English Language Teachers' Associations

Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan English Teachers' Association (AETA)
92 A, Inglab Street, Apt. 31
370110 Baku, Azerbaijan
Tel: (99412) 64 91 35
Email: m_ragsana@email.com
Gilinjkhan Bayramov, President
Ragsana Mamedova, Vice President
Nazaket Begliarova, Office Assistant

AETA was established by the USA Embassy in 1995 as a Teacher Resource Center. One year later they were registered as an NGO at Ministry of Justice of Azerbaijan Republic.

BY LAWS:
The aim of AETA is to disseminate the news in the English language world, help the English teachers of secondary schools, colleges and universities develop professionally through workshops, seminars, conversation groups, TV matinees, etc.

MAJOR ACTIVITIES:
1. Workshops organized at different high schools in districts and suburbs of Baku City
2. EL development and provision of conversation classes at AETA
3. Establishment of 4 teams (4 teachers in each) to go to workshops in regions
4. Meetings at Sheki and Khachmaz regions
5. Assistance to EL teachers to adapt old material to the new methods and ways of teaching
6. Recommendations to use supplemental materials in the classroom
7. Hold TV matinees

ENGLISH LANGUAGE PROGRAM SUPPORT:
Open Society Institute-Azerbaijan was the main financial supporter in 1998.
Approximately 50 members of AETA participated in workshops organized by the English Language Program.
EL books and additional resources were donated to AETA.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
AETA has more than 300 members, two-thirds of them are newly graduated young teachers. One member received a Master's Degree in Education / TESOL at the University of Leeds, UK during the academic year of 1999-2000, and two others are studying at the same university for the same purpose. Member annual fee is US $ 3.00.
AETA has an affiliation in Khachmaz.

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bosnia-Herzegovina English Teachers' Association (BHETA)
Obala Kulina bana 3
33 000, Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina
Tel: (387 33) 213 742
Dzevahira Arslanagic, President

BHETA's main goal is to improve the level of English Language Teaching in BH by:

• providing a forum for teacher development seminars and the exchange of teaching ideas

• informing teachers of regional, national and international conferences and workshops and helping them attend such conferences

• building a communication and support network for teachers of English throughout the country
  

How Open Society Fund-Bosnia and Herzegovina ELP supports the teachers' association:

• In cooperation with the British Council, SPELT teacher trainers and fellows run regular workshops and seminars throughout the country to provide professional development for teachers.

• In order to develop a network of local teacher trainers and trainer trainers, OSF-BH ELP, together with the British Council, has initiated Teacher Development Program.

Croatia

Hrvatsko Udruzenje Profesora Engleskog Jesika (HUPE)
Croatian Association of Teachers of English
Krizaniceva 4a
10000 Zagreb, Croatia

Georgia

English Teachers' Association of Georgia (ETAG)
36 Chavchavadze Avenue
380079 Tbilisi, Georgia
Tel: (99532) 25 08 56
etag@ip.osgf.ge
Ms. Rusudan Tkemaladze, ETAG Director

click here to read about ETAG By-Laws

ETAG Major Activities

• Conducts bimonthly meetings for teachers; each meeting covers a topic in one of 4 SIGS: Business English, Teacher Development, Teaching Young Learners and Testing

• Publishes a quarterly newsletter for ETAG members

• Conducts an International English Teaching Conference every two years

• Offers four different training courses for ETAG members and non-members: Teaching Business English, Teaching Secondary and High School Learners, Teaching Young Learners, and Language Development

• Sells USIS English books at a reduced price to ETAG members

• Holds regional training workshops

• Coordinates the activities of 9 branches in the regions around Georgia

How OSGF Supports ETAG
At the start of ETAG, back in 1994, Open Society Georgia Foundation provided ETAG with a room to use as its headquarters, books and a lot of guidance on how they should conduct business. As the years have gone by, ETAG has become more and more independent, acquiring grants from USIS, the British Council and other international organizations. ETAG has received a number of grants from OSGF through taking part in open grant competitions in a number of OSGF programs. ETAG receives free Internet connection via OSGF's Wide Open World Internet service, and they also host ETAG's web site. ETAG is now fully independent and make their own organizational plans and decisions.

How SPELT Supports ETAG
The SPELT program has been helping ETAG since the program's beginning in 1997. SPELT Teacher Trainers and Fellows sometimes conduct meetings, accompany other ETAG members on trips to the regions to conduct workshops, run English for Specific Purposes classes as part of ETAG's semester-long Saturday training course for teachers, and coordinate the ETAG training course project, in which ETAG trainers develop and conduct methodology courses to generate income for the Association. Also, SPELT Teacher Trainers and Fellows travel to the regions conducting workshops at the different branches of ETAG. The SPELT program tries to encourage the development of regional ETAG branches through these workshops and visits. The SPELT Fellow in Batumi conducts teacher workshops at the Batumi branch of ETAG and also travels to other branches to speak to their members.

Suggestions on Starting a Teachers' Association
The English Teachers' Association of Georgia has been very successful. Rusudan Tkemaladze has been Director of ETAG since it started, and she is often invited to other countries to talk about starting such an organization. She is always willing to help and is a good person to talk to. Email: etag@ip.osgf.ge

Haiti

Research Club in English Teaching (RCET)
c/o FOKAL, Fondation Connaissance et Liberte-Haiti
7 rue des Marguerites
Turgeau, B.P. 2720
HT 6113 Port-au-Prince, Haiti
Attention: Mr. Samson Charles
samsoncharles@hotmail.com
Carleme Michel, RCET President
Tel: (509) 245-0008

RCET has bi-weekly meetings on Saturday mornings from 10:30 to 12:30 at the English Center of the Ecole Normale Superieure. The English Center is part of the SPELT program. Members are sometimes asked to prepare presentations, but often meetings consist of informal discussions concerning problems in the classroom, activities which teachers have found to be successful, etc. RCET has existed for three years and has approximately 25 members. RCET organizes teacher training seminars, sends members to seminars in other cities to give presentations on how to establish a teachers' association.

