AVENUE

KOSOVA ENGLISH TEACHERS NETWORK Issue 2, JANUARY 2015

teaching

English
ASK AN EXPERT
TO YOUNG LEARNERS
ARTICLES
STUDENT TEACHER CORNER
REPORTS FROM CONFERENCES www.ket-net.org
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Dear Readers,
Welcome to the second issue of Teachers
Avenue! We hope that the diverse contributions
within this publication will appeal to you and
will answer some of your questions, get you
interested in trying new things, or simply help
you with your teaching. Vaughn K. Lauer said,
The best part of learning is sharing what you
know. Like Lauer, we agree that sharing your
thoughts, your expertise, knowledge or
classroom practices with other colleagues and
teachers-to-be will strengthen your capacities as
an educator, will open doors for discussion, and
encourage you to look at the issue from
different perspectives. In addition, your ideas
might spark some for colleagues; it could be
something as simple as sharing information
with one another in order to solve a problem or
trying one of the others classroom practices.
Having said this, we would like to thank this
issues contributors for sharing what they know
with the community of English language
teachers.
All those interested in Young Learners might be
interested to read our special issue on Teaching
English to young learners. Kate Mulvey shares
her experience and knowledge by presenting
practical tips worth considering when teaching
young learners. In order to keep the Kosovar
context in mind, two Kosovar teachers from the
public sector and a few teachers from a private
language school answered some of our
questions related to teaching English to young
learners. All of them share useful tips and ideas.
Those interested in teaching complex grammar
structures to students through games will be
interested by suggestions provided by Zinaide
Gruda. Others, who use songs or who would like
to know more about using songs in the
classroom, are invited to read Lendita Kryezius
article. If one is interested to explore the issue
of teaching English to adult learners, the article
by Hamide Begaj is a good starting point.
Many English teachers have heard that the
Peace Corps (PC) is present in Kosovo.
Page | 2
Except for those teachers who are hosting
Peace Corps volunteers in their classrooms, not
many may know the true value behind the
mission of PC. In this issue, William Perry wrote
an informative article, offering a great
opportunity for you to learn more about this
project. In addition, you will find out how the PC
volunteers work translates in practice by
reading an individual volunteers story, about
what Charlie Wegner has been doing with his
students in Gjakova.
Arber Jashari on the other hand will share with
you some useful information about American
Corners in Kosova and how you can make use of
its resources for your teaching. Natalia Kolnik
gives her advice to all teachers who might face
some challenges with students who dont
volunteer to speak in class. Additionally, two
senior English major students at the University
of Prishtina will show their ideas about how
Looking forward to your future contributions,
THE EDITORIAL TEAM
- EDITOR - Blerta Mustafa
- REVIEWING EDITOR - Yllk Paarizi
- DESIGNER - Shpresim Ademaj
someone can greatly benefit both professionally
and personally through volunteer work.
Finally, in this issue you will also find two lesson
plans and couple of short activities shared by
colleagues from the public and private sectors,
and you will become more informed about the
activities of KETNET through reports and short
announcements.
We hope that, for next issue of Teachers
Avenue, you will also want to share your
thoughts, experience, and knowledge with the
rest of us. This magazine exists because readers
and teachers like you can share what they have
learned, in the hopes that others can become
better teachers in their own classrooms.
Together we can support each other
professionally and serve all our students better,
throughout Kosova and the region.
PROOFREADING TEAM
- Natalia Kolnik,
- Marta Hodgkins-Sumner,
- Vera Greene
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5| Teaching Grammar Through Games If
clauses

35| Teaching English To Young Learners

8| The Importance Of Songs In Second

Language Classrooms
39|

11| Teaching English To Adult Learners: What 41|

Every Teacher Needs To Know

43| Volunteering: A Life Changer

15| The Peace Corps Comes To Kosovo

19| Model United Nations In The Kosovar High

School - Integrating Extracurricular Activities th
47| KETNET 4 Annual Conference When
Into Teaching English As A Foreign Language
Theory Meets Practice, Inspiring Practices

24| American Corner As A Platform For English

Language Teachers And Students In Kosova/o

50| Capacity building for upper-high school

English teacher through cooperation and
reflective teaching

27| 52| Access Camp Kosovo 2014

30| Fun with adjectives 55| KETNET Branch Reports

32| A sweet tooth

Page | 4
Zinaide Gruda
She teaches at the English Department of the
University of Prishtina. She has been working as a teacher
for eighteen years. She is doing her doctoral studies at the
University of Vienna. Her interests include teaching,
translation and teacher professional development. She is an
active member of KETNET.
Teaching grammar is an important
component of language learning. However,
many teachers believe that grammar should be
taught in isolation; therefore, they often ask
students to memorize definitions and do
revision activities that include editing and
rewriting sentences, filling in gaps with the
most appropriate tense and so on. Though these
activities can aid the learning of grammar, they
might not address all students interests and
needs equally and might not prepare learners to
use that knowledge in real life situations.
Teaching grammar through games, on the other
hand, can be very effective and highly
motivating. Games are very important, as they
provide learners with enjoyment, relaxation and
encouragement to use the language for
communicative purposes.
According to Wright et al. ( games
encourage learners to learn the language
through meaningful context. Games bring real
life situations into class and provide learners
with an opportunity to use the language in a
manner appropriate to that situation. As in real
life, learners will incorporate information
obtained from others in order to accomplish the
tasks. This is the reason why teachers should
employ games in teaching the language.
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Games motivate learners to use the language
and learn grammatical structures while playing
the game. They also make learning enjoyable.
Fun and pleasure in learning are the strongest
motivation factors for helping learners become
willing to learn (Ersoz,
Being student-centered, games require the
active involvement of learners in activities.
While focusing on the activities introduced
through games, students acquire knowledge
without even being aware of it. At the same
time, they establish rapport with their
classmates by sharing values, beliefs and
experiences.
As a teacher, I have considered games as an
important and necessary tool in teaching
English, in particular English grammar
structures. My experience with students
showed that the most difficult grammar
structures to be taught and learned were if
clauses. The outcome would always be
memorization of rules by students and inability
to use the very same in real life contexts. When
games were introduced to illustrate these
structures, students were very attracted to
learning them, had fun and, at the same time,
were able to learn them.
Having said the above, the aim of this article is
to share some practical tips on how to teach if
clauses through board games. A board game is a
type of game which is played on a specifically
designed board with pieces that are moved
around on it. In my case, I have used board
games with dice that are tossed, in order to
direct the players moves.
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If clauses
a) FIRST CONDITIONAL divide the class
into groups and give each group a distinct strip
of the worksheet which are designed to describe
a perfect holiday, a satisfactory holiday and a
lousy holiday. Each group chooses one of its
members to play the role of the person trying to
decide which holiday to take. The student
chosen begins the interaction by explaining the
situation and asking for advice as shown in the
Language output below. Students discuss the
pros and cons of each holiday offer using the
first conditional.
Language output:
A: I have received these three holiday offers.
Which one should I take?
B: If you take Holiday A, you will have a fabulous
nightlife.
A: Yes, but if you take that holiday, you will
have to pay a lot of money. Now, if you take
Holiday B, you will be able to get more
reasonable prices. (For more information on
these games see Zaorob and Chin,
b) SECOND CONDITIONAL divide the
class into groups and hand out the material.
Players place their counters at START. They take
turns in rolling the dice and moving their
counters accordingly. Whenever a player lands
on a square with a question on it, some other
player will direct a Would you ever? question
to him/her, and they interact as shown in
Language output.
Language output:
A: Would you ride a bicycle without using your
hands?
B: Yes, I would (ride a bicycle without using my
hands), if I were paid to do that.
or
B: No, I wouldnt (ride a bicycle without using
my hands), because if I did/rode a bicycle
without using my hands, I would fall and hurt
myself.
(For more information on these games see
Zaorob and Chin,
c) THIRD CONDITIONAL divide the class
into groups and hand out the material. Players
place their counters at START. Then, they
shuffle the cards and pile them face down. They
take turns in rolling the dice and moving their
counters accordingly. Whenever a player lands
on a square with a saintly-looking face in it,
the person next to him/her picks a card and
reads out the situation. The player then
responds as shown in the Language output.
Language output:
A: Nina did not visit her parents, because she
could not afford the trip.
B: Oh, if Id known (she did not visit her parents),
Id/would have lent her some money.
(For more information on these games see
Zaorob and Chin,
Conclusion
Games are important because they help
students learn, review and absorb various
grammar structures. The arguments presented
show that the use of games in teaching English
grammar can be very useful, creative and fun.
What is more, through games learners are given
opportunities to practice the language using the
communicative approach.
REFERENCES
Wright, A. Betteridge,D & Buckby,M. ( 1984). Games for
Language Learning (2nd. Ed.), Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press.
Ersoz, A. (200) The Internet. TESL Journal, Vol. VI, No. 6, June
Zaorob,L, M & Chin,E. (2001). Games for Grammar Practice.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
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 CREATING A SAFE AND ENTERTAINING
ENVIRONMENT
Utilizing songs in class creates a comfort and
entertaining environment for students. Songs
offer students more chances of using the new

Lendita Kryeziu language without being under the pressure of

what might go wrong (Hijazi Al-natour
She is a PhD candidate of linguistics at the In addition, they are exposed to language
University of Prishtina. She works as an assistant in the elements without being aware of this exposure
department of English Language and Literature in
as directly as they would be through other
Gjakova, and Prishtina She attended several conferences
and webinars related to teaching, and is a KETNET activities.
member. She has an enormous interest in conducting
research in the area of language acquisition and
sociolinguistics.

