Aziz Abu Sarah shares how education played a major role in his transformation from a radical to a peace builder, and how his educational work in Syria, Afghanistan, Israel, Palestine, and the United States has helped bridge the gap between hostile communities. Abu Sarah explores how education has the power to heal conflicts, from the geopolitical stage to the classroom.
National Geographic Explorer and TED Fellow, National Geographic
Aziz Abu Sarah is a National Geographic Explorer and Cultural Educator, as well as a TED Fellow. He is the co-founder of MEJDI Tours, a social enterprise focused on introducing multi-narrative cultural education and responsible business practices to the travel industry. The company... Read More →
Teaching any class language skills is challenging, and if the class contains students with special educational needs, it can be difficult to be inclusive to all students. In this session, we will explore a range of content creation and comprehension tools made possible through Artificial Intelligence developments. While they were invented with SEN students in mind, they are popular and useful with students of all levels and abilities. We will use common apps such as Word, PowerPoint, and OneNote to showcase how AI is making language learning more accessible. For instance, how can we make content easier to read for a dyslexic student, or check that the content we share with students is accessible? How can we make AI listen to our accent as we recite a poem and detect any mispronunciations? How can we rehearse for a presentation and have AI advise us on speaking speed, filler words, and appropriate language? How can we hear texts read to us with realistic accents, not robotic voices? Join us in the session to learn how to do all these things with AI.
Academic Program Manager for Microsoft Ireland, Microsoft Ireland
Stephen Howell is an Irish developer with 22 years’ experience in software engineering, lecturing, program management, and the education industry. Almost 8 years ago, he made the move from academia to join Microsoft, where he is a specialist on topics including Cloud Computing... Read More →
With many of us making the shift to remote teaching and learning it seems all the more important to remember to maintain the human aspect of language learning. What could be more human than the need to create? In this session Nik Peachey will share ideas, exercises and activities which foster our students’ creativity and enable them to use language in a creative way. The activities will show how the remote or the face to face classroom can be leveraged to make language learning and use a creative and engaging experience.
Nik Peachey is Director of Pedagogy at PeacheyPublications, an independent digital publishing company that specialises in the design of digital learning materials. He has been involved in Education since 1990 and has more than 20 years experience of working specifically with online... Read More →
As ELT professionals, it is essential that we know what motivates us as individuals. We also need to know how to maintain balance with the many personal and professional roles we have in life. Having a personal vision statement can keep us grounded on a daily basis. A teaching philosophy also helps keep us focused as ELT professionals. A teaching philosophy is a statement of the beliefs, values, goals, theories, and principles that guide our teaching. A philosophy serves as the starting point for engaging in reflection-for-action, reflection-in-action, and reflection-on-action. The combination of your philosophy and reflective practice will facilitate your continued growth and development as an ELT professional. Six notable recommendations for articulating and using your teaching philosophy will be provided.
Professor and Chair of the Department of English Language Teaching and Learning, Brigham Young University–Hawaii
Neil J Anderson is a Professor of English Language Teaching and Learning in the Faculty of Education and Social Work at Brigham Young University–Hawaii. Professor Anderson is the author or co-editor of over 50 books, book chapters, and journal articles. His research interests include... Read More →
The benefits of group work in the language classroom have been well documented. However, ensuring successful group work, where students stay on task and real learning happens, is often easier said than done. This workshop will cover four essential elements of setting up group work. Workshop participants will have opportunities to discuss group work challenges they currently face, what approaches they already use, and what they might employ in the future. The workshop will wrap up with a chance for participants to plan a group activity using the 4 essential elements. Time for questions and discussion will follow.
Senior Instructor/New Faculty Mentor/GE Supervisor, American English Institute, University of Oregon
Janine Sepulveda is a classroom teacher and teacher trainer at the University of Oregon and has 30 years’ experience in the field. She has worked with students and teachers from over 50 countries and has taught EFL in South Korea, the Netherlands, and Mexico. She has also conducted... Read More →
If you are looking for innovative, fun, and challenging ways to practice interrogative questions, develop meaningful discussions that foster critical thinking skills and active, independent thinking, and learn new techniques for engaging all learners to produce in your classroom, then this interactive session is for you. Participants will co-explore several successful ways to approach the posing and practice of questions in many formats, ways to make students “the experts,” move beyond the display question model for practice that can also be used for both formative and summative assessment purposes and to ask questions of ourselves that promote our own ongoing professional development. Handouts and sample materials will be shared.
