Overview: English Department
The role of the English teacher at TCIS is to encourage students to think critically, examine effectively, and control language in both written and spoken form. Specifically, students work on reading, writing, listening and speaking. Writing skills are developed through writer’s workshops as well as through collaboration with peers and instructors. Reading skills or strategies are developed as students’ minds are broadened to include new perceptions of the world and its people.
Elementary School
Language Arts is the most substantial part of what we are about at TCIS in our elementary grades. The emphasis is on English Language Acquisition as most of our students are not native English language speakers. Whether your child is in our Early Education Program or the Elementary School, much of their day is spent with English speaking, reading, and writing. Our goal is to have your child become an independent English Language user in as little as two years. As more years are spent at TCIS International School, our students become as skilled in the English language as they are in their mother tongue.
Middle School
The English Department of the Middle School Section of the TCIS International School aims to prepare students of grades 5, 6, 7 and 8 for High School. Its major goal is to develop and enhance students’ reading and comprehension skills, vocabulary and oral skills, and grammar and writing skills. We seek to continuously promote and improve a student-centered curriculum that fosters critical thinking, sound judgment, self-direction, and creativity. It aspires to develop individuals who are sophisticated thinkers, independent lifelong learners, and most of all, effective communicators. It focuses on promoting the need to be collaborative workers through group work and group presentations. Above all else, we encourage students to develop a sense of personal responsibility for their own education and social relationships through the English Program.
High School
The English Department at TCIS International School believes that in order to function well in an increasingly competitive and information-oriented society, students must possess excellent comprehension and communication skills. The role of the English teacher is to encourage students to think critically, examine effectively, and control language in both written and spoken form. These skills are also critical in the development of lifelong learning and responsible global participation. Writing skills are developed through reading and writing practice as well as through constructive criticism from peers and instructors. The study of literature should both challenge and stimulate students’ minds by broadening their perception of the world and its people. In addition to the core literature-based curriculum, the Language & Composition sequence provides three English electives, all intended to be taken in conjunction with core studies and serve as general support for student efforts and skill-development in English, but may also serve as recommended courses (and required in some instances). Our goal is to prepare our students to meet the ever-changing demands of the 21st Century, and to ensure they can compete and excell at the best universities in the USA, Canada, Taiwan, Thailand and around the world.
