ELT conference addresses current perspectives, trends, challenges

MUSCAT: The 18th Oman International ELT Conference: Elt-current Perspectives, Trends and Challenges, organised by the Centre for Preparatory Studies at Sultan Qaboos University (SQU), commenced its deliberations on Thursday under the auspices of Dr Essam bin Ali al Rowas, Deputy Chairman of the Public Authority for Craft Industries (PACI).

Held at SQU, the Oman International ELT conference was founded in 2001 to serve as a professional forum for English language teachers and educators from around the world. The conference provides excellent opportunities for sharing ideas, experiences and best practices in different areas of English Language Teaching. It is an exciting, stimulating and rewarding annual event for ELT professionals in all sectors.

Speaking at the opening ceremony of the conference, Pooja Sancheti, Deputy Director of Professional Development and Research at the Centre for Preparatory Studies at SQU, said that this year’s conference focuses on the Current Perspectives, Trends and Challenges in teaching of English. “It is an attempt to better understand the way English teachers and their learners view certain approaches to teaching of English and how successfully they work.

“The scope of the conference also extends to specific challenges that are faced by English language teachers in the current times. The idea of getting together and reflecting on our personal experiences and our contemporaries’ experiences is the underlying principal of an academic conference,” Pooja Sancheti said.

Dr Khalfan al Kemyani, who chaired the conference, said that the meet comes to address three inter-related and integrated core aspects of the teaching and learning experiences.

“Over 500 presenters and participants are attending the conference. The conference features 77 presentations delivered by 95 presenters who come from a vast number of institutions and countries from around the world. Presentations will discuss 24 subthemes derived from the main theme of the current perspectives trends and challenges in ELT. These presentations include a plenary speech, 2 featured speeches, 3 poster presentations, 66 paper presentations and 14 standard workshops in addition to 2 specialised professional development workshops,” Dr Al Kemyani said.

Accompanying the conference is a specialized ELT materials exhibition. This provides an opportunity to bring some of the well-known international publishers in the field. A section has been earmarked for the in-house publications and teaching materials from SQU.