Between August 1st and 22nd, the English Speaking Nation: Summer Excellence Training (ESN: ESET) program conducted concurrent trainings to 420 secondary school teachers of English at local public schools and in-service requalification centers in seven geographically diverse regions of Uzbekistan: Samarkand, Andijan, Namangan, Termez, Bukhara, Qarshi, and Urgench. ESN: ESET is a component of the English-Speaking Nation program, a nationwide initiative to strengthen Uzbekistan’s English teachers’ classroom English language competency and English teaching skills.
Seventy-five school teachers of English from Kashkadarya region participated in 108-hour English language training. They had an opportunity to increase their proficiency, specifically in speaking and listening skills, reflective practice, public presentation, and peer review. Some of the most experienced English Teacher Experts – Briana Rogers, Simone Brown, Marco Belmar, Janet Adams, Matt McGinniss, delivered the training in Karshi which curriculum had five areas of focus such as General English, Classroom English, Professional Development, Conversation Time, and Microteaching.
One of the trainers Matt McGinnis, who earned his M.A. in TESOL from Teachers College of Columbia University, shared his impression about the training: “I have thoroughly enjoyed teaching the participants over the past few weeks. Their enthusiasm is unmatched, and their willingness to learn produces a very positive, productive learning environment. I am confident this training will bolster their teaching, as our curriculum has added an abundance of tools to their respective toolkits. They arrived as good teachers, and they will leave as great ones.”
Marco Belmar, who has been teaching English since 2012, claimed: “The teachers have been great during this program. They have been very participative as well. They have shown great interest during the different activities and are always eager and open to learning new methodologies. Despite the difficulties caused by COVID cases, we managed to conclude the training on a timely basis and in a professional manner.”
Abdimuminov Akmal - school teacher of English from the school #7 in Karshi, stated: “I am delighted to join the ESN program and thankful for the lectures educating us. I reinvented myself how fascinatingly attractive is educating. Additionally, all classes were fantastic. Simone Brown and Briana Rodgers have been teaching and giving good advice on how to be a good teacher and conduct lessons more interesting, easy to comprehend for youths at school.”
ESN: ESET is a component of the English Speaking Nation program that is funded by the Public Affairs Section of the U.S. Embassy in Uzbekistan and implemented by American Councils for International Education in close cooperation with the Ministry of Public Education in Uzbekistan.