A workshop was organized by Oxford University Press.

A workshop was organized by Oxford University Press for English Language Teaching on 7 December, 2013 at The Summer Fields School. The focus was Teaching Poetry and Prose as well as techniques to teach grammar by a communicative approach.

The workshop was conducted by Ms. Alka Rai, a teacher of English for more than 38 years. She is an expert in innovative and programme- based techniques for school- level education. She emphasises the importance to orient the attitude of the teacher. She is actively involved with the CBSE and is presently a master trainer for ASL.

Ms. Rai expressed that language can contribute to the holistic development of a child. She defined poetry as rhythm. Poetry she said is music and activates the soul. It should always be read aloud, she pleaded.

On the other hand Prose should be both, read aloud as well as read silently by the students as that would enable them to comprehend at four levels, namely,

Factual

Inferential

Evaluative

Extrapolative

She emphasized cross- curriculum content which necessitates that subject teachers also take up the responsibility of correcting the language of the children.

Why is it important to teach Grammar to students? This was a question put to her, to which she replied, Children should know the rules, but should not be tested on quoting those rules. She concluded by saying, The aim of a teacher should be to teach formal and test functional.

The workshop gave us an opportunity to introspect and refresh our minds about the goal of a teacher.

Report by Ms. Vandana Tewari and Ms. Nidhi Bindra.