Workshop on English skills held in Tuticorin

A two-day workshop on `Techniques to improve skills in English' conducted by the Department of Education for teachers of Standards IX and X at Government and Government aided schools, concluded at Subbiah Vidyalayam Girls Higher Secondary School in Tuticorin on 17th Feb.

Interacting with the participants, Susan Sylvan, a retired language teacher from California, explained the salient features of `brain-based' education techniques followed in the U.S.

"Teachers should make use of the brain functions effectively to make learning more convenient," she said. Teachers should prepare the students for the classes by telling them what they would be taught for the day, before the commencement of any session, like preparing ground to plant a seed.

She called upon the teachers to develop the senses of children by asking them to change a poem into a sentence of prose that summarises what the author said.

The teachers should promote the value of English as a link language, which in turn would help the youth when they had to communicate with the outside world.

About 80 teachers attended the workshop.