As part of the British Council’s programme of regional projects in the Near East and North Africa region, a series of teacher training workshops has been developed by a team of English Language Teachers and Trainers from Lebanon, Morocco, Syria and Tunisia.

As you can see from the picture, a folder has been designed for this project and each one contains the four British Council CDs which were produced to provide learners and teachers with a range of exciting and up-to-date materials and extension activities for learning and teaching English purposes.

These are namely Go4English, Language Assistant, Teaching English and Learn English. The 4 CDs are specifically relevant to the Arabic-speaking world because instructions and exercises are in both English and Arabic. Since the beginning of January this year all 4 participating countries named above have been delivering 6 out of the 8 Teacher Training workshops in their respective countries in Phase 2 of the Project cycle.

Phase 1, September – December 2005: Design
British Council and English Language Trainers from Lebanon, Morocco, Syria and Tunisia designed 8 Teacher Training workshops on the following themes: Games, Pronunciation, Exploiting Authentic Reading Texts, Process Writing, Grammar, Vocabulary, Listening and British Literature.

Phase 2, January – June 2006: Workshop Delivery
Trainers deliver 6 of the above workshops in-country to ministry-approved teachers and trainers.

Phase 3, July 2006: Trainer Training and Development (Hornby Trust Summer School)
The British Council in collaboration with the Hornby Trust ran a 7-day training event for the above trainers and selected trainees at the prestigious Al Akhawayan University at Ifrane in Morocco from 9 -16 July 2006 with a view to preparing and equipping trainees to cascade workshop delivery in more remote areas of their respective countries.

Opening Ceremony
The Opening Ceremony itself was hosted by the President of the University and attended by Education ministry officials from the 4 participating countries together with Libya in an “observer role” as well as the course trainers and trainees. The Master of Ceremonies was Ian Shears, Hornby Event and NENA ELT Project Manager who is currently the Teaching Centre Manager of the British Council in Casablanca.

Training Programme
The course materials were adapted by Mike Orr, The Hornby Summer School Academic Manager, and were based on the British Council’s Train the Trainer workshops.

On the final day a mixed group of trainees from each of the participating countries jointly presented one of the CDs or websites as a culmination of their enhanced effective presentation skills.

The final evening saw an informal last night which included a light-hearted jocular quiz about the programme participants themselves and the distribution of certificates to all the trainees as they made the transition to the role of British Council Cascade Trainers for Phase 4 of the NENA ELT Project. The last night ended with the traditional gathering for group photos* ahead of the staggered departure from the University campus the following morning.

Phase 4, November 2006 – June 2007: Cascaded Workshop Delivery
Newly trained and experienced trainers cascade the workshop delivery throughout their respective countries. In Morocco this was through co-ordination with and by MATE (the Moroccan Association of Moroccan Teachers of English) and result in substantial numbers of teachers and ultimately students benefiting in Tangier, Agadir, Ourzazate, Essaouira, Marakkech, El Jadida, Beni Mellal and many other centres around the country.

For more information contact

Ian Shears
Casablanca Teaching Centre Manager

British Council
87, Boulevard Nador
Polo, Casablanca

Telephone +212 (0) 22 52 09 90
Fax +212 (0) 22 52 09 64
ian.shears@britishcouncil.org.ma