KARACHI: The 33rd Annual International Conference of the Society of Pakistan English Language Teachers (SPELT) titled: ‘Glocalisation: Think Global, Act Local’ concluded in Karachi on Monday. More than 1,500 teachers from schools, colleges, universities and other academic institutions as well as educators, journalists and business professionals were registered for the two-day conference held at the Karachi School of Business and Leadership and Dawood Public School. International and local educational experts attended the event, featuring more than 100 English and Urdu workshop sessions, plenary talks, webinars, papers and colloquiums. As a keynote speaker, Dr Christine Coombe of Dubai Men’s College, explained the topic ‘Professionalizing Your English Language Teaching’, adding that being a teacher was simply not about having the right teaching credentials and being in good academic standing. “It also involves a commitment to being innovative and transformative in the classroom and helping both students and colleagues achieve their goals,” she said. “Professionalism is less a matter of what professionals actually do and more a matter of who they are as human beings,” she said. Prof Yilin Sun of Seattle College, USA said that for the last 50 years, the field of teaching English to speakers of other languages had witnessed significant transformation. Addressing a session titled: ‘Redefining and Empowering Teachers and Learners in the Glocalised ELT Field’, he said that society did not accept new ideas, views and practices. Dr Arifa Rehman, English professor at the University of Dhaka, Bangladesh, delivered a lecture on how teachers might use appropriate localised materials to encourage harmony among communities and thus function as change agents in the promotion of social justice. SPELT Conference had a strong Urdu strand with a variety of themes for Urdu Language teachers and educators. The keynote speaker was, renowned educator, author Dr Sayed Jafer Ahmed, who delivered his lecture on ‘Alamgiriat (Globalisation) ka sail- e-rawan aur Safina-e-Urdu’. The Urdu teacher training workshops featured an interesting mix of topics covered by renowned writers, critics, and experienced teachers such as Zahida Hina, Fatima Hassan among others. For the first time, SPELT expanded its horizon to include special needs education as a strand. Participants included educationists like Asima Tayyab, Saima Haq, Rukhsana Shah, Mehar Cawasji, and Teacher Trainers from CARE. Special workshops and talks by Oxford University Press and presentations by the Research Special Interest Group were being organised as part of the conference where people took interest keenly. An important feature of the conference paid a tribute to Dr Prof Michael Halliday, the world renowned linguist and theorist of SFL. Published in Daily Times, October 31st 2017.