Under the English-Speaking Nation: Secondary Teacher Training Program (ESN: STT), American Councils for International Education Uzbekistan has entered into a partnership with TESOL International Association that planned to deliver its 140-hour in-person TESOL Core Certificate Program (TCCP) to 400 ESN:STT participants. In July, Four TESOL instructors, in partnership with the ESN U.S. Coaches, delivered six TCCP courses for 115 Regional Peer Members (RPMs) in six regions of Uzbekistan: Namangan, Fergana, Samarkand, Bukhara, Nukus, and Tashkent.
One of the TESOL instructors – Bita Bookman was responsible for TCCP training in Namangan together with ESN Core Trainer - Yana Kuchkarova for 30 RPMs. The teachers came from various regions of Namangan and Andijan such as Qo'rg'ontepa, Namangan city, Uchkurgan, Yangikurgon, Norin, Chust, Asaka, Balikchi, Pap, Turakurgan, Kosonsoy, Haqqulobod, Mingbuloq.
Bita shared her impression about conducting the sessions in Namangan: “It was such a pleasure working with Namangan RPMs in the Foundations and Adolescent courses. The group worked long hours and did an extraordinary job throughout the two courses. I was so impressed with the participants’ commitment, hard work, and insights. I loved hearing about and learning from their teaching experiences and innovative ideas. They are inspiring teachers and will be incredible peer mentors. I will surely miss them all!”
Bita Bookman has been in the TESOL profession since 2004. She earned her Ph.D. in Composition and Applied Linguistics at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. In 2020, she received the Innovative Researcher in TESOL Award for her doctoral dissertation research. She taught English in South Korea for seven years and has trained teachers in several countries including the United States, South Korea, Thailand, Honduras, Taiwan, and the Philippines.
For Yana Kuchkarova, it was the first time when she delivered TCCP sessions and she stated: “I am happy to be given this valuable opportunity to be a TCCP instructor with Dr. Bita Bookman to such enthusiastic English language teachers from the Fergana Valley to contribute to development of English language teaching quality in the secondary schools of the republic. Conducting this course gave me opportunity to sharpen my trainer skills, gain experience as a teacher-educator as well as get considerable expertise. I was able to observe how creative, motivated, enthusiastic and devoted teachers are working in the sphere. Participants were working hard acquiring materials and thinking how to modify the activities for their students in the new up-coming academic year to make their English classes more productive, effective and joyful. At the same time, I could observe Dr. Bita Bookman classroom management techniques and discuss the issues raised during the sessions. All in all, I can say I enjoyed learning and teaching a lot.”
Yana Kuchkarova, a senior-teacher and teacher-trainer at Namangan State University, presenter at TESOL-2019 and TESOL-2021 conventions, an English language instructor at Access micro-scholarship program. Interest sections are TESOL methodology, Differentiated Instructions, English for Academic Purposes, Assessment in EFL classes, Independent Study Skills, and Teacher-Education.
Rashidova Feruza from Namangan, who teaches English at school #53, claimed: “From the TCCP course, I learned a lot of things for my future work. Before the course, I was unaware of some terms related to Methodologies, such as approaches, theories, Authentic task, T-centered, S-centered, features of the lesson plan, feedback, monitoring, types of motivations, individual learners differences, learning styles, and intelligence. The most important thing I gained from the course is how to design a lesson plan and how to work collaboratively with international experts.”
Another RPM who works at school #15 in Namangan - Mirzakamolova Maftuna said: “This TCCP impressed me a lot. Before this program, I had basic information about teaching theories and Methodology. With the help of this program, I have learned new strategies for teaching language; I have useful feedback from international experts. The most important thing is that I have learned how to manage mixed ability learners while conducting a lesson. I am very pleased to be a part of ESN membership”.
English Speaking Nation is a program of 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.