Music is universal to human culture and

it is used for communication, entertainment or
ceremonial purposes. As a teaching tool, music
can have an amazing effect in acquiring a
second language because it is capable of raising
language awareness, while making the learning
process attractive, interesting and stimulating.
Most people possess some musical
intelligence. This fact can be utilized by
language instructors for teaching language
skills (Gardner Firstly, music creates a
safe and entertaining environment for students
to be able to confidently use the language being
acquired (Medina, Secondly, songs can
introduce students to culture -- and motivate
learners to learn a particular language. Thirdly, IMPROVING LANGUAGE ACQUISITION
lyrics in songs can result in improving THROUGH SONGS
pronunciation of words in the language being Songs can often be presented as the learning
acquired. foundation, covering all aspects of second

Page | 8
language learning including pronunciation,
vocabulary, grammar, and culture (Falioni
Pronunciation can be improved by utilizing
songs with words that rhyme, minimal word
pairs, or tongue twisters (Barrera,
Teachers can ask students to listen to a song
and read the text at the same pace as the
recording. Although sometimes it is difficult to
maintain the same rhythm with the singer and
not stammer, this activity creates space
improving possible errors as students listen to
the song. Moreover, it can stimulate a positive
classroom atmosphere, which can lower anxiety
and facilitate second language learning.
Vocabulary enrichment is another key benefit of
using songs in class. If teachers want to teach
animal names and onomatopoeic words to
younger learners Old MacDonald had a farm
would be an appropriate song.
On the other hand, this song sometimes would
not be considered appropriate for older students
so another song could be selected based on
students level of English, age, interests and
lesson objectives.
In addition to pronunciation and vocabulary,
students can be exposed to grammar through
songs. Students can acquire some grammatical
structures with gap filling tasks. The missing
words in gaps could be: grammatical structures,
phrases and verbs in which denote action in
different tenses intended to be learnt by
students. For example, to show the difference
between past simple and past progressive,
teachers can use John Lennons song A jealous
guy because this song contains a lot of past
tense structures. Lyrics with gaps to fill in
should be distributed to students. While
students listen to the song, they should fill in
with the correct form of the verb. Aside from
the tense structure, students also learn about
the usage and function that the verbs perform.
Moreover, their listening skills are improved
since students have to focus and acutely listen
for every structure, in hopes of hearing the right
linguistic unit to fill in the proper gap.
Finally, students are exposed to cultural
elements through songs. Many lyrics contain
themes of human relations, ethics, tradition,
and history. A teacher can use lyrics to show
students various features of a culture -- or
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differences between cultures. An exquisite
example of presenting the difference between
British culture and American one is with the
help of Stings song An Englishman in New
York
THE SELECTION OF SONGS THAT CAN BE USED
AS TEACHING TOOLS
Songs have to be selected carefully according to
the learners age and ability. Songs for younger
learners have to be easier and simpler to
remember and understand (for example, Head
and shoulders: naming body parts, vocabulary
retention; If youre happy and you know it:
action verbs, imperative).
Songs for older learners have to challenge
students more and they should contain more
difficult words and phrases to remember such
as London Bridge and Hokey Pokey
(vocabulary retention, imperative, tenses).
Songs can be introduced to students in
combination with dancing and singing while
still catering to students interests and taste in
music. However, even when introducing songs
that might not meet students love for a music
genre, teachers ensure higher concentration for
the task because they were potentially not
exposed the song before and do not know the
lyrics by heart.
CONCLUSION
In conclusion, songs facilitate language
learning. They decrease inhibition in second
language acquisition, while simultaneously
improving the classroom atmosphere. Students
are eager to learn a second language when the
atmosphere is positive, and they are not anxious
and under pressure. The best songs to create
such an atmosphere would be those that are
repetitive and those in which can be acted out
or used to dance around. Thus, songs and
music, in general --can bolster the classroom
atmosphere, making learning attractive,
interesting and forward thinking.
REFERENCES:
Barrera, P. (2013). Contextualised pronunciation teaching (MA
Thesis). Retrieved from: http://dedi.uta.edu.ec/wp-
content/uploads/CONTEXTUALIZED%20PRONUNCIATION%2
0TEACHING.pdf
Gardner.H.(1985) Frames of mind; the theory of multiple
intelligences. New York
Falioni, J. W. (1993). Music as means to enhance cultural
awareness and literacy in the foreign language classroom. Mid-
Atlantic Journal of Foreign Language Pedagogy, 7, 97-108. (Eric
Document Reproduction No. ED 355 796)
http://www.umanitoba.ca/student/elc/media/Music-as-an-
Enhancement-for-Second-Language-Learning-Margaret-
Klassen.pdf
Hijazi, D., Al- natour, A. The Impact Of Using Music On Teaching
English Poetry In Jordanian Universities. In: Journal of
International Education Research Third Quarter 2012, 8 (3), 295-
302, Retrieved from:
http://www.cluteinstitute.com/ojs/index.php/JIER/article/view/711
1
Medina, S. ( 2002), Using Music to Enhance Second Language
Acquisition: From Theory to Practice.
http://www.forefrontpublishers.com/eslmusic/articles/06.htm / also
in Lalas, J. & Lee, S. (2002). Language, Literacy, and Academic
Development for English language Learners. Pearson Educational
Publishing.
Page | 10
Hamide Begaj
She holds a Master Degree in Educational
Leadership from University of Prishtina and she teaches at
Faculty of Education. She has strong interest in English
language teachers professional development, leadership in
higher education and teachers impact on students self-
confidence.
Nowadays, the English language is one
of the most important means of communication
worldwide. Therefore, it is of no surprise that
the demand for English language learning is
great. In Kosovo, this is clearly seen in schools
and private language centers that offer English
courses. In the latter, students who attend
English classes are of different ages; hence it is
common to encounter adult learners in ones
classes. It is quite difficult, and often
impractical, to set an age limit in order to
define what constitutes an adult learner. In
some institutions students over 21 are
considered adult learners, while others would
use the same term for those below or above this
age.
According to Clark and Caffarella
though adult learning can be defined in
numerous ways, it is quite common to agree
that learners who have finished mandatory
public schooling, which usually ends around age
eighteen, should be considered adult learners.
Pelletier on the other hand, suggests
that learners from the age of 25 and above
should be considered adult learners, thus
demonstrating that there is no agreement
between researchers about a clear definition of
the concept. For the purpose of this article, and
keeping in mind the Kosovo context, adult
learners will be defined in concordance with
Pelletiers parameter. In considering that
teaching English to adult learners is more
challenging than one might think, this article
will discuss some of the benefits and pitfalls of
teaching English to this target group.
ADVANTAGES IN TEACHING ENGLISH TO
ADULT LEARNERS
Adult learners study English for
different reasons and they do so because they
need to or want to. In Gardners terms, they
might be extrinsically or intrinsically motivated.
Therefore, having motivation for language
learning can be considered as a great
advantage. A desire to integrate with the people
and culture of the English-speaking community (
Ellis, often can be one of the main reasons
Page | 11
why many adult learners learn English. This
could be extrinsically or intrinsically motivated.
However, one cannot say the same for Kosovo.
With the arrival of the international community
in Kosovo, motivation for English language
learning has increased dramatically. Job and
career development opportunities offered by
numerous international organizations have
affected learners motivation. As pointed out by
Gardner and Lambert instrumental
motivation is a means for one to gain social and
financial rewards. Thus, many adult learners in
our country are instrumentally motivated. And,
when one works with these students, teaching
is obviously much easier than when working
with students who bring no motivation to the
classroom.
As language teachers we know the
mountains of work it takes to make classes
engaging and fun for students who are not
interested in learning, such as young learners.
They often do not want to be in the classroom
but they are sent by parents or required to
attend by the school curriculum. Most adult
learners are more enthusiastic and more
motivated to learn English since their reasons
for learning the language are not necessarily
imposed on them by others.
Another advantage in teaching English to adult
learners is that most of them have finished their
studies or have undertaken compulsory
education in their mother tongue, so they have
gained some basic study skills that they can
transfer to L2. Burt et al argue that the L1
level of proficiency in adult learners, i.e.,
learning strategies and study skills acquired in a
mother tongue can be applied while learning L2.
Moreover, Slavin and Cheung conclude
from a review of the literature that there is a
good deal of support for the idea that native
language instruction can be beneficial for the
English reading of English language learners (p.
It is also very common to see adult learners
comparing and contrasting their mother tongue
with the English language to find areas in which
the two languages are different or similar so
they can learn English quickly. It is not
surprising, thus, that adults are faster in
producing L2 words from L1 translation
compared to younger learners who are faster at
producing words from line drawings of referents
(Chen &Leung
According to these findings, adults use more L1
information compared to children. And this is
because they have extensive experience in using
their mother tongue, so when they start
learning English they remember the English
language system better by making use of what
they know about their mother tongue. Another
explanation could be that because young
children do not have a strong capacity for
strategic thinking (Bronson they are not
able to think strategically about how L1and L2
relate. It is understandable therefore that in
class discussions, particularly when students
discuss complex topics, adult learners
contribute much more and engage more easily
because of their life experience and world
knowledge.
Page | 12
Therefore, in considering learners motivation
for language learning and their life experiences
and knowledge, teachers can make learning a
very enjoyable journey for everyone in class if
they give students space to express themselves
and develop activities that will trigger their
background knowledge and experiences.
DISADVANTAGES IN TEACHING ENGLISH TO
ADULT LEARNERS
There are some disadvantages to teaching
English to adult learners as well. One of the
disadvantages is that English learning makes a
strong demand on adult learners in terms of
time; usually it is really difficult for adult
learners to find time to learn English. As most
schools and language centers try to
accommodate adult learners needs in terms of
schedule, classes are usually offered in the
evening, after they finish work. Meeting twice
or three times a week for an hour and half might
not be enough for one to acquire a new
language. But even in these circumstances, not
all adult learners can manage to set aside that
much time to come to the classroom because of
other commitments they have in their lives. As a
result of this, some adult learners fail to invest
as much effort and time into learning the new
language as they should, and then teachers
have difficulty monitoring the progress of those
students, especially those who do not attend
classes regularly.
Another challenge for teachers of this target
group is related to adult learners fear of failure.
Most adult learners are very successful in their
careers and they put themselves under a lot of
pressure to achieve their goals in learning
English. They might fear rejection from their
peers or the teacher, particularly if they are
introduced to a new environment (Kennedy,
In these cases, teachers could introduce
a topic of discussion to give them the ability to
share their stories with other learners. This
method would be beneficial particularly for the
shy students, but also for everyone in the
classroom to learn who is bringing what
experience into the class. However, if the group
is large, it will be desirable to break up into
smaller groups in order to create an atmosphere
of trust where adult learners can share their
own experiences. As Crowford points
out, the sharing of experiences among adults is
an important part of developing a learning
community within the classroom.
And then there are older adults with little
formal education or those who are accustomed
to learning a language in a traditional way. This
group might encounter many difficulties in
learning a new language. Nonetheless, a lot of
strategies that have been indentified can be
incorporated into language-training programs to
provide a wide variety of possibilities for adult
learners (Oxford-Carpenter, So, these
students need to be introduced to different
learning strategies for organizing information.
Page | 13
In addition, it may be difficult for one to
convince ones learners to accept a learner-
centered teaching style if they are used to a
traditional, teacher-centered one (Florez&Burt
Even though learners may be more
accustomed to a teacher-centered classroom, a
learner-centered class is the most current
approach to teaching a language. Thus,
teachers should give learners time to adjust to
this new approach and explain along the way
why it is better for them.
CONCLUSION
A lot of people assume that teaching English to
younger learners is easier than teaching English
to adult learners. However, many studies have
shown that this is not the case. And as we have
seen in this article, teaching English to adult
learners has its own benefits and obstacles.
Many companies in our country include English-
speaking ability among job requirements; as a
reflection of this, many adults take English
classes while they are looking for a job or while
working. These adult learners bring to the
classroom motivation and a wealth of their
personal experience and this brings both
advantages and disadvantages. The advantages
are that adult learners have the knowledge of
how to learn and they use these learning
strategies when studying English. But the
disadvantage is that they might fear failure,
they might have other life obligations and/or
they may come from a different teaching style,
which may run counter to the present teachers
teaching methods. Nonetheless, teachers
should make use of the knowledge and
experience that adult learners bring to the
classroom, but give a serious consideration to
their different needs and do the impossible to
help them in this journey.
REFERENCES
Bronson, M. B. (2000). Self-Regulation in Early Childhood:
Nature and Nurture. New York: The Guildford Press.
Burt, M., Peyton, J. K., & Adams, R. (2003). Reading and adult
English language learners: A review of the research. Washington,
DC: Center for Applied Linguistics.
Chen, H-C. & Leung, Y-S. (1989). Patterns of lexical processing in
a nonnative language. Journal of Experimental Psychology:
Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 15(2), 316-325.
Clark, M.C., Caffarella, R.S. (1999). An update on adult
development theory: New ways of thinking about the life course.
San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Crawford L. D. (2004). The Role of Aging in Adult Learning:
Implications for Instructors in Higher Education.Retrieved from
http://education.jhu.edu/PD/newhorizons/lifelonglearning/higher-
education/implications/
Ellis, R. (1997) Second Language Acquisition. Oxford: Oxford
University Press.
Florez, M. C., & Burt, M. (2001).Beginning to work with adult
English language learners: Some considerations. Washington,
DC:National Center for ESL Literacy Education. Available
fromwww.cal.org/caela/esl_resources/digests/beginQA.html
Gardner, R. and Lambert, W. (1972) Attitudes and Motivation in
Second Language Learing. Rowley, MA: Newbury House.
Kennedy, R.C. (2003). Applying principles of adult learning: the
key to more effective training programs. The FBI Law
Enforcement Bulletin. April, 2003.
Merriam, S. B. (2001). The new update on adult learning theory.
San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Oxford-Carpenter, R. (1985) A New Taxonomy of Second
Language Learning Strategies. Washington, DC: ERIC
Clearinghouse on Languages and Linguistics,.
Pelletier G. S, 2010, Success for Adult Students, Public Purpose
Magazines. Retrieved from
http://www.aascu.org/uploadedFiles/AASCU/Content/Root/Media
AndPublications/PublicPurposeMagazines/Issue/10fall_adultstude
nts.pdf
Slavin, R. & Cheung, A. (2004). Effective reading programs for
English language learners: A best-evidence synthesis [online].
Available: www.csos.jhu.edu/crespar/techReports/Report66.pdf
Page | 14
William Perry
Director of Programming & Training
Peace Corps Kosovo
On June Volunteers representing
the U.S. Peace Corps arrived in Pristina to begin their
months of service as English language teachers
throughout Kosovo. On September an
agreement between President Atifete Jahjaga and
the Peace Corps was signed.
The Peace Corps is an independent government
agency with no political or religious agendas. The
Agency sends Volunteers to countries worldwide
that request support. The Volunteers work in
specific areas including education, community
development, economic development and
environmental planning, in addition to other areas.
Currently there are approximately Volunteers
serving in countries around the globe: Kosovo is
the country that Peace Corps has worked in
(Peace Corps website). The initial programming is in
English language education, but in future years
additional programs will be added depending on the
needs of the country.
Wherever Peace Corps operates, the mission of
building world peace and friendship focuses on both
capacity-building and on sustainability. In the case
of Kosovo, Peace Corps project goals include
Page | 15
helping develop English teaching capacity,
particularly in rural and under-served parts of the
country. In addition to providing language
instruction to students through team teaching,
Volunteers work with counterpart teachers to help
improve their proficiency in English and their
classroom teaching skills. The Volunteers also do
local projects with community members who have
identified particular needs. All of this work is done
on a grassroots level with the impetus for change
coming from local community members. Although
Volunteer serve for only months in Kosovo, the
project is planned over a five-year period and
updated as needed. Peace Corps is committed to
sustainable development in all of its projects.
HOW ARE THE VOLUNTEERS SELECTED IN THE
U.S.?
The Peace Corps Volunteer recruitment process has
recently undergone substantial change, but the
basic principles of recruiting across the entire
United States and seeking a diverse balance of
ethnic groups, race, social status, age and sex
remain an essential part of the process. To the
extent possible, this diversity is reflected in the
composition of Volunteer groups going to countries
throughout the world.
To become a Peace Corps Volunteer (PCV), the
applicant must be a U.S. citizen. The process takes
between nine months and a year. Recent changes to
the recruitment system make it possible to choose
both the country you would like to serve in and the
job you would like to do. The choices, however, are
subject to availability of positions in the country
and the individual applicants qualifications.
(http://www.peacecorps.gov/volunteer/learn/)
HOW ARE THE VOLUNTEERS TRAINED?
Once the Volunteers are recruited and placed in one
of the countries, they receive information about
the country and, in some cases, begin their
language and other training before they leave the
U.S. This is typically done through online courses
and exercises. Peace Corps makes an effort to
ensure that prospective Volunteers have the
opportunity to learn as much as possible about the
country they will serve in.
After the Volunteers arrive, they have approximately
weeks of intensive training that covers language,
culture, safety and security, personal health
maintenance, and the core background for English
language teachers in Kosovo. The Volunteers study
the local language and culture on a daily basis in
villages where they live with local families. Once or
twice a week they meet together at a central
location for training in the areas other than
language and culture. Near the end of their pre-
service training, they participate in a practicum
Page | 16
where they get hands-on teaching experience with
local students. The Volunteers are closely observed
by their trainers and other teachers during the
practicum before they move to their permanent
sites in Kosovo. At the end of the training, the
Volunteers are given feedback on all of the
components that were covered during the weeks.
Following the training, they move to communities
throughout Kosovo that have been selected for
them through a cooperative effort of the Peace
Corps staff, the Ministry of Education and local
municipalities.
WHERE DO THE VOLUNTEERS LIVE AND WORK?
Peace Corps English teachers are placed in schools
throughout the country that have applied for a
Volunteer, are able to offer a local Counterpart
teacher to work with the Volunteer, and a family
that can offer a room to the Volunteer for their two
years of service in Kosovo. The schools are typically
not in large cities and most often are in the rural
communities.
The first group of Volunteers was placed in primarily
rural areas in the country. As the needs of Kosovo
evolve, there may be minor shifts in the current
programming strategy, but the emphasis will remain
on the communities with the greatest needs for
what Peace Corps has to offer.
In the spirit of capacity-building and sustainability,
Volunteers team-teach with local Counterparts.
Each English-teaching Volunteer is placed in a
public school with a Counterpart who is motivated
to take advantage of having a trained co-teacher: a
Volunteer who is a native speaker of English and
committed to the goals of Peace Corps.
During their months of service, the Peace Corps
Volunteers live with a host family in their
community. This family typically becomes a key
partner to the Volunteers as they begin to
integrate into the community. Volunteers eat their
meals with the host family and are expected to be
treated as family members. The families receive a
small payment from the Volunteers for a room and
for food out of their living allowance (the Volunteers
are not paid a salary: they receive only a modest
living allowance from the Peace Corps). Although
the Volunteers often continue formal language
study, the host family is generally the primary
source of language and cross-culture learning after
the initial 3-month training. After their two years of
service, many Volunteers say that the best
relationship they developed while they were serving
Page | 17
in the Peace Corps was the one with their host
family.

