The Faculty of Language and Arts (FLA) or Faculty of Language and Arts (FBS) at Soegijapranata Catholic University (SCU), also known as the Catholic University of Soegijapranata Semarang, conducted a community service activity in the form of English teaching at Antonius II and Marsudirini Gedangan elementary schools in Semarang. In collaboration with the University of St. La Salle (USLS), this activity brought in four Filipino university students as part of the International Internship program, which resulted from the collaboration between SCU and USLS. The activity, which took place from March 6 to 28, 2023, involved four FLA SCU students and four USLS International Internship students teaching English, social and natural sciences, mathematics, and Indonesian to students in grades 1-6 at Antonius II and Marsudirini Gedangan elementary schools. The four USLS International Internship students were Glycel Aguilar Bitel, Julia Maria Caban Cuadra, Althea Pedrosa Bodios, and Cristine Lee Dela Torre.
Dr. Dra. Ekawati Marhaenny Dukut, M.Hum., the Secretary of the English Literature Program at FLA SCU and the leader of this community service, explained that the activity was initially proposed by four USLS students who wanted to conduct an International Internship program by teaching English abroad. Therefore, their wishes were realized by teaching at the two aforementioned schools.
The selection of Antonius II and Marsudirini Gedangan elementary schools was not without reason, as these schools are among the many that have long-established collaborations with SCU in various activities. These two schools are also the locations where FLA SCU students previously taught during community service activities, making it easier to communicate and discuss, thus leading to this collaboration.
Althea, one of the USLS students, explained that expanding vocabularies and training students to use appropriate phrases for introductions, presentations, and dialogues in speaking activities were some of the materials taught to the students. Another USLS student, Glycel, revealed that she was pleased to know that the students were highly interested in learning English. She also added that the school where she taught was filled with kind and fun people. “Even though they couldn’t speak (in English), the students tried their best,” explained Glycel. They felt lucky that FLA SCU students also helped them translate the language and bridge the conversation between them.
Although this was the first time, Ekawati hopes that in the future, SCU and USLS can realize more collaborations, not only in International Internship but also in joint journal article writing, research collaboration, training, and student and faculty exchange. “It is possible for SCU students to come to the Philippines for teaching practice and can be included as a KKN Plus program,” Ekawati concluded. [Humas SCU/Hil]
Published on March 31, 2023 on https://fla.unika.ac.id/2023/04/03/fla-scu-dan-usls-filipina-mengajar-bahasa-inggris-di-sekolah-dasar/
Categorized in F Language Arts,
News Tagged English language, community service.
