American Language Center trains English teachers in Koudougou and Dedougou
The American Language Center (ALC) organized regional workshops for secondary school English teachers in Koudougou and Dedougou October 6-11, 2008. Twenty-nine teachers in Koudougou and twenty in Dedougou participated in 2-day workshops. The training focused on giving teachers strategies for developing the English speaking skills of their students. A session on forming local and regional teacher associations was also presented. Participants received information about membership in TESOL, an international English teaching association based in the USA. The Koudougou participants came from a total of 15 public and private schools in the region. Those in Dedougou represented 16 public and private schools in Dedougou and the surrounding region. Raguilli Savadogo and Augustin Kima, both ALC pedagogic experts, carried out the training sessions for these teachers, 40% of whom had received no prior formal teacher training. This training was vital in giving teachers strategies to help students move their “book English” into active, useable language. Likewise, encouraging the teachers to form local and regional teacher associations will promote their professional development. They were also given TESOL recruitment materials. A comment shared by one participant was representative, “We congratulate the American Language Center. We need this kind of training to improve our teaching methods.” This workshop gave English teachers in the Koudougou and Dedougou regions a much needed professional development boost. Participants were given teaching materials developed by the training team as well as copies English Teaching Forum magazine. These forty-nine teachers teach more than 16,800 secondary school students in Koudougou, Dedougou and the surrounding regions. This training then, represents US commitment to improve the quality of English instruction for Burkinabe youth, in terms of promoting mutual understanding between our countries and cultures. It also promotes economic development for these 16,800 plus young people who need English for higher education and the future job market.
