A PHILIPPINE government-hosted inter-government treaty organization continues to offer the Basic English Course (BEC) for scholars which aims to enhance their proficiency in the language.
According to the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA), the course is to encourage SEARCA scholars under diverse scholarship programs to be more comfortable in using the language in preparation for their studies.
Offered annually, SEARCA said the course also contributes to building the capacity of individual scholars and their home institutions as part of accelerating transformation through agricultural innovation.
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SEARCA said BEC is part of a broader range of academic and extracurricular learning events that serve as tools for scholars to complete their academic requirements on time and support their social well-being.
It said the other training programs offered by SEARCA for its scholars include the writing thesis, dissertation proposals, quantitative and qualitative research designs and data analysis, and scientific writing and presentation.
Through the Education and Collective Learning Department (ECLD), SEARCA organized the 2022 BEC both virtually from July 5 to 13, 2022 and face-to-face lessons at its headquarters in Los Baños, Laguna from July 21 to August 2, 2022.
The ECLD led by Dr. Maria Cristeta Cuaresma as senior program head said there were 16 participants across nine different joint scholarship programs who registered for the 50-hour blended English course.
Cuaresma noted that despite the diverse scholarship programs offered, all the participants carry the SEARCA brand, serving as the center's ambassadors to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) region.
She said building their communication skills is a means to help them represent SEARCA as scholars and in the future as its alumni.
A consultant and lead instructor, retired Professor Emerita Cervantes has a team that has been a long-standing English language course provider for SEARCA particularly during its scholars' training and the regional events in Lao People's Democratic Republic (Laos), Cambodia and Vietnam.
Module 1 on Pronunciation Improvement and Conversations for Social and Academic Interaction was handled by Ann Michelle de Ocampo via online mode; while face-to- face classes at SEARCA was led by Madonna Dimaano who taught Module 2 on Reading for Academic Purposes, with Vocabulary Enrichment, and one class for Module 3 on Grammar.
Module 4 on Writing Effective and Correct Sentences and Restatements was lectured by Cervantes, while April Sibayan-Obille served as an understudy of Cervantes in Module 3.
After 16 sessions, the closing program on August 2, 2022 was attended by the participants of BEC where Cuaresma reminded the scholars that it will take continuous practice to hone their English skills and that the classes provided to them will serve as their foundation.
A scholar representing Class 1, Delfim Da Costa admitted that they have limitations in communicating using the English language and yet acknowledged the importance of such skills as English is the key to communicating with the world.
Representing Class 2, Named Asman noted a lot of things they have experienced during their classes and the other activities they participated during their stay in the Philippines saying, "we consider SEARCA as our second home and our fellow scholars as family."
Cervantes expressed thanks to SEARCA for trusting her team in handling BEC and the other English proficiency courses offered by SEARCA in its Institutional Development Assistance program for many years.
She said the scholars have persevered and worked hard to master a language that is not their own and wished them the best in their upcoming studies as they return to their respective study posts.
