Fall Conference Program
Visit this page for conference location and directions.
During the conference there will be a draw for door prizes generously donated by Cambridge University Press, Grassroots Press and Longman.
Get involved in TESL NS running for a position on the board for 2013-2014. Elections will happen during the AGM.
| 8:00-9:00 | Registration McCain Building, Scotiabank Auditorium Note: Membership renewals will be accepted at this time. |
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| 9:00-10:30 | Plenary Session: Listening: The Cinderella Skill by Dr. Ken Beatty McCain Building, Scotiabank Auditorium |
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| 10:30-11:00 | Coffee Break McCain Building, Scotiabank Auditorium |
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| 11:00-12:00 | Workshop Topic: Measuring Minds: Assessment Practices that Work with Dr. Ken Beatty McCain Building, Scotiabank Auditorium |
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| 12:00-1:00 | Lunch Mona Campbell Building (MCB) Atrium and Room 1111 |
TESL Nova Scotia AGM (12:30) Mona Campbell Building (MCB) Room 1110 |
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| 1:00-1:45 | Session #1 – MCB Room 2109 Learn to Use the Tutela.ca ESL Repository /Community (Pascal St. Jean/ Diane Ramanathan) |
Session #2 – MCB Room 1110 Fostering Learner Autonomy (Mike Landry)[download slides: Learner Autonomy ] |
Session #3 – MCB Room 2111 English as an International Language (Ivy Liu, Katrin Jacob and Jeanette Ireland) |
| 2:00-2:45 | Session #4 – MCB Room 2109 Using Wikis (Mike Landry)[download slides: Wiki Collaboration ] |
Session #5 – MCB Room 1110 “I have a funny story for you…” Ethnocentric storytelling and colonial humour in ESL professional development (Simon Moll) [download slides here] |
Session #6 – MCB Room 2111 Using Student’s Names Correctly and Effectively in the Multicultural ESL Classroom (Tony Rusinak)[Download slides: FinalNameEffects ] |
Session Descriptions
| Plenary Session: Dr. Ken Beatty Listening: The Cinderella Skill |
Pumpkins to Carriages: Making Listening more importantListening is often called the Cinderella Skill because it is important yet neglected. There are several reasons this is so: teachers do not grasp the challenges normal discourse presents to learners; teachers are unaware of the variety of processes involved in decoding what is heard and; listening is always measured in conjunction with another skill, such as writing or speaking. In this presentation, we explore these and other issues to better understand the teaching and learning of listening from multiple perspectives. |
| Workshop: Dr. Ken Beatty Measuring minds: assessment practices that work |
In our teaching practice, high-quality assessment is at the core of understanding students’ learning; without it, we really cannot know whether students are meeting the objectives of a course and transforming what we teach into practical knowledge. This workshop focuses on formative, summative and illuminative assessments, the difference between assessment and evaluation and a variety of standard and alternative assessment strategies from multiple-choice questions to games. |
| Session #1: Learn to Use the Tutela.ca ESL Repository / Community Pascal St. Jean/ Diane Ramanathan |
Tutela.ca, funded by Citizenship and Immigration Canada, is the online repository and community for ESL professionals across Canada. Tutela.ca provides classroom materials, lesson plans, assessment information, reusable learning objects and much more. In addition, Tutela.ca enables teachers and other professionals to share materials, discover new approaches, get solutions and network.Pascal St. Jean is the Project Manager for Tutela.ca and Diane Ramanathan is one of three Community Coordinators for Tutela and overseas the PD section. |
| Session #2: Fostering Learner Autonomy Mike Landry [download slides: Learner Autonomy] |
Encouraging students to take responsibility for their own learning is a continuous struggle. While teachers provide input and facilitate learning, it is inevitably up to the students to make the final decision on how they will proceed. This presentation confronts the issue of learner responsibility head-on; arguing that learner autonomy is something that can be taught. The presentation offers a variety of approaches teachers can use to allow their students to become more aware of themselves as individuals and learners. The lecture will be both informative and interactive.Michael Landry is an EAP/GAC instructor at Dalhousie University. He has twelve years of combined EFL/ESL teaching and academic management experience in East Asia and Canada. Although interested in many areas of teaching, Michael has spent most of his research work on methodology and pedagogical issues pertinent to daily teaching. |
