Академический Документы
Профессиональный Документы
Культура Документы
Vol-01, Issue-02
[July-September, 2013]
Editor-in-Chief
Mustafa Mubarak Pathan
Department of English Language & Translation Studies
The Faculty of Arts, the University of Sebha
Sebha, Libya
Indexed in:
DOAJ
Google Scholar
Index Coper nicus International
Isla mic World Science Citation Center
Linguistics Abstracts Online
Open J-gate
www.eltsjournal.org
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
Vol-1, Issue-2
July-September, 2013
www.eltsjournal.org
CC-BY-NC
Page
Number
03
04-08
09-23
24-37
38-49
50-65
66-72
73-82
83-90
91-105
106-119
120-141
142-151
152-161
162-175
176-179
English Language Teaching and Learning during Holiday Camps: A Case Study
from Malaysia
Dr. Ria Hanewald,
CfBT Education Trust, Malaysia
Abstract
Language ho liday camps for children or adolescents who are learners of a second or
addit ional language are a world-wide pheno menon. They are part icularly popular in the USA,
Canada and Britain for languages such as French, German and Spanish. Youth camps (also
called summer camps) during the European school ho lidays to learn English or other
languages have also enjo yed a lo ng tradition. In Malaysia, English language ho liday camps
are prolific and have been running since the 1940s. With such popularit y that these camps
enjo y the world over, the subject is co ming under research. In line with such researches, the
present study covers a four day lo ng resident ial English language ho liday camp in Malaysia
for 31 female students (aged 16) during May 2013. Its aim was to identify act ivit ies that
actively engage learners and increase their attitudes posit ively in regards to learning English.
The paper is intended to stimulate further research into extra-curricular activit ies, specifically
English language ho liday camps due to their glo bal abundance, to build a corpus of literature
in order to fill the current vacuum, and to gather empirical data on the value of such camps.
The findings o f the focused study have broad relevance internationally due to the significant
numbers of language camps around the world and will contribute to the scant y knowledge
currently available on this topic. It is ant icipated that the issues discussed in this paper will be
useful for students, teachers, researchers, polic y makers and pract itioners of English language
studies alike.
Keywords: ho liday camps, English language, attitudes, adolescents, Malaysia
Vol-1, Issue-2
July-September, 2013
www.eltsjournal.org
CC-BY-NC
24
July-September, 2013
www.eltsjournal.org
CC-BY-NC
25
July-September, 2013
www.eltsjournal.org
CC-BY-NC
26
July-September, 2013
www.eltsjournal.org
CC-BY-NC
27
July-September, 2013
www.eltsjournal.org
CC-BY-NC
28
July-September, 2013
www.eltsjournal.org
CC-BY-NC
29
3-4 before
more than 5
4
4
3
3
Strongly
disagree
6
3
disagree Ok
Strongly
agree
8
11
Agree
0
3
12
8
4
3
10
18
13
14
July-September, 2013
www.eltsjournal.org
CC-BY-NC
30
Strongly
Disagree
4
4
2
2
0
0
0
0
Disagree
Ok
Agree
0
1
4
12
9
9
8
7
10
Strongly
agree
6
9
5
6
1
0
1
2
9
12
0
10
3
6
12
5
16
12
5
4
25
4
13
July-September, 2013
www.eltsjournal.org
CC-BY-NC
31
Disagree
Ok
Agree
Strongly
Agree
0
18
0
6
15
13
11
7
2
2
12
18
13
11
10
1
0
Vol-1, Issue-2
July-September, 2013
www.eltsjournal.org
CC-BY-NC
32
Yes
26
21
Maybe
2
7
No
0
0
While the food received the lowest score (3.6), the instructor received the highest (4.7).
There was also high sat isfact ion with the fellow campers (3.9) and the overall activit ies (4.3).
Vol-1, Issue-2
July-September, 2013
www.eltsjournal.org
CC-BY-NC
33
Average score
4. 4
4. 7
4. 2
4. 4
4. 1
4. 9
4. 4
Overall, the visit to the Hot Springs received the highest score (4.9 out of 5), fo llowed by
music/ songs (4.7 out of 5). These were fo llowed in equal places by the cultural/ drama night
with the puppet show, the brainteasers/crosswords and the certificate giving (4.4 out of 5).
The poems, stories, jokes and art, craft (4.2 out of 5) and quiz sessio n (4.1 out of 5) also
received high scores.
The post-camps fina l quest ion (No 4) was ident ical to the pre-camp survey. For ease of
comparison, the pre-and post-camp averages as well as the difference are shown in Table 8
below:
Table 8 Post-camp Rating of Campers Attitudes Towards English for the May 2013 Camp
_____________________________________________________________________
What do you think?
I am highly motivated to improve m y English
I feel confident speaking English in public
I enjoy socializing in English
I am not afraid of making mistakes in English
3. 6
2. 7
3. 6
Before Camp
4. 1
3. 7
3. 5
4. 4
Campers confidence, enjo yment and mot ivat ion increased posit ively during the four day
camp. The most significant increase was on confidence gained in speaking English in public,
which showed an average of 2.7 in the pre-camp questionnaire but had increased to 3.7 on the
post-camp quest ionnaire. Equally impressive was the gain in students mot ivat ion, which
scored an average of 3.6 before the camp and 4.1 after the camp.
Alt hough the total English language teaching and learning opportunit ies amounted to
only 14 hours, the measurable improvements in the participants attitude towards English was
a most pleasing result. It is hypothesized that a smaller instructor/ student ratio instead of the
1:30 ratio for this camp will produce even better results as more individuals will receive
greater attention and more teaching input.
Vol-1, Issue-2
July-September, 2013
www.eltsjournal.org
CC-BY-NC
34
Vol-1, Issue-2
July-September, 2013
www.eltsjournal.org
CC-BY-NC
35
July-September, 2013
www.eltsjournal.org
CC-BY-NC
36
Vol-1, Issue-2
July-September, 2013
www.eltsjournal.org
CC-BY-NC
37