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Here in Singapore we have a very multicultural student body.  Many of them do not have English as their primary language and may have decent reading skills - their language skills are weaker.  While we have not formally assessed this - we have found that our students report that the TBL process is a bit like an emersion experience - they are forced to be able to explain themselves, their understanding of things, both within the team as well as to the entire class/faculty.   This builds up their language skills quite well.  We had one year where we did not pay attention to country of origin - and had a team that was 6 members from another country and one from Singapore.  When the team got excited - they all shifted into their home language - leaving the other student out - as well as not benefiting from the use of language.  While they explained it was easier for them to explain their ideas among themselves - they didn't benefit as much.

I also know a Korean Colleague has been using TBL to help teach English to her students.  And she has found it very useful.

Sandy


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Sandy COOK, PhD | Senior Associate Dean, Curriculum Development |
Medical Education, Research, and Evaluation (MERE) |
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From: Team-Based Learning [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Peters, Sabine
Sent: Thursday, February 14, 2013 11:37 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Introducing the RAP in an ESP classroom environment

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Hello and Good Morning,



I'm in the process of setting up a pilot study as part of my Grad school work and I'm hoping for some expert "wisdom" regarding the use of the RAP in an ESP classroom. The students are from a variety of language backgrounds with generally good English language skills. The six month-course is designed to get them ready for becoming English instructors in their home countries upon completion. I'm not one of the instructors but based on what I'm reading about the effect of TBL and the RAP, I feel that this approach/strategy would work nicely in that environment. The concept is completely new for the students as well as the instructors at this point.



Any advice/guidance is greatly appreciated.



Thank you,

Sabine