Booklet 2013

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ENGLISH DEPARTMENT BOOKLET 2013-2014

DEPARTMENT STAFF

VISION In accordance with the school Vision and Mission Statement, the Department of English seeks to empower the students by stimulating and developing their imaginative, critical and moral faculties, as a high level of fluency in English is a prerequisite to effective learning, successful communication, and critical thinking.

MISSION The English Department is dedicated to: • Expose students to a variety of critical orientations and foster appropriate argumentative skills.

• Train students up to and beyond curriculum standards in terms of critical, imaginative, and interactive skills.

• Engage in and promote academic research.

Mr methgal Abu Hasanen Department Coordinator

PHILOSOPHY

Mr Midhat Abulhassan

Mr Abdulkareem Tayara

Align its practice with the School’s mission statement.

Sustain an environment of challenging and collaborative learning.

Assist disadvantaged students to meet the required linguistic standards and skills.

Engage in ongoing professional development.

Mr Abdelwahab Namr

Mr Mohsen Attia

Mr Abdullah Najib French Teacher

Mr Taha Osman Mr Ahmed Hassanein

Mr Nizar Abdussalam

Mr Mohamed Saeed

Mr Ahmed Salah Mr Anwar Maalej

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Mr Ahmed Hassan

Staff Contact List

Diagnostic Tests and Their Use The English Department uses two diagnostic tests to assess the student competency with English. The computer based asTTle test for reading comprehension and writing and a set of basic reading, writing and listening tests. The asTTle diagnostic produces a full set of group and individual reports on student achievement which can be used to inform the lesson planning and teaching practices of the Department.

The data and associated graphs from the basic diagnostic tests is by the staff will be used to set up remedial programs and talented students projects. in addition, teachers should use the diagnostic results to plan their Units of work and associated lessons.

Using Diagnostic Tests to Plan Lessons Diagnostic tests are an important early intervention technique that helps with lesson planning for struggling readers. When implemented effectively, diagnostic tests

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English Department Booklet

help guide instruction and areas of classroom planning in early literacy. On the level of lesson planning, diagnostic tests can be tailored and adapted to help teachers work with struggling learners.

The Basics of Diagnostic Tests Diagnostic tests help the staff identify specific areas of student weakness and difficulty so that an appropriate remedial program can be made.

The results provide the teachers with early information about students’ reading abilities in order to help them understand the nature of their students’ reading difficulties.

How Diagnostic Tests Help with Lesson Planning Knowing what students can do has significant implications for reading instruction. Teachers can diversify instruction by providing more opportunities to connect written and oral work.

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Projects

Course rationale: Grades 10, 11 and 12 English at ABHSS

1. Debating

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Opportunities for multi-levelling: Students in the class who are at a higher level than foundation could be directed to an Advanced Standards Course.

The members of the English Department promote an intellectually, emotionally and socially safe environment through good, thoughtful and challenging planning. The department has also succeeded in establishing positive and collaborative relationships with parents when individual programmes are to be designed to meet their child’s needs.

The Department is building a sustainable resource base, particularly in levelled readers and other reading materials, which provides the opportunities for extension and enhancement of the syllabus and teaching programmes.

he English courses are designed to meet the English language learning needs of students who are working at Grades 10, 11and 12 of the Qatar English Curriculum Standards.

It is expected that all students entering these courses will have satisfactorily completed the previous grades’ courses. Students will also be expected to have sat the school’s diagnostic tests which are used to inform teachers of the specific learning areas / skills that each student needs to concentrate on in order to develop his skills in English.

Some students will be literate to Grade 8-9 and stronger in oral skills. These students will need a strong foundation in written and oral language skills to bring them to the standards expected at Grades 10,11 and 12.

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thanks to a great cooperation with the Qatar Foundation.

