Zhamilya Ermetova
For Zhamilya Ermetova and her colleagues at Urgench State University, the British Council was a crucial source of support during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Zhamilya first learned about the British Council in 1997. She was early in her career as an English language instructor at Urgench State University. A member of the Uzbekistan English Teachers Association (UzETA), Zhamilya took part in a British Council seminar in which British experts introduced a new textbook called Word Wise. Since then, Zhamilya has “always tried to always participate in competitions and projects announced by the British Council.”
Later in her career, having been made head of the Department of English Language and Literature at Urgench State University and while serving as chairman of the Khorezm branch of UzET, Zhamilya participated in the British Council’s PRESETT project which helped develop and implement modern methods for teaching English in Uzbekistan.
"With the support of various projects of the British Council, we have made considerable positive changes in the training of teachers of English. I started working in the higher education system in 1991, when everything—the methodology, the textbooks—represented the old way of doing things,” Zhamilya recalls.
The British Council has helped Zhamilya and her colleagues gain “mastery of modern international standards for teaching English.”
“I am proud that I was directly involved in projects carried out jointly with the Ministry of Higher and Secondary Specialized Education, the British Council, another partners. Now, when I compare the teaching of the past and today, I see a huge difference for the better,” Zhamilya added.
The use of new teaching methodologies is leading to better outcomes for students. By their third and fourth year of university instruction, many students are proficient enough to begin teaching in their free time in language courses.
But the COVID-19 pandemic was a major challenge for instructors, who had to turn to online instruction. According to Zhamilya, those who had participated in British Council projects were better prepared for this challenge.
"Around four or five years ago, many teachers took part in the Technology Enhanced Language Learning program. This course aimed specifically to explore the possibilities of Internet technologies and their effective use. Of course, during the pandemic, when there was a sharp turn to online learning, the higher education system was not prepared for this. This transition was much easier for many professors at philological universities who participated in the British Council webinars,” Zhamilya explained.
The British Council also held its own webinars during the pandemic, which kept Uzbek educators connected with international experts and colleagues from other countries. These experiences were “very necessary for continuous growth” and Zhamilya is grateful to the organisation for making these resources available.
“The British Council has always been a source of inspiration not only for university teachers but also for secondary school teachers and all language learners. The various courses and trainings it offers been a source of valuable knowledge about teaching methods and how best to learn the English language,” she relayed.
Because of the British Council’s efforts to introduce Uzbek educators to online teaching and because of the resources made available during the pandemic, Zhamilya and her colleagues “were not at a loss.”