Vision

            To help English Language Teaching evolve, flourish and establish itself for school, college and university education that requires English as a subject, as a medium of academic and research study, and as a component in pre-service and in-service language teacher education.

Mission 

Promoting English language education from a multilingual education perspective along the guidelines of the NEP 2020, the NCFFS (2022) and the NCFSE (2023)

Serving the needs of different learner/user groups in Assam and the Northeast through language pedagogies that promote healthy learning and honouring of all languages

Promoting diversity, inclusion and multilingualism in all departmental activities

Producing proficient and trained ELT professionals that can compete at the global level

Creating an efficient and dedicated group of researchers

Providing quality training and consultancy services to various agencies in the Northeast

Collaborating with various local, national and international bodies

Establishment

The Department of English Language Teaching, then known as the English Teaching Department, was established in the year 1957 under the stewardship of eminent scholar Dr. Prafulla Dutta Goswami. The objective of the department was to provide in-service training to school teachers of English as an initiative to improve the teaching and learning of English at school level in Assam.

The department started its academic activities in the Arts building, after which it moved to a new building in a little hilly nook south-west of the Arts Building. There, it shared space with the Departments of Linguistics, Folklore Research and Modern Indian Languages until 2012.

In 2013, the department moved to a newly constructed building named as the New Academic Building just next to the Gauhati University Market, where it is presently housed.

It is said that the first Head of the Department was a European professor, but his name and period of headship are not available in the Department’s records. The founding scholar of the Department Professor Prafulla Dutta Goswami took over the headship in 1971 and was succeeded by Md. Abul Lais (1973-1985), Mr. Jiban Chandra Bhattacharyya (1985- 88), Dr. BanamaliKakati (1989-90) and Mr. Jiban Chandra Bhattacharjyafor another term(1993 to 95). Professor Anita Tamuli served as Head-in-Charge from1995 to 2008 upon Mr. Bhattacharjya’s retirement. Professor Padmini Bhuyan Boruah served as Head-in–Charge from 2009 to 2012, after which Professor Anita Tamuliwas appointed the Head. Professor Padmini Bhuyan Boruah is the current Head, having succeeded Professor Anita Tamuli in 2018.

The original faculty strength of the department was six. Presently there are five faculty members with one post remaining to be filled.

The Early Years to 1999: PGDET and related academic activities

The Department of English Teaching began its operations with a one year Post Graduate Diploma in English Teaching (PGDET) for teachers of English deputed by the Assam state government. It provided training to government school teachers on basic Applied Linguistics and foundations of language pedagogy, with a Practice Teaching component which the trainees completed in a local school. The PG Diploma gained popularity, and at some point the Department opened its doors to other graduates (non teachers). During this period, apart from providing training to teachers, the department engaged in various academic activities to further the cause of English language teaching in the North East. Some of the noteworthy work carried out by the department during its early days include:

Efforts to teach English through radio (1960 – 61)

Setting up a laboratory and a library (1962-63)

Revision of the PG Diploma syllabus in the light of the advances made in the field of language teaching, especially through Western scholarship (1964-65)

Supporting faculty members A Lais, J.C. Bhattacharyya and B. Kakati in completing their post graduate studies in several eminent universities in the United Kingdom (1980s)

Providing doorstep training to teachers of English in Assam, especially in rural and semi urban locations (1970s onwards)

Writing books and primers on teaching English at school level (1970s & 1980s), and

Translating Western classics from English to Assamese (1980s).

More details on these activities have been outlined in the section on Societies/ Groups/Projects.

In the late 90s, the Department made further efforts to modernize its practices. In its effort to align its practices to national and global academic orientations in the field, the Department changed its name to English Language Teaching. By then, the deputation of teachers by the government had reduced due to administrative challenges. The Department also struggled to provide meaningful training to teachers who were deputed mostly at the end of their careers, and lacked the motivation to apply new training to old settings. In 1999 the diploma was formally withdrawn.

