High school's english programe - Essay Example

As part of my high school syllabus, I studied English language and developed sound command over my reading, writing and verbal skills. However, today when I critically evaluate the effectiveness of the offered program, I strongly feel that the program lacked certain aspects which could have helped me in my later life. Assessment of program The program’s primary focus was on improving communication capabilities and reading and writing skills of students. The courses were mandatory and were offered in a single level with no optional variants for foreign students.

As a result, it became a cause of stress for pupils and many students found it to be burdensome. I, being a foreign student, was also part of this group that found the course to be difficult. It is vital that students must like what they study and teachers must ensure to develop their interest in the subjects instead of forcing them to study for it. They must be given personal choices to select which subjects they find most interesting to study as part of high school program. English language is a diversified course and requires keenness and concentration of students in order to maximize learning.

Lack of interest in the subject led many students to achieve bad grades and lose respect for it. Teachers and mentors should not have sole right to define what is significant for literacy of students; instead, electives must be offered and students can attend orientation sessions to decide whether they feel the need to choose the course. Moreover, mentors must provide fair guidance to students to assist them in comprehending how different choices will affect their development plans and which course shall suit them the best.

Another shortcoming in this program pertained to the teaching styles of faculty members belonging to this discipline. They emphasized greatly on improving writing skills of students, which worked out effectively for many of them in classroom sessions and group activities. However, some students faced obstacles when they were asked to write on own self. When writing tasks were given for homework, teachers expected the students to magically produce a perfect paper within tentative deadline. Ideally, teachers should conduct reading sessions in class while elaborating on context and meaning of text comprehensively.

Additionally, there should be role-play acts and similar interactional activities based on content of English syllabus and textbooks. This would help students develop a structural understanding of the big picture, build images in mind and make connections and networks between different texts to fill the gaps. Despite of large sizes of batches, teachers ensured to pay individual attention to students who were weaker and needed more efforts from mentors. Monitoring was rigorous and strict and teachers were able to identify intellect of each student, tailoring teaching methods accordingly.

However, cultural aspects were largely neglected by staff members. The school was one of the best institutes in the country and thus various students came in from different backgrounds, races and cultures. English language also represents a cultural study and is comprehended distinctly by different classes of students. There were no indications in the existing curriculum regarding the need for cultural diversity. As a result, students moved at different paces in studies with foreign students lagging behind.