Originally writen for the Department of Communities and Local Government’s Learn English Tumblr, our trainer Charlie and two of our amazing volunteers share their experiences with teaching on the programme.
The Differences between ESOL and Creative English
Prior to starting work as a Creative English Trainer for FaithAction, I spent seven months working as a teacher in a private language school. My first two months working on Creative English have struck me with some of the incredible differences between ESOL and Creative English, and I thought I’d take the opportunity to explore some of them here.
As a ‘pre-ESOL’ provision, Creative English is aimed at giving learners the confidence they need to progress to further formal study should they wish. It is also the perfect environment for those who don’t want or need to access a formal course, but who require the everyday English needed for scenarios such as visiting the doctor or attending parents’ evening. Most importantly, the informal environment and the focus on constant learner interaction through games and roleplay is what encourages our learners to build relationships with people in the world around them in order that they might feel less socially isolated.
And this is where we hit the real heart of the difference between ESOL and Creative English. While it is possible, over time, to build lasting relationships within the classroom, sit twenty learners behind desks for two hours a week and after six months they will probably know their classmates by name, but very little else. Two weeks ago, Ewa came into my Creative English session for the first time. The session was on going to the doctor’s, and after welcoming her into the circle and playing some warm-ups that involved singing ‘Head Shoulders Knees and Toes’ at a constantly increasing pace (everyone fell about laughing as we got faster and faster), she worked in a pair with Avnita, who has been attending since the start and is chronically under-confident, to label an outline of the human body. Later in the session they worked together again to practice making an appointment, and as I circulated around the group to listen to their conversations, I was astounded to hear Avnita producing more English than I’d ever heard her speak before – and to a total stranger from a different cultural background to boot! Last week, when Ewa saw that Avnita had arrived, she immediately smiled and patted the chair next to her eagerly. That day, Avnita found the confidence to stand with her peers as they presented their roleplay to the rest of the group, and at the end of the session they wandered out together, chatting away. It is the fact that Creative English is focussed on this acceleration of the relationship-building process that allows learners to build the confidence that helps them to not only improve their English more quickly, but also to take leaps of faith in their everyday life, such as finally taking a precious piece of jewellery to be fixed, or taking their child to the doctor without a more proficient family member to speak for them, as well as making friends that will help them to form a sense of belonging within their local community.
The Creative English methodology is centred on the creation of a relaxed and supportive atmosphere where learners feel safe to have a go and risk making mistakes. It is this environment that helps learners to produce language they never knew they were capable of producing. One of the biggest differences between Creative English and ESL is the heavy focus on roleplay and implicit learning (rather than explicit grammar and vocabulary teaching) promoted through Creative English. To quote one of our volunteer facilitators, speaking when I went to visit her in Blackburn during delivery a couple of weeks ago:
‘Do you know what really makes Creative English different? It’s the roleplay. In normal classes they just learn the words, but here in the roleplay they’re not just practising words off a page, they’re thinking of what to say for themselves!’
It is a method which is reactive rather than prescriptive – when you don’t know what the other person is going to say, you have to think spontaneously about how you respond. As evidenced in Dr Anne Smith’s research, when this happens successfully, the emotional response this triggers in the learner facilitates a far deeper and more lasting kind of learning than simply memorising a scripted template. While scripting parts of the roleplays helps to provide necessary ‘scaffolding’ for weaker learners, this scripting should not in any way squash the learners’ own creativity. In the same session on going to the doctor’s, I purposefully waited to provide my learners with the scripted resource sheet until it became clear that some might need it. None did. When one pair volunteered to present their ‘appointment’ to the group, it evolved from a simple ‘mother sits in doctor’s office with very sick child and doctor says the child needs to go to hospital’ scenario, into a situation where a desperate mother who has tried everything to make her child feel better is simply not being listened to by the medical professional. Through lots of giggles and supportive suggestions as to how to react and respond from the group, the distraught mother managed to make herself clear and the learner playing the doctor revelled in her uproariously comic role as an arrogant medic with a top-down approach to her patients (made even more hilarious by the dress-up doctor’s coat and pink wig the learner was wearing). The result? The mother left the ‘surgery’ with the promise that she would be filing a complaint very soon. By the end of the session, not only had we all worked together to produce an original scene I could never have predicted would occur when I was preparing for the workshop, but the whole group left with a feeling of being better equipped to deal with this kind of scenario (although hopefully never so extreme!) should it occur in real life.
