ALC Newsletter - 03/11/2013 (Plain Text Version)

Oula Elsharif

Aymen Elsheikh

ELT Forums

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This is a professional collaborative project for university and school teachers. It was established by the British Council in collaboration with TESOL and the Association of Sudanese Teachers of English Language to organize regular workshops delivered by international and local ELT experts. In 2011 and 2012, TESOL Sudan delivered and cooperated in organizing several workshops. The forums featured different topics, such as “Big Conversations: Getting Large Classes to Speak and Listen,” “Techniques for Improving Students’ Pronunciation,” “Learning With Laughter,” among several others.

Sudan Scholar Exchange Program

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Khaleel Ismail, a TESOL Sudan member and a lecturer at Dalenj University in Sudan, visited Indiana University April 9–24, 2011. He engaged with faculty and students in the School of Education, African Studies Program, Department of Linguistics, Second language Studies, and the Intensive English Program. He also visited some classes in the College of Arts and Sciences and spoke at various forums about the education system in Sudan in general and English language education in particular. Additionally, he shared some of the Sudanese cultural traditions with a wider and diverse audience on the Indiana University campus and community.

TESOL Sudan 2nd International Conference

Alribat National University, Khartoum, Sudan, December 17–18, 2011

Under the theme of “Reimagining ELT Practices: Contexts, Approaches, and Challenges,” TESOL Sudan successfully held its second international conference with a generous sponsorship from Sudan International University. The conference included 22 valuable sessions and workshops and featured renowned ELT scholars such as Rod Ellis and Bill Johnston.

Current Approaches to Teaching English Through Literature

Dr. Beth Samuelson, Indiana University

Sudan University of Science and Technology, Khartoum, Sudan, December 20–21, 2011

This workshop was conducted as part of the Sudan Scholar Exchange Program. The presenter addressed participatory and performative theories for teaching critical literacy through literature-based, authentic English materials. Several practices for developing and implementing a content-based literacy unit were introduced, including reader response strategies and critical analysis designed to help English learners develop skills for taking meaning from text. More than 60 enthusiastic participants attended this workshop. They were mostly public university students with a few graduate students and university-level teachers.

English Language Education: Local and Global Perspectives

Dr. Awad Ibrahim, Faculty of Education, University of Ottawa, Canada

Sudan University of Science & Technology, February 18, 2012

This lecture was based on the personal reflections of Dr. Awad Ibrahim on current and best practices of teaching and learning English from local and global perspectives. More than 70 tertiary and public school teachers attended this lecture and engaged in a lively discussion with the presenter.

Fundamentals of Language Assessment

Dr. Christine Coombe, Dubai Men’s College

Al-Neelain University, Khartoum, Sudan, April 20–21, 2012

This 2-day workshop was presented by Dr. Christine Coombe and her colleagues on the topic of language assessment. More than 50 teachers from higher education and public schools attended the workshop. The presenters gave each participant The Fundamentals of Language Assessment, written by Dr. Christine Coombe, and discussed various topics, such as development assessments, writing objective test items, assessing the four language skills, and test-taking strategies for teachers and students. The workshop concluded with a final Q&A panel discussion.

Proposal Writing Workshop

Dr. Awad Ibrahim, Faculty of Education, University of Ottawa, Canada

Sudan Open University, December 8–11, 2012

Through this hands-on workshop, participants, who were graduate students and university teachers, were introduced to an overview of what a proposal is, what it looks like, and how to write it and see its ultimate benefit and objective as part of the thesis-writing process. The participants brought in their existing proposals and were able to present them and receive feedback on how to improve from the participants and the facilitator. The workshop also covered how to turn the thesis proposal into a grant proposal.

TESOL Sudan 3rd International Conference

Sudan University of Science and Technology, December 13–15, 2012

Sponsored by the Sudan University of Science and Technology, the British Council, and the English Language Institute at the University of Khartoum, TESOL Sudan’s 3rd International Conference featured about 40 presentations from more than six countries. The plenary speakers included well-known scholars in the field, such as Noam Chomsky, John Swales, Christine Coombe, and Awad Ibrahim. There were over 200 enthusiastic participants in attendance representing different ELT backgrounds.

Postconference Workshop

Critical Pedagogy in Sudan: Teaching as an Act of Love

Dr. Awad Ibrahim, Faculty of Education, University of Ottawa, Canada

Sudan International University, December 17–18, 2012

This 2-day workshop was attended by more than 30 teachers and professors from several faculties in Sudan International University. Squarely situated within a Paulo Freirian framework, this workshop addressed questions of pedagogy: what we teach and how we teach it. The focus was on training teachers and educators to maintain full engagement in the classroom. Dr. Ibrahim also introduced his own practical theory of flipping the roles of the teacher and the student in the class. Applying this theory in the workshop developed and raised the participants’ level of enthusiasm, interest, and motivation.