Linguistics in Aid of Teachers of English
On December 6, 2017, the Language Research Center hosted a seminar featuring a notable presentation by Dr. Emad Al-Tamari, titled "Linguistics in Aid of Teachers of English". His talk revolved around the concept that enhancing and refining students’ linguistic competence can result in improved linguistic performance.
Dr. Al-Tamari began the session by posing thought-provoking questions to the audience, including whether teachers have ever evaluated their own English proficiency, how often they assess their students' English skills, and if they had considered employing linguistics as a tool for enhancing their students' English capabilities.
He went on to identify critical areas of struggle among students, suggesting that these issues should be the focus of English instruction. Dr. Al-Tamari expounded on the field of linguistics and emphasized potential pedagogical implications that might arise from it. Quoting renowned linguist Noam Chomsky, he detailed the essence of language and the mechanics of communication. He shed light on Chomsky’s three models – linguistic competence, performance, and language acquisition, and subsequently delved into key areas of linguistics such as phonetics, phonology, syntax, morphology, and semantics.
Advocating for continuous student assessment, Dr. Al-Tamari suggested that teachers should serve as role models for their students in terms of language use.
This insightful seminar also witnessed online participation from the Al-Samer girls’ campus. Deemed to be highly engaging, valuable, and successful, Dr. Al-Tamari's presentation was well-received by the participants.
