Esther Helen Ratcliff

Date(From)

2023/04

Date(To)

2024/06

Subjcet

First Year English Seminar
Second Year English Seminar
Integrated English A
Career English
Listening and Presentation
Critical Reading and Discussion
Reading II
Discussion Skills
Academic Discussion Skills

Summary

The majority of classes I teach fall under the First Foreign Language Programme. Classes taught include the following: Critical Reading and Discussion, Listening and Presentation, Discussion Skills, Academic Discussion Skills, Reading II and from 2024, the new Global Citizenship Programme. Activities in these classes include giving presentations, having group discussions and extensive reading program using graded readers from the LARECE centre. My students in Discussion Skills also had the chance to attend the guest lecture, the ambassador to Rwanda in November 2023.

I also have two classes in the English Department, which are First Year English Seminar and Second Year English Seminar. In the former, students are preparing to take the IELTS exam, so classes are spent developing skills for the different parts of the exam, such as doing timed readings, improving writing skills and practising for the different parts of the speaking test. Students are also introduced to academic writing later in the year. In SYES, students further develop their academic writing skills and learn about how to use research outside sources and refer to them in their writing.

Lastly, I also have one class in the Career English program, called Total Presentation Workshop 1. Over the course of the year, students learnt two approaches to giving persuasive presentations, including how to use ethos, pathos and logos. This class also focuses a lot on teaching students how to lead discussions.

Educational Content and Methods
-All classes are communicative in style, delivered in English.
-Students work in groups to share ideas, give peer feedback and have group discussions.
-Group and individual presentations with PowerPoint form part of the ongoing assessment for many classes.
-All class notes are projected on the overhead projector and/on the TV screen in the classroom.
-Multimedia resources such as videos, interactive quizzes, real-time team games using smartphones.
-Students are encouraged to make use of the LARECE center and the university library to borrow and consult reference books.
-Students are given guidance about useful online resources to support their learning, such as online dictionaries and websites to practise listening skills. These are distributed via Google Classroom and/or using QR in class.
-Students are expected to do a range of activities, both online tasks through Google Classroom and writing in class.
-Students are kept up-to-date about activities happening on campus through announcements on Google Classroom and/email.