The Qatar University (QU) Foundation Programme (FP) held its 4th Annual International Conference & Exhibition on English Language Teaching (ELT) with the theme “Critical Thinking in Language Curriculum for the 21st Century” recently.
The conference aimed to highlight the importance of professional development and brought together over 400 English teachers and researchers in ELT from Qatar, GCC, Canada, the US, Africa, and the UK.
QU vice president, Academic Affairs, Dr Omar al-Ansari, inaugurated the conference on behalf of QU president, Dr Hassan al-Derham. The dean of General Studies, Dr Ibrahim al-Kaabi, gave a 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, University of Ottawa, Prof Awad 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 that covered topics on L1 relationship with L2 in the context of ELT for example, the conference featured four panels on “Critical Thinking and Language Curriculum”, “Disabilities and Special Needs”, “Incorporating translingual pedagogy into EMI programme in the Gulf”, “Improving process-based writing in L2 classrooms”.
There was also an exhibition with 22 booths.
Dr 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. The success of our students is our primary goal; we must not lose sight of the importance of this in anything we do. This conference is geared towards helping us encourage our students to become passionate, life-long learners who can critically engage with the modern world.”
“We believe strongly in the vital role, continuous professional development plays in ensuring that our faculty meet high standards of performance. To maintain that, we strive continuously to host and organise professional development events to Qatar University, local, regional and international community. Since not everyone can attend international conferences in any given year, hosting one in Qatar University offers them with the opportunity to network with fellow professionals from outside the university and outside Qatar, ” Dr al-Kaabi noted.
According to Dr al-Awah, this conference underscores the commitment of the management and faculty to support ELT practitioners in Qatar and the region. “It is a great opportunity for researchers, presenters, teachers, educational technology developers and ELT textbook writers to network, enhance collaboration among ELT community segments and sustain an ongoing dialogue to optimise the quality of teaching and learning,” he added.
QU vice president, Academic Affairs, Dr Omar al-Ansari, inaugurated the conference on behalf of QU president, Dr Hassan al-Derham. The dean of General Studies, Dr Ibrahim al-Kaabi, gave a 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, University of Ottawa, Prof Awad 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 that covered topics on L1 relationship with L2 in the context of ELT for example, the conference featured four panels on “Critical Thinking and Language Curriculum”, “Disabilities and Special Needs”, “Incorporating translingual pedagogy into EMI programme in the Gulf”, “Improving process-based writing in L2 classrooms”.
There was also an exhibition with 22 booths.
Dr 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. The success of our students is our primary goal; we must not lose sight of the importance of this in anything we do. This conference is geared towards helping us encourage our students to become passionate, life-long learners who can critically engage with the modern world.”
“We believe strongly in the vital role, continuous professional development plays in ensuring that our faculty meet high standards of performance. To maintain that, we strive continuously to host and organise professional development events to Qatar University, local, regional and international community. Since not everyone can attend international conferences in any given year, hosting one in Qatar University offers them with the opportunity to network with fellow professionals from outside the university and outside Qatar, ” Dr al-Kaabi noted.
According to Dr al-Awah, this conference underscores the commitment of the management and faculty to support ELT practitioners in Qatar and the region. “It is a great opportunity for researchers, presenters, teachers, educational technology developers and ELT textbook writers to network, enhance collaboration among ELT community segments and sustain an ongoing dialogue to optimise the quality of teaching and learning,” he added.
