I am an Assistant Professor of English at Islamic University, Bangladesh which is a major public university that offers English as a major subject. I joined in 2012 as a lecturer in English language Teaching. I teach language, linguistics, ELT and literature courses. In the present context of a globalized world the government and the people consider English a very important tool for development, progress and prosperity, and also for higher education of an international standard. To address this important need of the country, I chose to be an informed, knowledgeable and efficient English teacher so that I can contribute to change the present state of English teaching and learning in my department and in the country. I am very passionate about it, because I believe as an efficient English teacher and researcher of ELT I can contribute significantly to the development of English language proficiency of our graduates and can transform them into human resources fit for the globalised world of 21st century.
To prepare myself as an English teaching professional, I obtained a 4 year BA Honours degree in English, that covered language, linguistics, ELT and English literature. The language courses included 'Reading', 'Writing', 'Speaking and Listening', 'Advanced Reading and Writing; the linguistics courses included 'Phonetics and Phonology', and 'Introduction to linguistics' with focus on morphology, syntax, discourse, text and genre analysis; ELT included 'Approaches and Methods of Language teaching' that covered learning and Acquisition theories, syllabus, methods, materials and testing, literature courses covered literature from different ages and genres. To pursue my goal, I did my MA in ELT which covered courses like 'Current Issues in Language Teaching and Teasing', Syllabus and Materials', Testing and Evaluation', 'Teaching the different Areas and Skills of English' , 'Teaching Practicum', and Research Methodology and Research Project.
My area of research interest is curriculum design. I like this area because the curriculum followed in the country does not produce graduates with the level of English language skills that is needed. Many of the graduates cannot read, write, speak and listen to English with proper understanding. The country does not have the required expertise for designing a needs based curriculum with the right selection and organization of content, appropriate materials for teaching the courses, nor right pedagogic process for classroom teaching, or right kind of reliable, and valid test formats and test techniques.
I am highly interested in the Curtin MA TESOL programme as it matches with my areas of interest and the needs of my country, and also for its high international rating. The Curtin degree, I believe, will develop my expertise and skills as an English teaching professional and researcher, and I am confident that I can serve my institution and my country better than I can now.