Project Title:
Language Improvement Programs for Enhancing Theological Students’
English Language Skills (Speaking, Writing, Reading, Vocabulary, and
Grammar) Proficiency.
1. The Background of the Project
Nowadays, the ability to enhance English Language Proficiency (ELP) is seen as a need for contributing
to the difficulty of the world. It’s a view by which all its proponents agree that speaking, reading, writing,
etc., ability delivers them to the survival of competitions, which put English as one of the prerequisites to
be fulfilled. It is obvious that learning to speak, read, write, etc. in English has become a trend to keep up
with this situation.
The English Language Improvement Program (ELIP) activity is done for certain reasons: fulfilling the
demands of theological seminary (for students to be competent in speaking, writing, reading, etc. in
English), moving to the target language community, fulfilling the requirement of a specific purpose (letter
writing, sentence writing, paragraph writing, etc.), and perceiving the great benefit of being able to speak
the English at large. Whatever reasons the purpose students have for improving English language skills
will have an effect upon the theological seminary, and the results will influence what is taught (Harmer,
2007:11).
In order to carry out the improvement program, it is highly paramount to deal with the obstacles in
learning to Speak and other English skills. Through the study, the obstacles found are the following:
Although students have applied various learning strategies and teachers have attempted to conduct
effective and interesting teaching methods to achieve speaking, writing, reading, etc. capability, they keep
facing obstacles in learning to speak, to write, to read, etc. in English. It seems that the obstacles are
mostly intrinsic. The problems are coming from the students themselves. Having a lack of learning
motivation and interest, a lack of basic knowledge and vocabulary mastery, and a lack of self-confidence
to speak, to write, to read, etc. Having a lack of learning interest and motivation is caused by the
unavailability of good facilities, supporting learning circumstances, and interesting materials that fit
learners needs, besides putting forward a negative concept of learning to speak, to read, to write, etc. in
English. Having a lack of basic knowledge and vocabulary mastery makes the students find it difficult to
understand the materials studied, while having a lack of self-confidence to speak, to read, to write, etc.,
makes the students fear to involve themselves in practice with their speakers.
Teachers in diploma and degree levels in Hossana Theological Seminary face major challenges in helping
students learn through English as their foreign language. Based on the admission figures of seminary,
students’ in the diploma and degree programs, over the past years, around 70% of the students have been
identified as weaker students in all types of skills. Thus, they need additional English support. With this in
view, the seminary should introduce a variety of support measures to address this target group of students.
For example, there should be an English Improvement Program (EIP) in all sorts of skills, a series of
English learning activities such as English Conversation Training, Writing Workshops, and English Week
(English Public Speech Delivery, English Debate, English Letter Writing Competition, etc.) to foster our
students’ English language development. It is vital to inform that the program will entail all diploma,
degree, and master's students in developing their skills to be equally competent with that of global
counterparts.
2. Objectives of the Project
The proposed project aims at providing additional English language support for enhancing diploma and
undergraduate students’ English language proficiency. By demanding the these students to join English
trainings, workshops, and English day, it is expected that the project will be able to help students develop
their English skills to the beginning level for learning more effectively through English in the
aforementioned levels.
In addition, to encourage students to take ownership of their learning, learning-to-learn skills and
materials promoting independent language learning will also be developed. The self-learning
materials will include self-evaluation/ reflection worksheets, independent language learning sheets, and a
guidebook for independent learning of academic and workplace English. The project will help students
self-evaluate their needs in learning English and learning through English and foster their development of
independent English language learning skills.
3. Outcomes and Deliverables of Project
3.1 The Project Outcomes
a) Compulsory Academic English Trainings
Target Beneficiaries:
Students at the Seminary running from first year to four year and outsiders (college students, university
students, vocational trainees, officers, others) who need to improve their English proficiency and who
would like to compete and interact with national and international students and communities will be the
target beneficiaries.
All students who drop under the above-described categories will receive additional English Language
Improvement (ELI) support in the two compulsory trainings offered in Stage 1 at the seminary:
◆ Semester 1, A Block – Improving Speaking Proficiency (40 hours)
◆ Semester 1, B Block—Improving Speaking Proficiency (40 hours)
Expected Learning Outcomes:
Upon successful completion of this training, trainees with lower English proficiency in speaking at the
seminary will be able to:
➢ Identify their weaknesses and strengths in academic English speaking proficiency;
➢ enhance their academic English speaking skills required for success in learning through
English as the medium of instruction at diploma, degree, and master’s levels;
➢ Enhance their workplace speaking skills required for success in communication in
professional contexts where needed;
➢ Use speaking skills for extended language learning in less formal settings where needed;
➢ Gain confidence in using speaking for academic and workplace purposes.
b) Materials Developed for the Training
Target Beneficiaries:
All the trainees at all categories:
All students at all levels may access the materials for further training in their speaking skills.
