The Place of English Language in Our Lives: How Well Do We Realize It?

Department of English Language Teaching (ELT) at TIU organized an International Online Workshop entitled “The Place of English Language in Our Lives: How Well Do We Realize It?” on April 08, 2021, Thursday at 10: 30 am local time. As English is an international language and most people are using this language in daily lives, it is of vital importance to have a sound command of this language to communicate with other countries people as well as increase our chances of landing a better professional career. Therefore, the purpose of this event is to explore and discuss the place and role of the English language in our lives by bringing academicians from different countries and allowing our students to benefit from the experiences of these professional people.

Four English Language professionals, Assist Prof Sazzad Zahid from Bangladesh, Assist Prof Martha Terna-Abah from Nigeria, Ms. Kurdistan Qadir from KRG Iraq, and Prof Alpaslan Toker from Turkey, kindly participated in the event. The event attracted more than 60 English language learners, professionals, teachers, and enthusiasts from different parts of the world.

The workshop began with the presentation by Assist 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 “English Teaching-Learning in Bangladesh: Caught on a Cusp of both Expansion and Confusion” in which he provided a historical background to the teaching and learning of the English Language in Bangladesh and offered valuable advice on how to attain fluency and proficiency in learning English language.

Assist Prof Martha Terna-Abah held the floor and carry out a very lively and vigorous presentation on “Trending Versus Appropriate Language Use: The Position of Standard English in Formal Written and Spoken Communication among University Students” where she highlighted the numerous errors made by university students in written communication.

Ms. Kurdistan Qadir, who is a full-time member of academic staff at the Department of Translation at the University of Suleimani, made her presentation on “The Role of Learning English Language in Improving Emotional Intelligence (EQ)” in which she emphasized the significance of emotional intelligence and its vital role in allowing the individual to communicate, lead and negotiate with others.

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 “Kahoot 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 “Kahoot”.

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.

The recorded versions of the presentations can be accessed through the following links: