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  • Workshops

 


Workshop conducted by Volunteers Association for Bangladesh

  • July 24, 2019

 

The Department of English, University of Asia Pacific (UAP) has successfully organized a workshop on July 24, 2019 for students who intend to volunteer with Volunteers Association for Bangladesh (VAB). The workshop was conducted by Professor Dr. Jasimuz Zaman who has been working for the improvement of the Quality of Education of rural high school students since 2010.

Volunteers Association for Bangladesh (VAB) is a USA based charity organization which works for ensuring quality education in rural high school in Bangladesh. For more than a decade and a half, VAB has empowered impoverished rural youths in Bangladesh to achieve a better life through education and, sustained by vast experience in the education sector, developed a low-cost Program to ensure an innovative quality education Model in an integrative and cohesive framework. VAB is currently working with 50 schools in different parts of Bangladesh. Professor Zaman began the workshop by introducing the voluntary activities done by Volunteers Association for Bangladesh (VAB). He encouraged the participants to provide support to the “English Language Speaking” program. His proposal to the students was to help the rural students improve their listening and speaking skills through telephone conversation. Dr. Zaman mentioned the aspects the volunteers can achieve through their involvement with VAB. Moreover, he talked about the topics and duration of the “English Language Speaking” program. At the end of the workshop, Professor Zaman mentioned that on completion of the program, the volunteers will get a Certificate of Appreciation from VAB.

 

 

Workshop on Debating and a Mock Debate Session

  • June 27, 2019

The Debating and Public Speaking Club, Department of English, UAP, organized a “Workshop on Debating” from 12.00 PM to 02.00 PM on June 27, 2019 at the department’s conference room. Fifty students of the English Department participated in this workshop. Mr. Mehedi Kayser Pabitra, an international debater and trainer, conducted the session. The session included discussions on world’s debate dynamics and speech preparation. It also included an interesting mock debate session titled “This house will sacrifice its economy for its environment”. Two groups were formed from the student participants and the mock session was carried out. At the end of the session, Ms. Arjumand Ara, Head of the English Department, distributed certificates among the participating students in presence of the other faculty members of the department. Ms. Afroza Aziz Suchana, Assistant Professor, and Ms. Arpita Haque, Lecturer, were the conveners of the event.

 

 

Workshop on Creative Writing

  • July 12, 2018

 


A three-hour-long workshop on “Creative Writing” took place on July 12, 2018 at the conference room of the Dept. of English. Students from different semesters of the Department participated in the workshop. The workshop was conducted by Mr. Theotonius Gomes, Assistant professor, AIUB. The highly interactive and engaging workshop continued for three hours with an active participation from the students. The Head of the Department, Mr. Takad Ahmed Chowdhury, and other faculty members of the Department were also present at the event.

 

 

Workshop on Daily English

  • July 11, 2018

 

UAP English Language Club under DSW, UAP organized a two-hour long workshop on “Daily English” on Wednesday, July 11, 2018, at 3 pm in the conference room of the Department of English. Mr. Andrew Rochford, an ESL instructor of British Council, Dhaka, was the resource person. A total number of 38 students from different departments of UAP participated in the workshop. Mr. Rochford divided the workshop into four parts: 1. how was your weekend? 2. Keeping a conversation going, 3. Making and responding to suggestions and 4. Expressing and responding to opinions. Among others, Air Cdre Ishfaq Ilahi Choudhury (Retd.), Director, DSW, Mr. Takad Ahmed Chowdhury, Associate Professor and Head, Department of English and Md. Tarek Khan, Assistant Director, DSW, were present. Mr. Md. Abu Shahid Abdullah, Lecturer, Department of English and Adviser, UAP Language Club was the coordinator of the workshop.

 

 

Workshop on ‘Emotional Intelligence’

  • July 19, 2017

 

 

The Directorate of Students’ Welfare (DSW) of the University of Asia Pacific (UAP) organized a workshop on ‘Emotional Intelligence’ at room number 402 of DBA campus from 3.30 PM to 5.30 PM on Wednesday, July 19, 2017 with the faculties and students of the Department of English of the University of Asia Pacific (UAP). UAP Socio Counselor Mr. Rakibul Hasan conducted the workshop.

The workshop was aimed at helping the participants in using emotional techniques while learning, maintaining good communication, managing depression, stress and anxiety for improving positivity etc. The whole session was conducted in an interactive and participatory method. The participants had the chance to understand various aspects related to emotional intelligence and self-awareness. They also participated in some interesting activities and games and had some ideas about ways to enrich themselves in the areas of self-awareness, self-management, social awareness and relationship management. It was a refreshing session and everyone was satisfied from the enlightenment and information delivered in the workshop. At the end of the workshop, Mr. Takad Ahmed Chowdhury, Head, Department of English, expressed his appreciation for the DSW for organizing a valuable workshop for the Department of English. He particularly thanked Socio Counselor Mr. Rakibul Hasan for his informative and very well presented session which was thoroughly enjoyable. He hoped that the participants have gained a lot of practical information and were benefitted from the workshop. Mr. Chowdhury expected that DSW will continue to dedicate its efforts in conducting such workshops and contribute in improving the well being of the students and faculties of the Department of English and the university in general.

