Representatives from Malaysian schools visit Samo

Sam ReamerStaff WriterIn an effort to improve the teaching of introductory English in Malaysia, members of the National Union of College Trained Teachers and Peninsular Malaysia visited Samo second period English Language Learner (ELL) classes and other schools across the United States.“We are here to learn some strategies to improve the way English is taught in class,” Malaysian teacher Shanmuganathan Suppiah said.Samo ELL teacher Gilda de la Cruz enjoyed the visit from the Malaysian representatives and was proud that her students were able to show off how far they have come.“They came in and looked around the classroom,” De La Cruz said. “They also spent time asking students questions, like if they were comfortable conversing in English.”Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District (SMMUSD) English Language Development (ELD) Coordinator Aida Diaz helped show the representatives to Samo classrooms and said the representatives were, pleased with what they found at Samo.“They said that they would like to continue conversations with students and teachers from Samo,” Diaz said. “They were very impressed with our diversity. They said the classrooms were like model United Nations. They liked the fact that the students came from many different countries.”ELL teacher Helen Fernandez has students from 17 different countries in her class, and appreciated how the Malaysian visitors were responsive and interested in her class.“The visitors were so gracious and asked wonderful questions,” Fernandez said. “I think my students were proud of themselves. Some of my students came from very elite schools while others have had a lot of gaps in their schooling, but they’ve all come along. My favorite part of the visit was the exchange with people from so far away who appreciate teaching.”Junior Farah Mosbah enjoyed the international visit. She especially because she and her fellow classmates got to connect with the visitors on a personal level.“My favorite part of the visit was that they were laughing with us, and not just looking at how we write or how we speak. They were really friendly and it was really fun. Usually when we have visitors they just come to talk about a subject, but these visitors came and wanted to know how we communicate with each other. One question they asked us is if we have a friend from the same country, do we communicate in English or in our original language. It was a different kind of visit.”sreamer@thesamohi.com