Senior Instructor, AEI Faculty Mentor, GE Supervisor, American English Institute LTS Program, Department of Linguistics, University of Oregon
Laura G. Holland (MA TESOL, Teachers College, Columbia University, BS Early Childhood and Elementary Education, Wheelock College of Education), has been teaching English language for nearly 35 years. At the University of Oregon, she teaches English language and teacher education in... Read More →
Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) have facilitated significant innovation in teaching in the recent past. Yet, as educators, our imagination of what is possible reaches even beyond what has been achieved. Many of our ideas for innovation include digitising existing models of teaching to make them more effective, or more accessible or even cheaper. However, they also include new models of learning that have only become feasible due to the affordances of ICT. So why are we so slow in making progress to what we imagine is possible? This session will describe ICT based educational innovations that the presenter has worked on and seen elsewhere as well as the barriers inhibiting their implementation. Participants will then be asked to reflect on the innovations that they would like to see happen, the barriers that are likely to inhibit these innovations and propose possible solutions to overcome these barriers.
Head of Online Learning Innovation, Institute of Technology Sligo
Brian Mulligan, Head of Online Learning Innovation in Institute of Technology Sligo, is an engineer whose early career was in simulation and the application of information technology in engineering. Since the mid-nineties he has been a key innovator in the application of IT in teaching... Read More →
Digital literacies are the technical skills and social practices needed to effectively interact with digital technologies; as such, they are key 21st century skills. As English language teachers, we are helping our students to communicate in a global lingua franca in an increasingly wired world. We need to ensure that they are given not just the linguistic tools to do so, but an awareness of the wider social practices surrounding the appropriate use of language which is increasingly being mediated by technology. It is imperative for teachers to not only understand and develop their own digital literacy skills, but to help students develop theirs. This workshop looks at some of the theory underpinning digital literacies, and explores how teacher training courses can address them. We also consider the challenges involved in operationalising digital literacies in the classroom, and what this means for teaching in the 21st century.
Nicky Hockly is Director of Pedagogy of The Consultants-E (TCE), a highly-respected and award-winning online training and development organisation. She has worked in the field of English Language Teaching since 1987, is an international plenary speaker, and gives workshops and training... Read More →
The acquisition-learning distinction, the natural order hypothesis, the Monitor hypothesis (“what about grammar?”), comprehensible and “compelling” input, and the importance of fiction (“stories”). that shows this, but I have profited from it greatly: research on “the composing process, “ including the importance of revision, daily regular writing, flexible planning, and why "Inspiration usually comes during work, rather than before it.“ (Madeleine L’Engle)
Professor Emeritus at the University of Southern California
Stephen Krashen has published over 500 articles (540 at last count) and a dozen scholarly books in the fields of literacy, language acquisition, neurolinguistics, and bilingual education. Many of these publications are available for free download at sdkrashen.com and some are p... Read More →
In this highly interactive and engaging session, Jill Hellman, founder of the Strategy Lab and a Visiting Professor of Innovation at Cornell, bridges the gap between human experience and need turning learning into a practical approach to drive innovation in and out of the classroom. In this Webinar participants will leave with key drivers to make innovation happen.
