Teaching theology by way of English

Claretian Bro. SC has been residing and teaching at the National Seminary in Beijing, with Fr. FC. Here Sid shares what and how he teaches:

For the second term this school year, we grouped the seminarians according to their English proficiency level. Barbara, a language teacher from Germany, teaches the beginning level, and I teach the upper beginners and the intermediate students. Instead of teaching about the English language, I designed the intermediate course as an introduction to theology in English. We use Lode Wostyn´s theology workbooks, with some adaptation, as our reading texts.

Most of the course time is devoted to discussing the points presented in the workbook, even as students do the given exercises and activities. We also devote some time for language input to help the students become more aware of how they use English in class. With this course, the students have the context for authentic language use where they read, discuss and write in English.