Empowering Rwandan Teachers to Use English

Do you ever use the expression “pleasantly cool”? I do now! I started using it because I am working on English courses.

For the past two months, I have been part of a team working on digitising English modules for training secondary teachers through the STELIR project. STELIR (Secondary Teachers English Language Improvement Rwanda) is a project run by the British Council, aimed at improving the English language proficiency of lower secondary school teachers. The teachers will access the modules using tablets provided by the project, so they can do them at their own pace.

At first, I couldn’t see the point of this – I thought secondary teachers already know enough English to teach their subjects. But then I remembered my own experience in lower secondary school, where our classes were taught in English. However, our teachers often had trouble explaining without using Kinyarwanda or French. This was not only for subjects like physics, chemistry, and maths but also for English itself. It was quite difficult!

The training modules are structured into three levels: beginners (A1), pre-intermediate (A2), and intermediate (B1). Teachers will be assigned to the modules based on their level of  English proficiency. The content is well-organized, with clear text instructions and passages, complemented by relevant icons and illustrative images to enhance the teacher’s reading skills. The course has exercises such as pronunciation practice, group activities, and interactive assessments that will help learners develop their writing and speaking skills.

At the moment, I am working on the text of the course. I am placing the text and icons in the authoring tool and have to make sure I do it exactly the way it is meant. I was amazed by how simple the instructions were – phrases like ‘read here’, ‘listen here’, ‘match the sentences’, etc.  which were designed to facilitate learning for teachers with little to no English skills.

Audio files will come soon. I am looking forward to hearing those and putting them in the course. They will strengthen the listening abilities of the learners. I think I have good listening abilities, but who knows, I may learn more!

I enjoyed learning new expressions for describing weather and climate conditions, such as ‘foggy’, ‘overcast’, and ‘pleasantly cool’ from the B1 (intermediate level) module.

The modules are designed for the Rwandan reality. The names of the people are Rwandans like Mugabo and Ingabire. The places are also Rwandan, there is a story about meeting at a job fair in Rusizi. There are events in the course like planting trees, a wedding, etc. This gives me hope that it will motivate teachers to participate fully as they can relate it to their own life and career experiences.

I trust that the teachers will enjoy and improve their English skills as much as I am having fun while digitizing these English modules. And, today is pleasantly cool although we are in the dry season.

Jovithe Ntwari