs, eg by adding an introduction in the listener’s own language, or a studio discussion on the topic.
The British Council can support seminars or workshops to help strengthen the use of An Introduction to Teacher Development as part of a teacher development and distance education outreach project.
We have produced a promotional pack for radio stations containing notes for broadcasters
In Sub-Saharan Africa are producing 10,000 sets of 3 audio CDS which will be released to training colleges and other organisations for use on Pre and In-set training courses once the programmes have been broadcast.
These are huge – eg MONUC’s Radio Okapi in DRC has 50 million listeners, more than RFI
For both learners and teachers, we expect by 2013 to reach up to 20 million listeners in Sub Saharan Africa with our programmes
In Nigeria the Teacher Development series reached a potential audience of 8 million (not all teachers!)
Challenges
We’d prefer not to have to pay for airtime, but recognise that in some countries, and for teacher programmes which have small target audiences, we may have to
Finding locally delivery partners (e.g. NAMCOL in Namibia) to ensure the programmes are embedded within local initiatives
It took far longer to produce the first series than we originally anticipated – reasons included waiting for feedback from focus groups; getting authentic clips from countries like Afghanistan; delays in production, but we have learnt a lot from the initial experience.
LearnEnglish Radio
We decided to adopt a different tack – developing the concept then looking for a strategic funding partner
We wanted to tackle developmental themes relevant to Africa and our target audience of 16-30 year old both in and out of school
We produced a flyer and approached a range of potential sponsors who were known to support educational initiatives and had corporate social responsibility programmes
We approached potential strategic including Coca Cola, Nokia, and mobile phone companies such as Telkom, Zain and Sonatel
Results and next steps
So far we’ve not managed to find a strategic partner
We have widened the scope to include other regions (eg the Middle East and China) and changed the focus to concentrate on English for work situations
We are commissioning sample programmes which we will try out with focus groups
We hope to produce a core of material which can be used in different countries/regions but adapted/localised
We look for delivery partners at country level – eg to sponsor support materials