The Year 2000 & Beyond: MA & PhD Programmes

A major turning point in the history of the department came in the year 2001 when the Department of ELT in collaboration wih the Department of Linguistics started a two-year regular Master’s degree – named MA in Linguistics and ELT (LELT), leading to two separate Master’s degrees in Linguistics and in English Language and ELT. This was a response to a long-standing demand from various stakeholders, including Gauhati University’s Faculty of Science, for a professional programme in ELT.A need was felt to provide expertise and training in English language skills and pedagogy to undergraduate and post graduate students. It was also necessary for the Department to strengthen its efforts in English language teacher education, and spearhead research in ELT by providing a stronger foundation in theoretical and empirical advances in the discipline.

The Master’s programme was a first in several ways – it was the first regular Master’s programme in the discipline of English Language Teaching in the country not housed under an English literature teaching department or not subsumed as a subsidiary option under an MA English literature programme. It was also the first Interdisciplinary Master’s programme offered by Gauhati University after it adopted the Choice Based Credit System (CBCS) in semester mode.

In the last two decades, after a continuous struggle to professionalizing English language teaching by building a strong theoretical and pedagogical foundation, the Department has been successful in producing a pool of trained English language professionals and researchers through its Masters and PhD programmes. A series of faculty-led projects on English language practices in the state - undertaken in collaboration with international agencies - has contributed to a better understanding of classroom as well as teacher education practices.

The Department

• provides knowledge, skills and expertise that prepares trained ELT professionals for a competitive job market

• provides learners with experiential learning opportunities as well as practical teaching practice

• teaches skill based value-added courses like Academic Reading 

• offers guidance on students' speaking and writing skills for English proficiency development

• encourages contextually relevant research in current issues relating to English language teaching and learning, as well as policy and practice
• liaisons with state and national education agencies such as SCERT, Assam, NCERT, India, North East Regional Institute of Education (NERIE), Regional Institute of English for South India (RIESI) to offer services in english language teacher education and research

Course Delivery Mechanism

The faculty makes conscious efforts to use interactive and experiential pedagogy that builds confidence in students and develops their inner creativity and professional competence. Some of the course delivery methods include:

• individual and collaborative work viz. pair and group-work 
• classroom presentations, discussion and feedback
• activities to develop critical thinking skills through individual and class discussions on relevant readings
• mini projects
• feedback sharing

In addition, students receive training in

• adapting and designing instructional  materials and analysis of syllabi
• preparing lesson plans, micro teaching, peer teaching, writing self-observation and peer-observation reports
• teaching in a local school
• conducting language research projects 

Good practices

• Making learners stakeholders in their learning process
• Facilitating mixed ability learners to gain from each other
• Practising transparency through effective assessment procedures and feedback mechanisms
• Developing a sense of self-reliance on the students’ own academic, cognitive and linguistic resources
• Practising interdisciplinary intake as opposed to the prevailing tendency of subject continuity from UG to PG
• Promoting and valuing diversity
• Sensitising learners to heterogeneity in academic abilities, linguistic backgrounds and socio-economic status
• Encouraging learners to take a critical stance as necessary steps for citizenship and nation building  

Post Graduate Programmes:

a) Name of the Programme: Master of Arts in English Language Teaching

In response to the urgent need for trained professionals in English, both in key vocational areas as well as in higher education, the Department offers an M.A. in ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING (MA ELT). The programme is open to graduates fom all disciplines and incorporates components of English language pedagogy training, English proficiency development and English for professional services relating to the multi-dimensional use of English.

b) Duration of the Programme: 4 Semesters/2 Years

c) Student intake: 30

d) Admission process:

Eligibility to apply

Graduates from SCIENCE, COMMERCE and ARTS are eligible to apply provided they fulfill (i) or (ii)

 (i) Secured Major in English

(candidates who fail to secure a minimum of 40% marks in English Major will not be eligible to apply)

(ii) If they have not opted for Major in English, they have scored at least 50% in English as a subject at graduation (or equivalent).

Criterion for Selection

Selection is based on a common post graduate entrance test PGET of 100 marks in English language proficiency.