HOW DO THE VOLUNTEERS MEET PEACE CORPS 3

GOALS?

As seen through the Kosovar context, the country

The following quote is taken directly from the Peace
Corps website:
As the preeminent international service
organization of the United States, the Peace
Corps sends Americans abroad to tackle the
most pressing needs of people around the
world. Peace Corps Volunteers work at the
grassroots level toward sustainable change
that lives on long after their serviceat the
same time becoming global citizens and
serving their country. When they return home,
Volunteers bring their knowledge and
experiencesand a global outlookthat
enriches the lives of those around them.
(http://www.peacecorps.gov/about/)
has asked Peace Corps to provide trained English
language teachers to work in the schools
throughout the country. As the Volunteers carry out
their work, they meet the people of Kosovo and
through their interaction, help Kosovars better
understand aspects of American life and culture.
When the Volunteers complete their service, they
return to the United States with a deep knowledge
of the country in which they served. They help
Americans understand the people of Kosovo.
These three goals and this process of sharing skills,
experience and cultural values have been in place
since the inception of Peace Corps in Each new
group of Volunteers in countries throughout the
world go through this process and help fulfill Peace
Corps mission of world peace and friendship.

The mission of the Peace Corps is to promote world

peace and friendship through its three original goals
1. To help the people of interested countries
in meeting their need for trained men and
women
2. To help promote a better understanding of
Americans on the part of the peoples
served
3. To help promote a better understanding of
other peoples on the part of Americans.

Page | 18
Charles O. Warner III
Peace Corps TEFL Volunteer & MUN Director
Gjimnazi Hajdar Dushi Gjakova, Kosova Nations where, in place of professional
When exploring different classroom and
extracurricular activities with which to increase
the flexibility and effectiveness of a high
schools TEFL toolkit, it is difficult to find an
extracurricular activity better suited to English
instruction than Model United Nations (MUN).
MUN forums have a distinguished history
reaching back to the early and the
concept has been implemented in high schools
and universities around the globe. In the
simplest of definitions, an MUN extracurricular
activity is a student simulation of the United
diplomats, high school students representing
different countries around the world discuss,
debate, and attempt to reconcile global issues.
The specific incentives for your students to
join an MUN program, discussed below, can be
built off of and are in fact closely intertwined
with the more general teaching objectives that
drive TEFL curriculum development. In the
following lines a general framework of MUN as
an extracurricular activity will be sketched along
with experiences gathered during
implementation of an MUN program at Gjimnazi
Hajdar Dushi in Gjakova, Kosova.
Page | 19
 To begin this discussion on MUN in the high concepts upon which all else may rest.
school, the stage is set by noting the merit in Speaking from a simple pop culture perspective,
establishing an extracurricular activity within a useful when engaging with teenagers, many
high school. Researchers Natalie Fischer and noted personalities seen on the global stage
Desiree Theis, in the Journal for Educational reflect back with fondness and gratitude on
Research Online, observe, Results of United extracurricular activities that kept them off the
States studies and meta-analyses indicate that streets or encouraged within them the skills
extracurricular activities positively influence the they would later use in life. (For example
development of social, physical, and intellectual Chelsea Clinton, Ryan Seacrest, and Samuel L.
skills Moreover, extracurricular Jackson; just to name a few famous individuals
activities contribute to an increase in your students might recognize).
engagement by the student body with the Since there is limited space in which to
school. Writing on student engagement, construct this article, an in-depth look at the
educators James Appleton et al. describe a mechanics of MUN forums is not possible but I
classification wherein variables such as time will mention that due to MUNs extensive
on taskand homework completion history around the world, on-line resources are
represented indicators of academic abundant, free, and very informative. On-line
engagement, whereas attendanceand resources that can guide both students and
extracurricular participation represented teachers new to the idea of MUN include
indicators of behavioral engagement http://www.un.org/cyberschoolbus/
Academic and behavioral modelun/over.html and http://www.unausa.org/
engagements represent only two parts in the as well as YouTube. The structure of MUN
overall psyche of a student but arguably these forums can vary somewhat from country to
two are the most important foundational country (or even within one country such as the
United States) and that can allow for a great

