Caption: Front, from left: Associate Dean Genesis Borja, Chair Emmanuel Gonzales, Dean Rowena Reyes, Dr. Flordeliza Pereyra, Dr. Jocelyn Alinab, Dr. Christian Jay Ilagan. Back, from left: Iris Calangian, Dr. Joey Villanueva, Dr. Arlene Malaybalay, Dr. Amaflor Alde, Danilo Osorio, Persieus Balog
Far Eastern University has signed a memorandum of agreement with Department of Education-Caloocan Schools Division Office to launch their community extension project, English Language and Literature Learning Advancement.
ELLA is a 13-day training program on content and pedagogy that aims to help teachers of English and literature in elementary and secondary education adapt to the pedagogical changes brought by the COVID-19 pandemic in preparation for blended and hybrid classes.
Signing for FEU were Institute of Arts and Sciences dean Dr. Rowena Reyes and Department of Language and Literature chair Dr. Emmanuel Gonzales. Their counterpart in DepEd-Caloocan was SD Superintendent Nerissa Losaria, represented by SD Assistant Superintendent Flordeliza Pereyra, EPS Chief Jocelyn Alinab, and EPS Christian Jay Ilagan.
Specifically ELLA is aimed: (1) to adapt to the latest trends in teaching and assessing the five macro skills; (2) to apply the paradigm of World Englishes and Philippine English in English Language Teaching; (3) to utilize gender inclusive language in teaching English grammar; (4) to apply different creative approaches in teaching literature.
The teacher-participants were welcomed by Dean Reyes, who invited them on a tour of FEU to see heritage buildings built in the art deco style as well as several works by national artists.
Fely Rose Manaois, DLL faculty, kick-started the ELLA lecture-series with “Leading the Charge: Building a Culture of Academic Integrity in Basic Education.” Manaois facilitated the discussion on detecting plagiarism, proper citation, and documentation.
Dr. Gonzales, in his closing remarks, emphasized the importance of collaboration in forming a commitment to deliver quality education. He invited the teacher-participants to continue their educational advancement at FEU Graduate School, where they can avail themselves of discounts and their children who would pursue a Bachelor of Arts in Language and Literature degree.
The FEU-DepEd Caloocan partnership will run for five years. Each year from 2022 to 2027 there will be a MOA signing between FEU-IAS-DLL and SDO Caloocan. After this year’s lecture series, the coordinators of ELLA are evaluating the effectiveness of the training program and its sustainability.
