2017 Fall Conference Program

Download Slides (click to download)

Download Roundtable Session responses

  • How can ELTs motivate students in the 2017 learning space? (Melissa Taylor). Responses: Motivating Students
  • What is the best approach for ELTs to deal with prejudice (ageism, sexism, homophobia, racism, etc…) in the classroom? (Charlene Rockwell). Responses: Prejudice
  • How can we stay competitive and employable in the future world of ESL? (Amos Sarrouy). Responses: StayingCompetitive
  • Do students judge a book by its cover in terms of ELT dress code? (Summer Assaf). Responses: Dress-Code
  • How can we motivate colleagues while staying motivated ourselves? (Darlene MacInnis). Motivating Colleagues
  • How can we positively incorporate handheld device use in class? (Kris Mitchell). Responses: Handheld Devices
  • What does it take to motivate refugees in the ESL Classroom? (Muhammad Nawaz). Responses: Refugees
  • What teaching tips are there for EAP Note-Taking in the 2017 classroom? (Rachael Bethune). Responses: Note-taking

Schedule at a Glance

Click here to download the full schedule in PDF format.

Friday, Nov. 3

6:30-7:00 Registration University Club
7:00-8:00 Keynote: Dr. Jennifer Foote
Best practices in pronunciation: 
From classroom space to cyberspace
University Club
8:00-9:00 Wine and Cheese University Club

Saturday, Nov. 4

The publishers’ display will be open all day. Turn in your filled-in conference evaluation form to participate in the Book Draw!

8:30-9:00 Registration and Welcome Mona Campbell Building
9:00-10:00 Concurrent Sessions A

  • Using learning centres for professional development (Jennifer Palmer and Arleigh Hood). Room 2110
  • English moderns: Passages from local to global in Chinese EFL classrooms (Eric Henry).
  • Working with errors in 2ndlanguage pronunciation: An intelligibility approach (Jennifer Foote). Room 1108
  • Let’s agree to disagree: conflict management in intercultural communication (Oksana Shkurska). Room 2111
  • Helping learners take responsibility for their learning in an adult literacy class (Amanda Vassallo). Room 3110
Mona Campbell Building
10:15-11:15 Roundtable Discussions

  • How can ELTs motivate students in the 2017 learning space? (Melissa Taylor). Responses: Motivating Students
  • What is the best approach for ELTs to deal with prejudice (ageism, sexism, homophobia, racism, etc…) in the classroom? (Charlene Rockwell). Responses: Prejudice
  • How can we stay competitive and employable in the future world of ESL? (Amos Sarrouy). Responses: StayingCompetitive
  • Do students judge a book by its cover in terms of ELT dress code? (Summer Assaf). Responses: Dress-Code
  • How can we motivate colleagues while staying motivated ourselves? (Darlene MacInnis). Motivating Colleagues
  • How can we positively incorporate handheld device use in class? (Kris Mitchell). Responses: Handheld Devices
  • What does it take to motivate refugees in the ESL Classroom? (Muhammad Nawaz). Responses: Refugees
  • What teaching tips are there for EAP Note-Taking in the 2017 classroom? (Rachael Bethune). Responses: Note-taking
Mona Campbell Building
11:30-12:30  Keynote:  Dr. Shelley Taylor.
Plurilingualism and Expanding Learning Spaces
University Club
12:30-1:30 Lunch and AGM University Club
1:45-2:45 Concurrent Sessions B

  • Strategies for applying Universal Design for Learning in the classroom (Sharon Churchill Roe and Chris Klatecki). Room 2110
  • Fostering the development of reciprocal learning communities for immigrant and refugee learners and instructors (Shelley Taylor). Room 1108
  • Learning speaking techniques through monologues (Sarah Jane Blenkhorn). Room 2111
  • EAL literacy and the art of repetition (Claudia Guenter). Room 1107
Mona Campbell Building
3:00-4:00 Concurrent Sessions C

  • Idioms, slang, phrasal verbs: Bring it on! (Laurie Burns). Room 2110
  • Exploring English language policy in linguistically diverse Canadian universities (Jennifer MacDonald). Room 2111
  • Syntactic theory: a formulaic approach to understanding the structure of English (Kris Mitchell). Room 1107
  • Assessment in a multi-level classroom (Anthony Caldwell). Room 1108
Mona Campbell Building
4:00-4:30 Closing remarks and book draw Mona Campbell Building

Return to main conference info page.

Click here to download the full schedule in PDF format.

Keynote Descriptions

Dr. Jennifer Foote

Keynote Abstract: “Best practices in pronunciation: From classroom space to cyberspace.”

In keeping with this year’s conference theme, Dr. Foote’s talk will investigate how learners can improve their pronunciation in a variety of learning spaces, whether engaging in pronunciation activities in a classroom, using an online course management system on a computer, or playing a pronunciation game on a mobile phone app.Research around pronunciation pedagogy has increased exponentially in the last several years, allowing instructors to make their pronunciation teaching practices and advice increasingly evidence-based. Further, the possibilities that current technologies offer for effective pronunciation practice can offer new solutions to learners who struggle to make themselves understood because of pronunciation difficulties.This talk will cover some of the most interesting findings coming out of pronunciation research. These findings will be discussed in terms of how they can translate to better pronunciation pedagogy. Participants will leave the session with practical ideas for working with students in the classroom and for helping students develop work autonomously on their pronunciation outside of class. This talk will offer ideas that can work with learners at a wide range of proficiency levels and with learners from any language background.

Dr. Jennifer A. Foote is an Assistant Professor at the University of Alberta, in Edmonton, Canada. She researches second language pronunciation and is especially interested in discovering ways to help learners improve their pronunciation in a manner that will lead to more intelligible speech. As well as publishing research in academic journals and presenting at research-based conferences, she is passionate about connecting research to practice and helping generate knowledge that has practical classroom applications for teachers. Before becoming a professor, Dr. Foote taught English in Japan, South Korea, The Czech Republic, and Canada. She has worked with language learners from a wide range of backgrounds and proficiency levels.

Dr. Shelley Taylor

Keynote Abstract: “Plurilingualism and Expanding Learning Spaces”

Considering all of the languages in an L2/FL learner’s repertoire, including lesser developed ones, frames them in a positive light as language ‘knowers’ and ‘users’. Research has primarily documented pedagogical attempts to draw on the full linguistic repertoires of English learners at the elementary level. With older learners, questions of the feasibility, logistics and even the relevance of drawing on languages other than English have arisen. Still, there has been a palpable recent shift in the TESOL field with regard to seeing beyond ‘English learners’ to ‘plurilingual actors.’ This keynote explores TESOL’s position on, and initiatives involving, a plurilingual mindset and pedagogy, how this stance can expand learning spaces, and what it means for the field.

Shelley K. Taylor is Associate Professor of TESOL/Applied Linguistics at Western University and a member of the Board of Directors of TESOL International Association. She teaches courses related to plurilingual language development, minority languages, and L2 pedagogy.  Her classroom-based research focusses on instructional spaces educators can provide for immigrant, refugee and minoritized Indigenous students’ English development in multilingual classrooms. She has worked on research and educational development projects in Nepal, the Nordic countries, and Greenland as well as in Canada. Shelley is a co-investigator on a recently-awarded SSHRC research grant to investigate Language and literacy learning among youth refugees in Canadian secondary school classrooms.  An English/French/Danish trilingual, Shelley has also learned multiple languages in addition to these in natural and classroom environments, and draws on these experiences in her research and graduate teaching.

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