As a global language, English has its dominance in commerce, science and technology. In India which has 122 major languages and 1599 other languages (Census of India of 2001), English serves as the lingua franca. The Official Languages Act 1963 states that English will continue to be used as an official language. As one’s career success mainly depends on one’s proficiency in English, the need for teaching the language effectively to help learners become proficient in it has been much emphasized in the recent past and in this context, the importance of professional development of English language teachers has been raised and discussed in many forums.
The English Language Teachers’ Association of India (ELTAI), founded in 1969 by late Padmashri S Natarajan, is the largest network of English language teachers in the country. With 60 chapters across India and with around 5,000 English language teachers, trainers, and researchers as members, the ELTAI, an associate of the International Association of Teachers of English as a Foreign Language (IATEFL), has been catering to the professional needs of English language teachers across India in many ways. Annual conferences organized by ELTAI serve as a platform for professionals and practitioners to share their expertise, knowledge and good practices with teachers. These conferences are an opportunity for ELT practitioners to promote effective teaching strategies and to share research activities aimed at improving the quality of English language teaching and learning in India.
The 15th international and 51st annual ELTAI conference with the theme English Language Teaching in India: New Needs, New Demands, New Trends is to be held on the weekends 20-21 and 27-28 November. The four-day virtual conference is expected to be attended by around 4,000 English language teachers who are members of the ELTAI.
The concept note states that for the majority of learners using English has become an uphill task…. “We can no longer continue to teach the way we have been doing; we need to prepare ourselves in ‘newer’ ways to meet the emergent and emerging scenarios. The needs of learners for learning English and acquiring a minimum global standard level of proficiency have changed, and so have the demands on teachers of English and the educational system at all levels as well as the trends in modes of learning and course delivery, especially towards online and blended learning. Hence, the repetition of ‘New’ in the theme emphasizes the urgent need for changing the current teaching-learning ecosystem.”
Professor Dat Bao, Monash University, Australia, delivers the keynote address on the topic “Rethinking Silence: Research in Australia and East Asia” and Professor Paul Gunashekar, formerly of EFL University, Hyderabad, delivers the ELTAI Founder Natarajan endowment lecture on the topic “Learner’s Dictionaries: What Happens in the World of Words” on the first day of the conference.
The four-day virtual conference has many interesting plenary talks, interviews, panel discussions, debates and symposiums on various topics including Addressing the Needs of the 21st Century Language Learners, Blended, Flipped, Hybrid, or Virtual Learning? Learning, Unlearning and Relearning, Developing Indigenous Models in ELT is a Pipe Dream, Assessment of learning; Assessment for learning; Assessment as learning, Are aspects of Online Learning here to stay beyond the Pandemic? Advantages and Disadvantages of Technology in the Teaching of English, NEP 2020: Language Education, Integrating Non-literary Writings with Mass Media, Social Media in English Studies.
The conference is a call for all English language educators in India to reflect on the need to formulate our own approaches and evolve good practices.
For more details, please visit the site: https://conference21.eltai.in/
