Dr. Virgion H. Mamonong, CTE’s sole linguist, is the first CTE faculty to take part in the virtual exchange program, an international collaboration between the University of the Immaculate Conception (UIC), Philippines, and Widya Mandala Surabaya Catholic University (WMSCU), Indonesia held on October 20, 27 and November 10.

The three-day lecture series in English 322: Morphology and Syntax bears the theme: Syntax: From the Lens of Traditional and Structural Grammar where Dr. Mamonong delivered the fundamentals of English grammar and led the 22 students in diagramming phrases and sentences. In making his lecture more interactive, he used free online gamification apps to assess students’ understanding. The activities vary from individual, dyadic, and group tasks.

To Bernardino Krishna, one of the English major students, he finds the lecture challenging and interesting. This is evidenced when he expressed that, “The topic challenges us to learn more about the structural grammar and also you always smile when you teach us which encourages us to do the tasks you are giving us. During the break-out sessions, you keep jumping from one room to another to assist us.”

Meanwhile, Dr. Mamonong was teary-eyed after hearing all the gratitude expressed by the students more particularly when Rei Layadi, an English major student, narrated his line “… All of us experienced something new. I am personally fond of your class. I am not a genius. I may not remember all the 100-slide presentation you have prepared,  but I do remember the values you have given us. And I remember exactly your word when you asked one of us a question and you said ‘It’s okay if you’re wrong. In fact, I’ll be happy if you’re wrong for we are here to learn’ and that impresses me. I think that is the essence of being a learner, not to be afraid of mistakes, because learners learn from their mistakes.”

The program ended with Dr. Hedra Tedjasuksmana, the English 322 course professor, awarding the certificate of appreciation and expressing his words saying, “It is actually an honor for us to have you with our students. I am  sure that our students got fruitful and insightful knowledge of traditional and structural grammar from you. The ample explanation and inspiring exercise opened the horizons of students’ mind concerning two schools of grammar.”