Event Date: 11th September 2021

About the Webinar:

Of late, the emphasis of education has transitioned from a teacher-centered classroom to a learner-centered environment. The spotlight has moved from compliance with standards to student empowerment and innovation. In that context, student talking time in EFL classroom engages learners and helps them improve academic performance in all classrooms; particularly ones focused on learning language content.

The above notion makes the issue of teacher talk versus student talk even more critical since English language learners need to practice speaking and listening in a controlled and supportive setting. Many motivated students engage with English outside the classroom by listening to various speakers, reading articles or watching YouTube videos. But these passive forms of learning cannot replace expressive speech. EFL students need a safe and instructive place in which to practice and hone their skills and integrate new knowledge into their speech.

Yet, the above emphasis on student talking time in EFL classroom does not mean there is no place in the modern classroom for the take to talk to your students. A group of learners talking among themselves can inadvertently share false information, reinforce bad speech habits or leave poor grammar and syntax uncorrected. Learners, by definition, are not teachers, and the brunt of teaching should not fall on their shoulders. Nearly any classroom, therefore. In fact, the experts encouraged by their research advocate that a teacher should talk for 20% to 30% of a class session.

The teachers in EFL classroom need to provide the fullest and most accurate expression of the English language in the room. They naturally introduce vocabulary, expression and ways of speaking that students can imitate and later incorporate into their own speech patterns. Their work helps contextualize language into a human-centered relationship in a way that a book or an audio recording can never do. Moreover, they can ask questions, tell stories, share anecdotes and model conversational styles fluently and naturally.

Student talk, however, requires larger blocks of time than teacher talk in part because EFL students typically take much longer to express themselves than the teacher does. When practicing conversations with each other, students may struggle to understand and need more time to repeat themselves or to assist each other. Both teacher talk and student talk add value to the classroom, but once teacher talk takes more than 30% of class time, its value drops remarkably. In more advanced classes, teacher talk time may reach its peak value at just 10% of the class time.

It is issues like the above that Dr. Ghulam Ali Buriro would be discussing in his webinar on “Hearing the Unheard: Optimizing Students’ Talking Time in EFL classroom and Beyond“.

About the Speaker:

Dr. Ghulam Ali Buriro has transformed thousands of lives as a classroom teacher, teacher-trainer and Tesol educator for the last 30 years. He is one of the renowned academic and motivational speakers in Asia. He is a dynamic personality and a highly-sought-after resource in the ELT world.

Dr. Buriro’s straight-from-the-heart passion, stupendous spirit and high-energy level motivate audiences to move beyond their ordinary limits and reach extraordinary goals. By producing creative, inspirational and thought-provoking content, Dr. Ghulam has accumulated over 1 million likes and compliments on Facebook alone and even more on a combination of other platforms; in addition to winning multiple international awards.

Dr. Buriro’s super-perceptive intelligence enables him use his creativity to inspire and train his students to learn more fondly. He creates unforgettable experiences that take his students to another level and stay with them in form of life-long learning  for almost as long as they live.

Dr. Ali is an avid and extensive traveller with an astounding zest to come alive to, and indulge in the thrilling adventures of life as they present themselves to him. He is a dreamer, a dream-seller and, at times, a foot-loose and fancy-free man with the innate prelidection to explore, take chances, get hurt, forget, forgive and move on. He says he prefers to live in the moment and take life as it comes. He has a unique knack to encourage audiences to attempt impossible and succeeed thereof.

Dr. Ghulam has a touch of Mysticism, born of his Sylvian humanism from his own childhood penchant for truth and goodness. He often strikes those who meet him for the first time as a Keatsian imaginative seeker of beauty in a glorious zoological circus of life. He is a model of humility and extreme cordiality, symbolizing and manifesting ‘love’ at its best.

Dr. Buriro is proud recepient of multiple international recognitions that include  “Outstanding Researcher Award” by Continuing Professional Development Institute, Bangkok Thailand, “Noble Asian Research Leader Award” by Leadership in Education Academy and Development, Philippines, “Best Research Advocate Award” by International Society of Publishers, Editors and Reviewers, Philippines and ” Impassioned International Tesol Teacher-trainer Award: Asia and Beyond” by International Society of Teachers, Administrators and Researchers, Bangkok, Thailand.

Dr. Buriro has to his credit PhD in Applied Linguistics, Diplomas in ELT from the US and the UK, work experience in UAE institutions, 56 research publications, impressive community service track record, partial authoring and reviewing of textbooks, revision of national ELT curriculum, attending and presenting at multitude of national and international virtual and on-site conferences, webinars and teaching demonstration festivals, 31 year teaching, 20 year research (including editorship) 10 year administrative experience and the rare privilege of motivating, mentoring and inspiring a wide array of cross-continental audiences.

Dr. Ghulam always adores and strives to be a better human being, passionately seeking to learn, share, care and contribute.