The University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus (UNMC) organised a workshop titled, ‘Tell the Story’, which was launched recently for 64 Form 4 and 5 students of SMK Dato’ Klana Putra, in Lenggeng, Negeri Sembilan. This inaugural workshop was part of the Nottingham English Education Development Series (NEEDS), a pioneering education programme developed by the Centre for English Language and Foundation Education (CELFE). NEEDS comprises a series of homegrown workshops that draws on the knowledge-base and skill-sets of CELFE academic staff and primarily aims to provide new learning opportunities that are based on the constructivist approach to learning to students in Malaysian education institutions.
During the workshop, the students learnt how to brainstorm for, plan and develop a narrative sequence, and produced several interesting stories for their fellow students, teachers and facilitators to read. The session facilitators inspired them to write creative plots, with the use of sensory details as well as key elements in a plot, such as rising action, climax, and resolution. The excitement and energy came to a peak when the two best stories were announced and group members were awarded prizes.
The Director of CELFE Dr Sivabala Naidu said that the workshop had successfully met its aims as gleaned from the feedback that was collected after the event. According to him, participants had also indicated that their interest and motivation towards learning English had improved.
Although the initial NEEDS workshops would primarily focus on language based activities that aim to enhance participants’ language skills, CELFE also intends to organise workshops that focus on areas that will enhance students’ skills in areas such as time management, financial management and development of higher order thinking skills, among others. Another aim of NEEDS is provide two way exchanges of knowledge, experience and skills between CELFE and the local communities.
UNMC offers foundation courses in Arts & Education, Business & Management, Engineering and Science.
(Article image: UNMC NEEDS team)
(Thumbail image: NEEDS team at the workshop in SMK Dato’ Klana Putra)
-Ends-
More information is available from Dr Sivabala Naidu on sivabala.naidu@nottingham.edu.my or Josephine Dionisappu, PR & Communications Manager on +6 (03) 8924 8746, josephine.dionisappu@nottingham.edu.my.
Notes to editors: The University of Nottingham has 43,000 students and is ‘the nearest Britain has to a truly global university, with a “distinct” approach to internationalisation, which rests on those full-scale campuses in China and Malaysia, as well as a large presence in its home city.’ (Times Good University Guide 2016). It is also one of the most popular universities in the UK among graduate employers and was named University of the Year for Graduate Employment in the 2017 The Times and The Sunday Times Good University Guide. It is ranked in the world’s top 75 by the QS World University Rankings 2015/16, and 8th in the UK for research power according to the Research Excellence Framework 2014. It has been voted the world’s greenest campus for four years running, according to Greenmetrics Ranking of World Universities.
Impact: The Nottingham Campaign, its biggest-ever fundraising campaign, is delivering the University’s vision to change lives, tackle global issues and shape the future.
Posted on 4th April 2017