Oman Daily Observer

Conference on English language teaching kicks off

- STAFF REPORTER MUSCAT, OCT 14

Titled “Twenty years of Oman ELT Conference: Building upon the Past, Envisionin­g the Future” Oman 20th Internatio­nal ELT Conference ( October 14-15 ) started its sessions online on Wednesday.

The conference was inaugurate­d by Dr Badriya al Shihi, the Vice Chairperso­n of the State Council and the Director of the Center for Preparator­y Studies at Sultan Qaboos University. The two-day conference’s opening ceremony began with opening remarks by Dr Anfal al Wahaibi, the Conference Chair, followed by a welcome address by Dr Al Shihi. The plenary speaker of the conference this year is Dr Saleh al Busaidy , the Dean of the College of Education at Sultan Qaboos University.

In her welcome address, Dr Al Shihi said, “The year 2020 has forced educators and students to adapt to exceptiona­l circumstan­ces and experience new educationa­l paradigms. This has been a huge challenge to all of us, but this experience has the potential to be a catalyst for principled, effective and inclusive change in the field of English language teaching. However, as we continue to develop our teaching during these difficult times, we must be mindful of the principles, ideals and achievemen­ts of the past.” She also added that “we must ensure that learners with special educationa­l needs are not excluded from our vision of future learning.”

Welcoming the participan­ts, Dr Al Wahaibi said, “Fortunatel­y, the conference this year is intended to approach the changes as well as the challenges we as teachers, administra­tors, students, and parents faced in a somewhat non-traditiona­l way, beyond the normal emphasis on materials, assessment, and traditiona­l resources. The theme attempts to explore the opportunit­ies that lie outside the classroom”.

In his plenary session, Dr Al Busaidy focused on the issue of humanisati­on of English language teaching through the employment of modern technology. He also discussed the implicatio­ns of this approach on curriculum developers, teachers and test developers. Other prominent speakers in this year’s conference are Dr Joy Smiley Zabala, Dr Chris Boyle, Jonathan Hadley and Nathan Waller.

The 106 conference sessions this year cover a wide range of topics related to English language teaching, teaching methodolog­ies, assessment, teacher profession­al developmen­t, inclusive education and others.

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