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Ailyn Agonia
Doha
QATAR University (QU) has launched Teachers of English as a Foreign Language in Qatar (TEFL Qatar), an organisation offering professional development opportunities for English language teaching professionals in the country and the Gulf.
QU Foundation Program (QU-FP) and Core Curriculum Director Dr Maha al Hendawi and TEFL Qatar Chair Justin Kernot announced the initiative during the opening ceremony of the 2nd Annual International Conference on Language Teaching in Doha on Wednesday.
The conference is being organised by the QU-FP in collaboration with Qatar's Ministry of Education and Higher Education.
QU President Dr Hassan Rashid al Derham and Ambassador of the US to Qatar HE Dana Shell Smith were among the dignitaries at the opening of the two-day event.
TEFL Qatar is an associate of IATEFL (International Association of Teachers of English as a Foreign Language), which is based in the UK and has more than 4,000 members across the globe and hosts annual conference that attracts over 2,000 delegates.
According to Kernot, they are looking forward to increasing their membership which so far has more than 200 pre-registered members.
Kernot said,"IATEFL is one of the most thriving communities of English Language Teaching (ELT) in the world. We hope, through our newsletters, workshops, presentations, engagements through our website and social media, to discover what is going on and find out what's happening in the world of ELT not just within our community in Qatar, but also within the region.
"I hope our membership will increase and our collective and shared resources will enable us all to develop our skills, knowledge and experiences in educating in the field of English language teaching."
Dr Hendawi stressed the importance of the new group in bringing together professionals. She also described the theme of the conference 'Promoting Innovation in English Language Teaching and Learning: The Future Landscape' as timely and essential in the current developments in English language teaching.
"This theme is prompted by the current developments in English language teaching and forward thinking. Such developments are what drive us to promote creativity for our teachers and among our students. It is through conferences such as this that we can maintain and bring up our creativity to see where the future of English language teaching will take us," she said.
TEFL Qatar offers a free 12-month membership for delegates at the conference. The group's roster of activities for the year will be announced later on its website 'www.teflqatar.org'.
The conference opening included a plenary session on 'Meaningful face-to-face communication' presented by Peter Grundy and screening of two video messages by IATEFL President Marjorie Rosenberg and TESOL International Association President Dudely Reynolds.
