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Paul Gunashekar

Paul Gunashekar has been teaching English, training teachers of English and developing instructional materials for English Language Teaching for over thirty-three years. Educated in Bangalore and London, he is a Professor in the Centre for Materials Development at The English and Foreign Languages University (formerly CIEFL), Hyderabad.

Professor Gunashekar has authored, co-authored and edited about two hundred English teaching books - including coursebooks, workbooks, supplementary and literature readers, teacher’s books and reading cards - for national agencies like NCERT, CBSE, NIOS and IGNOU, and state agencies like the Government of Andhra Pradesh and the AP Social Welfare Residential Educational Institutions Society.

Co-author of OUP’s Communicate in English, Learning to Communicate for the Middle School, Provocations: a Reading Course for Colleges and Writing for Life, he is the General Editor of New Wave English Readers, and the Series Editor of Broadway: A Multi-skill Course in English and Skyline: An Integrated Course in English, also published by Oxford University Press India. In addition, he has developed audio materials for schools and video programmes for colleges.

Professor Gunashekar has conducted over a thousand teacher-training workshops in India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, UAE, Kuwait, Oman, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. He has also conducted courses in business communication, communication skills, report writing, public speaking and presentation skills for corporate houses.

Awarded the Commonwealth Scholarship for ELT research in the UK, Professor Gunashekar specializes in course design, teacher development and English for Specific Purposes. He is an ELT consultant to Oxford University Press India, and India consultant to the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary.

S. K Ram

S K Ram has done pioneering work in designing and developing syllabuses, instructional materials and teacher training. She has taught in organizations like ELTI, Allahabad as Assistant Professor, Regional Colleges of Education, Bhubaneshwar and Ajmer as Reader in English and National Institute of Education, Delhi (NCERT) as Reader/Professor of English.

Ms Ram has developed materials in English for CBSE schools like Kendriya Vidyalayas, Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas, schools of Delhi Administration and Arunachal Pradesh. These textbooks were also used as prototypes by many states. She had also designed a need-based syllabus in English for B.Ed with emphasis on methodology and proficiency in English.

In her illustrious career, Ms Ram has conducted a series of orientation programmes for different categories of teachers – primary, middle, secondary and senior secondary. She has been the resource person for the summer courses organized by UGC and British Council for college lecturers in Jadavpur University and Delhi University. She has also organized seminars for teachers and teacher trainers in Sri Lanka and Mauritius.

Mr. J . A . Mason

John Mason has served Indian education for forty two years. He taught at La Martiniere, Kolkata and was Head of St. James’ School, Kolkata, Modern High School, Dubai and the Doon School, Dehra Dun.

He has written several text books on English through Oxford University Press, including the popular New! Learning to Communicate with S.K. Ram. John has an abiding interest in teacher education and development and set up a Teachers’ Centre in Dubai and at Doon.

He is a member of the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations.

Now actively retired John is working on a unique village project near Meerut, as well as travelling around the country conducting workshops for teachers.