Expected Learning Outcomes:
In addition, students at all levels at large will also be able to:
➢ access the teaching and learning materials developed for the academic speaking English; trainings
and use the materials to develop their speaking skills at their own pace;
➢ diagnose their main difficulties in speaking English;
3.2 Deliverables
Trainings on Speaking skills
Teaching and learning materials developed for the ELI programs in speaking skills, including:
• Diagnostic language tests/ exercises
• Worksheets on speaking skills catering for learners with weaker English skills
• Reflection/ self-evaluation forms
Enhancement of students’ English speaking skills, workplace communication and study skills.
3. Implementation Details
The implementation of this training is divided into three recurring (periodic) stages from March to July
2025:
a) Project Coordinator
Duties:
◆ Provide administration support (training/workshops) and assist the training in the
implementation of the trainings/workshops;
b) Project Trainer
Duties:
➢ Develop the teaching and learning materials for the workshops, including diagnostic tests/
exercises, worksheets for the training, etc.;
➢ Conduct the trainings;
➢ Mark students’ assignments and provide feedback on their progress;
➢ Report on students’ performance in the training;
➢ Review the workshop materials;
➢ Assist the project coordinator in the project review.
I. Project Preparation:
Remark: To assure the quality of the project website, we propose to hire the professional
services of a website construction company to design and construct the project website and to
offer website maintenance services, which is considered to be more effective. Meanwhile, a part-
time project assistant will be employed to handle other administration duties.
B. Project Website (Construction/ Update/ Maintenance)
Construction of Website: $58,000 (Aug-Sep 2009)
Update/ Maintenance of Website (yearly basis): $8,800 X 2 years (Aug 2009 – Jul 2011)
Estimated Expenses: $75,600
C. Recruitment of a Project Assistant (Aug 2009)
Duties:
◆ Provide administration support in the implementation of the project
◆ Assist the subject lecturers in the preparation of the teaching and learning materials for
the workshops and the guidebook for independent English language learning
◆ Liaise with the project owner and other staff members concerning the requirements of
the project website
Salary for Project Assistant (Part-time):
$7,000 ($70 X 100 hours/month) X 24 months = $168,000 X MPF (5%) = $176,400
D. Recruitment of Teaching Staff for the Workshops
◆ Workshop 1 (Academic English): Aug 2009
◆ Workshop 2 (Workplace English): Jan 2010
◆ Workshop 3 (Academic English): Aug 2010
◆ Workshop 4 (Workplace English): Jan 2011
Duties:
◆ Develop the teaching and learning materials for the workshops, including diagnostic
tests/ exercises, worksheets for the workshop, materials for independent language
learning, etc.
◆ Conduct the workshops
◆ Mark students’ assignments and provide feedback on their progress
◆ Report on students’ performance in the workshop
◆ Review the workshop materials
◆ Assist the project owner in the project review
II. Language Support Programmes
◆ Workshop 1 (Academic English): Sep 2009-Nov 2010
◆ Workshop 2 (Workplace English): Feb 2010-Apr 2010
◆ Workshop 3 (Academic English): Sep 2010-Nov 2011
◆ Workshop 4 (Workplace English): Feb 2011-Apr 2011
A. Contents of the Workshops in Academic English/ Workplace English:
The two workshops (each offering 10 one-hour workshop sessions) will cover the following:
◆ On-going diagnostic English tests/exercises to identify the needs of the LEP students
based on i) their past English language learning experience, ii) present language
proficiency in academic and workplace English, and iii) difficulties encountered in the
compulsory English courses and content subjects.
◆ English practices catering for the needs of the LEP students for studying the topics
covered in the compulsory academic English and workplace communication subjects
◆ Discipline-specific learning materials catering for the needs of the LEP students for
studying their content subjects through English as the medium of instruction
◆ Independent English language learning skills
Estimated Number of Hours of Services Required: 10 hours X 34 classes (850 students hours per
workshop/25 students per workshop) X 4 workshops over 2 years = 1360 hours
B. Development of Materials for the Workshops in Academic English/ Workplace English:
To develop materials that can effectively address students’ difficulties in learning academic/
workplace English and learning within an English-medium learning environment in the sub-degree
programmes, the following steps will be taken:
◆ Conduct on-going diagnostic English tests/exercises to identify the needs of the LEP
students based on i) their past English language learning experience, ii) present
language proficiency in academic and workplace English, and iii) difficulties
encountered in the compulsory English courses and content subjects.
