In the middle of the globalization era, it is increasingly important to study English as a universal communication tool. Therefore, English has become an important requirement for the community. To assist the community in developing English language skills, lecturers of the Universitas Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta English Language Education Program (PBI UMY) collaborated with the Muhammadiyah Branch Manager and West Aisyiyah Branch Manager, Bangunjiwo Barat. By holding a “training of trainers” session to empower the people of Bangunjiwo Village as an effort to initiate the establishment of the Muhammadiyah Bangunjiwo English Village on Sunday (7/26) at the PRM Building in West Bangunjiwo, Wonotawang, Bangunjiwo, Kasihan, Bantul.
Endro Dwi Hatmanto, Head of the Bangunjiwo Human Resources Empowerment Program said that this program is a form of public service by English study program lecturers to empower the people of Bangunjiwo to speak English. The program begins with training of trainers, followed by conducting English courses aimed at the local community. After they have received an intensive English course from UMY, hopefully, they can establish an English village.
“This empowerment program has a long term goal of establishing an English-speaking Village in Bangunjiwo, and we hope that the people of this village will use English as their everyday language. However, getting there will be quite difficult, so we started this program with the establishment of an English language course. Our initial effort is to encourage the people around Bangunjiwo to be able to speak English, “he explained.
Agus Mulyono, Head of West Bangunjiwo Muhammadiyah Branch added that the empowerment efforts undertaken by English Language Education Program lecturers were ideals that were realized by the presence of community empowerment by the establishment of the Muhammadiyah English Village in Bangunjiwo. “I am grateful that my ambitions two years ago can be realized with a service program from UMY. I also hope that Bangunjiwo village can function like the Pare English Village, because learning English is useful knowledge for the people of Bangunjiwo. I am sure that with the help of the lecturers, Bangunjiwo can become a Muhammadiyah English Village. Hopefully, this program can also help Muhammadiyah MTS teachers here to take part in training so they can learn English Language,” he concluded.
The training of trainers session in Bangunjiwo started with a sharing session led by alumni of Pare English Village, introducing programs, learning activities, learning techniques, and the management of English courses. (Sofia)
