Md. Mafiz Uddin Sarker, Rangpur

A two-day long [ May 24-25] teacher training workshop for secondary level English educators organized by Bangladesh English Language Teachers Association [BELTA] and Learning Proficiency Centre [LPC] with the assistance of US Embassy, Dhaka concluded at Robertsongonj High School & College, Rangpur on Saturday.

BELTA is a non-profit professional forum for ELT Practitioners connected to the teaching and learning of English language in the country. It aims to develop the professional skills of the English teachers at all levels- primary, secondary and tertiary and to improve the standards of learning and teaching throughout the country.

Some selected 30 English Teachers from 30 educational institutes in and around the districts joined the workshop. Md Saiful Islam Akon, Assistant Professor in English, University Laboratory School & College, IER, University of Dhaka and Golam Kader Zilany, Senior Lecturer, Department of English and Humanities, University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh [ ULAB] facilitated the sessions.

The workshop provided hands-on experiences to design lessons and devise relevant assessment tools according to the new curriculum. It also has focused on integrating 21st century skills for the students’ future-readiness.

BELTA, President, Ahmed Bashir, Professor, Department of English, University of Dhaka and Dr. Md. Mohib Ullah General secretary and Associate Professor, International Islamic University Chittagong connected via Zoom link at certificate distribution ceremony as chief and special guests respectively with Zakir Hossain Principal, Robertsongonj High School & College , Rangpur in the chair.

The chief guest said, English has been learnt and taught in Bangladesh aiming to communicate, share, collaborate and to accommodate with the global context for economic and human resource development. Learning English language for communication development is neither easy nor difficult; rather it depends upon practice in different situational contexts. Teachers need to improve pedagogical concept and set up a guideline and methodology based on curriculum that must be followed in and around the classroom for language learning.

A secondary level language classroom has great importance in acquiring skills over the language. It is like a laboratory and workshop where the learner's ability can be tested through pair work, group work, dialogue and many other activities like talking, sharing, individual presentation, and role play.

So, creating a friendly environment in the classroom is very important to motivate the ELLs for their engagement in the activities. It is also equally important to help the students to overcome their fear of the linguistic difficulty through much use and practice.

The special guest said, Bangladesh has huge economic potential. The country people and the young learners still have massive lack of language skills despite different measures of the government and non-government organizations.

Language skills factor in ensuring quality education and boosting income which are imperative to build a skilled workforce.