English Access Summer Institute and Day Camp Program

Date: June 16-27, 2008

Location: Izmir

The English Access Summer Institute and Day Camp Program for 2008 was held in two different cities, one in Izmir and the other one in Konya. Like the previous programs, the Summer Institute and Day Camps 2008 brought public school teachers and students together with those from various ECA-sponsored programs to support mutual understanding through English teaching and training. 

Dokuz Eylul University, Izmir

In the  Izmir camp twenty Turkish secondary school English teachers and 100 secondary school students joined together with English Language Officer Craig Dicker and English Language Fellow Melanie Brooks as well as various English native speaker volunteers during the period of June 16 – 27, 2008.

The first week, June 16 – 20, 2008, was dedicated to a teacher-training workshop/seminar.  Seminars focused on using technology in English language teaching and learner-centered education.  During the conference week university educators, Access teachers, embassy staff, and the English Language Fellow collaborated on best practices in teaching.  Through workshops and seminars, the target audience learned how to integrate technology into their English language teaching as well as a number of ways to use learner-centered activities in the language classroom.

 

The second week, June 23 – 27, consisted of an English Language summer camp for Micro Access scholarship recipients as well as other underprivileged youth in the Izmir area.  Seven of the teachers trained during the previous week were the head instructors for this camp.  They taught language through interactive games and activities.  Volunteers came from the expat community to teach about American dance and culture.  In addition, there were many informal opportunities for the students to interact with native speaker volunteers from the U.S. military and NATO bases in Izmir.