EZ English Camp

As part of the efforts of UTAR in giving back to the community, the Department of Languages and Linguistics (DLL) under the Faculty of Arts and Social Science successfully organised a series of workshops called EZ English Camp for primary schoolchildren in three different schools around Kampar from 7 November 2015 to 27 July 2016.

As a community service programme headed by lecturers of the department and facilitated by undergraduates from the English Language, English Education, and Primary English Education programmes, the EZ English Camp was aimed to cultivate an interest in the English Language among school students through interesting station games and activities. It was also meant to allow the students to master the language more effectively and use it more confidently in their daily lives.

Schoolchildren from SJK (C) Chung Huah trying hard to spell while passing the ball around in the aptly named “Spelling Ball”

The first EZ English Camp was held on 7 November last year at SJK (C) Chung Huah, Kampar. It was held twice this year — once on 25 June 2016 at SJK (C) Bemban, Batu Gajah and then followed by another on 27 July 2016 at SK Gopeng. All involved station games where schoolchildren were required to complete certain English Language activities.

Teacher trainees assisting schoolchildren in writing a story based on given pictures and in forming as many words as possible using their names

The first EZ English camp saw the participation of 65 Standard Five pupils while the second camp involved 30 Standard One pupils. The main aim of the second EZ English Camp was to ensure Standard One pupils learn vocabularies related to topics listed in the Ministry of Education syllabus, such as items found in the home, classroom, playground and supermarket.

(First row, second from left): Ong, Headmistress of SJK (C) Chung Huah Chai Soo Bee, school teachers, UTAR students and staff giving thumbs up after the camp

The last camp saw 110 Standard Four and Five students evenly divided into Red, Blue, Green, Yellow and Orange groups for five station games related to language, namely “Prepositional GPS”, “I Describe, You Draw”, “The Missing Quantifier”, “Countable or Not?” and “I, My, Me, Mine”. The games were designed and conducted to refresh the schoolchildren’s memories on prepositions, adjectives, quantifiers, nouns and pronouns.

Standard One pupils of SJK(C) Bemban warming up and doing the chicken dance before heading to their respective stations

Standard One pupils of SJK(C) Bemban striking a pose with teacher trainees

“The English proficiency among Malaysian school students remains a concern and this is perhaps partly due to the fact that many of them find learning the language through formal education a daunting task. Driven by the need to communicate with others, children have the ability to acquire new languages without overt instruction just as long as they are exposed to its usage in daily life, whether at home, through TV or over the internet,” said the Head of DLL Christina Ong Sook Beng.

She added, “However, the practical purposes of learning English become invisible in the classroom and they quickly lose interest in seemingly tedious lessons, especially those pertaining to grammar. Fortunately, the lack of enthusiasm can be overcome with creativity and innovation on the educators’ part in making learning more fun and exciting for students. One successful example of such efforts is the EZ English Camp.”

Pupils of SK Gopeng blindfolded and receiving instructions from friends during “Prepositional GPS”

Drawing objects based on descriptions given to check the pupils’ vocabulary size

Participants of all the camps thoroughly enjoyed the language games designed for them as they progressed from one station to another, acquiring new knowledge and reinforcing existing ones in the process. A total of 210 students from standard One to Five have thus far benefitted from the programme.

A fruitful day for UTAR students at SK Gopeng