Tribune News Network
Doha
The Qatar University (QU) Foundation Program (FP), under the Deanship of General Studies, held its 4th Annual International Conference and Exhibition on English Language Teaching (ELT) under the theme ‘Critical Thinking in Language Curriculum for the 21st Century’.
The conference highlighted the importance of professional development and brought together over 400 English teachers and researchers in ELT from Qatar, the GCC, Canada, the US, Africa and the UK.
QU Vice-President for Academic Affairs Dr Omar al Ansari inaugurated the conference on behalf of the QU President Dr Hassan al Derham. The Dean of General Studies Dr Ibrahim al Kaabi gave the welcome address. In attendance were the FP Director Dr Hezam al Awah and the Assistant Undersecretary for Educational Affairs at the Ministry of Education and Higher Education (MoE &HE)Fawzia Abdulaziz al Khater and officials from MoE & HE, the US Embassy, as well as QU faculty and staff.
Plenary speaker, award-winning author and a professor at the Faculty of Education at the University of Ottawa ProfAwad Ibrahim talked about ‘Critical thinking, curriculum studies, and generation Z in language classrooms’.
In addition to more than 60 research-oriented sessions, teaching tips and workshops, the conference featured four panels on ‘Critical Thinking and Language Curriculum’, ‘Disabilities and Special Needs’, ‘Incorporating translingual pedagogy into EMI programme in the Gulf’ and ‘Improving process-based writing in L2 classrooms’.
In addition, there was an exhibition with 22 booths. Among the exhibitors were the US Embassy, Oxford University Press, Garnet Education, Cambridge University Press, Express Publishing, Pearson, ASAS Language Center, QU Testing Center, QU Center of Continuing Education and Student Learning Center.
In his remarks, Dr Omar al Ansari said, "Critical thinking in the language curriculum for the 21st century requires us to not only think critically ourselves about what we do and what we offer our students, but also to encourage our students to become inquisitive, critical thinkers. We are gathered here today to exchange ideas, share knowledge and seek ways of making our students not only better learners, but better citizens, ready to contribute to their society and its development.”
Dr Ibrahim al Kaabi said, "We believe strongly in the vital role continuous professional development plays in ensuring that our faculty meet high standards performance. To maintain that, we strive continuously to organize professional development events for Qatar University, as well as local, regional and international community.”
The US Embassy in Doha, in coordination with the MoE&HE, sponsored 50 public school teachers in Qatar to participate in the conference while the Training and Educational Development Center at MoE&HE sponsored 100 English language teachers to avail themselves of the latest trends and practices in ELT. In addition, Texas A&M University at Qatar sponsored the plenary speaker for the conference.
Doha
The Qatar University (QU) Foundation Program (FP), under the Deanship of General Studies, held its 4th Annual International Conference and Exhibition on English Language Teaching (ELT) under the theme ‘Critical Thinking in Language Curriculum for the 21st Century’.
The conference highlighted the importance of professional development and brought together over 400 English teachers and researchers in ELT from Qatar, the GCC, Canada, the US, Africa and the UK.
QU Vice-President for Academic Affairs Dr Omar al Ansari inaugurated the conference on behalf of the QU President Dr Hassan al Derham. The Dean of General Studies Dr Ibrahim al Kaabi gave the welcome address. In attendance were the FP Director Dr Hezam al Awah and the Assistant Undersecretary for Educational Affairs at the Ministry of Education and Higher Education (MoE &HE)Fawzia Abdulaziz al Khater and officials from MoE & HE, the US Embassy, as well as QU faculty and staff.
Plenary speaker, award-winning author and a professor at the Faculty of Education at the University of Ottawa ProfAwad Ibrahim talked about ‘Critical thinking, curriculum studies, and generation Z in language classrooms’.
In addition to more than 60 research-oriented sessions, teaching tips and workshops, the conference featured four panels on ‘Critical Thinking and Language Curriculum’, ‘Disabilities and Special Needs’, ‘Incorporating translingual pedagogy into EMI programme in the Gulf’ and ‘Improving process-based writing in L2 classrooms’.
In addition, there was an exhibition with 22 booths. Among the exhibitors were the US Embassy, Oxford University Press, Garnet Education, Cambridge University Press, Express Publishing, Pearson, ASAS Language Center, QU Testing Center, QU Center of Continuing Education and Student Learning Center.
In his remarks, Dr Omar al Ansari said, "Critical thinking in the language curriculum for the 21st century requires us to not only think critically ourselves about what we do and what we offer our students, but also to encourage our students to become inquisitive, critical thinkers. We are gathered here today to exchange ideas, share knowledge and seek ways of making our students not only better learners, but better citizens, ready to contribute to their society and its development.”
Dr Ibrahim al Kaabi said, "We believe strongly in the vital role continuous professional development plays in ensuring that our faculty meet high standards performance. To maintain that, we strive continuously to organize professional development events for Qatar University, as well as local, regional and international community.”
The US Embassy in Doha, in coordination with the MoE&HE, sponsored 50 public school teachers in Qatar to participate in the conference while the Training and Educational Development Center at MoE&HE sponsored 100 English language teachers to avail themselves of the latest trends and practices in ELT. In addition, Texas A&M University at Qatar sponsored the plenary speaker for the conference.