Alumna Interaction: Session 10

From Literature to Linguistics: Allied Avenues

The Department of English organized the tenth in the series of virtual Alumna Interactions on March 13, 2021. For the same, Ms. Anshika Arora, from the class of 2018, was invited to speak on  the topic "From Literature to Linguistics: Allied Avenues". She began by talking about her foray into Linguistic Studies during her Post-Graduation from Kellog's College, Oxford University (UK) and her journey since then.

Ms. Anhsika is currently working as a Teacher in the Ministry of Education, UAE who elaborated upon her academic and professional journey.Her long-standing association with Linguistics allowed her to talk at length about socio-linguistics and English as a lingua-franca. She also discussed the challenges to teaching English as a foreign language (EFL) in the UAE as well as the pitfalls of resorting to the first language equivalents in second language acquisition (SLA).

She also helped distinguish between SLA, EFL and EMI (English-mediun Instruction) with respect to language acquisition and instruction and highlighted the differing approaches of instruction employed in South Asian countries (such as India) vis a vis the Middle East as also the US and the UK (as seen in the American and the British schools, respectively).

Finally, during the Q&A session, she spoke about how the shift from literature to linguistics has panned out for her; how one should plan well ahead in time in applying to foreign Universities; and what the future looks like in terms of a career in Linguistics. 

In sum, the session proved to be very informative and inspiring too.