[EDLING:1221] Road education for English language students

[Francis M. Hult]

http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3559869a11,00.html

Road education for English language students

02 February 2006 

Incidents such as a German student being hit by a bus in Auckland because she 
looked the wrong way crossing the road have prompted the inclusion of road 
safety in English language lessons here. 


Developed by Land Transport New Zealand, the On the Road kit will be 
distributed to English language schools in a bid to improve the safety of 
foreign students on the roads. 

University of Auckland English Language Academy marketing manager Farnaaz 
Mohammed said the case of one German student at the academy in Auckland showed 
the need for additional road education. 

"During her first week here she saw her bus on the other side of the road, 
completely forgot what she had been told, looked only to the left and stepped 
straight in front of a bus. 

"She was seriously injured and flown home to Germany for treatment." 

It was critical international students understood New Zealand road rules, Ms 
Mohammed said. 

"The majority of our students come from countries where they drive on the 
other side of the road." 

The new programme was the brainchild of English language teacher Etain 
McDonnell, who recognised the number of serious accidents involving overseas 
students. 

"Schools run orientation programmes for new students but the information 
doesn't always sink in," Ms McDonnell said. 

"We hope that by creating lessons with road safety themes, the students will 
learn survival strategies at the same time as they learn English." 

The kit features video skits, cards, tapes of television advertisements and a 
board game, and will be available free to the kit is available free to English 
language schools nationwide. 

"In one case, a class was debating the compulsory use of safety belts and a 
Russian student was convinced it infringed on his personal freedom. 

"He changed his mind when the class watched a road safety ad where a passenger 
without a safety belt is thrown through the windscreen of a car," Ms McDonnell 
said.