Dr.S.Mekala

Assistant Professor

Office: +91 (431) 2503698
Fax: 0431- 2500133
Email: mekala@nitt.edu


Dr. S. Mekala is an Assistant Professor of English in the Department of Humanities at National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirapalli. She earned her Ph.D in English Language Teaching at Anna University, Chennai. She has over twelve years of teaching and research experience. Her research concentrates on Syllabus Design, Language through Literature and Material Design. Her articles have been published in peer-reviewed national and international journals. Her current research interests include Curriculum Design, Teaching and Learning Methods, Corporate Communication and Business Communication.

Educational Qualification

  • Ph.D - English Language Teaching - Anna University, Chennai
  • M.Phil - English Literature - Madras University, Chennai
  • M.A - English Language and Comparative Literature - Pondicherry Central University, Pondicherry
  • B.A - English Language and Literature - S.R.C, Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirapalli

Seminal Publications

  • “Redesigning B.A English syllabus” Teaching English in Non-native English contexts edited by S.C.Chaudhary, Chennai: Orient Longman, 2002. 182-187. 
  • “Teaching Materials for Young Learners” The Journal of English Language Teaching (India). Vol XXXV.No.2. March-April 2000.41-50. 
  • “Towards Developing an Alternative Syllabus for Students Majoring in English Literature” The Journal of English Language Teaching (India).Vol 43.No.4.July-August 2005.30-36.
  • “Perspectives on Teaching English Literature to English Literature Major Students” Language in India. Vol.9. No.4. April 2009. 312-322
  • “An Alternative Part - II General English Syllabus for English Literature Students” The Modern Journal of Applied Linguistics. Vol.1. No.3. May 2009. 154-168

Book Published

  • An Alternative Syllabus for Students Majoring in English Literature: an ESP Framework. Germany: Lambert Academic Publishing Limited, 2011. ISBN 978-3-8454-1364-8
    For details of the book visit www.amazon.com/Alternative-Syllabus-Students- Majoring-Literature/dp/3845413

Conferences

  • “Teaching the Communicative use of English Language through Literary Pieces” Paper presented in International Congress on English Grammar, CIEFL, Hyderabad. July12-20, 1999.
  • “Needs Analysis of the students Majoring in English Literature” Paper presented in International Congress on English Grammar, Bannari Amman Institute of Technology, Erode. December 27-31, 2004.
  • “Open Book Examinations – a Paradigm Shift” Paper presented in International Conference on ‘Learning to Teach: a Life-Long journey’ organized by English Language Teachers’ Association of India at Sathyabama University, Chennai .February 8–10,2008.
  • “Perspectives on Teaching English Literature” Paper presented in the International Congress on English Grammar, organized by G.Narayanamma Institute of Technology & Science, Hyderabad. January 6 – 11, 2008.
  • “Applying Knowledge Management Practices in Curriculum Design” Paper presented in the International Conference on ‘Quality Improvement in Educational Communication’ organized by the Department of Educational Technology, Bharathidasan University, Trichy. March 29 – 30, 2008.
  • “A value Addition to the Communication Course” Paper presented in the International Conference on Collaboration and Creativity in English Language Teaching and Learning in Asia, organized by AsiaTEFL at The Imperial Queens Park Hotel, Bangkok, Thailand. August 7-9, 2009
  • “Performance Anxiety in Presentations” Paper presented in the Sixth International Congress on English Grammar organized by Kongu Engineering College, Erode. January 9- 13, 2010.
  • “Soft Skills: Necessity of Thinking Skills” paper presented and published in the conference proceedings of the 5th National conference on ‘Enhancement and Excellence in English for Employability and Empowerment’ organized by the Department of English and Foreign languages, SRM University, Chennai & University of Cambridge, ESOL Examinations. March 24-25, 2010.
  • “Case Studies: a Tool to Inculcate Thinking Skills in ESL classroom” paper presented in the international conference on Learning to Learn English: Way to Language Mastery organized by English language Teachers’ Association of India, Chennai. August 5-7, 2010.
  • “Perspective Writing : a Critical Thinking Tool in ESL Classroom” Paper presented and published in the proceedings of the international conference on ‘Language Development and Computing Methods’ organized by the Department of English, Karunya University, Coimbatore. December 2-3, 2010.
  • “The Role of Projects in ESL Learning” paper presented in the international conference on Humanistic Language and Literature Teaching organized by Anna University, Chennai. February 18-19, 2011
  • “Incorporating Thinking Skills in the ESL Curriculum” paper presented in the international conference on Teacher Development organized by English Language Teachers’ Association of India and VIT University, Vellore. 16-18 June, 2011.
  • “Promoting Lateral Thinking Skills in ESP Learners” paper presented in Seventh International congress on English Grammar organized by Department of English, Bannari Amman Institute of Technology, Sathyamangalam, Erode. December 28 - 30, 2011.

Workshop / Training

  • Workshop on Educational Technology organized by IIT Madras. December 17-19, 1998.
  • Teacher Training Workshop on Cambridge BEC – (Business English Certificate) organized by British Council, Chennai. January 10-12, 2005.
  • Training the Trainer Programme’ organized by ELCOT (Electronic corporation of Tamilnadu) at Cognizant Technology Solutions, Chennai. October 27- 28, 2006.
  • Training Programme on Communication Skills Laboratory Course organized by Anna University, Chennai. February 10, 2007.
  • MDP on ‘Values, Ethics and Corporate Governance’ organized by IIM Kozhikode, June 26-28, 2008.
  • ‘Personal Effectiveness at Workplace’ organized by Madras Management Association (MMA), Chennai. 27 February, 2009.
  • MDP on ‘Managing Creativity and Innovation’ organized by Administrative College of India (ASCI), Hyderabad. October 18 – 20, 2010.
  • MDP on 'Leadership Communication' organized by IIM, Indore. 4 - 6 January 2012

Membership

  • Member of International Association of Teachers of English as a Foreign Language (IATEFL), England
  • English Language Teachers’ Association of India (ELTAI)

Reviewer

  • Member of the Editorial board of the Journal - English Language Teaching , CCSE, Canada / ISSN 1916-4742

Research Guidance

  • One Full Time Research Scholar pursuing Ph.D in the area of English Language Teaching

Courses Taught

• Technical English (B.E & B.Tech)
• A Basic Course in Communicative English (B.Tech)
• Professional Communication (B.Tech)
• Communicative English (B.Arch)