[AAACE-NLA] The power of radio

[Martin E. Senger]

Pax et bonum all!

I had several EFL classes while teaching in Bosnia, on several levels. My
"Beginner" course was based on a text I created, and it was broadcast in
both English and Bosnian. I also photocopied each lesson for the week, which
was available for free from the radio station. Each lesson was all-inclusive
(text, grammar, exercises and vocabulary). I also encouraged my listeners to
record my lesson, so they could play it back repeatedly.

I looked into reaching a larger audience by having a local newspaper include
a copy of the weekly lesson in their paper, and that way people could get an
English lesson for the price of their paper. In theory, in Bosnia this could
have been applied on a national basis, as there were several national
papers. Alas I returned to the States before it bore any fruit.

In my more "advanced" classes, I read graded readers.

As for listener numbers, the radio station nor I had any idea. I had some
feedback, but they simply did not have the resources to anaylze their
listeners.

Although my lessons were hardly perfect, my "students" were either schools
students supplementing their EFL from school, or older people who had NO
access to formal EFL classes. In developing nations, something is usually
better than nothing.

Hope this was useful!

Ciao!

Martin E. Senger
Adult EL/Civics Instructor
GECAC
Erie, PA