In February 2007 TESOL faculty and students continued their relationship with Anuban Chiang Kham School, co-delivering an English day for grade 6 schoolchildren.

Chiang Kham is a quiet, prosperous town in Payao province, near the border with Laos. Don't try to find it in the travel guides - remote from urban centres it seems up to now to have escaped the attentions of Lonely Planet et al. From Chiang Mai the route to Chiang Kham involves negotiating a few hours of often steep, winding mountain roads. Most of the Payap TESOL team enjoyed this trip in a Payap minibus, but one more adventurous spirit made the journey on his motorbike via Chiang Rai, Thailand's northernmost province.

Chiang Kham Primary School staff meeting visiting teachers from Payap University

On arrival in Chiang Kham there was time, before meeting the schoolteachers, to visit Ban Rom Yen ('house of cool shade'), a church-supported orphanage and the workplace of Carol Feigleson, former Payap TESOL Certificate student. We then relaxed for a short while at Phu Sang waterfall. The older members of our group climbed up to a rather murky hot spring at the top of the fall, but that was beyond the interests (and capabilities?) of the 20-somethings who instead poked around a clothes market at the bottom.

At the school we were warmly received as we renewed acquaintances from last year. Garlanded with jasmine, we listened to speeches of welcome and shared a meal, the main dish being small pieces of barbecued fish rolled up in a lettuce leaf along with a fingerful of rice noodles, some fresh herbs and spicy sauce, to give tasty - if rather labor-intensive - mouthfuls. Before we had finished eating the local teachers had started us all on the highlight of the evening: singing Thai and English karaoke songs.

Karaoke: Clean, Muthur and Sudha

With only one working day, our hope was to deliver something coherent and memorable. We had decided to use stories again: they are convenient for short projects of this kind as they can stand alone, form basis for creative activities, and often contain content which is intrinsically interesting. Our final preparations involved a couple of hours of drawing, cutting, pasting and copying, after which we separated to go to the homes of the various teachers who were hosting us.

... and more karaoke: Sherry and Karen

The English day at school was prefaced with the ceremony that starts any school day in Thailand. The national anthem is sung by students at 8 o'clock as the national flag is raised, followed by choral expressions of dedication to study. These rituals over, the English day began with personal introductions, division of students into four groups, and explanation of the three rules of the day: Speak only English; have fun; and don't worry, be happy. In apparent contravention of the first, these were translated into Thai

Each pair of the Payap team was responsible, along with a local English teacher, for one group of students. South African Jacques Retief joined Subramanian Sudharani in telling "Goldilocks and the three bears".

Jacques with students

TESOL instructor Graeme Ritchie paired up with Carol to tell a story about a dog who steals a bone, only to lose it after trying to steal another bone from a dog which is actually a reflection of himself. The remaining two pairs joined Burmese and Chinese students (Mu Thur and Yan Liu; Naw Clean and Chen Xie). These pairs had selected a wonderful Chinese tale about a boy and a magic paintbrush. Everything he paints becomes real. He uses this to help poor people, but is thrown into prison for refusing to draw money for the king. In the end - you've guessed it - he escapes with the help of his paintbrush and some quick sketches. Vocabulary was introduced through games and activities, stories were told and retold. In some of the classes drama activities were used with students acting out the stories. There was also time for some groups to write their own stories, and illustrate these with drawings.

Work in Graeme's class

Writing up the story ...

... and drawing the pictures

We were all impressed with the enthusiasm and abilities of the schoolchildren. When given the chance they were keen to communicate with their guests, willing to join in the activities, and were able to use the English they had learned creatively.

Muthur signing an autograph!

The project reflects the philosophy underlying the MA (TESOL) program at Payap University: theoretical understandings of language learning and teaching are related to classroom practice; MA students encounter and learn from a variety of local language teaching situations; and English is taught not as a foreign language - the possession of so-called native speakers - but as one means through which Thais communicate with Burmese, Burmese with Chinese, Chinese with Americans, and so on.

See you next year?

We look forward to working together with more local schools. Any schools interested in jointly organizing educational projects like this are invited to contact us.

Graeme Ritchie