Page | 20
deal of flexibility and adjustment at the onset of
an MUN program. Moreover, as I have recently
come to find out, there are many people living
and working in Kosova who have extensive
experience with MUN and are willing to act as
community partners in afterschool programs.
Having briefly discussed MUN and the role
of extracurricular activities, we may now focus
on the connections between MUN and TEFL
learning objectives. For the readers
convenience, these connections have been
divided into main points corresponding to four
overall TEFL objectives:
Listening Comprehension: One of
the primary foci of MUN is the
presentation of an idea or solution
by a student delegate to an
assembly comprised of other
student delegates. Students in the
assembly must listen carefully to
the points presented in English so
as to effectively debate, suggest
changes, or vote on the idea.
Therefore MUN creates an entirely
new dynamic with which teachers
can encourage the development of
a students listening
comprehension skills.
Public Speaking: As TEFL educators
well know, many students can be
quite capable of speaking English
but may shy away from actively
speaking in the classroom.
Alternately, due to the number of
students within classrooms in
Kosova, many students are unable
to engage in English discussions to
an extent that successfully
challenge and grow their oratory
skills. MUN forums depend on the
development of these skills by the
student delegates. As such, within
a schools MUN training meetings
as well as at MUN international
conferences, students are asked to
speak to or in front of the other
delegates on a range of topics.
Writing &Research: The foundation
for the entire concept of MUN falls
within this category of TEFL
instruction. MUN student
delegates must scour the Internet
and libraries for the information
they use to construct and explain
their positions on global issues or
problems before the United
Nations. Therefore, several skills
are required and encouraged:
critical thinking, reading
comprehension, collaboration, as
well as professional writing abilities.
Confidence: Student confidence is
not always mentioned as a defined
Page | 21
 TEFL objective within professional
literature or in the student
textbook. Yet a student who may
have a strong capability in English
but does not feel confident or
empowered in speaking might never
say a word in English. Student
simulations via MUN work toward
developing a students confidence
in her or his self with regard to
speaking English, presenting in
public, voicing an opinion, or simply
standing their own ground in an
English-language discussion.
With this conceptual link between TEFL and
MUN in mind, let us continue to the final part of
this discussion of MUN in the high school: how
to establish these student simulations for the
student body in your school. In keeping with
the spirit of this paper and journal, vis--vi
grounded within the realities of school life in
Kosova, I would like to hold up as an example
for discussion my experiences with organizing
and starting an MUN program at Gjimnazi
Hajdar Dushi in Gjakova.
My first order of business sought to
accomplish two goals concurrently begin
generating interest within the student body for
an MUN extracurricular activity and
discussing with the students, classroom by
classroom, exactly what is MUN. The first goal I
initiated by developing flyers (see picture and
placing the flyers on the walls near the most
heavily-trafficked areas of my school and as
well as digitally on the schools Facebook page.
During these efforts at generating student
awareness for an MUN extracurricular activity, I
highlighted five main incentives that I thought
would provoke the most interest:
On-line collaboration with foreign &
domestic students
International MUN Conferences
Domestic MUN Conferences
New avenues to speak & practice
English
Debating international issues
With MUN being a pilot project at the
gjimnazi, I looked for a manageable group of
students with which to work and train. In
regard to team composition from the available
classes at Hajdar Dushi, I was interested in
creating a team that allowed for the best
chances at creating a sustainable MUN program
that will re-emerge in following school years.
Thus I selected fifteen students overall from
and classes as the finalists of a
selection process that started with forty initial
student candidates. As the class MUN
members graduate and continue on to
university, the class students move to fill
their positions as will the class into the
class positions. This recruitment strategy
Page | 22
allows for a core knowledge base to be retained
as students graduate but also allows for new
students to become involved in each new
school year. It is within this paradigm that I
hope long-term sustainability will be achieved
so as to offer this opportunity to interested
students each academic year.
In conclusion, MUN forums represent an
effective and dynamic venue for students to
increase their comfort and skill with English as a
second language. Fischer and Theis note a
summary of studies relating to extracurricular
activities that reported a positive correlation
between extracurricular participation and
school performance while another study also
cited found that [grade averages] of students
who participated in extracurricular activities in
Grade developed more positively than [grade
averages] of their peers, even when controlling
for sex, ethnicity and social background
However, even with such a
lengthy heritage as MUN, the success of any
one particular extracurricular activity is not
preordained.
Successful, sustainable extracurricular
activities require sponsorship and guidance
from enthusiastic, invested teachers. A sea-
change in the mentality of some teachers
accustomed to the traditional ways of doing
business in Kosova must be seen before such
activities can even glimpse the near-
synonymous goals of sustainability and
effectiveness. Teachers who are accustomed to
arriving at school five minutes before first bell
and beat the students out the door at the end of
the school day will have to build into their
weekly schedules a few hours to accommodate
the needs of the student group; a few hours
each week that may pass without financial
recompense. It will take considerable
enthusiasm and research on the part of the
teacher to create an MUN program but the
rewards and benefits are simply too great to let
the opportunity pass by unexplored.
SOURCES:
Appleton, J.J., Christenson, S.L., and Furlong, M.J. (2008).
Student Engagement with School: Critical Conceptual and
Methodological Issues of the Construct. Psychology in the
Schools, 45(5). Retrieved from www.interscience.wiley.com
Fischer, N., & Theis, D. (2014). Quality of extracurricular
activities Considering developmental changes in the impact on
school attachment and achievement. Journal for Educational
Research Online 6(3). Retrieved from www.search.ebscohost.com
Page | 23
Arbr Jashari
Assistant Coordinator at the American Corner in Prishtina

INTRODUCTION main goals: to facilitate English language

The aim of this article is to describe the learning through access to English language
role of the American Corner in providing speakers, resources, computers, and the
teachers and students of English with tools for Internet.
enhancing and implementing the use of
contemporary methods in the classroom and
outside of it.

The American Corner contains a diverse

collection of English language materials that
both teachers and students can use free of
charge. Teachers and students can check out up
to five items at a time for a period of two
weeks. In addition, through the support of
programs facilitated by the U.S. Embassy in
Prishtina, we are able to offer continuous
human resources in the form of native English
speakers.

Our aim is to improve the services to this

category of the community. We are striving to
build stronger bridges of collaboration with
local public and private institutions which are
engaged in teaching and learning English as a
second language. In this form, we are also
contributing to the fulfillment of one of our

Page | 24

WHAT IS AN AMERICAN CORNER?
American Spaces are jointly sponsored
partnerships between the Public Affairs
Sections of U.S. embassies or consulates and
host-country institutions. They provide access
to current, reliable information about the United
States through book collections, the Internet,
and local programming. These partnerships are
usually called American Corners, but in some
countries, they are also known as Lincoln
Corners or Windows on America. Some are
named after other famous Americans.
In Kosovo, there are three American Corners in
three different regions: Prishtina, Prizren and
Mitrovica. Although each of the corners has its
own specific methods of operation, they all
provide contemporary and up to date resources,
which facilitate English language learning and
teaching through various programs. Programs
currently include: English classes, in person
seminars and online webinars, debate clubs,
book clubs, Ted Talks, film discussions, and an
active volunteer program. In addition, every year
the corners act as co-hosts for representatives
of such programs as the English Language
Fellow Program (ELF), Fulbright English
Teaching Assistant Program (ETA), Peace Corps
Volunteer Program (PCV), and for other native
English speakers who serve in short-term
programs in Kosova/o.
AMERICAN CORNER PRISTINA
The American Corner in Prishtina is located
inside the National Library of Kosova, at the
heart of the University of Prishtina campus. This
small library is a vibrant and student-driven
space, where English is the most common
spoken language during activities and between
regular frequenters. Over percent of our
programs are conducted in English and a vast
majority of them involve at least one native
English speaker.
Over the course of the past two academic years,
we have prepared, organized and implemented
an outstanding number of high quality and
educational programs which have involved
Page | 25
many actors. These include various members of
the local community, both in the form of
individuals and organizations: students and
teachers, local professionals, journalists, artists,
public and private institutions of higher
education, private English schools, and NGOs.
However, our primary collaborators in the field
of English language teaching and learning are
the University of Prishtina - through students
and professors - and KETNET - through its
different branches across Kosova. Below we will
describe some of the most successful programs
that have been implemented at our American
Corner and which have, among other things,
involved the use of English as a resource.
In collaboration with the University of Prishtina
and the ELF representative, American Corner
Pristina has brought to Kosova/o the
international campaign called Before I Die. In
four big boards that were set up in front of the
National Library building, students and other
members of the community had the chance to
write their biggest wishes in English. The project
was a big success and received wide media
attention.
For several months our corner organized the
NaNoWriMo Writing Project in which students
attended weekly creative writing classes. Their
work was culminated with the successful
publishing of around fictional and non-
fictional stories in one single book.
In another series of lectures, our corner held a
photography class using English language
called English Through a New Lens. In this
course, students from different faculties were
introduced to the main English language
terminology that is used in the field of arts in
general, and that of photography in particular.
In addition to the above-mentioned special
programs, our corner enjoys regular visits from
organized groups of students and other
professionals who are interested in using the
resources that are available in the English
language - academic and reference books,
dictionaries and testing materials, novels, e-
books, educational films and videos.
In our constant effort to improve our services to
our patrons, we invite the community of English
language teachers, students and other local
professionals to take this article as an honest
call for further collaboration between
institutions, organizations and individuals. The
American Corner in Prishtina is resourceful,
practical and free of charge for all users. As
such, it presents and a unique array of
opportunities and advantages that must be
used by people such as the readers of this
journal.
SOURCES:
How to Run An American Corner Booklet, U.S. Department Of
State, Bureau Of International Information Programs, Office Of
Information Resources, 2010
Managing American Spaces: A Handbook for American Spaces
Partners, U.S. Department Of State, Bureau Of International
Information Programs, Office Of Information Resources, 2014
Additional Guidelines for Managing American Corners in Kosovo,
U.S. Department Of State, Bureau Of International Information
Programs, Office Of Information Resources (adapted by the
Information Resource Office of the Public Affairs Office of the
U.S. Embassy Pristina), 2013
Page | 26

