New CfL English Language Fellow 
Lisa Ponzetti joined BRAC University, Centre for Languages, in September 2008. An American by birth, she has been working and living overseas since 1997, after she received her M.A. in Applied Linguistics from Ohio University. Although her undergraduate degree is in International Business, she found education to be more interesting and rewarding. She has taught in Mongolia, the U.S., Kazakhstan, and Turkey, primarily at the university level. She also has worked with USAID, kindergarten students, and in teacher training. Lisa is thrilled to be in Bangladesh now. In addition to BRAC University, Lisa will be working at the BRAC Centre with the PACE Program.
CfL Lecturer on Study Leave in China and Scotland 
CfL Lecturer Golam Jamil is pursuing the M.Litt in English Language Teaching, an international exchange programme offered by the University of St. Andrews, Scotland in collaboration with Beijing Foreign Studies University (BFSU), China, at the National Research Centre for Foreign Language Education, BFSU. This postgraduate course is solely designed for those experienced English language teachers who want to teach English language beyond borders.
To attend the first phase of the course, he is now at Beijing Foreign Studies University (BFSU), China to study Applied Linguistics, partake in a number of ongoing research projects and also to experience teaching to young learners. Following this, he will attend the University of St. Andrews in February to undergo the remaining courses and the dissertation.
The University of St. Andrews, Scotland's first university, is a pioneer institution for its wide-ranged research and scholastic interventions in teaching-learning arena. BFSU is one of the prestigious universities in China which is under direct supervision of the Ministry of Education. The National Research Centre for Foreign Language Education (NRCFLE) of Beijing Foreign Studies University (BFSU) is one of the key research institutes in humanities and social sciences in universities in China.
His professional experience and previous studies have led him to enter this study process. To Jamil, English Language Teaching, like other subjects, ?requires the effective involvement of learners? psychology, suitable learning environment, proper curricula, teaching materials, approaches etc.? Considering these, he is eager to study educational theories concentrating on language teaching, recent research work and ideas relevant to ELT, fundamentals of syllabus design with social and practical implications, materials preparation techniques, learning styles of different learner groups, effective ways of testing with essential needs assessment. Besides, he is keen on exploring the second language acquisition process and language teaching methodologies. Strategic competence and communication strategies, role of language teachers in classrooms, teaching language for specific purposes, discourse analysis, computer aided language learning are some of his other areas of interest.
After completing the programme he would like to see himself as an independent researcher with adequate expertise on language course designing, and also on testing the learning outcomes, having the ability to analyze methods and approaches contextually, and being ready to facilitate language teaching effectively. He also plans on taking research initiatives in the field of education, particularly in English Language Teaching, in Bangladesh after completing this course.
He is expected to return at the Centre for Languages (CfL), BRAC University in September, 2009.
CfL Faculty Member Attends International Conference in Japan 
Kazi Sarmad Karim, appointed as the Team Leader for the Bangladeshi delegation for the 6th Asian Youth Forum (AYF6 2008), attends a 1-week international youth conference (October 28 ? November 5, 2008) together with other college-aged participants from across Asia for academic seminars, intercultural workshops, social events and interpersonal exchanges using English-as-a-global-language. The event brings together university students from 15 countries in the Asia-Pacific region, such as Korea, Thailand, Vietnam, the Philippines, Indonesia, Pakistan and Russia. The AYF will be a part of a Pan-Asian Conference (PAC 7) hosted by Japan Association for Language Teaching (JALT NPO). The Asian Youth Forum (AYF) is an international exchange program founded in Japan.
CfL Arranges Workshops on Writing-across-the-Curriculum and Critical Thinking Pedagogy
CfL immensely prioritises faculty development and with this view, CfL arranged three workshops in September, 2008. The workshops were facilitated Dr. John C. Bean, Consulting Professor of Writing and Assessment of English at Seattle University and Rosalie (Kit) Bean, Composition and Reading in the English Department at South Seattle Community College where she coordinated the Writing Center. The workshops were designed to promote learning through in-depth discussion of essential aspects of language teaching such as ? Writing-across-the-Curriculum (WAC), Implement critical thinking pedagogy in language teaching instruction and Extending Critical Thinking pedagogies into the Centre for Languages?(CfL).
The 1st workshop held on 7th ? 8th September focused on ?How Writing-across-the-Curriculum Pedagogy in the United States Might Be Adapted to a Bangladeshi Co 
ntext.? The participants were the department leaders from different public and private universities. Pro-Vice Chancellor of BRAC University Dr. Salehuddin Ahmed, the Director of CfL Mrs Sarwat Abed and lecturers from CfL, Governance Studies and Department of English of BRAC University were also present. The second workshop held on the 9th ? 10th was on a contemporary issue ?How a Critical Thinking Pedagogy Might be Integrated into English Language Instruction in Bangladesh.? It was centered towards the English Language teachers of different universities of the country. Both of the workshops were held at BRAC Centre.
Professor Bean, through an open discussion with all the participants of the workshop, highlighted the fact that writing should not only be limited in English language classes, rather an interdisciplinary emphasis on writing would lead students to proper success. The usage of exploratory writing and problem-based task for the students in the American Context were discussed in the workshop. The participants shared their views regarding the constraints they face or might face while introducing the writing-across-the-curriculum method in Bangladeshi context; the following possible constraints were discussed:
- Conventional education system in the pre-university (school and collage) level that does not encourage critical thinking.
- Students? inability to think critically as a result of the prevailing curriculum
- Large number of students in a class.
The last workshop was on ?Extending Critical Thinking Pedagogies into the Centre for Languages? English Curriculum.? This workshop was held at BCDM, Rajendrapur, Gazipur for two days (12th -13th September). The participants were the English language teachers of Centre for Languages (CfL). As CfL has already been practicing Critical Thinking in its curriculum, this intensive workshop became an excellent opportunity for the teachers to reinforce their knowledge about using pragmatic approaches
in the classroom. Through interaction, sharing different ideas and experiences, the participants focused on different issues of promoting critical thinking. The success of promoting critical thinking and the problems of introducing this new approach in the traditional environment of language teaching in Bangladesh were the focal points of the discussion. Dr. Bean and Rosalie Kit Bean shared their ideas regarding some constraints CfL teachers commonly faced, such as how to make students read critically, what is legitimate class time to devote to critical thinking, how to prevent plagiarism and continue critical thinking even outside the classroom. Dr. Bean successfully came up with some realistic solutions such as putting profound emphasis on selecting and designing authentic materials and tasks according to the needs of the students, promoting interaction by making the students work in a group, encouraging students to start from a common context and exploring different perspectives for better learning. In the workshops, CfL teachers took part in the real-classroom tasks designed by Dr. Bean and got some practical idea about the outcome of using those materials in the classroom. CfL teachers are enthusiastic, love to take challenges and introduce new methods in classroom teaching. The workshops on Critical Thinking rejuvenated their existed knowledge and definitely encourage them to strive for further refinement.
In a nutshell, the participants of all workshops earned how to integrate a critical thinking approach into their language learning pedagogy; thus the workshops were nothing but a success.