As I mentioned earlier, Creative English works to give learners the confidence to access formal ESOL classes should they wish. ESOL courses are predicated on the assumption that the learner will already have the confidence to walk through the door, but it is only once the learner is secure in their ability to make connections and build relationships that they are likely to consider approaching a formal learning institution. What Creative English provides, therefore, are the foundations that allow our learners to build their very own ladder of success, where the next rung may be anything from enrolling onto an ESOL course, to supporting their child with homework, returning a faulty item at the supermarket for the first time or ‘simply’ finding the courage to leave the house and meet for coffee with new friends. And this is the real heart of the difference between Creative English and ESOL.
Nasira's story
I have always been interested in pursuing a career which will enhance my knowledge and experience in the educational field. My passion to teach has stemmed from the joys of making a difference in people’s lives and was cultivated through my years of studying a Sociology Degree at the University of Central Lancashire, where I saw the impact that educators can have on their students. I was highly inspired by my teachers to think critically and logically, which helped to create a strong foundation and enabled me to broaden my horizons.
Having had the opportunity to travel to the Middle East, Oman, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Syria, my eyes were opened to the lack of education there. I was greatly distressed at the fact that education, especially in Syria and Oman, differed a great deal from education in western countries. Having clearly seen how society in Oman unintentionally deprives children of a wide range of educational prospects, I felt sorrow but at the same time I felt a responsibility to make a change wherever possible.
So now you’re thinking, ‘Wow, sure, you’ve travelled to a few places, how does that fit in with how awesome Creative English is??’
*DRUM ROLL…*
Well YES! The very night I discovered my desire to make a change, “I had a Dream…” (Joke)
A perfect opportunity arose, and that was Creative English. It is the ideal environment in which to begin to bring about the change I wanted to see.
Creative English is a fantastic way to teach English, as it allows learners to learn English through roleplays, bringing in real life scenarios which helps them speak a language which is foreign to them in a confident manner.
So far, I am having a great experience facilitating these exciting sessions. I have seen many different faces, and met learners from different walks of life, different ages and from different cultural backgrounds. However, one thing which is apparent in all of these learners is their thirst and desire to learn the language. One of my learners made a profound statement which really touched me – “I have never studied English like this. Even though I haven’t mastered speaking English yet I feel these sessions have truly made a difference, because learning comes in different forms”.
After pondering upon such a powerful statement it made me realise that English learnt through roleplay is effective, serious learning for them, especially as many of my learners come from a background where they have had no formal education.
Creative English is an amazing way to teach English. Firstly it’s enjoyable, secondly it encourages and eases learners in to speaking, and thirdly, it is a way in which learners’ confidence levels grow. The techniques we’re taught about how to facilitate Creative English ensure all of the learners are involved, it is stimulating, refreshing, and it is a life skill taught in real-life scenarios. And most importantly, it creates a harmonious atmosphere in the classroom.
Having had the opportunity to teach in formal and informal institutions, one of my most rewarding experiences by far has been teaching Creative English. I love listening to stories each session of how learners are putting things in to practice and how the language barrier is not so much of a barrier anymore, and this is what really brings life to my creative English Sessions.
Betty's story
Creative English has been very accurately described. I wondered how it was possible to teach English to persons who may be illiterate in both their native tongue and English as well. During the two-day training period, I was very pleasantly surprised at the very creative methods used to facilitate the teaching of the classes. The props used are very helpful, and the warm-up exercises taught by the facilitators are extremely useful. I must also make mention of the awesome strong ladies that I met. They are truly an inspiration.
After classes officially started, there was one incident in particular that really stood out to me—that was the class where the doctors visit was discussed and role-played.
As always, most facilitators will recognize the class leaders—the person or persons who seem to soak in what’s being taught very well, and also the ones who shy away from taking too much of an active role.
It was very pleasant to see one of the more Vocal leaders, encouraging one of the shyer ladies by prompting her to say antibiotic, during the role play. This incident remained in my mind and also touched me emotionally because being an English speaker myself, though in a foreign land, it is easy to trivialize the alienation that can be felt when not being understood, nor understanding the spoken language. it made the entire exercise worthwhile, because as a facilitator, it showed that learning took place, and also it allowed me to recognize, the necessity of such a class.
In closing I will like to reiterate that this experience is one that I’m extremely grateful for. The lessons that were taught to the learners, in my mind, cannot come close to the lessons that ive learnt during assisting with the delivery of these classes. That is human beings, despite where they are from, ethnicity or religion, are the same. And also I’ve been sensitized to alienation and exclusion.