Governments at all levels of governance have been urged to encourage language teachers without teaching qualifications to embark on further studies.
This formed part of a communique issued by the President of the President of International Association of Language Educators (IALE), Professor David Olugbade Fakeye, at the end of the association’s 3rd biennial National Conference and Capacity Building for Language Teachers.
In the communique themed: “Blind Spots in Language and Literature Education” held at the University of Ibadan, (Institute of Education), the IALE conference emphasised that formal training for such categories of Language Teachers will improve their content, pedagogical knowledge and quality.
After intense exhaustive and robust academic discussions and deliberations, the keynote speaker; Professor Peter Barasa, Vice Chancellor, Allupe University, Kenya and the lead paper presenter, Oba Professor S.A. Amusegham, the Kalasuwe of Apoi Kingdom, Ondo State, and through the plenary sessions, the language educators urged the government to actualise through serious implementation efforts bilingual/multilingual medium of instruction policy to create more inclusive learning environment linguistically given the multicultural nature of our classrooms today.
The conference recommended that language teachers should be encouraged to attend conferences, workshops and seminars periodically to hone their content exposure and teaching skills to improve their classroom experiences and for effective classroom practices.
Furthermore, the conference urged teachers of language to explore the benefits of the use of the internet and other emerging technologies in teaching their areas of specialisation.
The conference called on literature teachers to organise reading clubs and embrace other reading programmes to complement classroom teaching.
The conference urged teachers of language to pay attention to factors such as teacher-student interaction, pedagogical practices, motivation, demographic variables and cultural sensitivity to promote positive and inclusive language learning classrooms.
The conference also called on WAEC and NECO to either examine the oral aspect of the English Language appropriately or rename their Paper 3 of the English Language examination “Alternative to Test of Orals.
The conference emphasized the use of Language in an Immediate Environment to enhance the smooth transition from home to school and recommended that the teaching of French Language should be given more attention to give wider international opportunities to students.
The association in the communique reiterated its accommodation of all major specialist languages like French, Yoruba, Igbo and Hausa in addition to English in its operations and conferences.
It also urged language teachers to boldly delve into entrepreneurial opportunities within the discipline, not only to combat poverty but also to proudly bolster the government’s endeavours for national economic revitalisation.
The conferees were unanimous in commending IALE for organizing the important conference, for the choice of the theme and for providing comprehensive sub-themes which provided the room for robust discussion of blind spots in virtually all aspects of language and literature education.
