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Country Bangladesh
City Savar
Host Institution Jahangirnagar University
Project Description
The EL Fellow will be placed in the Language Center at Jahangirnagar University. The Language Center provides courses available to students from across departments to upgrade their spoken and written English skills (and also offers similar courses in other languages). None of the faculty (from the English Department) currently teaching at the Language Center have foreign degrees - or degrees with an ESL focus. The EL Fellow’s primary responsibility will be to teach courses in the afternoons (classes are likely to be scheduled 2:30 to 5:00 PM). Additional responsibilities can include: mentoring ESL faculty, conducting faculty workshops, involvement in student activities (e.g. English clubs) or teaching English literature in the English department depending on the skills/interests of the EL Fellow.
Project Objectives
The first objective is that the EL Fellow will teach ESL courses, and as the EL Fellow will be a native speaker and trained in contemporary ESL methodology, it is expected that the EL Fellow will perform that task better than local colleagues. It is further expected that the EL Fellow will acquaint students with information about the United States and perhaps may serve as a resource for students hoping to study in the United States. Since this is a residential campus at which students have limited access to foreigners it is likely that the EL Fellow will have ample opportunity to interact with students in more and less structured settings. A best case scenario would be that the EL Fellow manages to mentor local colleagues and share ESL pedagogies so that ESL teaching is strengthened in the future.
About the Host Institution
Jahangirnagar University is the only fully residential University in Bangladesh. It is located in Savar, 32 kilometers outside of Dhaka (about an hour's drive - depending on traffic). University buses are provided for faculty who commute and to give students access to the capital city. University students are admitted on the basis of exams and come from across the country. The general language of instruction is Bangla. Jahangirnagar is less prestigious than Dhaka University - the equivalent language center (Institute of Modern Languages) at Dhaka University has several faculty with foreign degrees and formal ESL training. The campus is quiet and peaceful - a strong contrast to Dhaka. It is an excellent place for bird watching in the winter (when the migratory waterfowl come south). Most movement on campus is either by foot or by rickshaw. Advantages: peaceful, pleasant setting; plenty of opportunities to interact with students outside of the classroom; and access to Dhaka on weekends. Disadvantages: isolation from ex-pat community; and limited social opportunities other than campus.
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