Santo Domingo, Wednesday, November 15, 2023.– The United States Embassy and the Universidad Domínico Americana (UNICDA), through its professional development center, Teacher Development Center (TDC), opened the Annual Conference for Teachers of English, with the theme “A Powerful Synergy in ELT”. The opening ceremony was attended by teachers from various public and private educational institutions in the country.
The opening ceremony was led by the Chargé d’Affaires, a.i. of the Embassy of the United States, Mr. Bryan Larson; the Executive Director of the Instituto Nacional de Formación y Capacitación del Magisterio (INAFOCAM), Mr. Andrés de las Mercedes; the Vice Minister of Education, Mr. Jorge Adalberto Martínez; the Secretary of the Board of Directors of the Instituto Cultural Domínico Americano, Ms. Lucy Threan de Lamarche; and the Executive Director of ICDA and Rector of UNICDA, Mr. Ramón Sosa.
During her welcoming remarks, Mrs. Lucy Threan de Lamarche expressed that this event “acts as a catalyst for excellence, fostering an environment in which teachers can hone their craft and inspire the next generation of leaders, thinkers and communicators”.
The opening plenary was given by Ricardo Azarcoya, National Geographic Explorer, and Mary Scholl, founder and member of the Institute for Collaborative Learning in Costa Rica.
The conference also featured various workshops and concurrent sessions presented by national and international expert speakers on topics related to creating synergy in English language teaching to optimize learning.
During the last year and a half, the U.S. Embassy in conjunction with the Universidad Domínico Americano, from its Teacher Development Center, has trained more than 1,500 English teachers nationwide in English language teaching, with a communicative approach, evaluation and reflective teaching practice. In addition, a teaching guide was created to support English teachers entitled “American English Guide” with lessons developed for each function of the national curriculum.
