The English Language Center at the University of Technology and Applied Sciences took a lofty initiative to arrange IELTS preparatory classes for the community from 23 May 2021 to 17 June 2021. 

More than 1100 people from all over Oman registered for the course and around 100 students were accepted on the course based on their academic needs. Students who had registered to appear for the IELTS exam and students under probation were given priority.

 A team of professionals from UTAS-Ibri, trained the students from the community and the following trainers from the ELC taught IELTS to students from the community: Dr. Sultan Al Ghafri, Mr. Michael Keeton, Mr. Ghanim Al Alawi, Ms. Fazilat Jahan, Ms. Mariya Saleem, Mr. Dennis Corbita Dr. Michelle Mendoza. 

The registered students were distributed in two groups and each group attended four sessions a week. Students were taught reading and writing in the first two and listening and speaking in the last two weeks. A mock exam for each skill was also conducted and students were given detailed feedback. The extensive training instilled confidence in students and ignited their competitive spirit. It is expected that this effort from the ELC would go a long way in helping the community students to achieve a good band score in the IELTS exam.

The candidate interview is a vital component of the hiring process. The ELC Students’ Activities Committee had always been at the forefront in preparing students for the dynamic job market. It has been striving hard to provide a suitable platform that provides ample opportunities to students and also helps them to realize their own potential and find a suitable path for themselves. . The ELC Students’ Activities Committee conducted its last professional workshop on ‘How to Win the Job Interview’ for the students of UTAS-Ibri on June 10, 2021.  The session was led by Dr Mohsen and Ms Samah Al Ghafri.

At the beginning of the workshop, Dr Abdulsalam, the HOC welcomed all students and shared his accumulated experience on job interviews. In fact, his active presence in all the activities has been always an immense motivation behind the SAC and students. During the workshop, Dr Mohsen conducted a mock interview with the president of English Society (Samah) by asking the most common questions asked in the job interviews. All students were engaged during the session to evaluate Samah’s performance. The most important tips of having a successful job interview for fresh graduates were discussed and performed practically for the students. The session lasted for two hours with excellent feedback from students. 

 A webinar on Teaching Methods and Techniques in ELT on 24 June 2021 at UTAS-Ibri brought two speakers who shared their experiences on two exciting topics. The first speaker, Ms Fatima Fattoumi from Tunisia, spoke on Digital Tools in Blended Learning towards Enhancing Students' Engagement and the speaker, Ms Yousra Ferchichi, shed light on the use of podcasts an educating tool.

Digital Tools in Blended Learning towards Enhancing Students' Engagement

Blended learning is a technique of teaching that integrates era and digital media with traditional trainer-led school room sports, giving college students greater flexibility to personalize their gaining knowledge of reports.

Ms Fatima Fattoumi's light on integrating digital tools in blended learning might enhance students' motivation towards active learning.She emphasized that learning by doing is beneficial for enhancing students' engagement and admitted that in conventional English Language Teaching methods, most of the learning happens through acquisition. Within a less interactive learning environment, the student's motivation for production remains minimal. She also opined that the continual cycle of inter-influence between concepts and practice might be negatively impacted.

The insights shared were quite informative and contemporary and were worth integrating with the teaching process.

Fatma Fattoumi is an Educator at the Higher Institute of Information and Communication Technologies, the University of Carthage, Tunisia. She is pursuing PhD candidate, in Cultural Studies, at the Faculty of Letters, Arts and Humanities at the University of Manouba, Tunisia. She is a verified reviewer for the Current Psychology Journal.

Innovative Teaching Techniques- The use of Podcasts as an Educational Learning Tool

Innovative teaching techniques have emerged in post-pandemic academia. Project, inquiry, task, and game based learning diverge into positive teaching psychology implementing the 21st century skills like creativity, critical thinking and collaboration. The use of podcasts resides at the top part of Bloom’s Digital Taxonomy. As a PBL teaching tool, podcasting gives a voice to students’ narratives and teachers interchangeably. 

Ms Yousra, in her presentation,  demonstrated an effective podcast creation funnel to create a student-centered learning experience and explained  differentiation criteria incorporated in podcasting rendering it a democratizing tool to accessible knowledge to all learners equally. The presenter also stated that Bloom’s Digital taxonomy applies this performative based learning tool by utilizing lower and higher order thinking skills. Further, she opined that  Podcasting is far from being a new trend, yet it can create a modernized education and more independent learners fit to global perspectives.

Yousra is an English Language teacher from Tunisia. She is a Master's degree holder in English language and literature specialized in Cross-Cultural Poetics. Her degree was issued in 2011 from the Higher Institute of Languages part of the University of Carthage in Tunis. She is also a CELTA qualified instructor. As a scholar, she conducted her research on the performative aspect of literature and its role in shaping human identity.

Dr Lin Siew Fong shared her recollections and insights gained during her three decades of teaching career and research at  a webinar hosted by the English Language centre, June 17, 2021 at UTAS-Ibri. The vivid descriptions of her experiences related to research, professional development and personal development were rich takeaways for many. In addition, she elaborated her ethical stance as a researcher and hoped that the information shared will encourage other teacher-researchers to become optimistic and positive and to have rich experiences throughout their professional and personal journeys.

Dr Lin Siew Fong received her Ph.D. from University of Malaya, Malaysia. She is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of English Studies, Faculty of Social Science and Humanities at Tunku Abdul Rahman University College, Malaysia. She is presently teaching liberal arts, education courses, English for Proficiency courses and English for Specific (ESP) courses at tertiary level. Her research interests are primarily focussed upon teacher education, classroom management, teaching methodology and material and curriculum development.