English language teaching is indeed widespread all over the world. In Middle East, it is being taught at all levels of schooling such as in technical schools, universities and language centers. English is included in the curriculum or curricula in some schools and offer it as courses and special purpose courses in language centers. A rich primary materials and developed secondary school materials are best tools to reach the Standard English in this country.

          An increasing number of public and private schools use English in as early as kindergarten. It includes communicative language with plenty of dialogues, role play and other similar activities to develop speaking skills. Others focused on development on literacy and reading strategies rather than communicative skills. Children, upon entering schools, already know how to communicate in their mother tongue and have vocabularies of several thousand words. It’s a sad story nowadays, children, before entering schools, do not know how to communicate even in their mother tongue and have little vocabularies of words more importantly in English. Factors include parents who are not supportive; communities which give bad influence and economic status that hinders their education affect the learning development of a child.

          Aside from teachers who play authoritarian figure in school, textbooks play a central role in teaching and learning process. Textbooks offer activities designed in classroom setting with plenty of dialogues, drill and recital which are unfamiliar yet helpful for children. K-12 curriculum gives a variety of drills and stories which enlighten the minds of the young in the stories or literature of yesteryears.

          Thus, for the learner to improve and be enhanced in English, start to read now! Comprehension comes. Everything follows.

 

By: Ma. ROXAN B. TABAMO | T-I | Lamao National High school