Founder, The Strategy Lab, Visiting Professor of Innovation at Cornell University, The Strategy Lab
Professor Jill Hellman is an innovation expert and highly sought-after advisor, leader, and keynote speaker. She specializes in helping individuals or groups of any kind rethink, reimagine, and grow. Professor Hellman has stood on top of the world in Greenland and Iceland addressing... Read More →
For many years, education has focused on “Hard Thinking”: prioritising “Cognition” in the language classroom. Aspects such as creativity, emotions and strategic training have been neglected in the pursue of rational thinking and knowledge. Nowadays, educators have started to acknowledge the relevance of “Soft Thinking” and the “Socioemotional Domain” as scaffolding elements that enable the development of learners’ Communicative Competence. Resourcefulness, Resilience and Reflection are posed at the forefront in such a way life-long learning can be promoted. “Desperate times, take desperate measures” but, why not understanding the world as an everchanging force and enabling learners to adjust to dealing with face to face and online interactions? Developing “Resourcefulness”, “Resilience” and “Reflection” can certainly promote the combination of “Soft” and “Hard” thinking our students need to move in the world. In this session, we will discuss how theorists such as Claxton, Vygotsky and Brunner identify the relevance of fostering learning as a whole and how, as practitioners, we can help build the bridges that enable our learners to “be” in a foreign language.
Xóchitl Arvizu is a passionate teacher educator who discovered her teaching vocation at 8. Since 1991, she has taught students at different levels and age-groups, but she most enjoys working with teachers. Xóchitl has a master’s degree in education from Exeter University. She... Read More →
As we continue to harness the power of technology to give online classes, the shift towards a flipped methodology is all the rage. I look at what this actually means and how this has guided my practice over the years, the changes I have made, and my vision of the future. We look at the pillars of FLIP and what they mean in a real-world situation and the gaps between theory and practice, as well as how to delve into concepts and situations with our students.
Director Erudite Languages / Kiki's Adventures, Erudite Languages & Kiki's Adventures
Being born and raised in London, England, and with a background in Mathematics, Robert Boyle's career in languages, in the beginning, was not evident to see. However, the multicultural environment, the patterns within language, and the ingenuity behind the learning process struck... Read More →
We all know the importance of teaching the ‘bones’ of English – the skeleton of vocabulary, grammar and functions upon which the language is based. Our syllabi are constructed around them, and we are often given tick lists of structures and lexical sets to mark our students’ progress. However, our choice of topics, and the way that we set tasks, respond to students, and encourage them to develop, give us the opportunity not only to teach these items, but also to develop our students’ less quantifiable skills and abilities. In today’s classroom – whether online or in person, we should be aiming not just to help our students improve their English, but also to nurture their feelings of independence and confidence and to prepare them for these unprecedented times. As the world around us all is changing rapidly, in ways that no-one could have predicted even a year ago, we need now, more than ever, to focus on teaching the whole student, not just the language learner. Through activities that foster critical skills, collaborative activities, thoughtfulness, and self-direction, we can and should use our English lessons to prepare our students for the challenges that lie ahead. From healthy eating to safe surfing, from netiquette to negotiating, from goal setting to fact checking, I will share practical ideas and relevant topics that can be used both in the classroom and online and will suggest ways that, even remotely, we can form real and lasting connections with our students. Finally, I will challenge teachers to create and share their own activities which will help to nurture their students' confidence, well-being, and social skills.
National Geographic Learning Author, National Geographic Learning
Katherine Stannett is an author with over twenty years of experience. She spent two years in Japan in the 1990s, teaching English to a wide variety of students in many different settings. She is the co-author of the several successful secondary series and has also written articles... Read More →
Language learning is all about connections. To be effective it needs to be both comprehensible and meaningful for the learners – they need to be able to connect it to their prior learning, to themselves and to the real world. But they also need to make connections with each other in the classroom environment, be that in a physical or virtual space. Using examples from National Geographic Learning series, in this session I’ll explore how teachers can be more effective in facilitating learning and help students make the connections they need to be successful language learners.
DELTA Trained Teacher Trainer, National Geographic Learning
Alex Warren is a DELTA trained teacher trainer with over 16 years’ experience of working in ELT as a teacher,academic director and teacher trainer. Prior to his experiences in ELT, Alex worked as a journalist before a chance encounter in the Indonesian jungle began him on the path... Read More →
If the global pandemic has taught us anything, it is how difficult it is to plan for the future. Currently, we can’t even plan three months in advance with any degree of confidence. We literally have no idea what the world will look like in six months or a year. At least for the foreseeable future, traditional mid- and long- term planning has to be replaced by more agile approaches to change and progress. This is not a negative development. Communities of Practice are excellent vehicles to effect such change in educational organizations. However, the community needs a solid, readily understood framework to be successful. In this talk, we will propose a dynamic, goal-based framework to guide teachers and administrators in managing evolutionary change and development.
