The US Embassy Tashkent welcomed 25 American English teachers this week to begin 10-month teaching and professional development programs throughout Uzbekistan, joining local teachers to provide direct classroom instruction to students.
The group includes 17 English teaching assistants, early-career instructors who will co-teach with local English teachers in classrooms from 10th grade to the university level, and eight English Language Fellows (EL Fellows), seasoned educators in the field of Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) who will enhance English teaching capacity at the university level, the embassy said.
Fifteen of the teaching assistants are part of the US Department of State’s Fulbright English Teaching Assistant (ETA) Program and two are returning ETA alumni participating in the US Embassy Tashkent’s English Language Educator program to continue their English teaching support in Uzbekistan. EL Fellows hold Master’s degrees in TESOL or a related field and have an average of 10 years of teaching experience.
“The program that you all are participating in here is enormously impactful,” US Ambassador to Uzbekistan Jonathan Henick said during opening remarks at the teachers’ orientation Monday. “Teaching English is not only about teaching English — it’s an opportunity to help shape how students think not only about language, but about the world.”
The 25 American educators are from all over the United States – from California to Florida – and will support English language teaching and learning in 11 different regions of Uzbekistan. They will also serve as cultural ambassadors for the United States, fostering mutual understanding between the United States and Uzbekistan, while at the same time enhancing English language education by demonstrating up-to-date best practices in Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL).
The Ministry of Preschool and School Education, the Ministry of Higher Education Science and Technology, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs have fully supported these English teaching initiatives since they were jointly launched in 2019 by the U.S. Embassy and the ministries.
These programs are just one part of the US Government’s vast commitment to strengthening English teaching and learning in Uzbekistan. Since 2018, the U.S. Government has invested more than $28 million in English language teaching and learning in Uzbekistan in line with President Mirziyoyev’s reform efforts to promote English learning and long-term economic growth. This funding includes the purchase of high-quality English textbooks for more than 10,000 schools across the country and the professional development of 15,000 secondary school English teachers.
