KARACHI: The two-day 33rd Society of Pakistan English Language Teachers (Spelt) Annual International English Language Teaching (ELT) Conference on the theme of `Globalisation think global, act local` commenced on Saturday.

Being held at two new venues ie the Karachi School of Business and Leadership (KSBL) and the Dawood Public School simultaneously, the conference has brought together over a thousand teachers and educators to listen to, discuss and learn from each other`s experiences through workshops, talks, webinars, etc.

The keynote speech on the topic of `Professionalising your English language teaching` was delivered by Dr Christine Coombe of the English faculty, Dubai Men`s College.

Her talk covered several aspects of professionalism in teaching while answering questions such as `Why is professionalism important?`, `Why do some teachers find employment sooner?`, `Why do some teachers go from job to job while others settle down at one institutions for years?` etc.

`A true teaching professional puts customer or student satisfaction first, is knowledgeable with excellent communication skills, does high-quality work, even more than is expected, demonstrates high standards of professional ethics, praises peers and has a positive attitude even during tough times,` said Dr Coombe, who has a PhD in Foreign/Second Language Education from the Ohio State University, listing some qualities of a teaching professional.

She said that being a professional meant being an expert. It requires commitment.But she pointed out that teaching experience or academic qualifications were not related to professionalism. `It requires attitudes such as being dedicated to student learning and remaining focused on improvement and innovation of teaching, she said.

She also pointed out certain myths associated with professionalism like working with big organisations or institutions, having senior titles,etc.

Discussing certain strategies for increasing one`s professionalism in teaching, Dr Coombe, who authored and coauthored several publications on English language teaching andlearning,said that first impressions counted.

`So know the names of your colleagues and students, be good at time management and organisational skills and emulate those teachers whom you would label as professional,` she said.

Other things she mentioned which also contributed to professionalising one`s teaching included being more self-aware, wearing professional attire, remaining well-groomed, developing self-confidence, acquiring effective social skills, communicating effectively, listening attentively, supporting colleagues, following administrative directives, asking questions, being reflective, investing in oneself by attending conferences and seminars and engaging in professional activities.

The rest of the day saw several plenary sessions conducted by national and international speakers, including Prof Yilin Sun of Seattle College (US), Dr Arifa Rehman, an English language professor and teacher educator, University of Dhaka, Bangladesh, Prof Dr Liz England from the US and Pakistani scholar Abbas Husain.

Meanwhile, the Urdu strand of the conference also offered a variety of themes for Urdu-language teachers and educators to benefit from.

The keynote speaker this year was the renowned educator, author and professor of politics, history and research methodology Dr Syed Jaff ar Ahmed, who delivered his lecture on ¼lamgiriat [Globalisation] ka sail-i-rawan aur safina-i-Urdu.