Let’s Flip! Global Village Eng the Class: Activity III ‘Classroom Activity’
In order to promote exchanges between NTNU students and international students, the Office of International Affairs Office of National Taiwan Normal University, the Foreign Languages Section of the Joint Education Committee and the Mandarin Training Center cooperated to hold the last "Flip Classroom- Classroom Activity" on May 15, 2020. International students from 15 different countries interacted with 30 NTNU students and exchange ideas in groups of three.
In line with the spirit and goal of the second "Flip Classroom- Classroom Activity, the event provides an English-only space between students in the English and non-English departments. Some classes choose to attend online so that the students can join the event offsite.
Prof. Lo Mei Lan takes students out of the classroom with the idea of World Café, a small discussion groups of three are seen in the campus of NTNU. The subject can be anything, from the differences of cultural customs, origin of special festivals to exploring the values in various countries. Maria from Mexico introduced the Day of the Dead, which left a deep impression on the students
In this event, the enthusiasm and confident manner of the international students have inspired many local students, making students to be open up to speak in English, and therefore introducing Taiwan’s attractions and festivals to their counterparts and they looked up English words for festivals or attractions in preparation for the event. Each group also specially prepared Taiwanese styled snacks for international students as gifts.
According to Prof. Lo, students are more willing to share in groups and they can talk about more. This is a place for students to not only practice their English skills but also share their ideas.