• Describe your current English teaching duties and responsibilities, any teacher training

you have delivered, and explain whether this was with trainee or practising teachers, or
both

Presently, I hold the position of Assistant Professor in St. Mary’s College, Hyderabad, India,
teaching English to undergraduate students enrolled in different streams like Commerce, Science
and Arts. I teach students from different socio-economic backgrounds and cultures with varying
levels of competence in English. I try to be sensitive to this diversity in the classroom and
instruct them in way that would make them left out in classroom interaction. Apart from teaching
I have mentored one class for each semester. Mentoring in St. Mary’s College involves making
sure the students attend classes and counseling them in their academic and adjustment issues in
the college. It even involves providing guidance regarding their career choices and
extracurricular activities. Though I have experience of teaching English for just over two years I
have received good feedback on my performance from the students and I hope to add to my skill
set as an educator. Apart from teaching I am a member of the AAA (Administrative and
Academic Audit) Cell of the college. In this cell I am part of a team which is responsible for
auditing all the departments and the administrative office of the college and report on the quality
and conduct of teaching and non-teaching faculty of the college. As a member of the team I am
responsible for collecting data through drafting questionnaires, conducting interviews and
inspections of various departments and students. I am involved in fact finding and reporting
based on observation and offering recommendations based on the information gathered in order
to facilitate a data driven decision making on all levels. I have not delivered any teacher training
but have learnt a lot about teaching, class managements and mentoring from the friendly work
environment at St. Mary’s College and desire to gain more expertise as a teacher of the English
language.
• Why you wish to study for an ELT Masters in the UK,

The primary reason for my wish to study for an ELT Masters in the UK is to gain expertise in the
field of teaching. I desire to be, not just good, but the best at what I have chosen as a career path
for my life. I want the innovative and up to date methods of teacher that would enhance my
experience and equip me as an educator. I feel that an ELT Masters would give me the best
training I need to be research oriented teacher. So far what I have learned, the experience that I
have, has been accumulated through my English education in India and the advice and guidance
of senior faculty at St. Mary’s College, but I have not been exposed to an approach to teaching
which emphasizes research and contemporary prevailing trends of language teaching on an
international level. I seek to gain this immersive learning experience through this ELT Masters.
It would open up opportunities for me to make a change in departments of colleges or
universities offering the skills that I gained at the University of Warwick. I studied and lived in
India all my life and have not been familiar with any other system of education than that which
exists in India and I hope to explore a different system of education and see what I can
incorporate to enrich my teaching methods in India. Studying in a foreign land in a different
culture where English is a first language would definitely be an enriching experience in
transforming my relationship with the English language and me as an English teacher. It is my
ardent desire that I get this opportunity to study in the UK and expand my skill set that will help
me in my career and improve me academically.
• What professional experience, skills and interests you would bring to your studies

I have been privileged to have an English education right from the onset of my education. I have
done a Masters in English from the University of Hyderabad and I am no way a stranger to
University Education. The Masters of Arts program I enrolled in was focused more on literature
and literary theory than English language teaching. I had courses that gave me knowledge about
Shakespeare and the Seventeenth Century, Eighteenth Century, Romantic, Victorian and Modern
British Literature, American Literature, New Literatures, Indian Writing in English, Literary
Criticism and Theory, and Phonetics. I have even qualified the UGC-NET (University Grants
Commission- National eligibility Test) which is national level eligibility certification for
Assistant Professorship in many areas of study. I hold a UGC-NET certificate in English which
make be eligible to teach as an assistant professor in colleges and universities in India. During
my Undergraduate studies I picked English literature, Psychology and Marketing. Studying
English literature made me like English more and this is time when I chose English as a career
path. Psychology on the other hand gave me an introduction of the various aspects of the human
behavior. Courses like developmental psychology, counseling psychology, health psychology
and abnormal psychology still aid me in my classroom interaction and mentoring sessions.
Marketing had courses focused on communication skills and advertising etc. which even
involved an internship in an advertising firm which gave me the experience and creative skills
that have been crucial in my growth. As a next step I want to embark upon in my career, I wish
this opportunity would provide me with the excellent training and exposure I need to be become
an expert teacher. My areas of study have been primarily English literature and not English
language teaching which I seek to study by given this amazing opportunity.
• How a Masters in ELT from the UK would benefit you professionally in the future in
your home Country

Throughout my life as a learner of English, and as teacher, I have noticed a peculiar relationship
that Indians have with the English language. It resembles a relation with a person that we are
acquainted with on a daily basis but never quite fully understand them. I have seen this
vacillating attitude in students in how they view the English language. They have been taught the
language since their childhood but there still remains a sort of uncomfortable feeling of not being
proficient in it. In India English is learn but for most of those who have knowledge of English
hold it as in a half filled cistern. The system of the education is partly to blame and the fact that
English is relegated to certain contexts in India and has not fully acquired a marketplace status in
Indian society. Most students I have taught are not fluent in English and the teachers who teach
them other subjects, though experts in their own fields, are not proficient enough when it comes
to the English language. There is a need for better instruction to both students and faculty when it
comes to the use of English as it is the medium through which other subjects are taught and
studied in India. Indian students need to go beyond the English they are familiar with enter the
territory of global English to thrive in the modern world. This can be possible if the teaching of
English is up to date with the innovative learning methods and teaching practices being
employed internationally. I believe this Masters program would expose me to the same and I can
use the valuable skills I learn in colleges like St. Mary’s that thrive for excellence and global
competence. It would also give me an opportunity to observe at the language in diverse contexts
which would help me teach student diverse backgrounds in India.
• Describe a project that you would do to help English language teachers in your home
country, and share your learning from the Masters in ELT

I would like to do a faculty development project in colleges like St. Mary’s to acquaint them with the
innovative methods of English language learning I learnt at the University of Warwick. I would take
sessions on the need for teaching to be connected to ongoing research and to be updated and in sync with
the international educational institutions. I would also stress the importance of inculcating global
competence in students for them to survive and thrive in a fast paced ever changing world. The old and
stale system of English teaching practices that do not imbibe in the learners a competence to face the
world armed with proficiency need to be discarded. I would teach this in the sessions and elaborate on the
various ways they can accomplish this feat. There is a prevailing attitude among Indians that English
language is to be learned as far as it is workable or manageable. This unfortunate attitude leads them to
distance themselves from the language this causes them to never gain proficiency. I will attempt to
change this attitude among students and teachers and spur them to embrace the English language in order
to fluently communicate and be successful in their careers. Knowledge about new techniques of teaching
grammar would be given to teachers in these sessions. I would also urge teachers to take up online
courses from different universities abroad which would expand their knowledge and add to their skill set
and keep them updated with global trends. Tie ups with college and universities across the globe and
visiting faculty from these universities would enrich the experience of the students and teachers in India.
In addition to this annual orientation programs on the importance of English language in teaching other
subjects for not just the English teaching faculty but teachers of other subjects would help improve the
condition to a great degree.