Contributor: Sutrisno, LBPP LIA Makassar
The event was attended by 115 teachers from South Sulawesi province and the regions around, either from formal or non formal education, from kindergarten to higher education. Regarding the theme of Learning English and Content: Enhancing Students’ Ability in Using English to Learn and Learning to Use English, the Deputy of Educational Department, South Sulawesi Province, Bapak Saleh Gontang, said that this kind of workshop has enriched teachers, and it is in line with the Establishment of Internationally Accredited Schools (Rintisan Sekolah Bertaraf Internasional /RSBI). He also suggested that the schools become Internationally Accredited schools in the future.
Ir. Hafilia R. Ismanto, MM, LBPP LIA Director of Academic Affairs, and Erna Fitrini, a teacher trainer, successfully got the participants actively involved in the activities given. According to Hafilia, the schools which are categorized Internationally Accredited Schools must be able to fulfil the International Standard, like the Competence of the Graduates, Curriculum, Learning Process, Human Resources, Facilities, Management, Financing and International Standard Evaluation. She said that the human resources of the schools have to be ready to fulfil the international standard. Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) is an approach needed for language and Content teachers. CLIL emphasizes on dual-focus, the learning of English and the learning of other subjects. In line with the aims that the language teachers teach related to the subject and the content teachers teach related to the language.
The event has also attracted great interest to participants coming from regions outside Makassar (the capital city of South Sulawesi) such as Biak (Jayapura). On behalf of the committee, we would like to express our sympathy to one of the participants from Pare-Pare (155 km North of Makassar) who got traffic accident on the way to attend the workshop. Some participants have suggested carrying out other similar events twice a year because they think that the activities are applicable in their classroom. Finally, we would like to thank our sponsors. They are TelkomFlexi, Pearson Longman, Alfalink, Standard, Media Indonesia, Harian Fajar, Purwacaraka Music Studio, Fajar Pendidikan, Fajar FM and Makassar Terkini. They have given a great contribution in making this event successful.