English Teachers' Club Cap Haitien (ETC Cap)
c/o FOKAL, Fondation Connaissance et Liberte-Haiti
7 rue des Marguerites
Turgeau, B.P. 2720
Port-au-Prince, Haiti
Attention: Mr. Samson Charles
samsoncharles@hotmail.com
Chairpersons: Fanfan Joseph, Ernst Jean, and Harris Constant
Tel: (509) 245-0008

ETC Cap was established in 2000, after the first English teachers' seminar was held in the Cap. ETC Cap holds bi-weekly meetings and has approximately 30 members, who attend teacher training seminars. ETC Cap hopes to set up an English teachers' resource center with the help of FOKAL, something that is very much needed as many English teachers in the region currently have little access to English dictionaries, grammar texts, and methodology materials.

English teachers in Jacmel, a small city on the southern coast, are in the process of forming a teachers' association.

Lithuania

An Association of Modern Language Teaching Centers is being established, the goal of which is to unite the efforts of Centers seeking higher quality and educational standards. Soros International House-Vilnius is a founding member of this organization.

Macedonia

Lake Ohrid English Teachers' Resource Center (LOETREC)
ul. Kosta Abras 22
6000 Ohrid, Macedonia
Tel/Fax: (389 96) 263 794
LOETREC@freemail.org.mk

LOETREC is primarily for elementary, secondary, and university teachers of English for Specific Purposes. LOETREC also welcomes university students, high school students (particularly those working on graduation projects in English), people studying for TOEFL, CAE, PET, and other English language examinations, and teachers and students who just want to improve their English language skills. Some services that LOETREC provides include information on English-speaking countries, help with English language lessons, assistance in practicing English grammar, TOEFL practice materials, video and audio tapes in English, access to the internet for the purpose of English language and teaching information, and a library of English books, magazines, and journals. LOETREC's hosts activities such as professional development seminars for teachers, fundraising events, open discussions for teachers, video night, poetry evenings, conversation club, English-speaking cultural events, and more!

Russia

National Association of Teachers of English (NATE)
NATE is a professional association of teachers of English in Russia working in different regions and at different levels. It is an affiliate of TESOL and works in close cooperation with the British Council and the English Language Office of Public Affairs Section at the USA Embassy in Moscow.

Slovakia

Slovak Association of Teachers of English (SAUA/SATE)
Gymnázium J.Papánka
Vazovova 6
811 07 Bratislava
Slovak Republic
Tel/Fax: (421-7) 524 97 296
Gabriela Dornáková, President
gdornakova@ba.telecom.sk

OSF-Bratislava's English Language Program support to the teachers' association:
ELP approved several grants which were submitted by SIG Coordinators for their activities. Two Young Learners SIG national conferences were supported, as well as a publication of methodology papers and practical activities collected from YL teacher trainers, and one Drama SIG drama festival. ELP puts its advertisements in SAUA/SATE Newsletter and informs teachers all over the country. In 2001 ELP started to cooperate with SAUA/SATE on the English Essay Competition program to later spin it off to the teachers' association.

Tajikistan

English Teachers' Association of Tajikistan (ETAT)
3 Bokhtar Street
Dushanbe, Tajikistan 734025
Tel: (992372) 274 590
Parvona Jamshedov, Chairman E-mail: parvona@tajnet.com
Niso Rasulova, Board Member

In April 1999 ETAT officially registered with the Ministry of Justice. In 2000 the association received a grant from the US government for a project to deliver teacher training seminars in the four regions of Tajikistan and to create and issue a newsletter. So far three newletters have been issued and a fourth is in the making.

ETAT held their first annual conference for two days in October 2000. 70 teachers participated. The conference was supported by Open Society Institute-Tajikistan which provided a grant for the organization of the event.

Uzbekistan

Uzbek Teachers of English Association (UzTEA)
54-V Buyuk Ipak Yulli str.
70000 Tashkent, Uzbekistan
Tel/Fax: (998 71) 67 16 35
Jamilya Gulyamova, President
Elvira Shaigalieva, Vice-president
uztea@online.ru

UzTEA is an NGO supported by USIS and currently has 460 active members - teachers working on different educational levels. Its mission is to "…stimulate professional development and improve language skills of EFL teachers all over the country."

UzTEA has its regional branches in Samarkand, Bukhara, Fergana, Nukus, Termez and Urgench. UzTEA holds monthly professional development seminars in Tashkent and in the regions (UzTEA-USIS methodology seminar and e-mail and internet seminars), issues monthly newsletters, supports TV EFL programs, renders assistance in organizing SPELT teacher training seminars and actively involves SPELT fellows into its teacher training activities.

UzTEA in the Samarkand region:
49 Uzbekistanskaya str.
Samarkand
Tel: (998-3662) 33 33 53
F ax: (998-3662) 33 47 04
Malik Khodzhaev, Chairperson
hodjaev@school.samuni.silk.org

UzTEA in the Tashkent region:
Angren
Tel: (998-266) 22 48 9
Lyubov Tsoy, Chairperson

UzTEA in the Fergana valley:
Fergana
Tel/fax: (998-3732) 24 83 13
Rano Zakirova, Chairperson

UzTEA in the Khorezm region:
Urgench city,
Tel: (998-3612) 22 61 203; Chairperson:
Bella Tsoy, Chairperson

UzTEA in Karakalpakistan:
Nukus city,
Tel/fax: (998-361) 22 32 280
Lily Lagazidze, Chairperson