Gordon Lewis founded ELT Strategies in 2019, after 11 years as Vice President, Languages for Laureate Higher Education. From 2004-2008 he was Academic Director of Kaplan English Programs, based in New York City. From 2001 to 2004 he was Director of Instructor Training and Development... Read More →
Building strong reading skills involves many different elements. One often overlooked element in second language reading instruction is building strong bottom-up reading processes. Bottom-up reading processes begin with the smallest units of language and build up from there: phonemic awareness, blending of sounds, sound/symbol knowledge, decoding skills, and sight word recognition. These processes are often classified as part of phonics instruction. To help readers be successful, the explicit instruction of bottom-up processes is essential. This session will introduce teachers to the rationale for explicit instruction in bottom-up reading processes. We will introduce you to a systematic approach for teaching these processes and provide an interactive tool for learning this approach. We will also share tips for classroom instruction that will support the explicit teaching of bottom-up reading processes.
Professor and Chair of the Department of English Language Teaching and Learning, Brigham Young University–Hawaii
Neil J Anderson is a Professor of English Language Teaching and Learning in the Faculty of Education and Social Work at Brigham Young University–Hawaii. Professor Anderson is the author or co-editor of over 50 books, book chapters, and journal articles. His research interests include... Read More →
Director of International Engagement, Reading Horizons
Aysara Otarova has undergraduate and graduate degrees in English. She has experience studying English linguistics, teaching English as a Foreign language, and developing English learning curriculum. Aysara also holds a master’s degree in Business Administration from Weber State... Read More →
Research suggests the best forms of teacher professional development (PD) incorporate active learning and include opportunities for feedback and reflection. Effective PD is sustained over time and job-embedded, fostering a mindset of continuous growth. Communities of Practice (CoPs) encompass all of these elements and they present teachers with an opportunity to share insights and grow collaboratively. In this workshop, we explore the principles of successful CoPs and then turn to very specific ways to establish school-based, teacher-led CoPs, using tasks that are manageable for busy teachers. We start with tools for personal reflection and goal setting. Then we turn to practices colleagues can engage in with their CoPs, including tools for peer- or self-observation followed by reflection, lesson study, learning walks, swap shops, and more. We experience a number of the activities during the workshop. Learn concrete ways to establish, participate in, and sustain your growth through teacher-led, site-based CoPs!
MATESOL and TEFL Professor, Hamline University in St. Paul, Minnesota, USA
Betsy Parrish is Professor in the MATESOL and TEFL Certificate programs at Hamline University in St. Paul, Minnesota. She has worked as a language teacher, teacher educator, writer, and consultant for over 30 years, with experience in the US, Bangladesh, France, India, Russia, and... Read More →
Language teachers have long used games, but gamification – the use of game elements in non-game settings – is a more recent concept. This workshop will give a brief overview of gamification, then help teachers identify and prepare ways to use gamification in their own classrooms. If possible, bring a syllabus for a class you want to gamify
Past President, TESOL International Association, American English Institute, University of Oregon
Dr. Deborah Healey was the 2019-2020 President of TESOL International Association. She is Emerita faculty at the University of Oregon. She has taught online and face-to-face teacher training courses, as well as both ESL and EFL at community colleges and language institutes. She has... Read More →
In the mid-twentieth century, the narrative of the Three R’s dominated educational practices. These three “R’s” —reading, (w)riting, and (a)rithmetic—were thought to be the pillars of a sound education. While literacy and computational skills are still vital, learners are now expected to possess an extensive toolkit that includes additional skills for success in the workplace and society as a whole: critical thinking, problem-solving, collaboration, and self-direction, just to name a few. This presentation will define the three R’s for the twenty-first century learner —real-world knowledge, relationships, and reflection—and offer advice on integrating each into daily classroom routines. Teachers will receive suggestions for using English instruction as a vehicle to studying real-world events. An analysis of the importance of relationships in equitable learning scenarios will offer advice on student/teacher and student/student collaboration. Lastly, teachers will be provided with a variety of tools to facilitate students’ growth as learners.