Natalia Kolnik
She grew up in Montana, U.S.A., but studied
abroad both in high school and in university. She has lived
and taught international students around the world,
completing her Masters in Education at the University of
Oxford. In her spare time, she enjoys traveling, reading,
and being outdoors.
Dear experienced teacher,
I have been teaching English to upper-
high school students since September. In one
particular classroom I have noticed a female
student who is exceptionally smart and has
outstanding English language skills. However,
she never volunteers to respond to a question or
to get engaged in class activities. Nonetheless,
every time I ask her a question she provides
excellent responses and demonstrates superior
competence in English language compared to
her classmates. I have asked around and I found
out that she was part of an exchange program in
US for an academic year. One of my colleagues
stated that she is one of the top students who
never speak in class. Another one believes that
she is modest and that she keeps quiet in order
not to make other students feel incompetent.
Having said this, could you please advise me
what actions I could take to make her change
this approach? I am confident that her
engagement will benefit not only her personally,
but her peers too. However, I need practical tips
that will make my student participate
voluntarily in classes without making her feel
uncomfortable or suggesting preferential
treatment.
Thank you for your letter. Your predicament
and questions are ones that I, too, have
experienced, on more than one occasion. I will
try offering some advice below, based on what
has worked for me; however, as all classes are a
bit unique and students vary, feel free to keep
the meat and throw away the bones (meaning
to try out and use whatever advice works for
your situation and disregard whatever does not).
Every class has extreme students the one(s)
who is/are really far behind, the one(s) who is/are
really ahead of the others, the one(s) who
has/have a difficult home situation and those
troubles affect their behavior in the classroom,
the one(s) with special needs, the one(s) who
is/are disrespectful, and so on.
Although one of the most important goals for
teachers is to educate all the students in class
so that all the students learn, it can be easy to
inadvertently begin focusing our thoughts and
our time primarily on the extreme cases, thus
neglecting the rest of the students, who are
also there.
Page | 27
There are different ways in which you can avoid
focusing on extremes. Below are a few
suggestions for involving all students in class,
including the female student who does not
seem eager to participate in class discussions
and activities.
Create a collaborative atmosphere through
group work
Use group work and assign group leaders to
ensure collaboration (rotating the leadership
role every few weeks is an important way to
avoid showing favorites, as well as build
responsibility in all students). Although the
student you wrote about is head-and-shoulders
above the rest, there must be other students in
class who are also of a high language level (even
if not as high as hers), who could be utilized as
small group facilitators, relieving this one
student from feeling burdened by the weight of
assisting the entire class.
Encourage all of the students to share their
answers within their group, and the group
leader can share those ideas with the whole
class, therefore learning from you and from
each other.
Talk to the student
Seeking professional advice from your
colleagues is excellent, but you might also find
it very useful to talk one-on-one with this
student, perhaps after class has been dismissed.
It sounds like you have guesses about why she
acts the way she does, but the best way to truly
find out is to go straight to the source and ask
her, in a way that allows her to share her
thoughts without feeling like she will be singled
out later.
Seek student feedback
Beyond discussing this single students
(in)action in class, a related suggestion is to cast
your search wider. You have written about the
one student, but she might be reacting this way
because of peer pressure (or fear of such) from
the other students, who may feel threatened by
her high level.
Although teachers are trained professionals and
experts in their field, students are also a
valuable information source on ways in which
they enjoy learning. If a student feels like
he/she is an important part of a class, his/her
involvement in that class will be greater than
the one who feels that his/her presence does
not make a difference. At least half of the best
advice I have ever received on my teaching style
and classroom improvements has been from
students themselves. A few years after I began
teaching, I decided to conduct a mid-semester
evaluation/feedback form of the class. It was so
successful that it became a regular part of my
professional development.
The evaluation form is very simple, usually with
just 3questions: What do you like about class?
Page | 28
What things are difficult for you about class?
Are there suggestions you have about how
things might be done differently in class?
Students are given 5-10minutes to complete it in
class, so they can take time to think about what
they want to write and/or change their answers
after they have read back through what they
have written (those who finish early can get a
head start on the homework due for the next
class). Students can choose to complete none
or all or part of the form and they can choose
whether to include their name, as it is
something informal and for my eyes only.
When students finish the form, they put it in a
box and then I read through all the comments
after school has finished. I create a basic
spreadsheet about the comments, noting how
many times similarly themed comments are
written.
For instance, many students will comment that
they enjoy my personal energy in teaching.
Sometimes the things they liked will be
completely different and relate (in contrast) to
the question of difficulty below: some students
say they prefer the quizzes and that they
struggle with the essays; other students prefer
the essays and struggle with public speaking.
What that tells me is that I need to make sure I
dont use too much of just one assessment tool.
In the area of difficulty, one year, most students
wrote that the amount of homework and the
number of vocabulary words was really difficult
for them to feel they had mastered them. Since
more than students wrote at least these
same two things down, I knew that it was
something that greatly bothered them and I
needed to address it, while there was still time
in the semester.
Finally, although students usually leave
the suggestions area blank, I have received very
clever ideas from students about how they feel
they might learn better. These have ranged
from having the vocabulary words posted on the
wall (and referenced through the weeks
classes, in preparation for the end-of-week quiz),
to allowing students the chance to correct their
wrong answers on quizzes and earn back some
of the lost points (if they could prove how they
had found and now understood the answer they
shouldve written).
The final part of this evaluation process is to
briefly share and discuss the spreadsheet of
themes with the students at the next class
meeting, showing them not only that I had read
their comments but also to share with them
perhaps some ideas that I liked and wanted to
implement right away.
When the information is a spreadsheet, then
students can see percentages related with
comments and realize that others felt the same
way (without seeing names). For the
suggestions part, it has also been interesting to
see how students will read something and then
begin to agree and spontaneously discuss
related ideas, coming together to create a more
collaborative and supportive learning
environment. Since the ideas about how to
learn in class are ones that they themselves
have brainstormed, students both help enforce
the ways amongst themselves and they better
accomplish the academic goals they need to
reach. I hope some of this information has been
helpful to you. I wish you all the best in your
situation and teaching.
Sincerely,
Ms. Natalia Kolnik
Page | 29

Shpresa Hashani
She has been teaching English for over 6 years.
She teaches in a primary school in Neredime, Ferizaj. She
is currently working on her Masters thesis, researching
teachers peer observation experiences. She is one of the
lead trainers in the TEYL program with Faculty of
Education of University of Prishtina.
Subject: English Language /
Grade: V / Topic: Opposite Adjectives/
Number of students:
Teaching resources/materials: Worksheets of
adjectives, notebooks and pens, flashcards,
board, chalk
Key Vocabulary: Tall, short, fat, thin, big, small,
high, low, clean, dirty, generous, selfish, happy,
sad, sick, well, bad, good, rich, poor, hot, cold,
ugly, handsome, strong, weak, cheap, expensive,
near, far, loud, quiet, long, short, old, new, old,
young, bright, dark, left, right
Lesson Objective: Each student will be able to
use correctly, both spoken and written, at least
three of the Key Vocabulary adjectives in
sentences.
Activities:
1. Brainstorming (5 min): Use flashcards to
engage students, asking them to use adjectives
to describe pictures on the flashcards.
Flashcards should have contrasting images for
the purpose of comparison. For example: The
airplane is big / The car is small; The elephant is
fat/ The snake is thin; This room is dirty/ This
room is clean, etc. For the benefit of any lower-
level students, ask all students what the name
is for the part of speech that describes pictures.
Explain that words which describe objects are
called adjectives. Ask students to list other
adjectives they know in English; as you write the
adjectives on the board, ask students to use
their suggested adjectives in an example
sentence.
2. Face-to-Face min): Pair students according
to similar skill level. There can be 7 pairs
doing the activity simultaneously students
facing each other). Prior to the lesson, make
sure you have printed out sheets of paper with
adjectives on two sheets and opposite
adjectives on the other two Hang the paper
sheets on the wall in separate parts of the
classroom. Call out Student 1 and Adjective
1, signalling that Student 1should run and read
only the adjective written next to Adjective 1
(in our case big). Student 1 must remember
his/her adjective; s/he quickly returns to his/her
Page | 30
partner and says the adjective aloud to him/her. List 1:
In addition to saying the adjective, s/he must
perform the adjective, using gestures, for the
partner to understand. Continue the activity
with Students This procedure is repeated
three times for students Once the listed
adjectives are finished, repeat the procedure
with the partners, students only now with
the opposite adjectives.
In the end, you can initiate a mini-competition
by asking students 1-7to call out the adjectives
they had to read, and their partners (students
respond by saying the opposites. Encourage
students not to say their adjectives in the order List 2:
they uttered them at the beginning of the
activity, so their peers are forced to listen
carefully in order to say correctly the opposite
of the adjective called out by their partner.
Students who make mistakes in pronunciation
or in using the incorrect adjective lose points.
Scoring should be individual, for each student,
based on his/her performance.
IMAGE RETRIEVED FROM:
3. Written task ( min): Ask students to write Tall&Short: http://www.glogster.com/amberh34/spanish-2-project-
5b/g-6mqqg5e4hq24aqgid6uh6a0
short sentences using the three adjectives they
uttered during the Face-to-Face activity. As soon Thin&Fat: http://thumbs.dreamstime.com/x/fat-thin-5785606.jpg

as students finish writing examples, ask each ___________________________________

student to read his/her sentences aloud. This
way, each student will write three sentences
using the adjectives they have remembered
from the previous activity, and they are in
contact with the other adjectives as they listen
to their peers sentences read out loud.
1
There are numerous sources online for flashcards with adjective
comparison. One of the websites you could use is:
http://www.mes-english.com/flashcards/adjectives.php
2
If there are more students, more pairs can be formed and more
adjectives can be added to the list. Conversely, students can be
asked to read less adjectives from the sheets on the wall.
3
For each adjective, pictures should be included to exemplify the
meaning of adjectives, most of which might be new to students.

Tips
This activity can be used with VII, VIII and IX
grade students. Teachers may use adjectives of
appropriate level to challenge their students.
Below are samples of images teachers can use
to exemplify adjectives. Images can be
modified by adding words to denote a specific
adjective.

Page | 31
Donjeta Latifi
She is a senior English major student at the English Key words learners will use: chocolate, jam,
Department. She teaches in a private language school and
cake, lollipops, juice, sweets (n.), food, drink,
has an interest in implementing new methods of teaching.
She hopes this interest will contribute to her community
sweet (adj), like, love, sweet tooth
and school improvement. She also enjoys reading, writing,
volunteering and hospitality service management.
Objective of the lesson/ outcomes:
By the end of the lesson, students will be able
to:
Topic: A Sweet Tooth
Lesson Length: 1. use at least three of the key words in
Grade: utterances.
Number of students: 2. identify at least 70%of (food/drink) items
brought to class.
3. express their likes and dislikes regarding
Teaching resources/ materials/tools: food/drink items, using the correct form
Real food / drinks with matching labels of do in questions and answers in 80%of
(or printed images of food/drink items the cases.
with matching words)
PROCEDURE: To engage
Handouts :
students in the lesson, inform them that the
i. food/drink items and smileys (see
topic is A Sweet Tooth. Ask them questions
Step 5)
like the following:
ii. matching food/drink items with
corresponding words (see Step 3) What do you understand from the phrase a
iii. crossword (see the Homework sweet tooth?
section).
What does sweet mean?
Two small baskets or boxes to hold Can you name any food that is sweet?
small sheets of paper with food/items
and smileys.

Page | 32
 Place the real food/drink
items on a desk so that they are visible to all
pupils. Pick labels for the food/drink items and
for each label do the following:
show label to students
read label loudly and hold up the item
it describes
read loudly again and ask students to
repeat after you
place label close to the corresponding
item.

This way students will be able to see how each

word for food/drink items is written, how it is
pronounced, and what it means. If you cannot
bring food to class for some reason, you can
stick images of food items on the whiteboard,
and write the corresponding word under each
item. Read the words and ask students to
repeat. Share the drinks and food with students.
As you give items to students, you can say the
names of the items again to embed the Pick a happy or sad face and
pronunciation in students memories. two food items from the handouts with smileys
and food/drink items. Demonstrate a
Distribute exercise sheets to conversation between a boy and a girl. Draw
the pupils to see if they are able to identify (link) images of a boy and a girl on the whiteboard
each new word with its corresponding item. See with at least a centimeter distance between
image below as an example. them. Stand in front of the boy, holding the
food item picture, and ask: Do you like
(chocolate)?

