EL Fellow Program
Site Navigation
Application Links
Links of Interest
|
|
Country Tajikistan
City Dushanbe
Host Institution Tajik Pedagogical University
Project Description
The EL Fellow will work in the English Language teacher training department at the Tajik Pedagogical University in Dushanbe. The Pedagogical University has long had an excellent reputation in education, and this will definitely aid in continuing that tradition of excellence. The EL Fellow will directly impact about 100 English teachers and over 1,000 students that will become English teachers or translators. The University expects the EL Fellow to greatly increase the capabilities in English instruction through curriculum development and interaction with the teachers. Weekly duties will include: 10 hours of classroom teaching for first, second and third year students. (classes would focus on grammar and communication for first year students, and exclusively on communication for second and third year students); 2 hours of English language club for fourth and fifth year students; 10 hours of preparation time (lesson planning, material preparation, etc.); and 5 hours of teaching officials from the Tajik Government. They might also include 4 hours of teaching; and two hours of English language club activities.
Project Objectives
Although Tajikistan was the poorest and most isolated of the former Soviet republics, it had an excellent educational system, and had achieved near universal literacy by independence in 1991. The Government and the populace realized the importance of education for the future. However, the abrupt cessation of budget support from Moscow in 1991, and, even worse, the 1992-97 civil war devastated that exemplary system. Only now, as the country has recovered from the civil war is Tajikistan beginning to rebuild and reform its economy. As a majority Muslim country with a 750-mile border with Afghanistan, it is vital to support the improvement of not only the educational systems institutional capacity, but also the human capacity of the population itself. Today, the Tajik Government and people clearly see the specific importance of ENGLISH language education for economic, social and political development. They can no longer remain isolated from the western world. In every meeting with U.S. Ambassador Jacobson, Tajik President Rahmonov stresses the importance of English language skills and education for the country's development and requests our help for English language resources and assistance. This support from the highest levels of government is essential for the success of our English language programming in Tajikistan. The placement of an EL Fellow at the Pedagogical University in Dushanbe -- with supplemental classes for local Tajik Government officials -- is a unique opportunity for the Department of State to respond directly to the Tajik President's request, while at the same time, influencing a large portion of the younger generation of teachers, students and leaders.
About the Host Institution This institution is the premier Pedagogical institution in Tajikistan and overall the second-best university with a very robust English teacher program. The Rector of the University and the Dean of the English Language Faculty are extremely supportive of the EL Fellow Program and they have experience working with foreign teachers. Graduates of the University become either teachers or interpreter/translators (about a 30/70 divide) and the majority of teacher graduates are placed in rural schools in hard-to-fill position. The impact the EL Fellow will have on the new teachers teaching methodology, English comprehension and communication skills, and world outlook is immeasurable. In addition, while the EL Fellow will not have specific responsibilities outside the English language department, he or she would naturally influence teachers from other language disciplines through daily interaction in hallways, in the cafeteria and at school events.
| |
