ULAB holds conference on English pronunciation

University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh (ULAB) held its third conference on ‘English Pronunciation in Bangladesh’ on the campus on January 13.

The Department of English and Humanities and the Center for Language Studies (CLS) co-hosted the event with Volunteers Association for Bangladesh (VAB) CEO Professor Amin Rahman, said a press release.

Professor Md Farhadul Islam, chairman of the National Curriculum Textbook Board was the chief guest at the conference where Professor Emeritus of Griffith University in Australia, Dr Andy Kirkpatrick was the keynote speaker.

In his speech, Dr Andy said, “English is an Asian language and its primary use is as a lingua franca which means that English should be taught not as a language spoken and owned by native speakers of English, but as an Asian language and as a lingua franca.”

The first plenary was given by Prof. AMM Hamidur Rahman, Daffodil International University, who spoke about “Overcoming Problems of Pronunciation for Bangladeshi Learners of English.” This was followed by a workshop on “Teaching the Pronunciation of English through Entertainment,” conducted by Muhammad Yeasir.

ULAB VC Prof Imran Rahman; Department Head of English and Humanities Arifa Ghani Rahman; Center for Language Studies (CLS) Director Dr Faheem Hasan Shahed; ZAMOSC CEO Amin Rahman; VAB Country Director Masum Billah, faculty members and students also participated at the event.