Page | 33
Then, move in front of the girl's image and food/drink items as shown in the handout below
answer: I like (chocolate). and students can choose the food/drink item
they want to ask a question about. Considering
Repeat the same process again with the sad each item and the corresponding smiley can
face: lead to a dialogue between students.
Boy: Do you like (sweets)? Ask students whether they think they have a
Girl: I dont like (sweets). sweet tooth or not based on their like/dislike of
the food/drinks introduced during the lesson.
Boy: Do you like (jam)?
Girl: I love (jam).
C H O C O L A T E
The boy/girl comparison makes it easier for R C S A H O R E L
students to understand that it is a dialogue, E X G K G L I G R
rather just one person changing their position Q Z T E F L M L O
on where s/he stands. I would suggest giving no S W E E T I K A N
explanations in Albanian regarding what they W S L S R P J A M
should do because when only using English you
J U I C E O W Z J
are exposing them to the language more and
L K N H I P Q T E
creating a real situation that would happen in
the English-speaking world.
Homework: Ask students do the homework
below. This assists students in recalling the new
Ask students to have a conversation like the vocabulary and there is a special focus on
one demonstrated by you. You can place small spelling.
sheets of paper with smileys in one basket and
sheets of paper food/drink items in another. Find food/drink items in the crossword.
Ask one student to pick a small sheet of paper
from the smiley basket, and another from the
food basket.
Based on the smiley and food/drink item they
pick, they can have a dialogue. You could also
distribute the handouts of smileys and

Page | 34
Kate Mulvey
English Language Fellow
As the Kosovo New Curriculum
Framework looks to move the beginning age of
ESL instruction from grade three to grade one, it
is important to examine the topic of Teaching
English to Young Learners. People often ask,
does teaching young learners differ from
teaching older learners. The answer is, yes it
does. There are many approaches to TEYL that
are different than teaching older learners. We
will look at some here and also look at
suggested activities to use in the Kosovo
context.
How does Teaching English to Young Learners
differ from teaching other learners?One of the
biggest differences between teaching young
Page | 35
learners and teens or adults is that the youngest What young learners will enjoy
learners do not have any external motivation for Keep in mind, young learners are new to the
learning a language. They are motivated by classroom environment. They may be scared or
curiosity and interest rather than the promise of not really want to be there yet. Many young
a higher paycheck or better job, often big learners go through an adjustment period of
motivating factors for older learners. Because getting used to being without a family member
young learners are more motivated by curiosity, nearby. For this reason, it is important to make
it is important to keep your lessons varied, your lessons relaxed and easy. Make sure to
interesting and moving quickly. Another include lots of positive feedback to set a
characteristic of young learners is their innate positive classroom tone. Young learners will
ability to pick up language and pronunciation. enjoy active learning with lots of movement and
At the preschool and early primary years, song, but will not yet be very good at sitting in a
children are like little sponges, picking up desk.
everything around them. They can learn new
vocabulary at startling speeds.
When teaching in South Korea, the author was
shocked to see an absolute beginner five-year-
old class go from not speaking one word of
English to reading graded readers in just one
school year! The rate they were able to pick up
the language and remember it was truly
amazing.

One other difference between an older group of

learners and a very young group is that for the
most part, young learners will all come into your
class at the same level. With middle school and
secondary school, you will see a much larger
range of English levels within one class. With
very young learners, most of them will be at the
same or nearly the same level, making your job
actually somewhat easier. With young learners,
you have a built-in curiosity, learners at the
same level, and learners who absorb
information at high rates of speed and with high Young learner behavior
accuracy. You can use this natural curiosity to Young learners do not yet know how to act in a
your advantage when planning lessons for classroom. They are new to hand raising. They
young learners! are new to lining up. And, on top of that, young
learners have incredibly short attention spans.
According to Ann Fisher of Fortune magazine,
the average adult attention span is only around
five minutes. So, dont expect to get a twenty

Page | 36
minute lecture in with a group of young
learners! Ive heard many teachers say they
dont know why their young learners cant
understand classroom rules. They cant
understand, because its all new to them! You
need to concentrate on basic classroom
etiquette at the beginning of the school term
with any new class and this is especially true
with young learners. They need to be taught to
line up, to take turns, to raise their hand and to
speak when it is their turn. Dont get frustrated.
Try to see it as a magical new world, like your
young learners are doing and it will take away a
lot of the stress and frustration!
What to teach young learners
For young learners, the initial focus should be
on communication. Classes should lay the
groundwork for later more academic
coursework. Students should practice phonics,
numbers, letters, colors and shapes in the
beginning of their learning. It isnt necessary to
focus on reading and writing at the beginning.
This can come later. It is okay to focus classes
on speaking and listening as this will give the
students a solid, natural base for learning a
language. You can read aloud to your students
using materials aimed at young learners, but
you need not expect them to be reading yet.
A few tips for working with young learners:
1. Keep the lesson moving. Pace is key with
young learners. It is unreasonable to expect five,
six, or even seven-year-old students to sit in a
desk and study from a worksheet. You can try
this approach, but your chances of it working
are quite low, because this is not their natural
way to learn. Try to use movement and action in
each lesson and the topics should not last for
too long. A fast paced lesson with lots of
movement and activity will keep the class
interested and help them pick up more
language.
2. Use the TPR method if you can. Most children
love to sing, dance and move when learning.
The Total Physical Response Method will give
your students the necessary movement to keep
them active and learning. Using TPR will keep
you from getting frustrated by trying to keep
them seated quietly. If your goal going in isnt
to keep them quiet, but rather to keep them
active while learning, you will both come out of
the lesson much happier.
Page | 37
3. Dont over-correct. Students learn naturally by
observing the world around them, listening, and
mimicking. It is unnecessary to correct every
single mistake at this stage as they will
naturally pick up the correct grammar and
pronunciation from using it every day. If a
student makes a mistake, you can model the
proper form without concentrating on
corrections. For example, if a student says, we
goed to the store yesterday, you can say back
to them, Oh, you went to the store yesterday?
4. Interactive classes: use activities that involve
the students. If you are reading a story, get the
students to act out the characters. You can
have the students make puppets of the
different characters and hold them up when
they see that character. One game I like to play
with young learners that is simple, keeps them
active and can be done with a variety of
materials is stand up, sit down. In this activity,
you give the students two instructions: stand up
when they hear a word and sit down when they
hear a different word. For example, if you are
reading the book, Who Took the Cookie from
the Cookie Jar, you might have them stand up
every time they hear the word cookie and sit
down every time they hear the words Who,
me? When doing an activity like this, be sure to
keep the instructions simple. Start with just one
instruction: stand up when you here the word
cookie. You can then stop and tell them all to
sit down again. After they have mastered this,
you can add the second instruction, now, we
are going to stand up when we hear cookie and
sit down when we hear Who, me>
5. Keep a routine. Young learners like to know
what to expect. Keeping a routine will help to
cut down on any behavior issues and to keep
the day running smoothly. A typical minute
class might look like this.
AM - Calendar time. We put the
new day on the calendar, state todays weather
and sing two songs: the Days of the Week
song and the Whats the Weather song.
AM - revision of the last class
- Phonics and vocabulary time.
Clean up time
Sing a song or read a short
story and then goodbyes
Do these activities in the same order EVERY
day. After only a few classes, students know
what to expect. They will get ready for the next
lesson and begin to clean up on their own with
only simple prompts.
6. Use the resources available to you. If you are
in an area near a public library, check out what
materials they might have that you can use for
free. Also check the American Corners. They
have many materials for young learners that
you can borrow for free. Materials include big
books, flash cards, and games.
In conclusion, teaching young learners can be
challenging. It can also be a lot of fun and very
rewarding if you keep them active and keep a
daily routine. Dont forget to check out all of
the resources available to you on the internet,
at the library and at the American Corner.
Remember to have fun and your students will
have fun too!
REFERENCES
Cambridge English Language Assessment. (n.d.). Retrieved
December 15, 2014, from
http://www.cambridgeenglish.org/exams/young-learners-
english/starters/
Giving a speech? Conquer the five-minute attention span. (2013,
July 10). Retrieved December 15, 2014, from
http://fortune.com/2013/07/10/giving-a-speech-conquer-the-five-
minute-attention-span/
How To Teach Young Learners: One Step At A Time. (n.d.).
Retrieved December 15, 2014, from http://busyteacher.org/4261-
how-to-teach-young-learners-one-step-at-a-time.html
APA formatting by BibMe.org.
Page | 38
Miranda Agaj
Lindita Maliqi-Grbovci
When teaching English to young learners
there are some very important things that every
teacher should consider:
The majority of young learners are
enthusiastic about learning English.
Therefore, the teacher should be
patient and careful not to impede their
desire to learn English.
Young learners learn mostly by being
engaged in a variety of activities:
listening, repeating, miming, drawing,
painting, cutting, singing, making
particular sounds, role-playing, playing
games and so on. A teacher should try
to keep them as active as possible, both
physically and mentally.
The skill of writing should not be
considered to have an equal role in a
learning environment to the listening
skill. Writing should be presented to
young learners indirectly by making
them point and touch at the particular
objects; these objects can be shown in
pictures and young learners can
practice through matching written
words with pictures, circling the word
that describes the picture and so on.
Providing in-class explanations and
extra background information about
the particular subjects in the childrens
mother tongue (L1) may increase the
young learners interest in learning.
However, it is suggested to keep English
speaking time to a maximum, as
students interest increases also when
exposed to real situations in English
through a variety of activities.
2. How do you keep Young Learners engaged
in the lesson?
When teaching English to young learners,
teachers should almost forget about
textbooks as the main tool used in class. In
order to keep young learners engaged in the
lesson, teachers, when possible, should provide
the following:
Page | 39
 Concrete objects: Objects such as
animal toys and real fruit and
vegetables can be used to teach
vocabulary; and realia can be used in
activities to teach various concept in
language.
Visual aid: Illustrations, photos related
to the lesson, posters and other visual
aids assist in making concepts or
certain language aspects more
memorable for students.
Integrating objects and visual aids in classes
engages all learners. A teacher uses these
means to create activities that combine seeing,
listening and touching and, therefore, result in
successful student engagement in class.
Furthermore, giving young learners more than
one chance to repeat what is taught in class
keeps them engaged as they enthusiastically
wait for their turn to repeat what was covered
in class.
3. How do you deal with noise in the
classroom?
Noise is positive as long as students are
engaged in activities in class. If a teacher wants
to get the young learners attention, s/he can
try a few of the following options that work
best for his/her class:
Hand clapping
Calling the class with a soft voice:
Helloooo, Puupiiilssss,
Waving at the students
Starring at them silently, but not
angrily, until you get their attention
Miming the gesture with hands
meaning be quiet
Walking through the class stomping
(a few steps)
Regardless of which option is used, a teacher
should make sure to use other options from
time to time because students may get
immune to a certain noise management
technique and they will not react to it.
4. Share some ideas/tips how Young
Learners could learn English more effectively?
Young learners should be engaged in learning
activities which involve settings other than
classrooms and which make the learning
process more entertaining. If the lesson is about
places in a town, a teacher could take his/her
students to town. Young learners can enjoy a
walk as they learn the English names for places
and buildings in the town. A similar activity
would be used when learning the names of
animals. A teacher could visit a farm with
his/her class and this would expose students
not only to the vocabulary related to animals
there, but also to significant information
regarding farm life and animal care. While
talking to their teacher, playing with animals or
helping to feed them, students learn English
without being aware that the process of
learning is happening.
Page | 40
Oxford Studio Teachers
Young Learners might not be familiar
the purpose of learning English and it
might not have been their choice to
have been placed in an English class.
Young Learners learn differently from
adults because their minds functions
differently, depending on their
developmental stage. Young Learners
mostly learn by repeating the teachers
words. You may find yourself hearing
sentences repeated by them that you
even didnt ask them to repeat, which is
a sign that they already grabbed the
structures of the language taught in
classes.
While familiarizing themselves with the
class environment and just life itself,
they might often show fatigue,
insecurity and a lack of self-confidence.
Another important thing to remember is
that every class has pupils who develop
at a slower rate than others. Just be
patient. Not every flower blooms in
spring. It might take them longer to
grasp a concept, but it doesnt mean
that they wont eventually learn it.
While teaching young learners, it is of
great importance to never lose your
temper. Teachers must be patient and
tolerate learners mistakes since this is
their first stage of language learning.
Young Leaners must first grow to love
the language they are learning. Once
this starts to happen, things will be
easier, especially when teaching the
language at more advanced stages.
HOW DO YOU KEEP THEM ENGAGED IN THE
LESSON?
Plan, plan and plan your lesson. Be
assertive, clear, precise and time the
exercises correctly. Have a lesson plan
ready to implement in class, but always
have a plan "B" too. Young Learners
thrive best in a well-planned classroom
and they perform successfully when
they are in a repetitive mode, which
creates predictability. To avoid learner
boredom through repeating the same
language structures over a long period
of time, vary your usage of different
Page | 41
 activities. if variety is planned
accordingly, it keeps learners engaged.
All children are different; therefore, a
combination of different things at the
same time would incorporate and
address the four types of learning
styles. Childrens engagement is risen
by using visuals, realia , flashcards etc.
Children need to move from time to
time, so ask them to write something
on the board (running dictation), then
role play, using flashcards as visuals.
There might be some sleepy children in
the classroom, upon whom the teacher
needs to call constantly. They are the
ones who need to be more engaged in
games. Ask them to be first in trying out
a new game, or to sometimes be the
teacher themselves by giving the others
the right to talk. As a result, all
students will be more engaged in the
lesson.
HOW DO YOU DEAL WITH NOISE IN THE
CLASSROOM?
A teacher needs to understand that noise is an
inevitable part of the lesson. However, you have
to be aware of what kind of noise might be
damaging the learning process.
When it gets too noisy, put both hands
up as a signal for them to understand
that it is getting too loud. This way, the
teacher shows a part of authority
without the teacher having to verbally
tell off noisy learners.
A teacher can also use the rule of three
lives. Draw three hearts on the board
and whenever a certain student makes
noise that is distracting the others from
learning, erase one heart. If and when
a student has all three of his/her
hearts erased , they are not allowed
to play a fun reward game at the end of
the lesson. A teacher can also move the
noisier ones so they are siting nearer to
the teacher.
When the teacher keeps young learners
occupied all the time and uses different
activities to capture and sustain their
engagement, behaviour and discipline problems
are minimal.
COULD YOU SHARE SOME IDEAS/TIPS
ABOUT HOW YOUNG LEARNERS COULD
LEARN ENGLISH MORE EFFECTIVELY?
Use many activities in the classroom.
Playing games and creating a sense of
mystery and fun in the classroom
results in better lessons and more
interested learners.
There is a saying that A good teacher
teaches, a great teacher inspires. If
you can inspire your pupils to learn
English, you will have achieved an
important goal, which will assist pupils
success in acquiring a language.
It is very important to have rules and
stick to them; the moment you break
your own rules, the children will not
take you seriously.
Be open to your pupils and make them
feel comfortable.
Make them feel important. Listen to
their stories. Ask them about the day,
weekend, or week in order to make
emotional connections.
Use jokes in the classroom and change
the subject from time to time. Young
Leaners are not always in a good mood.
Try to understand them.
Use as many colours as possible while
explaining a concept on the board.
Praise, praise and praise them, to
motivate and build self-esteem in them.
Page | 42
Arlind Jerliu & Atixhe Ibraimi
them better for future jobs, to becoming
He is a senior English major student at the comfortable with different types of people and
University of Prishtina and a member of the Faculty of
cultures volunteering aids in expanding their
Philology Student Council. He is also a novice English
Teacher with a private language school and an American knowledge and understanding. The idea that
Corner Volunteer since September 2013. the world isnt black and white and that there
are a myriad of perspectives -- begin to take
She is an undergraduate student at the University
of Prishtina, English department. Beside studying, she
shape.
works part-time at the Municipality of Prishtina. Her
passion is learning languages. She speaks Albanian,
Serbian, English and Spanish. Her next target is French. As
a linguist, she would love to become a teacher, so she can
share and develop in others the love about languages.

