Afghanistan Project background 1. Description of the partners The English Language Teachers Association for Afghans (ELTAA) is a non-profit, non-governmental and non-political organisation whose aim is to enhance English Language Teaching (ELT) in Afghanistan. ELTAA was set up in 2006 and run by a small committee of volunteers, with named roles, based mainly in higher education (HE) in the capital Kabul, including the current ELTAA President Nadia Nazeer Hashimi. The main objective behind the establishment of this national teachers’ association was to set up a common platform for all teachers of English in Afghanistan. ELTAA offers different activities such as workshops and training events for its members, providing job opportunities, sharing professional development, and creating academic partnerships with other educational centres and organisations. Currently ELTAA has a membership of around 60 individuals and supports a further 50 non-members. The National Ministry of Education in Afghanistan is supportive of this association because ELTAA is working for professional development of English teachers and collaborates with the government and other agencies, working in various areas such as curricula, materials production and teacher training.
The English Language Teaching Centre (ELTC) is a department of the University of Sheffield and is one of the larger university language centres in the UK, with over 200 teachers at peak in the summer (and over 100 year-round) 40-plus administrative, management and support staff. The ELTC teaches and supports over 4,000 students and teachers full- and part-time programmes, both face-to-face/blended in Sheffield and online internationally, with a dedicated Technology-Enhanced Learning (TEL) team. The Centre works with the student community within the University, external partner organisations, and members of the public (learners and teachers) in the UK and internationally. The range of programmes and services offered at the ELTC is diverse and includes English Language Teaching (ELT), English for Academic Purposes (EAP), Teacher Training and Development, Research Training and Specific Language Differences (SpLD) support. The Centre is accredited by the British Council and BALEAP and is an IELTS and Cambridge English Test and Teacher Training Centre. The ELTC supports the wider community in ELT, globally and locally, with student and teacher scholarships, hosting and sponsoring conferences and events, and volunteering for teaching and committee work for, among others, IATEFL, English UK, BALEAP, St Mary’s Community Centre Sheffield and the Campaign for At Risk Academics (CARA).
Partnered Remote Language Improvement (PRELIM) project report
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