◆ Develop teaching and learning materials catering for the needs of the students in
academic and workplace English learning.
◆ Collaborate with content teachers to develop discipline-related materials that can
address the language needs diagnosed and support students’ learning in the
English-medium content subjects.
◆ Collect resources on academic and workplace English learning and write up the
guidebook for independent English language learning
Estimated Number of Hours of Services Required: 25 hours per workshop X 4 workshops over 2
years = 100 hours
III. Project Review (Jan 2010/ Jul 2010/ Jan 2011/ Jul 2011)
◆ Review of teaching and learning materials for the workshops
◆ Review the implementation of the project (critical review of the operations of the
project, tasks completed, problems encountered, actions to be taken for improvement,
etc.)
IV. Project Sustainability (Jul 2011)
◆ Launching of the Project Website, sharing with other sub-degree partners/ students:
- Teaching and Learning Materials for the Academic English Workshops
- Teaching and Learning Materials for the Workplace English Workshops
- Guidebook for Independent English Language Learning
- Sharing of Good Teaching Practices
E. Implementation Schedule (Please extend this table if necessary.)
Estimated start date of project: Aug 2009
Action Cash-flow
Timeframe
(please indicate key milestones) Requirement*
• Implementation of Workshop 1 (Academic English) Aug 2009 – $301,900
• Development of Workshop Materials (Academic English) Jan 2010
• Construction of the Project Website
• Interim Project Review (1)
• Implementation of Workshop 2 (Workplace English) Feb – Jul $235,100
• Development of Workshop Materials (Workplace English) 2010
• Update and Maintenance of the Project Website
• Interim Project Review (2)
• Launching the Project Website (Test version, access for Aug 2010 – $243,900
HKCC students only), Update and Maintenance of the Jan 2011
Project Website
• Implementation of Workshop 3 (Academic English)
• Development of Additional Workshop Materials
(Academic English) and Review of the Learning
Materials developed in 2009-10
• Interim Project Review (3)
• Implementation of Workshop 4 (Workplace English) Feb – Jul $240,100
• Development of Additional Workshop Materials 2011
(Workplace English) and Review of the Learning
Materials developed in 2009-10
• Launching the Project Website (Open access), Update and
Maintenance of the Project Website
• Project Review (final)
• Auditing of Project Account
Estimated completion date of project: End of July 2011
*Please refer to Appendix I for the breakdown of cash-flow requirement.
F. Project Budget
Amount in HK$
Projected Expenditure
Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 Total
(Please provide detailed
breakdown under each item)
a. Manpower $424,000 + $424,000 +
$890,400
i) Manpower for the Delivery MPF (5%) MPF (5%)
of Workshops ($500 X 10
hours X 34 classes X 2 =$445,200 =$445,200
workshops X 2 years =
$680,000 + 5% MPF =
$714,000)
ii) Manpower for
Administrative Support
($7000 X 24 months =
$168,000 + 5% MPF =
$176,400)
b. Equipment / Facilities
c. Services
$91,800 $33,800 $125,600
i) Development of Workshop
Materials ($500 X 25 hours
X 2 workshops X 2 years =
$50,000)
ii) Construction, Update and
Maintenance of Project
Website ($75,600)
d. General Expenses
e. Others (Auditor’s fee) $5000 $5000
Total Expenditure : $537,000 $484,000 $1,021,000
Projected Income Amount in HK$
Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 Total
a. (e.g. fees received)
b.
c.
Total Income :
Sources of Funding
a. Amount of grant sought under this application: $1,021,000
b. Other sources of funding (this may include donations, contributions from the applicant/its
parent organization, etc. Please give the name(s) of the sponsor(s), the amount of funding,
and indicate whether the funding has been secured.):
(i) Contributions from the Applicants (Staff Offices, Classrooms for the Workshops,
Manpower for project coordination, Administrative arrangement stipulated in Section H,
Provision of space/ an online platform for the project website, Printing of workshop
materials)
G. Monitoring and Self-evaluation Mechanism
The outcomes of the project will be assessed with reference to the following Quality Assurance
Mechanism of our College:
• Student feedback questionnaire (Quantitative and qualitative feedback on the
effectiveness of the workshops)
• Post-teaching reports on the Workshops (Qualitative feedback from the subject
lecturers)
• Students’ marks and grades in the two compulsory academic English
and workplace communication courses
• Students’ learning portfolios, including student reflections, completed
worksheets, independent language learning reports, etc.
