We are very excited to share the news that the Manos Ministry created an alliance with the Department of Bilingual Bicultural Studies at UTSA.
UTSA graduate students enrolled in the Technology in Language Teaching and Learning course, taught by associate professor Kathryn Henderson, Ph.D., got a global exposure to teaching English as a second language to our Manos Scholarship students.
In 2014, we launched an after-school ESL program called Club Intercambio. We currently have 25 students split in two levels (beginner and intermediate) that meet for four hours every Saturday at our Manos de Dios Episcopal Church.
In April of 2022, we implemented the Buddy/Amigo program under the direction of Dr. Henderson and John Turnbull, a Ph.D. candidate studying culture, literacy and language. The program included seven UTSA graduate students providing virtual lessons to our Club Intercambio students over Zoom and WhatsApp, an app which allows users to send text messages and make voice and video calls.
Dr. Henderson believes that the Manos and UTSA partnership aligns well with the College of Education and Human Development's vision statement to "train culturally and linguistically responsive agents of change". She adds "our graduate students are gaining skills and practice, but also having that cultural interaction and exchange where they are able to increase the other skills that we want in our
students".*
The collaboration had many benefits, not only to the UTSA and Club Intercambio students, but also the ESL teachers in Honduras as they were exposed to new techniques that also helped them develop their own professional skills.
We are hoping that this collaboration between the Manos Ministry and UTSA continues in the future. Dr. Henderson hopes to make the UTSA-Manos Buddy/Amigo Program sustainable, making it a core element of the Technology in Language Teaching and Learning course. In addition, she would like to explore the option of having UTSA students do their TESL practicum with our Manos students in Danli.
*Quote originally published in an article by UTSA College of Education and Human Development news: "UTSA grad students partner with mission outreach to teach English remotely" by Christopher Reichert.
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