Global Voices: A short story describing Huma’s unique experience

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In this issue we have included teachers who write for us, review materials for us, are regular readers and potential contributors. Will your story be next?


Huma Hasna Riaz Ahmed, United Arab Emirates

The day you think, you have got a lesson ‘exactly right’, there might be a problem. If that day comes, do things differently, experiment, innovate and keep on learning.

I live by this mantra.

My name is Huma Hasna Riaz Ahmed, and I come from India. While I don’t particularly subscribe to the hierarchy of languages, I can say that English is my fourth language. I have been teaching English for over 14 years at the British Council. During this time, I have worn many hats: teacher, trainer, materials writer, examiner and e-moderator. My teaching journey has taken me from classrooms in India to those in England – and now I find myself in the UAE where I usually teach adult learners.

What keeps me going? What fuels my passion for teaching? It’s my never-ending journey as a learner. I have been a student all my teaching life. From chalkboards to smart boards, and now with the integration of AI, I have welcomed change with open arms to adapt to the ever-changing educational landscape.

An integral part of my journey is action research. I enjoy the process of reflection and research, battling the challenges that classrooms present. My first foray into action research was during the DipTESOL course a few years ago, where I explored the factors influencing adult learner motivation when studying online courses. This was back in 2017, a time when online teaching wasn’t as widespread as it is today. Since then, I have continued to research and experiment with various intervention strategies.

One such strategy that holds an important place in my lesson planning is self-assessment. My research has shown that self-assessment is a practical and effective method to bridge the gap between autonomy and motivation, fostering reflection and ownership. Self-assessment and reflection are now integral to my teaching.

And then, I stumbled upon Demand High 3XP. According to this approach, the same practice activity is repeated multiple times in different ways, rapidly, within the same lesson. My research revealed that this method boosts the confidence of lower-level learners, as feedback from teachers and peers after each repetition enhances performance. So, now, 3XP and my lessons for lower-level learners go hand in hand, with great success.

What’s next?

At the moment, I have taken on the challenge of re-evaluating the English-only policy in my classroom. I am studying the impact of multilingual teaching on lower-level learners’ confidence in using language. This research is ongoing, and it’s the first time I’ve felt such anxiety about my research. Challenging the general narrative that society has accepted for ages isn’t easy. But isn’t that the very essence of classroom research? – to step out of your comfort zone, engage in internal battles and keep pushing forward?  


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