(MENAFN- The Peninsula)
Doha: The Foundation Programme (FP) under the Deanship of General Studies has announced the forthcoming Qatar University (QU) 6th Annual International' Virtual' Conference on English Language Teaching from November 6 to 8.
QU President, Dr. Hassan Al Derham, will inaugurate the conference on the opening day via WebEx. During a press interview with Dr. Hezam Al Awah, Director of Foundation Programme stated that this year the conference committee received proposals from 56 countries.
Several keynote speakers will be presenting at the conference, including Scott Thornbury as the plenary speaker. Thornbury is a well-published author of numerous peer-reviewed journal articles, textbooks and has also given plenary sessions and workshops in 57 countries. Other featured speakers include Nouf Al Kaabi, Director of Educational Policy and Research, Ministry of Education and Higher Education; Gabriela Kleckova, TESOL President; Christine Coombe, TESOL Past President and Kashif Raza, lecturer of English Language at the Foundation Programme, Qatar University.
Over the years, the Qatar University English Language Teaching (QU-ELT) conference has gained regional and international recognition by providing high-quality professional development opportunities for English language teachers. This year's conference will discuss“Expanding roles and increasing responsibilities of teachers in the post-COVID-19 era.” These additional responsibilities for educators equip them to deal with the challenges of virtual teaching. The Foundation Programme at Qatar University continues to collaborate with the Qatar Ministry of Education and Higher Education (MoEHE) to ensure that Qatar's high school teachers benefit from the event. The conference Committee Chair Dr. Okon Effiong worked with the Training and Educational Development Centre (TEDC) of the MoEHE to award credit hours to participating public school English language teachers towards the required annual professional development hours for school teachers.
During the virtual three-day conference, delegates can attend 91 sessions under the following categories: virtual learning, emotional intelligence, social and emotional learning, critical thinking, creativity in TEFL setting, digital literacy, learner autonomy, practical ideas in the online classroom, project-based learning, managing a virtual classroom, online testing, and assessment, online tools to enhance learning, professional development and leadership.
Dr. Al Awah said,“The Foundation Programme has been organising this event annually since 2016, but due to COVID-19, 2020 conference was virtual and this year's conference will be the second virtual version. It represents the FP management and faculty's commitment to contribute to ELT development in the region and beyond.
“The pandemic did not deter us as educators from striving for optimum learning environment for our current and future students. Thus, expanding roles of teachers are advantageous in the English language teaching and learning.”
Throughout the three-day event, researchers and teachers will share their experiences in teaching and learning the English language.
Musa Abu Huzaima, the Chair of Foundation Programme Department of English, added,“The conference committee is working with its full potential to bring English language teachers in Qatar and the world together, and the global reach gets wider with each passing year. The Foundation Programme is proud to host this academic event and looking forward to the virtual networking opportunity it provides for teachers”.
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