The New Nation - Internet Edition

Staff Reporter

Classes of MA in ELT (English Language Teaching) for the academic year 2007-08 began on Sunday at the Institute of Modern Languages of Dhaka University.

A total of 25 students got admitted to the IML for the MA in ELT course following a rigorous selection process including written and viva voce examinations.

An orientation class for the new students for MA in ELT course was held at the IML on April 30 last, where Professor Dr Arifa Rahman, Head of the Department of English at IML, explained why MA in ELT degree was important for teachers, particularly for those who had been working as English language teachers at different educational institutions of the country and those who intended to be the English language teachers in future.

Terming the quality teachers as the ultimate key to educational change and improvement, she said the MA in ELT programme aimed to create quality teachers.

While making a presentation on MA in ELT programme through PowerPoint, Dr Arifa Rahman said, "There're lots of English teachers working at different educational institutions of the country, but 90 per cent of those are manned by teachers who have no proper qualifications in English language teaching."

"We're proud to say that we've a highly qualified English language teaching faculty which is not available at any other university of the country….We're really proud of them," she said.

During the orientation class, Professor Hamidur Rahman, Professor Rahela Banu and Ms Iffat Ara Nasreen Majid were present. They replied to various queries of the students and advised how to do well in their learning.