Dear valued readers,

We are extremely delighted to welcome you to the NELTA ELT Forum’s February-March Issue of 2022. This issue has a broad and diverse selection of papers on ELT and pedagogy-related issues. We have included ideas from classroom practices, reflections, writing centers, and teaching-learning experiences to assist English teachers in quenching their thirst for gaining knowledge on this issue. We express our heartfelt gratitude to the contributors and are grateful for their unwavering support. We hope this issue will also win your heart!

In this issue, we have included papers covering different areas of English language teaching and learning. In the first paper, ‘Learning English Independently Through Learning Portals,’ Mr. Gopal Prasad Bashyal argues that English can be learned independently through learning portals because learning portals set up a virtual environment for disseminating access to knowledge and various tools for ESL learners to access, navigate and aggregate learning chunks or learning objects from courses, websites, internal databases, or repositories (Kolagani, 2018). Mr. Bashyal emphasizes blending the learning experiences of traditional teacher-centered classroom learning and self-directed independent learning through e-learning portals. He provides some online learning portals and some practical suggestions on how learning portals can be used autonomously to scaffold ESL students’ English language learning experiences.

Similarly, in the second paper, ‘Preparing ESL Students for Success in their College Career Through the Acquisition of Listening and Speaking Skills,’ Mr. Dan Greenwood states that one of the most challenging aspects of English language acquisition for ESL learners involves listening skills and overcoming the tendency to avoid speaking for fear of being misunderstood. Therefore, ESL students often experience challenges with their oral skills in English because English is not their native language. In this paper, Mr. Greenwood focuses on preparing ESL students for success in their college careers by acquiring listening and speaking skills.

Finally, in the Nepalese higher education context, the concept of the Writing Center is entirely new. Although there are 12 universities in Nepal, there is no Writing Center run by professionals in any Nepalese university. They are free academic support centers for all students at U.S. and Canadian universities. Hence, we have realized that it is critical to provide information on how Writing Centers are established and run in U.S. universities and colleges. To achieve this, we present an interview that our Editor-in-Chief, Dr. Padam Chauhan, conducted with the Assistant Director of the Writing Center, Ms. Teresa Neubert, from Minnesota State University, Mankato, Minnesota, USA, in this issue. In the interview entitled ‘Writing Centers in the U.S. Universities and Colleges: What, Why, to Whom, and How’, Ms. Neubert highlights the concept of Writing Center, its purpose, administrative structure, management, and administration. Toward the end of the interview, Ms. Neubert also provided valuable suggestions to those who want to establish a writing center within their universities and colleges in Nepal and neighboring countries.

We are committed to publishing more opinion-based papers, research-based papers, and readily implemented teaching and learning tips in the upcoming issue of our e-zine. We always welcome your feedback to make our future issues more useful and innovative. 

Happy reading!

Editor-in-Chief

• Dr. Padam Chauhan

Issue Editors

• Mr. Kamal Raj Lamsal (Issue Coordinator)
• Mr. Bishnu Bahadur Khadka
• Mr. Agni Gyanwali
• Mr. Chet Nath Panta
• Mr. Gobinda Puri

We have hyperlinked the articles for readers’ convenience as follows.

• Learning English Independently Through Learning Portals
• Preparing ESL Students for Success in their College Career Through the Acquisition of Listening and Speaking Skills
• Writing Centers in the U.S. Universities and Colleges: What, Why, to Whom, and How (Interview)