This test is intended to find out whether that the applicant has the necessary level of command in the English Language required for the  MA ELT Programme. The areas covered in the test include the following areas: reading comprehension, written composition, dictation, grammar and vocabulary usage.

Since applicants from all the three streams (Arts, Science and Commerce) are eligible to apply, the entrance test is not be based on any formal knowledge of English Grammar or Linguistics.

General category applicants and reserved quota applicants must secure the minimum pass percentage of 50% and 45% respectively in the proficiency test in order to be considered for admission.

e) Syllabus Structure under CBCS

Department of English Language Teaching

Gauhati University

MA (English Language Teaching)

Programme Structure 2023

No. of seats: 30                                                                Total credits: 104

Programme description:

English Language Teaching (ELT) is a globally popular and well researched discipline that caters for the learning and teaching of English and language teacher education in a variety of contexts and for a variety of purposes. The global spread of English, expedited by neoliberal pressures, competitive higher education and business opportunities as well as emigration and asylum seekers, has made ELT an attractive field of study worldwide. In India, social pressures and the prestige value of English have added to the rise in popularity of institutions designed to teach, train and test English language proficiency. There is also a growing realization that English literature teaching does not automatically ensure language competence and skills necessary for 21st century uses of English, or prepare teachers to teach English for proficiency development. 

The objective of this MA (ELT) programme is to prepare competent professionals who have the requisite theoretical understanding and pedagogical knowledge to teach English at school, college and university, and also train learners for professional uses of English. The new MA is aligned with the guidelines of the NEP 2020, the NEP for Foundational Stage (2022) and the NEP for School Education (2023). It has been designed to teach English as one of the languages within the complex multilingual Indian context, keeping in mind Indian children’s access (or the lack of it) to English in their immediate environment. It encourages students to honour children’s home languages and learn ways of gradually transitioning learners to English through effective multilingual pedagogies such as translanguaging.

The MA (ELT) programme thus aims to prepare trained English language professionals who can teach English in global contexts as well as in Indian contexts for inclusivity and social justice. 

Program Specific Outcomes:

After completing the MA (English Language and ELT) program, students will be able to:

• develop English language proficiency of learners at various learning levels and in a variety of educational contexts  
• provide training in English language skills development in various professional organizations
• develop teaching materials based on the English language needs of different groups of learners
• design appropriate assessment tools for English
• train teachers of English on different aspects of language pedagogy viz. methodology, materials design etc.
• display their understanding of contextual research directions in English Language Teaching

Course Structure Outline under CBCS:

Assessment procedure:

Both the theory and practical courses of the programme will be evaluated through a formative Internal Assessment component to guide students’ understanding and expression of key concepts and language use. There will also be a summative External Assessment component at the end of the semester. 

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 Download syllabus here

Research Activities

Research Projects (Ongoing)

Women in AINET: Ensuring and encouraging participation of women academics in English teacher associations 

Principal Investigator: Dr. Kuheli Mukherjee. Co-investigator: Prof. Padmini Bhuyan Boruah

Research Projects (Completed)

1. Meritocracy and language status in India and Malaysia: A comparative study (2021-22)

International collaborative project with colleagues from Sunway University, Malaysia and Ambedkar University Delhi, as part of the Transnational Sustainable Education Research Network, South Asia

Principal Investigator: Prof. Padmini Bhuyan Boruah; Co-investigators: Dr. Nivedita Malini Barua & Dr. Khamseng Baruah

2. English Language Teachers’ reflections on negotiating policies, identity and practice (2021-22)

International collaborative project with colleagues from Sunway University, Malaysia, the English & Foreign Languages University, Hyderabad, India, Sanata Dhamma University, Yogyakarta, Indonesia, Kathmandu University, Nepal and Tribhuvan University, Nepal, as part of the Transnational Sustainable Education Research Network, South Asia

Principal Investigator: Prof. Padmini Bhuyan Boruah; Co-investigator: Dr. Pranjana Kalita Nath

