Present and Future of English in Saudi Arabia

Present and Future of English in Saudi Arabia: Research Concerns

Do you ever wish that you could spend more time engaged in lively conversation with your colleagues, about new and exciting ways to do your job in a better way? This is exactly the opportunity that our faculty and students were able to enjoy recently when the Faculty of Languages and Translation held a symposium titled “Present and Future of English in Saudi Arabia: Research Concerns.” A total of 24 presentations took place, over two days, covering a broad and fascinating range of topics in the field of English language teaching, as well considering the role of English in contemporary Saudi Arabia. The list of presentations can be found at  Present and Future of English in Saudi Arabia: Research Concerns Copies of the papers presented will be published in the Proceedings of the Symposium and made available for download from conferences.kku.edu.sa  shortly. The symposium enjoyed the keen interest and active participation of several hundred attendees. These included academic professionals from many Saudi institutions, along with several visiting university researchers from abroad, and a significant number of KKU faculty members and students. In particular, the opening ceremony was honored by the presence of, His Excellency, President, Abdulrahman Bin Hamad Al Dawood While the event itself took place in the main male campus of the University, a video and audio link with the main female campus was maintained throughout the event.  This enabled the faculty members as well as the students of both campuses to participate in and profit from the high-quality presentations and enthusiasm of the event. A particularly lively and engaging aspect of the symposium was the participation of the listeners in the question-answer and discussion sessions that followed up each of the presentations.  This opportunity for dialogue and debate among the presenters and the audience delivered some of the most exciting moments and useful insights of the event. After the closing comments were offered by the Dean of the Faculty, Dr. Abdullah Al Melhi, there was an atmosphere of excitement and satisfaction, as the participants continued sharing observations and ideas regarding how best to pursue the work of applying the lessons of the research, as part of improving the English learning process in their daily professional activities. Date: Fall 2014 Source: Faculty of Languages and Translation Event Hosted by Hassan Costello  Multimedia Contribution: MD Sirajul Islam 
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