The University of Macau (UM) English Language Centre (ELC) launched a new programme promoting English language learning outside the classroom, and has organised various activities in the past few months to help students learn English in an enjoyable and informal way. The activities included academic writing workshops, English chat rooms, field trips, western cultural activities such as pumpkin carvings and spirit drawings, Macao half-day tours, and many other interesting extracurricular activities conducted in English.
This year, the ELC recruited four English Language Teaching Assistants from different backgrounds in order to organise more diverse and interesting English learning activities for students. These activities include English drama workshops, cooking classes, English speaking workshops, and talent shows. Moreover, in order to create a better learning environment and provide more chances for students to practice English as well as to enhance interaction between teachers and students, the class sizes in the ELC are kept small to ensure that students get the most out of their classes. The small class size at the ELC creates more opportunities for cultivating knowledge, synthesising information, and engaging students with materials in class. Teachers also have more opportunities to provide one-on-one guidance on English pronunciation, word choice, and grammar usage, etc.
The ELC will continue to hold various student activities and English workshops starting from January 2015. For more information or online registration, please visit the ELC’s Independent Learning Site on UM Moodle or the ELC’s website at www.elc.umac.mo.
Sources: UM Reporter Ngan Chi Cheang
