ETE-Q 2010 Helps Teachers Explore New Perspectives on Teaching English
October 2010
Keynote speaker and director of Academic Language Research and
Training, Inc., Deborah Short, draws on years of experience as she
shares perspectives on effective English language teaching with local
teachers.
How many times in the last month have you used the words ‘brussel sprouts’? And which words do you use most every day? The answers to questions like these are key to designing useful English lessons, and about 200 local English teachers gathered for a day recently to explore ideas along these lines.
Many were newcomers and some were returning for the second annual English Teaching Excellence for Qatar (ETE-Q) event put on by WCMC-Q and Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar. This year’s ETE-Q 2010: Learning Through English event, held at CMU-Q, featured expert lectures, poster presentations and workshops designed to offer new perspectives on teaching English.
“ETE-Q is a good opportunity to meet teachers from other schools and to exchange ideas,” says Nigar Jafri, an English teacher at Rabaa Al-Adawiyaa Secondary Independent School for Girls. “Further, ETE-Q is an excellent chance to know the latest trends in education, and the workshops are really useful.”
During her plenary speech, keynote speaker and director of Academic Language Research and Training, Inc., Deborah Short, explored the concepts of academic word lists with high-usage vocabulary and other concepts that improve English comprehension among students.
Around 200 local English teachers gathered to learn the latest about
assessing and implementing English curriculum at this year's ETE-Q
event.
“Teachers in Qatar are eager to practice new, innovative English teaching methods,” says Alan Weber, writing professor at WCMC-Q and a main organizer of the ETE-Q events. “This event shares focused techniques, their demonstration and application, paying particular attention to oral language, reading and vocabulary development so that instructors walk away with new and useful information.”
In addition to Weber, four Cornellians participated in ETE-Q, conducting workshops. Visiting professor, Katherine Gottschalk, PhD, director of first-year writing seminars and senior lecturer in the Department of English at Cornell, Ithaca, led a session on “Integrating Writing Instruction and Content in Writing Intensive Courses Across the Curriculum.” Phyllis Griffard, PhD, senior lecturer in biology at WCMC-Q, led a workshop on “How Science Knowledge Grows: Rich Immersion in Science Non-Fiction Literature in Cornell’s Biology Lecture Course.” Mary Ann Rishel, professor of writing at WCMC-Q, and Thomas Rishel, retired professor of mathematics, directed a workshop on “Writing in the Mathematical and Scientific Disciplines.”
Other workshops focused on writing assessment and high-priority vocabulary, and poster presentations, including Jafri’s on “Writing to Perfection,” covered a range of topics for teachers to take to their classrooms.
Above left: Deborah Short delivers her keynote address. Center and right: Teachers take the opportunity to learn more and share ideas at the ETE-Q poster presentations.
By Emily Alp
