Kenya Technical Trainers College English Department | About Kenya Technical Trainers College English Department and list of courses offered by Kenya Technical Trainers College English Department
About Kenya Technical Trainers College English Department
Background Information
The English Department is a pillar department in any institution of learning. This is due to the fact that English is not only a second language in Kenya, but it is one of the international languages that is quickly becoming a global lingua franca. This means that for an individual to progress academically, socially and economically then proficiency in English becomes an important yardstick.
In Kenya, English is an official language; it tends to be used in offices, courts, public meetings, church and parliament. Apart from that English is a medium of instruction in Kenya. It cuts across the curriculum. All subjects except Kiswahili and foreign languages (French, German, Arabic, Hindu) are taught in English. What is more, all examinations except Kiswahili and the foreign languages are set in English. This means that for any student to progress academically, proficiency in English is a necessity.
It is no wonder that Kenya Technical Trainers College, like all other institutions of learning, take the teaching of English very seriously. Teacher-trainees who are proficient in English and have good communication skills will be able to go through their academic course with ease, and will in future deliver their lessons more effectively.
The English Department is a Service Department in Kenya Technical Trainers College. All students taking Diploma in Education are supposed to undertake a course in Communication Skills to help them go through their course with ease and later deliver their lesson effectively as English is the medium of instruction.To ensure this, the English course is divided into three main areas taught per term. These are: Language use, Oral communication and Written communication.
Apart from teachers-trainees, English is offered to all Technical Examination Programme, (TEP) Diploma students. These students undertake the following areas in their Communication skill course: Effective Communication, Official Etiquette, Protocol and Diplomacy, Writing Skills, Meetings, Interviews, Public Relations and Emerging Issues in Communication.
The English Department aims at enhancing and developing communication skills in the learners so that they can be better people in our society.
Kenya Technical Trainers College English Department Courses Offered
The English Course
The course is offered to teacher- trainees taking Diploma in Education and also those undertaking Technical Education Programme (TEP) Diploma. For the Diploma in Education students, the course is divided into three major parts: Language use (Term I), Oral communication (Term 2) and Written Communication (Term 3). The main objective is to develop skills in oral and written communication.
Language Use consists of four main topics: Study Skills, Grammar, Sentence Construction and Mechanics of Writing. Study skills are those skills that enable the learner to go through an academic course with ease. Here the lecturers in English enhance skills such as time management, Effective Reading Note-taking and Note-making and Summary Writing skills. All these skills are extremely important as the teacher trainee pursues all their specific subjects on the Diploma in Education curriculum.
For instance, in time management the teacher -trainee is encouraged to use time effectively by making a programme. In the programme the teacher-trainee is advised to set clear short, medium and long term objectives. In Reading skills, skills of reading efficiently are enhanced. These include skills like scanning, skimming, study reading using SQ3rs formulae. The skills in note taking and making and summary skills are also developed. Lastly the Mechanics of writing are emphasized.
The other part of language use is Grammar. To most linguists grammatical competence is important to learning any language. Others include socio cultural and strategic competences. The course in grammar is more of a remedial one. The areas covered are Parts of Speech and Sentence Construction.
In second term learners are taken through Oral Communication. This Course consists of six main topics: Phonetics, Effective Communication Public Speaking, Persuasion Interviews and Meetings. Here Grammatical, strategic and socio-cultural competences are covered. In addition, listening and speaking skills are enhanced.
In third term the teacher- trainees are taught written communication. Here the grammar, sentence construction and mechanics of writing that were learnt in term one are put into use. In addition, both formal and functional aspects of written communication are taught. The main topics of the Written Communication Course include: Essay Writing, Instructions, Official Correspondence and Technical writing.
Since the time is to o short to be able to teach all the skills effectively, teacher trainees are advised to do a lot of work on their own.
As far as the TEP Diploma students are concerned, the following areas of communication skills are taught: Effective Communication, Official Etiquette, Protocol and Diplomacy, Writing Skills, Summary Writing, Report Writing, Meetings, Interviews, Public Relations and Emerging Issues in Communication.
Generally the aim of the English course is not only useful for appropriate use of language in class, but is also essential for life-long use.
