Once a student of a foreign language faculty is a student forever!
A true saying, isn’t it! We, non-native teachers of English, are permanent students so the cornerstone of our professional growth and development must be the continuous advancement of our language proficiency and methods of teaching English to students. Now when the high professionalism of university academic staff is often under scrutiny, professional development is proving to be an inalienable part of our profession. It is common truth that one of the most effective ways of enhancing pedagogical skills alongside, workshops and seminars, is sharing experience with colleagues which offers loads of opportunities to enrich the overall educational experience.
Recently, the English teachers of Zubanov University have been attending professional development courses to which I was invited as a lecturer, as I have been fortunate enough to attend several professional development courses in the UK, the USA and here in Kazakhstan, organized by ETS Global and American professionals specializing in teaching English.
The Professional development course study program for this purpose was carefully designed, discussed and approved by the Methodical council. The program was built around authentic materials( videos, podcasts, authentic video stories, articles, ELLLO stories, etc.) since the main aim of the professional development course was to equip teachers with the methods and techniques based on extensive use of modern technology. Our program also envisaged the holding of round table discussions as one of highly effective means of enhancing the students’ communicative skills and making the students’ videos, discussing video English stories according to the model ”listen-read-discuss”, listening ELLLO stories , watching English cartoons followed by discussion, etc. In addition, the current professional development course included an exchange of teaching experience with our colleagues in Aktobe, which provide insights into their teaching methods.
The lessons were designed so that participants of the course were encouraged to practice the suggested techniques themselves before they use them in their lessons. One of the lessons was devoted to holding a round table discussion(RD) on the topic “UN 17 Sustainable Development Goals”. The moderator of the RD was Agaisha Mursaliyeva.
While not all teachers were active participants in the discussion, the presentations made by the teachers present were both interesting and informative. Tamara Peschanskaya gave a talk on Goal 13,” Climate Change”. A presentation on the 5th goal, "Gender Equality," made by Gulzhana Kuzembayeva aroused the interest of the participants. The reason for that was that Gulzhana’s presentation was based on her research project. She spoke about the results of the survey which may approximately be entitled “Who is more important: son or daughter in Kazakh families?” The survey outcomes showed that most families from different parts of Kazakhstan value sons higher than daughters. Gulzhana doesn’t categorize this data as a gender discrimination. She argues that the explanation should be sought in the depths of Kazakh history and culture. Sons have special mission, first of all, one of which is that they are bearers of the nation’s genetic fund.
. Using round-table discussions can be a powerful technique for promoting students' teamwork skills, helping them to gain a sense of self-confidence, refine their thinking and at the same time hone their communication skills.
Since professional development is always ‘a two-way street”, we were eager to get acquainted with the techniques and methods employed by Aktobe colleagues. With great interest we listened to Ainura Bayadilova-Altybayeva, Mursaliyeva Agaisha Karatayevna who enthusiastically gave an account of a Mass media project which has been successfully implemented at the chair in collaboration with K. Bradely, fellow in Kazakhstan . The ultimate goal of the project was manifold: to develop critical and creative thinking skills, to improve communication skills, to prepare students for the future, etc. Ainura Bayadilova-Altybayeva, Mursaliyeva Agaisha Karatayevna pointed out that students were really happy to participate in the project. They invested all their might and talents while doing the project tasks, for them the lessons were a real festival. Their strong desire to excel and to make the most of the tasks they were given contributed significantly to the success of the Mass Media project. The project created a collaborative environment among the students that was conducive to nurturing their talent , fostering their personal growth and team work abilities.
Assel Utegulova’s idea of using artificial intelligence to teach and learn English is definitely a laudable fact. An AI-powered platform offers a diverse resource of materials, including articles, videos, interactive exercises, and stories. AI chatbots are excellent computer programs that allow learners to practice speaking, listening and comprehension skills in a natural and interactive way. However, as many specialists in language teaching methods point out, the use of AI has both pros and cons. The cons are that students become increasingly dependent on AI-based solutions and there is a risk of cheating.
Another very effective teaching technique Project Based Learning used by Raushan Auekenova is the method that enables students to hone language use and practice it in real-life contexts. PBL has many “pros” and definitely no “cons”. One of the most beneficial “pros” is that they acquire experience of living in the real world and working in a team.
Shnar Nurmanova makes extensive use of the role-play technique, which is recognised by EFL teachers around the world as one of the most essential techniques for stimulating rapid development of communicative skills. The strongest part of this technique is that it challenges students to think critically and creatively and teachers can use it with both high and low competence level students.
Since the ultimate goal of Master's students is to write and successfully defend their dissertation, Gulzhana Kuzembayeva, who teaches the English course in the Master's groups, believes that the cornerstone of teaching Master's students should be, first and foremost, the development of their research skills. She lectures her Master’s students on how to formulate objectives of the research work, how to perform data collection, how to determine the methodology of the research and how to analyze data and etc. And it is our firm belief that her method of teaching the Master's students will, without a doubt, be of great benefit to the young researchers of the future.
We believe that our Aktobe colleagues have created in their department an atmosphere that offers students the opportunity to gain a quality education that will help them succeed in life
We wish success to our Aktobe colleagues in all their endeavors!
Aizhan MULDAGALIYEVA
