SMK Convent Teluk Intan students dive into action packed English workshop at UTAR

UTAR student helper facilitating a station game involving English sentence relays with SMK Convent Teluk Intan students

A total of 38 Form Four students from Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Convent Teluk Intan participated in an English workshop on 13 July 2024, jointly organised by the Confucious Institute, Division of Programme Promotions (DPP) and the Centre for Extension Education (CEE) at UTAR Kampar Campus. The English Camp served as a platform for for aspiring English language learners to practice the usage of the language beyond a classroom setting while having a fun time. The students were accompanied by four teachers.

The session began with a brief introduction by DPP staff Ms Nur Nafisa binti Salim on the background of UTAR. The session then proceeded with another briefing about the programmes offered by CEE, such as the English Enhancement Programme (EEP) and Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) by CEE Head of English Unit Ms Mohanambikay Pandian.

Following that, a student representative from the Confucius Institute gave a presentation on the Hanyu Shuiping Kaoshi (HSK) test, a Chinese language proficiency exam. This was followed by a Chinese cultural session where students got an up-close experience of Chinese traditions. The camp then continued with a lesson on subject-verb agreement led by CEE English instructors Ms Cheong Yong Yong and Mr Beh Heng Jian.

The following activity was considered the highlight of the English workshop as the students participated in a fun-filled mystery-crime-solving station game activity led by English instructor Ms Najihah binti Pazaer, and assisted by 10 UTAR student helpers. The students were given an opportunity to experience different types of hands-on activities, designed to encourage an immersive utilisation of the English language within an everyday life setting. The English Camp ended with a prize-giving ceremony to celebrate the winners of the station games and the exchange of tokens of appreciation between the participating parties.

This English workshop, however, is just one of the many English Camps organised by CEE this year, as UTAR intends to reach out to more education institutions to better promote the usage of English as a medium of communication, socialisation and learning.

Students taking part in the murder-mystery activity, where they investigate a murder case as part of the station game activity

Students listening to the briefing, eager to dive into the activities

Ms Mohanambikay (far left) with the winning group

Lesson on subject-verb-agreement