 

 

Workshop on ‘Teaching Writing Skills’

  • February 2, 2017

Department of English, University of Dhaka, in its project partnership with the Institute of Education, Manchester University, United Kingdom offered a teacher-development workshop for the faculty members and MA in ELT students of the Department of English, University of Asia Pacific on ‘Teaching Writing Skills’. Professor Tahmina Ahmed and Professor Dr. Tazin Aziz Chowdhury, two senior faculty members of the Department of English, University of Dhaka, conducted this two-hour workshop at 2.00 PM on Thursday, February 2, 2017 at room number 303 of the UAP city campus.

 

 

Workshop on 'English Pronunciation Dictionary for Bangalees'

  • January 16, 2017

 

Department of English of the University of Asia Pacific (UAP) on January 16, 2017, organized a workshop titled 'English Pronunciation Dictionary for Bangalees' which covered the main aspects of English pronunciation and problems of English pronunciation from Bengali learners' points of view, and ways to overcome those successfully. Air Commodore (retd.) Ishfaq Ilahi Choudhury, Treasurer, UAP and Head of the Department of English Mr. Takad Ahmed Chowdhury among others attended the workshop.It was presented by Mr. Amin Rahman, a freelance Applied Linguist based in Australia.

 

 

Workshop : The basics of IELTS 

  • December 12, 2016

 
IELTS workshop conducted by Ms. Arjumand Ara, Assistant Professor, Dept. of English
 

Workshop titled ‘Providing Effective Feedback on Academic Writing’

  • January 16, 2016

 

Workshop on English Language Teacher Development

  • January 16, 2016

A workshop on English Language Teacher Development of Providing Effective Feedback on Academic Writing was held at the University of Asia Pacific (UAP) on Saturday, January 16, 2016. Dr. Sharmin Khan, Department of English Linguistics and Language Development, San Jose State University, California, USA facilitated the workshop. Professor Dr. Jamilur Reza Choudhury, Vice Chancellor, UAP inaugurated the workshop.

The workshop was aimed firstly, at discussing feedback as the most powerful influence on improvement, knowledge and achievement. The participants in the workshop, coming from different universities in Bangladesh, were later divided into groups to suggest feedbacks of some given samples of students’ writings. Student-to-student feedback can be more helpful if the students are trained to be consistent, using the same exemplars and rubrics. Students, Teachers from different institutions participated while Professor Shawkat Hussain, Head, English Department, UAP, Tasneem Siraj Mahboob, Member, Board of Trustees (BOT)

 

 

Workshop on "How to prepare a PowerPoint Presentation"

  • 27 May 2015

 


A workshop on "How to prepare a PowerPoint Presentation" was held the seminar room of Department of Business Administration (DBA) of University of Asia Pacific (UAP) on Wednesday, 27 May 2015. Dr. Rosa Fagundes, Fulbright Scholar, Department of English, Dhaka University (DU) presented the keynotes on the topic. The workshop outlines were Brief Introduction, Making PowerPoint Presentation, Effective Speech, The Importance of Good Introduction, The Important Videos and what did you learnt. Later, different groups were made among the participants and asked them to share their views about the session. Tasneem Siraj Mahboob, member, Board of Trustees (BOT), Professor Dr. M. R. Kabir, Pro Vice Chancellor, UAP attended at the program as Chief and Special Guest respectively. Among others, Sarwar R Chowdhury, Registrar-in-charge, Heads and member of faculties of UAP were present at the workshop.


 

  • Seminars

 

Seminar on “Bengali Literature in Translation”

  • June 18, 2019

The Department of English, University of Asia Pacific (UAP) successfully organized a seminar on “Bengali Literature in Translation” on June 18, 2019. The renowned academics and translators, Professor Dr. Niaz Zaman and Professor Dr. Fakrul Alam were invited to speak on the occasion. The honourable guests talked about the practical problems faced by the translators and the prospect of translation in Bangladesh. They also put emphasis on the various aspects that are needed to be focused to be a good translator.

The seminar was anchored by Ms. Ismat Zarin, Assistant Professor, Department of English, UAP. The discussion was divided into two sessions where Professor Dr. Niaz Zaman and Professor Dr. Fakrul Alam presented their papers respectively. Both the sessions were followed by question-answer segments.

In the first part of the seminar, the well-known translator and a supernumerary Professor of University of Dhaka, Dr. Niaz Zaman presented her paper titled “Style and Texture in Translation”. She started her speech by saying that a translator should be recognized as an artist. In her speech, she focused on was what others components required to be a good translator. In this regard, Dr. Zaman said that the translator needs to draw on all resources available to him/her and he/she must have patience to read every word and line of the original to see what the writer meant. Furthermore, she discussed several issues encountered by the prospective translators of Bangladesh. She said, “Respect has to be given to the translator”. As for the responsibilities of a translator, Dr. Zaman told that a translator should not take away the style and texture from the original piece by means of addition and mistakes. To make it more comprehensible, she shared a few hands-on examples from a number of translated works. During the question-answer segment, Dr. Zaman put emphasis on the translator’s knowledge of the language and the culture of the text. She wrapped up the session by saying, “Translation is a duty to convey the original.”

