English Language Fellow Roberta Kemp visited Kiz Meslek Okulu, a provincial secondary vocational school for girls in Isparta, Turkey, to participate in a series of lessons for the school’s Culinary Arts Program. The goal was to expand the students’ use of English through cooking lessons and give them a chance to interact with a native English speaker, all while cooking simple, international dishes.
Because Kemp was not sure of the learners’ levels, the lesson centered simply on describing how to make a doner, a wrap or sandwich snack with rotisserie-cooked meat, usually lamb or beef.
Drawing on learners’ knowledge of language to kitchen work, the class reviewed ingredients in a doner, action verbs, and kitchen items. These they tied to making the sandwich, using gestures and mimes to demonstrate the process. Terms and phrases were also reinforced with visual support from the Mr. Bean television series. The students exchanged oral summaries and then wrote about the experience.
All in all, the learners experienced the novelty of meeting a native speaking teacher, expanded their language through several intelligence activities, and they had fun doing it.