Speakers addressing two-day national seminar at KMV, Jalandhar.
Jalandhar, August 30, 2014: In continuation of the seminar on “Transformations in English Language Teaching : Innovations, Issues and Insights” the proceedings of the second day began with a technical session where fine presentations were made by erudite speakers. The session was chaired by Dr.Gurupdesh Singh, Prof., Department of English, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar. Tea-break was followed by a plenary session chaired by Dr..Z.N.Patil, Former Prof. & Head, Dept. of Training and Development, EFLU, Hyderabad. It featured talks by eminent speakers Dr.Gurupdesh Singh and Dr.Pushpinder Syal, Prof., Dept. of English, Punjab University, Chandigarh. Dr..Gurupdesh elucidated the various aspects of English Language Teaching. According to him the problem in particular faced by ELT lay in a lack of singular and totalising perspective that we had developed about learning English and the rigidity and inflexibility that went with it. It would only be on attempting to go into the problematic of the three major components of that act – learner, English and teacher – we would discover how diverse and vast the possibilities were and how our constricted, standardised and ineffectual response made the matters worse. He further underlined the role of English teacher as being a prime mover in the ELT act as well as the strong need for some serious revision in the ELT goals.
In her deliberation, Dr.Syal elaborated upon the subject of professional development of language teachers and considered it as being a comprehensive one. It encompassed aspects of methodology, materials, evaluation and other areas. Treating the basic question as to whether there were substantive differences between teaching and learning, she responded with the observation that teachers were as much affected as learners by the post-modernist attitudes to knowledge, by cultural and social differences, by the complexities of the language situation, and by the increase in the role of technology in our lives. She said that in the absence of these considerations, the curriculum ceased to be part of an effective pedagogy.
The valedictory address was delivered by Dr.P.V.Dhamija, Former Prof. of English, EFLU, Hyderabad. He acquainted the audience with the imperatives of good speech in a very interesting manner. Good speech according to him was a teacher’s invaluable asset and spoke volumes of his ethos, character and competence. He endorsed the views of a well known American novelist, Gail Kathleen Godwin, who strongly believed that teaching was ‘one fourth preparation and three fourths pure theatre. It implied that however well prepared and organized the lecture may be, its delivery would not be impressive if the speech was bad or ineffective.
The valedictory session was presided over by Prof.Atima Sharma, Principal, Kanya Maha Vidyalaya. In her address she congratulated the Dept. of English for organising a seminar on relevant subject of universal interest and expressed gratitude to all the eminent speakers and dignitaries who contributed to make the event a huge success. Prof.Sharma stressed upon the role of language teachers as shouldering a big responsibility since they deal with the Psychology of students, they should make them feel comfortable as their facilitators.
As a befitting conclusion to the two-day national seminar, a report of the same was read out by the Organising Secretary, Dr.Deepika Anand.