During the second part of the seminar, reputed academic, writer and translator, Dr. Fakrul Alam shared his own experience of being a translator. He also presented his paper titled “Translation from Bengali to English”. “The best translation is when the translator is in possession”, with this statement, Dr. Alam said that the translators need to translate what they like and they have to get to the mind of the original. He also talked about his involvement in translating Jibanananda Das, Mir Mosharraf Hossain and Rabindranath Tagore. Dr. Alam mentioned the difficulties in translating poetry especially when it is musical. He gave a few suggestions to the budding translators e.g. adding footnotes, endnotes and glossary where needed and always to revise the work once it is completed. As for translating dramas, he suggested that the rising translators should consider the cultural context of the text and the adaptability of the audience. Dr. Alam opined that a translator must be one who uses the target language easily, and also has a reasonably good command over the source language. “A translator has to be a close reader”, he mentioned. He also discussed the process of loss and gain in translation referring to the theories of Bakhtin and his ideas of dialogism, polyphonia and heteroglossia to recommend the translators to have an awareness of the presence of the different voices in a particular text while translating.

“Every act of translation is an interpretation”, Dr. Alam mentioned. He showed two different versions of his own translation of Rabindranath’s song “Bhalobeshe Shokhi Nibhrite” to At the end of the seminar, Dr. Muhammad Mizanur Rahaman, Professor, Department of Civil Engineering and Director, “Institute for Energy, Environment, Research and Development (IEERD), University of Asia Pacific handed over the crests and bouquets to the invited speakers. Afterwards, the vote of thanks was given by Ms. Arjumand Ara, Assistant Professor and Head, Department of English, University of Asia Pacific.

 

Seminar on “The Role of Youth against Alienation”

  • November 29th, 2017

 

English Language Club, University of Asia Pacific (UAP) arranged a motivational seminar for the students on “The Role of Youth against Alienation” on Wednesday, November 29th, 2017. With encouraging number of presence of the faculties and students, the guest speaker delivered his motivational speech on the topic. Speaker of the session, Mr. Almasur Rahman is an author, motivational speaker and counselor. The chief guest of the event treasurer of UAP Air Commodore Ishfaq Ilahi Choudhury (Retd.) inaugurated the program by addressing the current social situation that is effecting the youth.

The seminar aimed at motivating the students to overlook and overcome all the negativity that surrounds a modern youth. Mr. Almasur Rahman emphasized on “positive thinking” practice to get rid of all kind of alienations that is actually threatening the young generation. He also discussed how we can change the world around us by only changing our way of thinking. He mentioned that discovering one’s inner potentiality can help to fight against all odds. The most encouraging message of the programme is to approach adverse reality with “Let go”, “Let it be” and “Acceptance”. The necessity of healthy “mind” for well being was discussed in details with fun-filled, lively and spontaneous presentation by the speaker. He also shared the science of holding sustainable happiness and spread smiles to enhance happiness, success and peace. The speaker shared some of his wide-ranged experiences, of home and abroad, with the students with befitting humour. The seminar ended with the end note by chief guest Mr. Ishfaq Ilahi Choudhury who appreciated this initiative of the English Language Club and thanked Mr. Almasur Rahman for his inspiring and motivational session that all the participants thoroughly enjoyed.

 

 

Effective Communication: The Role of Debate and Public Speaking

  • May 23, 2017

Effective Communication: The Role of Debate and Public Speaking conducted by Mr. Mehedi Hossain on May 23, 2017

 

 

 

 

Seminar on Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL)

  • September 17, 2015

 

Professor Claire Bradin Siskin, an ELT secialist sponsored by English Language Programs of the U. S. Department of State presented a seminar on Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL) at University of Asia Pacific (UAP) today, September 17, 2015 at the seminar room of the Department of Business Administration. Organized under the initiatives of Ms. Tasneem Siraj Mahboob, honorable member of UAP Board of Trustees and an Associate Professor of the Department of English, University of Dhaka, the seminar was aimed at exploring technologies as they are used in learning and teaching of language. It was intended mainly for the faculty members and M. A. in ELT students of the Department of English of the University of Asia Pacific. UAP Registrar Mr. Sarwar Razzak Choudhury and Head of the Department of English Professor Dr. Shawkat Hussain also attended the seminar participated by a good number of teachers and students of the Department of English and the Department of Business Administration of the university. Presented in the form of lively and interactive discussions and short activities, Professor Claire's presentation also introduced useful teaching and independent study resources some of which can be readily integrated and used in a variety of ways to achieve teaching and learning goals. It is to be noted that Professor Claire Bradin Siskin, who is currently serving as an English Language Specialist at Daffodil International University, is an enthusiastic practitioner of computer-assisted language learning (CALL). She is the former Director of the English as a Second Language Writing Online Workshop (ESL-WOW) at Excelsior College in New York. She recently completed a 3-year term on the Board of Directors of the Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL). She has given presentations and conducted workshops in nineteen countries. Her principal interests are faculty development, research in CALL, and mobile-assisted language learning.