It is common for one to expect financial

benefits when offering certain services.
However, there are also people who -- whole-
heartedly and without any financial
compensation offer -- to take part in different
activities, or become part of certain enterprises,
for some time. Such people are called
volunteers and what they do is volunteering.
However, despite the fact that volunteers are
not paid for the actions they undertake, the
volunteering process benefits them in several
aspects: from honing certain skills that prepare

Page | 43
Volunteering comes in a plethora of forms.
For example, one can join others in
protecting the environment for the benefit of
humankind. Others can teach those in need,
with certain skills, or simply do charity work,
such as providing food and shelter. Having said
the above, the aim of this article is to share our
own experiences as volunteers. We also hope
that our stories will enlighten others -- and thus
encourage them to take part in such a
rewarding journey. Below, you will find some of
our personal impressions:
Arlind Jerliu
I have personally encountered many priceless
experiences and gained useful skills during my
volunteering times, especially at the American
Corner (AC) in Prishtina. While volunteering, I
have been blessed with many skills that are
currently helping me in my role as a student and
a novice English teacher.
Having volunteered for a year at the AC for
different initiatives such as teaching English,
cleaning the Campus of the University, visiting
SOS Village, giving away books to random
people, visiting schools and introducing pupils
to great online sources for different purposes, I
have gained knowledge and with that, came
new skills. For example, I have been acquainted
with most up-to-date teaching methodologies
while teaching English to young learners and
observing others how they are doing it. In
addition, I have learned public speaking and
social skills, I have become more disciplined and
a more responsible person, and as a
consequence these skills and attributes are
helping me succeed with my studies. Last and
most important, I have gained inner
satisfaction. All of these shaped me and made
me a better and more productive human being.
Needles to say, these activities never took too
much of my time, but the outcome of them was
beyond my expectations. Even now that I am
working as a teacher at a private language
school, I can see the great benefits of being a
volunteer. I can teach easily, as I am brimming
with confidence, and I can better understand
my students, because of the fact that I had the
chance to converse and work with different
personalities. I am not implying that I would not
be able to succeed without volunteering, but, all
in all, it widened my sight and helped me grow
in both personal and professional level. As for
the latter, volunteering enriched my Curriculum
Vitae and as a consequence I am being treated
as a serious candidate with potential employers
and/or applications for further education
development opportunities.
Atixhe Ibraimi
I started my voluntary work at the American
Corner (AC) in Prishtina. I became a volunteer
because I thought it would be a great
experience to participate in different activities,
improve my skills, and help others at the same
time. I was really enthusiastic about giving my
contribution to the society, especially to young
learners with whom we mostly work with. I was
led by the desire to help people, and I knew that
giving my time, energy and knowledge for free
will give me inner satisfaction. But, before I
Page | 44
started volunteering, I could not imagine how
much it will affect my life in general. Today,
thanks to volunteering I am more open-minded
and friendly, I am academically more prepared
and I have a clearer idea about what I want to
become in life.
Initially, being surrounded by positive people
who want to help is very inspiring. I had the
chance to work with my colleagues, and
cooperate with people who are there to give
their time and effort to the society without any
material profit. The honesty behind our aims,
and the work we did together, created an
environment with so much positive energy, and
united us as friends, as volunteers, and as good
people. This experience helped me understand
that despite the differences in opinions, age or
gender one can make great contributions to the
society.
In addition, I improved my social interaction; I
became more open to the idea of connecting
with people and more comfortable with
speaking in front of the audience. It also gave
me the opportunity to express my creativity in
various activities that we did for young learners.
What is more, I have improved my academic
skills in general: for example, while working
with different people and in various activities
you are faced with many challenges, thus you
learn how to solve problems and learn new
things that you can apply in other situations,
therefore, the experience you get is a real
treasure.
Volunteering broadens your horizons. It gives
you the opportunity to explore different fields,
and discover what fits you best. Personally, I
have discovered a new aspiration in myself. I
never thought about that before, but the
activities I had with young learners of English
language, brought a new light to my future
plans, and helped me become aware of my
desire to become a teacher. Having shared the
above, I cannot emphasize enough the
importance of volunteering in shaping my
personality and future plans.
By sharing our stories we thought that teachers
and students will be encouraged to give
volunteering a serious consideration. Generally
speaking, volunteering is not that well
integrated in the Kosovar society. People are
not aware that with little time and effort they
can make great contributions to the society.
Therefore, we strongly believe that volunteering
should be promoted more, especially to the
young generations, because undoubtedly they
can shape the future of our country. Teachers
for example could be the ones introducing
voluntarism to their students by modeling i.e.,
by giving couple of hours of their time per week
for an activity and/or project that will benefit
school, students or community. This experience
might demonstrate to students that they could
have fun and still give something valuable to
the community. Later, students might come
with their own initiatives and make changes in
their community and society as a whole.
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Yllk Paarizi
Sponsored by RELO (The Regional educators towards more effective teaching and
English Language Office), USAID, Sidi learning.
Education, the University of Prishtina, British Approximately participants attended the
Council, the Republic of Kosovo, and Trankos two-day conference. Presenters were from
Consulting, the Annual KETNET Conference Kosova, Albania, USA, Greece, and Hungary;
When Theory Meets Practice, Inspiring participants and attendees were from Kosova,
Practices brought together English teachers Albania, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Serbia, Estonia
from the public and private sector of Kosova and Romania.
under one roof, with regional and international
educators, to share knowledge and experiences
and to learn new things about different
teaching and learning styles. The wide variety in
presentations and workshops throughout the
conference explored links between theory and
practice and of best practices, encouraging

