I just turned in a 73-page final project detailing every aspect of the Law Enforcement English for Women class I designed this semester. It was too big to staple so I had to put it inside a fancy binder. As I worked through hole-punching the stack of papers, I got a small sense of the feeling I'm going to have at the end of next semester (God willing) when I print out my thesis. Which, by the way, is going to be about Intercultural Competence!!!!!! Unless I change my mind or my advisor shuts it down, ha ha.
The point of the course I designed was to give female students at the Sharjah Police Academy a chance to learn English. I had to be realistic with my context, so the course of study I designed is not nearly as long as the one the male cadets get, but it's better than the almost nothing they have now. Along the way, I learned lots of neat and also confusing things. For example, there used to be female students at the Police Academy, but not currently due to low demand. This is the case even though there is a new push to increase the amount of female police officers in the UAE, including a fancy new Emirates Women Police Association. The mission of the EWPA is "to emphasize the role of Emirati women and to enhance their contribution to police work." The female programs in Dubai and Abu Dhabi seem to be going strong, but are floundering here in Sharjah, unfortunately.
I also learned that I'm not the only one who sees a need for further English training within the UAE police force. The police departments themselves have recently started evaluating their employees' English abilities and signing them up for mandatory English classes if they are found lacking. Even though the class I created will not actually be implemented (unless I go around peddling it to police academies here), the idea was to work within the real-life context as much as possible, so it was nice to hear that someone else had a similar idea and could actually put it into practice.
I won't get into all 73 pages, but the course description for the class I designed is:
I also developed surveys, questionnaires, and interview plans to determine the needs of the prospective students and the course stakeholders. Based on that, I wrote a goals and objectives plan. Based on that, I wrote a syllabus for the whole course, including the weekly plan of activities. Then I wrote detailed lesson plans for a week of instruction, including original materials for use in the class. It was during that task that I got to try my hand at making fake Emirates IDs (I was developing an activity for the students to practice asking questions about names, dates, nationalities, etc.):
After that, I wrote up a few quizzes for the class and then wrote a plan for the administration and the support of teachers. My 73 pages are a neat little package containing the plan and elements of the whole course. I am equal parts a) proud of it; and b) glad that it is DONE.
The point of the course I designed was to give female students at the Sharjah Police Academy a chance to learn English. I had to be realistic with my context, so the course of study I designed is not nearly as long as the one the male cadets get, but it's better than the almost nothing they have now. Along the way, I learned lots of neat and also confusing things. For example, there used to be female students at the Police Academy, but not currently due to low demand. This is the case even though there is a new push to increase the amount of female police officers in the UAE, including a fancy new Emirates Women Police Association. The mission of the EWPA is "to emphasize the role of Emirati women and to enhance their contribution to police work." The female programs in Dubai and Abu Dhabi seem to be going strong, but are floundering here in Sharjah, unfortunately.
I also learned that I'm not the only one who sees a need for further English training within the UAE police force. The police departments themselves have recently started evaluating their employees' English abilities and signing them up for mandatory English classes if they are found lacking. Even though the class I created will not actually be implemented (unless I go around peddling it to police academies here), the idea was to work within the real-life context as much as possible, so it was nice to hear that someone else had a similar idea and could actually put it into practice.
I won't get into all 73 pages, but the course description for the class I designed is:
Law Enforcement
English for Women seeks to familiarize UAE Police Academy
female cadets with basic English language terminology and key listening,
speaking, reading, and writing strategies in policing and law, allowing them to
extend their law enforcement abilities and knowledge to assist English
speakers.
I also developed surveys, questionnaires, and interview plans to determine the needs of the prospective students and the course stakeholders. Based on that, I wrote a goals and objectives plan. Based on that, I wrote a syllabus for the whole course, including the weekly plan of activities. Then I wrote detailed lesson plans for a week of instruction, including original materials for use in the class. It was during that task that I got to try my hand at making fake Emirates IDs (I was developing an activity for the students to practice asking questions about names, dates, nationalities, etc.):
After that, I wrote up a few quizzes for the class and then wrote a plan for the administration and the support of teachers. My 73 pages are a neat little package containing the plan and elements of the whole course. I am equal parts a) proud of it; and b) glad that it is DONE.