In addition, an interim project review will be conducted in January 2010, July 2010 and January
2011 and a final project review in July 2011. Progress reports will be prepared in January 2010,
July 2010 and January 2011 respectively, and a final report on the project evaluating the
implementation of the project will be compiled after the completion of the Project in July 2011.
H. Management Support and Key Personnel Involved
Administrative Arrangements (Key Personnel Involved: Programme Directors)
- Reallocate the resources of the College to facilitate the availability of time, space (e.g.
office for the project assistant) and resources (e.g. manpower and facilities) for developing
and implementing the programme.
- Provide on-going support to maintain sufficient collaboration of efforts among the staff
members concerned, e.g. provide the statistics/ information required for the project review
(refer to Section G for the list), administrative support on the implementation of the project,
etc.
I. Special Justifications if the Grant Sought Exceeds $2 million
N/A
III information
Other
1 Project Sustainability (If applicable, please describe how the recurrent expenditure involved will
be met after completion of the proposed project)
All teaching and learning materials of the workshop and self-learning materials for academic
English and workplace English will be developed based on on-going diagnosis of the English
language learning needs of the target group of students in the AD programmes of our College.
To provide additional language support to students at the sub-degree level at large, the learning
materials catering for the needs of the weaker students developed by the project team will
subsequently be shared with other teachers and students in other sub-degree institutions through
the project website, with an aim to aid students’ academic and workplace English language
development in the sub-degree programmes.
With access to all teaching and learning materials of the workshops, students of other sub-degree
programmes can select the materials relevant to their study programme and improve their
academic and workplace English skills at their own pace.
Harmer, Jeremy. (2007). How to Teach English. England: Pearson Education Limited
Additionally, by following the instructions in the guidebook, they can also develop strategies and
autonomy for life-long language learning.
Leo, Sutanto. (2013). A Challenging Book to Practice Teaching in English. Yogyakarta: Andi
2 Preparatory work done (If any)
Richard, Jack C. and Willy A. Renandya. (2002). Methodology in Language Teaching:An
N/A
onthology of current teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
3 Thorn]burry, Scott.
Past experience (2005). How
in organizing to Teach
projects Speaking.
of similar England:
or relevant Pearson
nature and Education Limited
achievements (If any)
To promote English“Obstacles
Khan. (2016). language learning in Hong
in Learning Kong,as
English theaCollege
Secondhad successfully
Language amongorganised
Intermediate
several English activities for the English Festival of the Standing Committee on Language
EducationStudents ofDistricts
and Research Mianwali
(SCOLAR) and and
in 2006 Bhakkar,
2007, Pakistan”. Open
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of EnglishVol.
Festival 2006 and English Festival 2007:
4, 154-162.
Introduction:
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An effective introduction will clearly explain the purpose of the rest of the proposal—
English Festival 2007 - English Language Camp cum Camp Leader Training Programme
readers should never wonder why they are being provided certain information. The
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proposal’s introduction makes a first impression on readers. This section is often easier
to write once the main body of the proposal is complete. In the proposal’s introduction,
focus on the following writing moves (which may be executed in any order):
• State the proposal’s purpose in one sentence
Remember that it is better to be blunt than too subtle. A writer may
choose to write a purpose statement using a phrase like “The purpose of this
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proposal is ” or “The goal of the proposed project is .”
Do not leave any possibility that a reader will finish a proposal’s introduction
without having a clear sense of what the proposal is trying to accomplish.
The purpose statement is often related to solving a problem or seizing an
opportunity./
• State the proposal’s subject
Define the subject’s boundaries. Many times a writer mistakenly assumes
that everybody knows about his or her subject. A writer may feel that all
readers already know about refugees living in the Fargo-Moorhead
community, but in reality, writers of proposals know more about their
subjects than do readers.
• State the main claim that you will prove in the proposal
What is the main point you want readers to understand? In a research
proposal, the main claim may be phrased as a research question or
hypothesis. In other proposals, the main claim may be related to the
project plan; state briefly what you want to do or have happen.
In addition to the three crucial moves above, optional for the introduction include the
following writing moves:
• Explain why the subject is important to readers
Why should anyone care? Give your readers a reason to take action. Avoid
alarming your readers (which may cause them to feel defensive or resistant),
but make them see why they should pay attention to your proposal.
• Provide readers with background information to understand the subject
Is there something that readers need to know before they can understand the
proposal body? You may want to write about what has changed recently to
cause a problem or opportunity (blame change, not people).
