North American ESL/EFL Teaching Principles
On January 31, 2018, the Language Research Center (LRC) organized a seminar at the Al-Samer Campus, featuring a presentation by Dr. Sara Huseynova. Her presentation, titled "On North American ESL/EFL Teaching Principles and on PPP, ESA, TTT, TBL as the ELL Instruction Methods," focused on the impact and implementation of prominent teaching strategies.
Dr. Huseynova initiated her talk by shedding light on the key principles of English Language Learner (ELL) instruction as practiced in North America and Europe. She underscored the propensity of teenage learners towards interactive and group-based learning, emphasizing that such learners often find lecture-based instruction passive. Drawing attention to the relevancy of the subject matter, she noted that learning becomes meaningful and engaging when contextualized within the realm of students' everyday lives. Moreover, she underscored the significant role of Communicative Language Teaching as a crucial teaching principle. A recurring theme throughout her presentation was the endorsement of student-centered teaching, which, according to her, fosters engagement and facilitates meaningful learning.
Dr. Huseynova then delved into a detailed discussion about four ELL teaching approaches: Presentation-Practice-Production (PPP), Engage-Study-Activate (ESA), Test-Teach-Test (TTT), and Task-based Learning (TBL). She elucidated how each of these approaches could cater to different student levels and elaborated on the factors that should be considered in the process.
Dr. Huseynova holds a TEFL degree from Moscow State Linguistics University, accredited in Canada, and a Ph.D. in Theoretical Linguistics from the same university, accredited at the University of Toronto, Canada. Her extensive professional experience includes teacher training and teaching English for Academic Purposes (EAP), which she accrued before joining the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
The seminar was highly interactive, fostering an engaging atmosphere that made it a resounding success. The seminar underscored the Language Research Center's commitment to promoting a nuanced understanding of effective teaching methods in the academic community.
