Reflections on ERLS 2026: Presenting Our Canva Study at BRAC University

Date: 6–7 November 2026
Venue: BRAC University, Dhaka, Bangladesh
Organiser: BRAC Institute of Languages (BIL)

At the ERLS Conference 2026, BRAC University, Dhaka.

Early November took me to Dhaka for the 2nd International Conference of BRAC Institute of Languages (BIL) at BRAC University. The theme was "Epistemic Reconfigurations in Language Studies (ERLS): Decolonial Dialogues, Transformative Pathways, and Empowered Practices." Over two days, teachers and researchers from Bangladesh and abroad came together to ask whose knowledge shapes the way we study and teach languages, and how our classrooms might change if we asked that question more often.

Our paper: Canva and English presentation skills

I presented our paper, "Enhancing English Presentation Skills through Canva: Student Perceptions from Bangladeshi Private Higher Education," together with my co-authors Shuva Karmaker and Shaikat Das.

Many of our students are asked to give presentations in English long before they feel ready to speak in front of an audience. We wanted to know how they themselves see Canva, a tool many of them already use, in that process. Our study found that Canva helps students most with slide design and preparation time. Their confidence in speaking English, however, still grows mainly through practice and feedback. In other words, a good tool can make the slides better, but it cannot replace rehearsal, a supportive audience and a teacher's comments. For me, that is a useful reminder: technology works best when it frees time for the human part of learning, not when it tries to take its place.

Presenting our findings: among 145 students, Canva was already the second-choice tool for English presentations (35.2%), after PowerPoint (45.5%).

Receiving the presenter certificate for our paper.

Keynotes that stayed with me

• "Contemporary Global Capitalism (AKA Neoliberalism) in Language Studies Research" by Dr David Block, Honorary Professor of Sociolinguistics, Department of Humanities, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain.
• "GenAI and Global South TESOL Teacher Educator Pedagogical Practices: An Emotion and Identity Perspective" by Professor Peter I. De Costa, Department of Linguistics, Languages and Cultures and Department of Teacher Education, Michigan State University, USA.

Coming from a teacher-training background, I found the second keynote especially close to home. As generative AI enters our classrooms, teacher educators in the Global South are not only learning new tools; they are also renegotiating their feelings and professional identities.

Parallel sessions I attended

• "Linguistic Landscapes as Decolonial Sites: Socioeconomic Inequality and Language Hierarchies in Dhaka's Urban Spaces" by Sirajum Munira
• "Impact of DeepSeek as a Writing Assessment Tool on the Performance of Bangladeshi Students" by Dr Mir Md. Fazle Rabbi
• "AI, Academic Writing, and Authorship Norms in Bangladeshi Universities" by Shuva Karmaker
• "Exploring Practices of Reflective Teaching at a Bangladeshi English Medium School" by Aysha Akter Nupur and Mum Tarin Mouah Aboni
• "Anxieties and Stories of Public Speaking among Undergraduate Students in Bangladeshi Private Universities" by Atkia Mymuna and Sanjida Sultana
• "The Influence of Advertisement Translation: An Investigation on the Marketing Culture of Unilever in Bangladesh, India, America, and England" by Zerin Tasnim Ahmed
• "Language as Evidence: The Role of Forensic Linguistics in Bangladesh's Criminal Justice System"

A session on practical classroom uses of AI in writing.

Two threads ran through many of these sessions: artificial intelligence in writing and assessment, and the anxieties students carry into speaking and presenting. Both connect directly with our own study, and both are questions I would like to keep exploring in my teaching and research.

People and conversations

Conferences are also about the people. It was a pleasure to meet Dr Kh. Atikur Rahman, Mohammad Mosiur Rahman, Pranab Kanti Deb, Omme Kulsum Mili, Md Mahbubul Islam, Mohammad Aminul Islam, Jawad Nirjhor, Md. Reazul Hassan Turzo, Mr Tariq and Mr Mehedi. The conversations between sessions were as valuable as the sessions themselves.

With colleagues at ERLS 2026.

Takeaways for my classroom

• Use digital tools such as Canva to save design time, and spend the saved time on rehearsal and peer feedback.
• Treat speaking anxiety as something to plan for, not something students should simply overcome on their own.
• Keep asking whose knowledge and whose English our materials and assessments are built on.

Heartfelt thanks to BRAC Institute of Languages for organising such a thoughtful and well-run event. You can find this presentation, along with my other work, on my Publications page.