Pittsburgh Public Schools / Polyglot Publishing Services LLC
Karen Haller Beer has spent more than two decades teaching and developing learning materials for major US and international publishers. She holds a master’s degree in Applied Linguistics, and currently splits her time teaching high-school and writing academic materials. Karen has... Read More →
Writing itself does not cause improvement in language or in writing style, but writing can help us solve problems and make us smarter. I am not responsible for the research that shows this, but I have profited from it greatly: research on “the composing process, “ including the importance of revision, daily regular writing, flexible planning, and why "Inspiration usually comes during work, rather than before it.“ (Madeleine L’Engle)
Professor Emeritus at the University of Southern California
Stephen Krashen has published over 500 articles (540 at last count) and a dozen scholarly books in the fields of literacy, language acquisition, neurolinguistics, and bilingual education. Many of these publications are available for free download at sdkrashen.com and some are p... Read More →
The teaching of English to children and adolescents should be part of a program that promotes the integral and harmonious development of the person in the physical, motor, emotional, affective, social, and cognitive aspects, and to seek the learning that contributes and makes possible said development education in values is necessary (Patricia Martin, 2012). This session will present different strategies for the integration of values in the programs of teaching English to children and adolescents and will demonstrate in a practical way the importance of including values for the linguistic, social, and emotional development of young learners.
National Geographic Learning Senior ELT Academic Consultant for Latin America, National Geographic Learning
Jair Félix, National Geographic Learning Senior ELT Academic Consultant for Latin America, has a B.A. in TEFL from Universidad Autónoma de Sinaloa in Mexico and a Post-Graduate Degree on Teachers’ Development from The College of St. Mark & St. John, Plymouth, UK. Jair has been... Read More →
Since the year 2020, many educational systems and institutions have adopted distance education as the new approach to learning. Even though it can be very productive and convenient, students might struggle because of the reduced amount of face-to-face interaction with their teachers and due to the lack of previous training on this modality. In this interactive workshop, we will define the concepts of learner autonomy, independence, and self-regulation as key elements for success in the learning process. Furthermore, we will explore different ways in which teachers can promote and develop those skills in their students. Finally, we will look at five technological tools that will help in the process.
Primary School Teacher, Ministerio de Educación de Costa Rica
Jonnathan Elizondo holds an M.A in Teaching English as a Foreign Language and a B.A in Primary Education with emphasis in English teaching from the University of Costa Rica; he is current pursuing his Licentiate degree in English Teaching at UAM. Professor Elizondo is also a current... Read More →
Most people learn a new language because they want to be able to speak it, so it is logical that teachers would focus on speaking in their classes. It is also true that you can't speak a language well without a good grasp of grammar and vocabulary, so it is also logical that teachers would focus on grammar and vocabulary in their classes. Most teachers, unfortunately, focus on grammar (with a little vocabulary thrown in incidentally) and then include some speaking activities. To help our students go beyond their comfort zone and push themselves to do more so they will improve their English speaking, we need activities that will help us achieve these goals. In this presentation, we will consider characteristics of speaking activities that are more likely -- but not guaranteed -- to increase student production of English. While some of today's information comes from research findings, we will focus on what is realistic and practical for most teachers. Participants will leave today's talk with a concrete list of successful speaking activities that they can either implement as is or adapt to their local situation.
Dr. Keith Folse is Professor of TESOL at the University of Central Florida where he teaches in several programs at the undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral levels. He has taught English for 40 years in the US, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Japan, and Kuwait. He has also taught French in... Read More →
Let's look back on this year of tremendous challenge and change, and consider how we can learn from our experiences to write our next chapters as educators. Bring your photos, your poetry, your prose, and of course your pura vida and we will celebrate our learning from this year and this conference.
Professor of TESOL, Hunter College, City University of New York, USA
Dr. Laura Baecher is Professor of TESOL at Hunter College, City University of New York. Her research interests and publications relate to teacher education including educational technology in teacher learning, observation and coaching for English language teaching, and professional... Read More →