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Day 1, Friday, June 6
The first day started out with reflections on
KETNETs activity throughout the previous year;
branches were praised for their undertakings
and the objectives they had fulfilled.
These reflections were followed by a Pecha
Kucha and presentations on various aspects of
language acquisition. Zoltan Rezmuves
discussed the importance of assessment in
language acquisition and the value of
assessment in students real life.
After presentations, attendees were taken to an
area where volunteers had prepared a large
potluck. Conference organizers and some of the
presenters had brought food, placing the
corresponding recipe next to each tasty item.
For some of the international attendees, this
was the first time they had tasted traditional
Kosovar food.
While everyone happily sampled the many
different dishes, students of the English
Department at the University of Prishtina
shared poster presentations with the
participants.
Students posters had been hung on the walls,
in advance of the potluck, and each student
stood next to his/her poster, to answer any
questions. In this way, attendees could eat, talk
to one another, and take a self-guided tour of all
the posters, gaining a detailed description of
their content, at their leisure.
Finally, the day ended with a performance by
Conference volunteers and organizers. The
humorous drama demonstrated a few
contrasting practices between teachers and
diverse pedagogic beliefs regarding better
practices (than what is currently being done).
Conference attendees not only laughed at some
of the satirical depictions, but they also praised
the content, acknowledging that they, too, had
experienced most of the situations and
struggles depicted in the performance.
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Day 2, Saturday, June 7
The second day of the Conference commenced
with welcoming speeches by KETNET President
Blerta Mustafa and RELO representative George
M. Chinnery, followed by an informative plenary
speech.
Numerous workshops and presentations began
immediately afterwards, with networking coffee
breaks in between. Several attendees used
these socializing opportunities to discuss
sessions they had attended and to share
teaching experiences with each other.
The plenary speech made by Mary Lou
McCloskey, entitled From Human Rights to
Conflict Resolution: Language for Peace and
Cross-Cultural Acceptance, examined the
importance of English teachers in creating safe
language-learning environments for all students
regardless of their cultural backgrounds. Ms.
McCloskey used examples from her professional
experiences where English served as a tool of
both communication and reconciliation
between students coming from countries
historically in conflict with one another.
Workshops and presentations varied from
practical exemplifications of activities to
research presentations of effective activities in
English teaching and learning. All age groups
and English levels were addressed in
presentations.
As part of the professional development
opportunities offered at Conference, the first
publication of Teachers Avenue was
distributed.
This first edition of the magazine contained
several articles, sharing advice and experiences
from different teachers regarding how their
teaching benefitted through participation in
professional development programs and
publishing.
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Handing out the magazine at the Conference
allowed attendees to read through and discuss
the articles, as well as ask questions to those
whose articles had been published in the
magazine.
At the end of the conference, all teachers
received official certificates, and teachers from
around Kosovo and the region won prizes in the
raffle drawing. Among the prizes were three flip
cameras sponsored by Basic Education Program
and a grant to attend the ELTA Conference in
Albania sponsored by RELO.
A significant aspect of this Conference was the
overwhelming support and interest of teachers
in diligently attending the workshops and
presentations throughout the day, as well as
how well they asked questions and shared
experiences with one another. Conference
attendees were asked to provide feedback
about the entire event, and information
obtained from these forms illustrated how
important and useful the Conference was for
fostering helpful, professional communication
between educators. Listed below are some of
the comments that were most commonly
repeated in the feedback forms:
I really liked the chance to share experience,
meet international colleagues, get information
about websites, material, etc.
I liked the good incorporation of coffee
time/networking time, both to catch up with the
schedule and network. Also, well labeled as
coffee time/networking.
today I got the opportunity to learn how it
works to publish my articles and share my
experience and also read other experiences in
teaching.
It was useful to our job and most importantly it
was really inspiring.
Overall, that the conference was inspiring to
attending teachers is a consistent comment
through the feedback forms. As a presenter and
participant myself, I was inspired by the
eagerness of teachers to share, to learn, and to
keep inspiring new generations of students to
learn. It was encouraging to see how many
teachers attended and how useful the
conference was for all of them. I look forward
to the next time we can all come together, to
teach and learn from one another and inspire
more positive collaboration among English
Language teachers throughout Kosovo and
beyond!
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Blerta Mustafa
Sponsored by the U.S. Embassy in Kosovo, Develop their reflective skills by
KETNET, in cooperation with English learning the steps of action research,
Department of the University of Prishtina (UP), i.e., learn how to think about their
has started a year-long capacity building project teaching in order to bring about
for upper-high school English teachers. The improvement in classroom practices.
aim of the project is to build capacities of 8
upper-high school English teachers through
training, collaboration and mentorship.
Teachers who come from Prishtina, Peja, Prizren
and the Gjilan region are expected to:

Enhance their performance by

implementing a competency-based
approach to teaching reading and
writing skills, as required by the New
Kosovo Curriculum Framework.

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Teachers have been learning how to write an
action research project proposal, present their
ideas in front of the audience, incorporate peer
and mentor feedback, and plan and implement
data collection in order to reflect on the
effectiveness of their teaching practices.
This capacity-building process is being closely
guided by five U.P. staff mentors. To begin the
project, the mentoring teachers first modeled
the teaching of reading and writing skills using
a competency-based approach through five,
day-long workshops.
Since that time, the mentors have been guiding
participants in the planning and implementation
of their action research plans in their
classrooms, in selecting appropriate teaching
materials and/or creating lesson plans, and they
are in the process of exploring and evaluating
new teaching methodology. In the final stage of
the project, mentors will assist teachers in
creating presentations about their teaching
experiences and the students reactions to the
new teaching methodology. These
presentations may take place in conferences
and/or be published in local and regional
teachers magazines.
Encouraging and mentoring teachers to engage
in reflective practice, as part of action research,
can be a great opportunity for teachers to grow
professionally. Moreover, through cooperation,
by exchanging knowledge, skills and
experiences with peers, teachers can become
more competent in initiating change.
This project aims at creating capacity building
opportunities for upper-high school English
teachers. Opportunities include increasing
teachers access and success in professional
development, both for them and for
collaborative activities with their peers
throughout Kosovo.
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Kushtrim Morina
Kate Mulvey
For the first time in Access history in
Kosova, KETNET and Community Building
Mitrovica along with initiative from the Office
of English Language Programs, organized a joint
summer camp in Prevalla.The summer camp
was part of the Access Program, a project
sponsored by U.S. Department of State, Bureau
of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA). The
Access Program provides microscholarships for
teens to study English. Participants in the
program receive three hours of free English
instruction per week for two years. In Kosovo,
Access Programs are held in Gjilan and
Mitrovice. The aim of this camp was to provide
English skills, community building, getting to
know to American culture and increase
participants knowledge about democratic
values.
U.S. Embassy Pristina's Public Affairs Section
also assigned two English Language Fellows,
Kate Mulvey and Daniel Perez, to help with
facilitating the summer camp. Kate also had a
key role in planning the camp. The camp was
coordinated by Kushtrim Morina (Gjilan) and
Aferdita Sylaj (Mitrovice). Both Access Program
coordinators, along with a staff of ten
experienced English teachers from Gjilan and
Mitrovica programs, provided English classes
and traditional camp activities throughout the
week.
PLACE
Since we wanted our kids to feel safe and
secure because of mixed ethnicities we chose
Hotel Sharri, from Prevalla as our camp
location. Prevalla is a park located in the Sharr
Mountains, on the road from Shterpce to Prizren
at a height of meters above sea level.
Students were divided into rooms of two and
three for sleeping and we also had four large
spaces where we organized indoor activities. All
the rooms were given American names like Pow
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 Students stated that this was the first time for
them to be at a summer camp far from their
families and in such a diverse environment.
Since the number of the students was high we
divided students into eight groups and we
assigned a team leader to each group. Students
in each group were mixed, both ethnically and
by gender.

Wow, Bear, Eagle, and Wolf since we wanted

the participants to feel they were in an English
environment and also experience a traditional
American summer camp atmosphere. The
location also offered many opportunities for
outdoor activities and the participants were
able to spend part of each day outdoors
experiencing both the beauty and fresh air of
the region.

ACTIVITIES
The summer camp schedule was very tight with
a lot of activities, modeled after a typical
American summer camp. The day started at 7
am with knocks on students doors to wake
them up so they would be at the restaurant for
breakfast which was served from 8a.m. to 9a.m.

STUDENTS AND PROGRAM

There were participants in the ethnically
diverse camp (Albanian, Goran, Roma, and
Serbian).

Right after students were asked to join us at the

Pow Wow room. Each morning the program
started with a Pow Wow which included an
activity to get students motivated for the day.
Daily programming continued until PM.

Page | 53
Each day the both indoor and outdoor activities
were held. The indoor activities included guided
team reading with leveled readers, a Team Rally,
workshops about US culture including
traditional dance lessons, education and history,
and board games as well as many other
activities. Outdoor activities for students were
organized competitions in sports like Frisbee
throwing, Hula Hoop, three legged race, sock
bowling, American football, baseball, soccer,
and an egg drop competition.
By the end of camp students were able to
demonstrate square dancing and Line dancing.
Also, during the camp, two of our students from
the Albanian and Serbian communities had their
birthday, so we asked the hotel to make special
cakes for them. It was a surprise for them,
because both didn`t know that the organizers
knew. Kids sang the birthday song for them.
We ended the camp with a trip to Prizren, which
is famous for its historic values. We visited the
Monastery of Holy Archangels.
This was the first time for the students to visit
this monastery and the first time for Albanian
students to visit a holy Christian place. The
priest who served there and acted as our guide,
said that this was the first time having a group
of mixed students and especially with
Albanians. After that we visited two historic
places: a mosque called Mehmet Pasha and a
tekke of tarikatit Rufa`i. Students from the
Serbian community also stated that this was
their first time to visit a mosque.
In the end, both the students and organizers
were happy. Students because they learned
about new things, made new friends and lived a
real adventure. The organizers were happy,
because everything went as we planned toward
the goal of the program. We had no accidents
and only minor problems. We were happy
because all the time students were having fun
while learning and having new experiences.
Page | 54
Throughout KETNETs branch in Gjilan has
had several activities among which the
following:
The QUIZ BOWL. Two teams, each
consisting of 5 teachers, were quizzed
about the New Kosovo Curriculum
Framework. The winning team had its
fee waivered for participation in
KETNETs Annual Conference in June
The conference participation fee
was covered by our branch.
Ketnet Ferizaj Branch held the second election
in June and elected its new leadership:
Shpresa Hashani Branch President; Festa
Shabani Vice President; and Flamur Gashi
Secretary Treasurer.
Throughout the period September to December,
the branch has organised various activities
including the following:
Hosting of a free webinar Shaping the
way we teach English. The majority
of participants attended all sessions of
the webinar and fulfilled the condition
of receiving certificates.
Presentation on Lesson Planning
according to NKCF (New Kosova
Curriculum Framework).
Luncheon with teachers. There were
discussions about classroom materials,
teacher training, and about what the
branch could offer. Teachers also
received different classroom materials.
Luncheon/Training in cooperation with
KETNETs Ferizaj Branch. There were
teacher participants who found the
luncheon/training extremely useful
Presentation on Very engaging
activities for students of different
levels. This activity was in cooperation
with members of KETNET Gjilan.
Luncheon for teachers of the
Municipality of Shtime. Activities that
support the active learning approach
and that meet the criteria of the New
Kosova Curriculum Framework were
shared.
The KETNET Ferizaj Branch plans to organize
many activities in the months ahead and
welcomes teachers to join all activities. As a
branch, we aim to offer opportunities to meet
each other and share experiences. These
opportunities should be a means of tackling
various issues that we are exposed to as
teachers.
Shpresa Hashani
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 th
The 5 Annual KETNET Conference

The challenges and opportunities of

teaching English
in the age of globalization

HE WHO DARES
TO TEACH
MUST NEVER CEASE
TO LEARN
Aristotle

29-30 May 2015

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