TESOL Society of Bangladesh organised its first-ever international virtual research conference titled “Contextualising Research in Challenging Times” recently.
The two-day programme was inaugurated by Prof Dr Md Sazzad Hossain, member of the University Grants Commission (UGC), and also director of Bangladesh Satellite Company Limited (BSCL), on Friday.
Prof Dr Sayeedur Rahman (Institute of Modern Languages, University of Dhaka), president of TESOL Society of Bangladesh, presided over the function and delivered the welcome speech. The conference brief was presented by Dr Tasnima Aktar, associate professor of Comilla University, and also convenor of the programme, according to a press release.
Dr Richard Smith, Reader, Center for Applied Linguistics, University of Warwick, and Prof Dr Ravinder Gargesh, president-elect, Asia TEFL and head of the Department of English, Samarkand State University, delivered their keynote speeches respectively on “Research for super–difficult circumstances: where to start and how to go on” and on “The Dynamics of Contextualisation in Research”.
In the plenary session, Prof Dr Kamarul Kabilan (School of Educational Studies, University Sains Malaysia), Prof Dr Shaila Sultana (Institute of Modern Languages, University of Dhaka), Dr Sandesha Rayapa-Garbiyal (assistant professor, Linguistic Empowerment Cell, Jawaharlal Nehru University), Prof Dr Elizabeth Erling (Department of English and American Studies, University of Vienna), Dr Asifa Sultana (associate professor, Department of English and Humanities, BRAC University), Prof Dr Niladri Shekhar Dash (head of Linguistic Research Unit, Indian Statistical Institute and visiting fellow, University of Oxford), Dr Raqib Chowdhury (Faculty of Education, Monash University), Dr Manzoorul Abedin (senior lecturer in Education and Society, University of West London), Dr Jahurul Islam (lecturer, Department of Linguistics, The University of British Columbia) and Dr Mohammad Golam Jamil (TESTA researcher, University of Bristol) made their presentation on different methodologies and perspectives of research that provided significant insights on conducting research during challenging times.
On the second day, there was a ‘Round-table Discussion’ with the participation of honorable speakers of the conference and a ‘Quick Fire Presentation Competition’ with the participation of MPhil/PhD/MA researchers.
The closing remark of the quickfire session was made by Prof AMM Hamidur Rahman (Daffodil International University, Bangladesh). SM Minhazul Anwar Mridul, acting head of Department of English Studies, State University of Bangladesh, announced the best presenters of the ‘Quickfire Presentation Competition’. The presentation competition was sponsored by the Department of English Studies, State University of Bangladesh.
Finally, this two-day event came to an end on Saturday with the ‘Vote of Thanks’ by the Hamidul Haque, head of Department of English, American International University, Bangladesh, and also vice president of TESOL Society of Bangladesh, and Dr Tasnima Aktar, conference convenor.
Earlier on Wednesday, a pre-conference session “CREDIBLE Projects in Action” was held.