| Session #3: English as an International Language Ivy Liu, Katrin Jacob and Jeanette Ireland |
Increasingly, a number of international students at St. Mary’s have reported that they want to study English in ways which will allow them to access information in English globally and to interact with non-native speakers from different countries as well as with native English speakers from different English speaking countries. To meet these needs, a course has been designed at St. Mary’s University which pays particular attention to the emergence of Standard Englishes internationally and their functional varieties as used in academic and other institutional settings.Ms. Katrin Jacob, a native German, received her Teaching Diploma for English and Russian in Germany. She later received a Master’s degree in German Studies from the University of Georgia. Ms. Jacob has taught English at ECSL and German at SMU and is now co-teaching EGSL 1100 AXX, AYY at SMU.Ms. Weifang Liu (Ivy) is a new immigrant from China who obtained her Master’s degree in TESL from Mount Saint Vincent University in May 2013. Ms. Liu has taught English as a Foreign Language in China and she is currently co-teaching an undergraduate course EGSL BXX, BYY in Saint Mary’s University.Jeanette Ireland has a very long experience in teaching all levels from pre-school to tertiary. She spent more than twenty years in the Canadian Arctic, with ten of those years promoting bilingual education -Inuktitut-English – by fostering community based curriculum development and delivery as well as promoting and supporting Native Teacher Training. She has been a part time instructor at St. Mary’s University in various departments since 2000 and is currently co-teaching EGSL XX, YY which she designed in 2010 and has taught since. |
| Session #4: Using Wikis Mike Landry [download slides: Wiki Collaboration] |
The benefits that Web 2.0 applications provide to the ESL classroom are undeniable. With a large variety of online collaborative tools available, it is difficult to choose the best one. While many tools have their own benefits, Wikis provide one of the best platforms for the recycling of material and the development of collaborative learning skills –especially collaborative writing. This presentation examines how Wikis as tools to reinforce classwork and facilitate collaboration between students. Teachers will be shown the methodology behind using them, sample tasks, and will discuss other issues that must be considered when using wikis. Teachers will also have a chance to build their own Wiki together so that they can experience the process for themselves.Michael Landry is an EAP/GAC instructor at Dalhousie University. He has twelve years of combined EFL/ESL teaching and academic management experience in East Asia and Canada. Although interested in many areas of teaching, Michael has spent most of his research work on methodology and pedagogical issues pertinent to daily teaching. |
| Session #5: “I have a funny story for you…” Ethnocentric storytelling and colonial humour in ESL professional development Simon Moll [download slides here] |
This presentation outlines a critical framework for reflective teaching research and examines discourses of ethnocentric humour as they emerge in EAL and EAL training classrooms. I use four common themes in “funny stories” to represent utterances about “othered” cultures made by dominant culture speakers. “Ethnocentric humour” refers to anecdotal utterances premised on a presumed or proposed framework of cultural normalcy and difference determined by hegemonic eurocentrism. I direct my findings towards teachers seeking a reflective practice of violence-informed social justice pedagogy for use in relation to group work with pre-service teachers and professional development.Simon Moll is an Halifax-based ESL instructor and curriculum consultant. |
| Session #6: Using Student’s Names Correctly and Effectively in the Multicultural ESL Classroom Tony Rusinak [download slides:FinalNameEffects] |
In Canada, today’s ESL classrooms are a convergence of cultures that are often coming together for the first time. When individuals initially meet, taboos, different learner backgrounds, and a fear of the unknown can lead classes to a dysfunctional setting. However, at this critical moment, the teacher has the opportunity to avoid this by their own example and by facilitating effective bonding activities. With a focus on using student’s names correctly and effectively, this workshop will explore scenarios and strategies that make having multicultural enrollments an advantage.Tony Rusinak, DELTA I & II, Immigration Consultant Candidate (ICCRC), IELTS examiner, has taught ESL in Japan, Taiwan, Shenzhen (CHN), Ireland, Spain, and Ethiopia. He is currently in his fourth year of instructing at East Coast School of Languages, in his hometown, Halifax. |
