MUSCAT, MARCH 20 - The third annual ELT (English Language Teaching) symposium themed ‘English in a connected world’ focused on the professional development of people involved in English teaching and make them able to maintain pace with the latest techniques of teaching.
The symposium was organised virtually on Thursday by the University of Technology and Applied Sciences (UTAS) Salalah.
In his welcome speech, Saeed al Mashikhi, head of the ELT centre, explained the importance of the symposium in light of the Covid-19 pandemic to those interested in teaching English around the world. He exhorted the participants, researchers and research paper owners to adopt the new teaching techniques to make the way of teaching interesting and more relevant.
Diverse issues came up for discussion, as the participants took part in the symposium through structured workshops and scientific posters.
“The symposium was a scientific forum in which researchers, teachers, authors and specialists in the field of educational, academic curricula from both inside and outside the Sultanate, took part. All of these formed the basis for this year’s symposium slogan, ‘English in a connected world,” said a participant and presenter.
A group of prominent speakers, from Oman and abroad, engaged in the theory and practice of teaching English took part. The four keynote speakers at the symposium included Professor Scott Thornbury, Lecturer and Trainer in English Language Teaching, author and award-winning researcher from Spain; Professor John Hughes, presenter and trainer working at Oxford University and composer of award-winning written content, in many different forums and spanning an array of editorial contexts, from National Geographic; Professor Chris Farrell, Head of Training and Development for CES Group Ireland; and Jonathan Hadley, who is a teacher, trainer and adviser at Macmillan Education, an educational conglomerate publisher and the multimedia company from the United Kingdom.
Professor Scott Thornbury discussed the notion of returning to what is conventionally referred to as “the old normal” in education; the challenges that teachers face in teaching in the current environment; and the differences that are spotlighted when future circumstances may merit returning to the real-time classroom.
Professor Jonathan Hadley, a consultant at Macmillan Education, has worked in English language teaching for 25 years and is presently a specialist in education reform programmes in the Middle East.
He highlighted his personal experience over the past 20 years in teaching English, along with his insights on many aspects of English language teaching, including important issues that should be addressed, contemporary challenges that should be confronted, and possible future developments, from his perspective, that should be taken into account.
Oman Observer is now on the WhatsApp channel. Click here
