Department of English Language Teaching (ELT) at TIU organized an International Online Workshop entitled “New Trends and New Demands on English Language Teaching” on March 09, 2022, Wednesday at 15:00 am local time. With the advancement in technology and the use of the Internet, language teaching approaches, methods and procedures are constantly undergoing reassessment. New ideas keep emerging as the growing complexity of the means of communication and the opportunities created by technology put language skills to new uses.
Five English Language professionals, Associate Prof Sazzad Zahid from Bangladesh, Assist Prof Martha Terna-Abah and Senior Lecturer Bello Yekeen from Nigeria, Mr. Chalak Ghafoor Raouf from KRG Iraq, and Prof Alpaslan Toker from Turkey, kindly participated in the event. The event attracted more than 50 English language learners, professionals, teachers, and enthusiasts from different parts of the world.
The workshop began with the presentation by Associate Prof Sazzad Zahid who is a full-time academic currently working in English Department at Kushtia Islamic University, Bangladesh. Dr. Zahid delivered a presentation on “Necessity in Reducing the Gaps among the Learners, Teachers and CLT: Bangladesh Context” in which he provided a historical background to Communicate Language Teaching in Bangladesh and offered valuable advice on how to include the input skills of speaking and writing in curriculum.
Assist Prof Martha Terna-Abah held the floor and carry out a very lively and vigorous presentation on “An Investigation into the Lack of Adverbial / Tense Concord in the Spoken Communication of Students of Selected Universities in Nigeria” where she highlighted the numerous errors committed by university students in their spoken communication.
Mr. Chalak Raouf, who is a full-time member of academic staff at the National Institute of Science and Technology in Slemani, made his presentation on “Invisible Bullet” in which he emphasized the role of language in controlling people.
Senior Lecturer Bello Yakeen, who is the head of Arts Education Department at University of Ilorin, Nigeria, took his turn and made his presentation on “Online Platforms as Teaching Strategies” in which he stressed the significance of online platforms like zoom, google classroom, etc. in delivering lectures especially during COVID-19.
Finally, Prof. Alpaslan Toker was the final speaker of the workshop. Dr. Toker, who is a full-time lecturer at Tishk International University in Suleimani, delivered his presentation “Quizizz as an Alternative Learning Tool in English Language Teaching” where he pinpointed the integration of technology and technological devices in language teaching and went to great lengths to introduce a popular game-based learning platform called “Quizizz”.
The online workshop concluded with the closing remarks by the organizer. The participants expressed their pleasure and satisfaction to be a part of this successful event. They stressed that they benefited a lot as all the speakers discussed important aspects of teaching and learning the English language.