3. Fulbright-Nehru Academic and Professional Excellence Project (2019-20):

Developing critical consciousness in teacher candidates working alongside refugee-background students

Principal Investigator:Prof. Padmini Bhuyan Boruah, Gauhati University; Co-investigator: Dr Sarina Chugani Molina, University of San Diego

2. Major research project (International sponsor):

Gauhati University - Commonwealth of Learning, Canada Project CA-139 on Developing a Diploma in ELT with ICT Skills for Primary teachers of English (2013-14)

Principal Investigator: Dr. Padmini Bhuyan Boruah

3. Minor Research Project:

IATEFL TE-SIG, University of Warwick, AINET led Classroom based research EVO project titled Towards developing MA ELT students' academic writing skills: an exploratory classroom research project (2017)

Principal Investigator: Dr. Padmini Bhuyan Boruah

4. Minor Research Project (International sponsor)

British Council English Language Teachers Research Project (ELTReP) on Investigation ELT practitioners' perceptions of Materials Development as an effective CPD activity (2016-17)

Principal Investigator: Dr. Padmini Bhuyan Boruah

5. Minor Research Project (International sponsor)

Hornby Alumni Project on Effective Use of Teaching Materials (2003-04)

Co-Investigator: Padmini Bhuyan Boruah

6. Minor Research Project (International Sponsor)

English Language Teaching Research Mentoring Scheme project on Disciplinary Literacy in Information Technology at the Undergraduate Level (2019-20)

Principal Investigator: Dr. Khamseng Baruah

Co-Investigator: Dr. Parismita Sarma, Department of IT, Gauhati University

Research Support

The Department believes in creating a healthy and robust research environment through  an efficient and dedicated group of researchers and good physical infrastructure by:

• providing appropriate training to research scholars at every stage of their research
• working with other institutions and organizations, both nationally and globally, for better research exchange
• working in collaboration with agencies that could provide scholarship to researchers
• organizing frequent conferences on research areas that are of primary importance to the Northeast region 
• taking steps to ensure that our research endeavours contribute effectively to the development of the region
• encouraging research in key areas that are situated in local contexts and yet globally relevant

The faculty keeps providing training and consultancy services to several state and national level institutions as training and outreach programmes. Some of the key areas that the department has focussed on are:

• Teacher training in government and private schools, colleges and professional language institutes
• Focused short term training courses and workshops on various aspects of English language pedagogy
• Materials development in collaboration with state, national and international agencies
• Syllabus and curriculum design

In addition, the Department has been a part of several English Language Teaching programmes and initiatives undertaken in collaboration with government agencies such as NCERT, SCERT, SSA and RMSA (both now subsumed under Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan) as well as private educational agencies.

The Department is soon launching a journal entitled Gauhati University Journal of English Language Teaching (GUJELT). GUJELT is an annual peer reviewed journal that has been conceptualized with the objective of providing a platform for sharing teaching and research experiences among ELT practitioners from around the world. One of the prime objectives of the journal is to encourage ELT teachers and researchers working in Northeast India to carry out quality research and share the outcomes that would contribute to the existing body of research work in ELT. However, the journal will consider any research work that is based on a sound methodology and is found to be relevant to the cause of ELT. Through this journal we aim to contribute to research that shapes the future of ELT.

The Department has a vibrant Alumni Association whose members have been contributing actively to the field of English language teaching. Several alumni are teaching as university and college faculty, and as teachers at higher secondary, secondary and primary schools in both government and private sectors. Graduates of the Department are also engaged as language trainers in various NGOs, language and content writers and editors in private companies, also as entrepreneurs running their own language teaching institutes. The alumni organize various activities relating to the field such as conferences, seminars, webinars, talks and other interactive sessions and events catering to the needs of the discipline. They participate enthusiastically in alumni meets for networking, sharing ideas, showcasing talent and  making future plans.

 Pictures from recent Alumni Meets:

Department of English Language Teaching (ELT)
Gauhati University, Guwahati 781014, Assam
Phone : +919864207924
Email : elt@gauhati.ac.in
Web   : gauhati.ac.in/elt.php