ISLAMABAD: Allama Iqbal Open University (AIOU) has organized launching ceremony of Pak TESOL (Islamabad chapter) in collaboration with Regional English Language Office, US Embassy, Pakistan.
Prof Dr Samina Awan, Ex Dean, Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, AIOU presided over the session. Pak TESOL is a project of AIOU which is aimed at developing, sustaining, strengthening and promoting ELT research and pedagogical practices in the country.
The project serves the purpose of a central platform to empower Pakistani ELT community by providing financial and technical support.
It offers multiple opportunities to ELT practitioners across the country to share and exchange their ideas and to collaborate with each other for the collective benefit of the entire community.
The project is expected to bring Pakistani ELT situation at par with the international standards by arranging various conferences, webinars, seminars and training sessions on the monthly basis.
While addressing the participants of the launching ceremony, Dr Muhammad Kamal Khan highlighted the primary objectives and goals of the project. He emphasized that the project is exclusively focusing on capacity building of schools, colleges and university teachers of English language. Therefore, ELT practitioners should seek its membership for enhancing their teaching skills.
The project team has already inaugurated its KPK, Sindh and Baluchistan chapters. While addressing the participants, Dr Ajmal Gulzar, Chairman, Department of English highlighted that AIOU has been involved in the process of nation building by exclusively focusing on providing financial and technical support to the underprivileged and marginalized segments of the society through its various projects launched in collaboration with Regional English Language Office, US Embassy, Pakistan.
Prof Dr Samina Awan, while addressing the participants, urged on the need of revisiting our own indigenous culture and history and incorporating it in the curriculum for foreign language teaching.
She appreciated the faculty of English for achieving this milestone. Other speakers included Prof Dr Waseema Shahzad and Prof Dr Abdul Fatah Soomro.
The launching ceremony was concluded with an expert panel discussion highlighting the opportunities and challenges faced by language associations within the Pakistani context.