The workshops are introduced in a chronological order. Our debate trainers take into account the inception of a debates generation armed by the freedom of speech with relevant techniques. More workshops, minidebates, conversation groups, quizzes and competitions to promote English are to be carried out throughout the academic year.

he interest in debating has always been one of the priorities of the English Department staff. This commitment stems from a will to guarantee an active communication with the community and to meet the requirements to develop the learners’ creativity. Thus, the department has engaged in a series of workshops enabling students to wield acquire the suitable techniques to foster speech as a skill in order to lead the debates effectively. These workshops have been presented by a number of specialists

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2. Podcast

With the help of some enthusiastic students, I have started a webcast project. The webcast aims at achieving a higher involvement of the students

in activities that respond to their aspirations and enable them to use the language in an active way outside the class.

Department Publications Photo Gallery

Ahmad Bin Hanbal Independent Secondary School for Boys

The English Department has published three brochures about its activities and vision, as well as a magazine.

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3. English Magazine The English Department is starting a writing project for the school students.

The project aims at producing a quarterly magazine that will cater for boosting the whole school learners wriing skills, and an effective integration with other subjects like Arabic, Social Studies and IT. 9

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1. Coursebooks 2. Graded readers 3. Online resources 4. Local newspapers and magazines.

Please visit the Podcast web page : http://englishpodcast.wikispaces.com/

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results

he English department relies on several types of resources in order to deliver a high quality course that meets to the requirements of the curriculum standards set by the SEC for each grade and responds to the needs and aspirations of our students. The resources are:

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Department Resources

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A remed ial prog cater fo ramme r h backgrou students disad va nd

Do it yourself and enjoy!

Written by: Mr Taha Osman Many a student approaches me seeking advice for his ongoing problems with English. He has the urge to get a score of at least 5.5 in the IELTS exam to get a seat in a renowned university or to find a good job nowadays. If the student is too shy, his parents would do the job, either by getting him a private tutor or by registering him in one of English courses available at many centers these days. As a teacher of English, I found out that there are some missing rings in the chain of learning a new language.

solve it their way adding their touch and flavor in it. They will reach success in addition to enjoying a meal of their own. They will have stories to talk about. They would boast both their way of thinking and their abilities which enabled them to get over their difficulties.

I suppose that the way to success starts with a reflection session. One contemplates about his status quo, understands his strengths and weaknesses. Sometimes your problem is not the language, but in your approach of answering exams. Maybe you have no difficulty in learning and using new vocabulary but it is the rules of the grammar that makes you fall in traps. Getting to know the reasons for his present state, and where he would like to be. In other words to move from the mountain bottom to the top it took you to visualize where you are and what your destination would be.

I am sure that it is the same when the same person feels a headache, a stomachache or when he feels hungry or when his beloved leaves him. Some of us pause to think and dig deep until they see the matter from all its sides while others rush to get the painkiller whatever it costs. And it really costs a lot and in most cases it does not change the status quo.

One day I was in the same situation. I was one of the best students in my primary school. When I joined the preparatory school, I was faced by a ghost called the “English” subject. Many parents feel helpless towards their children as they have the fate of meeting that ghost when they grow and become 12 years old. I decided that I do not like to lose my face in front of my friends and their parents. Besides, I wanted my family to point at me saying that they have a hero at home. I will never forget my mother telling me that I am going to be an English teacher when she knew my results for the first year in the prep school.

Then comes the plan. If you are not planning, you are planning to fail. Being an expert in something gives you proud but to do this you need expert knowledge of your problems.

Before you rush into the maze, know all the possible ways that will get you to the point of success. Before spending money on books, a course, a tutor, a subscription in a special website…etc., try to decide the cost benefit of every road you will take. Maybe you need to try all of them. However, there would be a kind of priority. When you come to a conclusion, make it a vow. “I WILL NEVER COME BACK & I WILL DO MY BEST TO FIND SUCCESS THERE” the same way Tarek Bin Ziad did with his warriors when he burned the ships on reaching the Spanish coast and said his well-known cliche “ The enemy in front, the sea behind you”

I advice people who have a problem with their grades in English or those seeking to improve their skills to let others’ interference be the later step. The problem is theirs and they have to

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