English at MBO Workshop / Class 9-1-16

Describe what you did to investigate MBO, English at MBO and making materials.
The proper way to investigate any topic one doesnt know a lot about is to visit
the places, to read books and to speak to people with more experience and
information. For that reason, we visited MBO schools and followed classes there,
took notes, ask questions to both students and teachers. We collected more
information from the internet and used own interpretations we got from the
course books used at MBO schools. We combined what we already knew with new
information.

Describe MBO-education in the Netherlands.

- What is it? (vocational education)
MBO in the Netherlands is a kind of vocational education, meaning it prepares
you for a certain type of profession. During an MBO education, students will learn
all they need to learn for the profession of their choice. This also means that in
many cases, the English they learn will be adjusted to the part of the English
language that are necessary in their later profession. For instance, a student of
Luchtvaart en Dienstverlening will learn all the English that has to do with air
travel, baggage and tourism. However, they will not learn so much medical
English.
- About how many people participate?
According to the Dutch Centraal Bureau Statistiek (CBS), 476.589 people
attended an MBO school on August 26, 2016.
- Give examples of training they offer
MBO offers all sorts of training: business, ICT, transport and logistics,
craftsmanship, nutrition and environment, social services, security, nursing and
physical education.
- What educational concept?

Describe the position of English at MBO (meso)

MBO education is divided into four levels. Level one to three receives adjusted
education in English, based on what they will need in their later careers, based on
their current choices. A level-4 student however, will be educated in general. The
type of education in English they receive is much more like the English-as-asecond-language courses students will have in secondary education as well.
What part does an English teacher play at MBO?
What levels should be attained? (General discription)
How are standards set?

(Elaborate by using taalprofielen)

Describe the MBO-school you visited in general terms and the way English was
taught (micro)
- Which school?
Drenthe College
- Which location?
Assen, the Netherlands
- How many days/contact, with whom?
I spend two days at an MBO school, from about 9AM-4PM. A lot of contact with
several teacher, Danny in particular. Also contact with other interns and the
students. Apart from the visits, we had lots of contact by e-mail as well.
What did you do?
Observed, spoke with/interviewed teachers, other interns and students.
What does the English education at your school entail?
Many standard programs, lots of individual learning, hardly any actual classes.

2. Problem analysis
What, according to you, did you notice with respect to English language teaching
at your MBO-school?
The English language teaching at MBO schools in the Netherlands is poor and
very limited. Additionally, it was very repetitive. Students repeated mechanical
exercises until the topic was believed to be understood. Most work is individual
and the teacher hardly ever explains topics in front of the entire class all at once.
What, according to you, is the problem with the English education you saw?
(change for improvement)
Many English language teaching at MBO seems to focus on receptive skills, so
either reading or listening. There is some writing involved in the courses, but
speaking is only trained very occasionally. Students were perfectly able to
produce correct English sentences on paper, understood them when they were
read or spoken to them, but had difficulty producing sentences themselves.
How did you want to improve that?
I would start by speaking (more) English in my classroom. The teachers I met
spoke lots of Dutch with an occasional word or short sentence in English.
Students will have to become used to the sounds of the English language in order
to produce it. Also, speaking English in class and asking questions to your
students in English makes them more likely to try to form a sentence in English
as well, even if at first, it is just in their heads. If the teacher keeps on addressing
the students in Dutch, they wont feel the need to exercise their English.

3. Design requirements

What requirements does the material you develop need to meet?

- Give a list (bullet point-wise)
It needs to be:
- activating
- engaging
- good for overall practice of the English language
- special focus on speaking/pronunciation
- Explain briefly what you base this list on

4. Resources/Literature
What information/resources were you inspired by?
Most of all the lack of practice for students of English at MBO schools. Theres lots
of mechanical exercises and none of them resemble actual real-life based
conversations. Students can read in English and understand it to a certain extent,
but not hardly capable of speaking English themselves.
Where did you get ideas from?
A mix of course materials from MBO schools, blended learning and a very
creative friend.
Give a short description.
The idea is to create an online sports and health community, so the students get
preparational classes and as a final assignment create a video of a sports
instruction.

5. Describe how you designed the new course material.

Mention what steps you took, factually so that anyone could do the same.
We created outlines for 3 x 90 minutes of class. We decided to start with a
complete explanation of the project to the students, followed by 45 minutes of
listening. Second class focuses on vocabulary and grammar. The topics of choice
contain lots of information they need for the final assignment. During the last
class, the students all present their project.
6. Result: new classroom materials
- Describe the idea and the aims of the materials you developed.
The idea is to make the students active. Not just in physical terms, but in terms of
speaking English. The exercises in this series build up gradually, which will
hopefully give the students some encouragement.
- Describe the exercises.

The exercises build up from mechanical to free. For listening, they contain sports
interviews with questions, for grammar/vocabulary theres a handout with
exercises.

7. Evaluation
If you look back on the process, how did it go?
Very well.
What do you notice in the way you undertook this project?
I noticed that many parts of this project were very confusing at first, until we had
come up with an actual plan.
What would you do different next time you had to undertake such a research?
I might want to visit more than just one MBO school. Every school is so different
and my opinion about just one school isnt enough. It is enough for a clear picture
about that particular school, but if I use that knowledge for all MBO institutions in
the country, Id be creating stereotypes instead of doing research.

8. Learning outcome
What has been your development and what is your position with regard to:
MBO
I feel like theres still a lot to learn when it comes to teaching English at the MBO.
I hope to do one of my internships at an MBO school, so I can really find out what
its all about and form my own opinion.
Designing materials
I love it! At least, if the assignment and criteria are clear and do not leave room
for interpretation. Not everything was clear at all times.
English for specific purposes
I can see the use in focusing your language learning on one or a few specific
topics, however, learning English in general opens way more doors into the
English Speaking World.
Writing a research paper
The idea behind this is fun, stating question after question and letting us answer.
However, I was already answering the 6th question before I realised what I was
even doing. I prefer to be given a list of questions.

Sources
Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek. (2016, 26 augustus). Leerlingen, deelnemers en studenten;
onderwijssoort, woonregio. Geraadpleegd van http://statline.cbs.nl/Statweb/publication/?
DM=SLNL&PA=71450ned&D1=0&D2=0&D3=0&D4=a&D5=0&D6=0,6-18&D7=l&VW=T