• Provide a forecast statement for the proposal’s organization
What sections are in the proposal body, and in what order are they presented? Current
Situation: explain the problem or opportunity and why the proposal is needed. There are
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three guidelines to keep in mind when writing the current situation section: a
problem/opportunity is the effect of a cause, if a problem is ignored it will tend to grow
worse, and it is best to blame change, not people. You may approach the current situation
by focusing your writing in one of three ways:
• Causal approach: use this approach if you feel your audience does not
already know the causes of a problem or opportunity.
• Effects approach: use this approach to describe what will happen if
action is not taken to confront the problem or realize the opportunity.
• Narrative approach: whereas the other two approaches are best for
describing the situation as it stands in the present moment, the narrative
approach works to show how an opportunity or problem evolved over time
Objectives: tell readers what objectives your plan will meet in order to improve the
current situation.
Although you can often decide to focus on something as a positive opportunity instead of
a negative problem, the current situation section often does include some negatives of what
will happen if a problem is not confronted or an opportunity is not realized. However,
starting with the objectives, your writing should become positively focused, even if you
are confronting a serious problem.
You may break down this slot into primary and secondary objectives. Be sure that your
objectives match certain objectives of your audience; a funder will not be interested in
your plan unless it helps them fulfill their mission while adhering to their values.
Project plan: demonstrate how your plan will meet objectives in order to confront a
problem or take advantage of an opportunity.
The basic writing moves you should make in your project plan are as follows:
• Provide a summary of your overall plan. Your reader should be able to
understand in a short sentence or phrase what your plan is. Your plan
should be directly connected to your objectives.
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• Forecast your major steps. This will provide your readers with an
outline of how your plan will be carried out.
• Provide the major and minor steps of your plan. Be sure to sufficiently
break apart complex steps so your reader can understand how you will meet
your objectives. Include the dates you expect each major step to be
completed by (you may decide to include a timeline or Gantt chart as an
appendix). Your reader needs to know more than the “what,” of your plan,
however. Every step of your plan should do the following:
o Describe “how” you will complete steps. For example, simply
stating “training faculty” as one of your steps is not sufficient (this is
a major step that needs to be broken down). How will you train
faculty? Do you have training materials? Will you use workshops?
o Explain “why” you will complete steps. In addition to
explaining the step-by- step process of how you will train faculty,
your project plan should offer a narrative of why you will complete
a step in a certain way. Why is training faculty related to your
overall objectives? Why will you use workshops but not some
other method of training?
o Report any deliverables for each major step. Funders do not like
to give money to projects that disappear without a trace once
funding runs out. A deliverable might be something tangible like a
building. In other cases, a deliverable might be communication with
the funder. Some funders require reporting requirements at certain
time intervals; even if a funder does not require reporting, you
might consider including reporting as part of your deliverables.
• Close the project plan section. Many grant writers close the section by
summarizing main steps, major deliverables, or how the plan meets the
objectives.
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Qualifications: explain how your project team is composed of individuals qualified to
carry out your plan.
How much information you provide about qualifications will depend on the context you are
operating within. If you are proposing a plan within your own organization, for instance,
there is less of a need to explain who the qualified individuals are because the organization
will already be aware (although there is nothing wrong with reminding readers of a
person’s qualifications). External funders might appreciate more in-depth background
information. When writing qualifications, think about ways to turn your weaknesses into
strengths. You may be a newcomer to a field, for example, but could present yourself as
having a fresh and energized perspective. For qualifications, focus on the following
writing moves:
• Make a direct claim about your team’s top strength. This strength
should be something that would directly help you carry out the project plan.
Make sure that you are able to back up your main claim, but know that
making your team stand out as the most qualified or qualified in some
unique way will help build trust with your readers.
• Describe your Personnel. Proposal readers want to know the people who
will be working on a project and their credentials—what are the
experiences, educational achievements, and other credentials of the
personnel? Has anyone received any special training related to the project?
You may also explain relevant past achievements of the personnel—if
someone on the team has done something similar in the past, highlight this
similarity. (If you are writing a proposal on the behalf of an organization or
company, describe a brief history, the mission statement, philosophy,
facilities/equipment, and quality-control measures of the
organization/company. Also highlight any similar project successes the
organization/company has taken on in the past.)
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• Create a persona. Make sure that you weave a central idea throughout
your qualifications section. The persona should be related to your team’s
top strength. Think about related words and phrases to sprinkle throughout
the section. For example, if your team’s top strength is its ambition, you
might highlight how one of your team member’s is personally connected
to the topic and thus feels particularly inspired to fulfill the project
objectives.
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