All posts by Brett Reynolds

TESOL program administrators: How do I get the skills to become One?


Written by - Kara Mac Donald, Defense Language Institute & Ketty Reppert, Kansas State University

The need for formalized training for ELT program administrators is a recurring topic in the field of TESOL. Navigating the transition from faculty to administrative authority is rarely covered in TESOL programs, yet many TESOL graduates find themselves offered administrative and/or management positions based on their advanced degrees and classroom experience. Additionally, those who do not have a background in TESOL and would like to complete a postgraduate degree to legitimize their teaching experience, professionalize themselves, and gain management skills to move beyond the classroom find few options in TESOL programs with a management focus.

This article1 discusses the skill set educational program administrators and managers typically have and then compares those to the distinct skill set TESOL program administrators and managers may need.  Continue Reading →

Categories:
Professional Development, Training
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The least you should know about the Ojibwa language


Written by - John Steckley, Humber College

Aanii “hello” or Boozhoo (adapted from the French bonjour), reader of this article. This is an article about a language that still has thousands of speakers across Canada, from Quebec west to Alberta. In the more northern of the Ojibwa communities there are still people who are more fluent in their native language than in English. This article concerns such people as students of English.

Perhaps the first important point to keep in mind about the Ojibwa language is that like the names of other Aboriginal peoples and their languages, Ojibwa is the name the settlers gave them, not what they called or call themselves. The people call themselves Anishinaabe (and this includes peoples otherwise often called Chippewa, Mississauga, Odawa, Algonquin and Saulteaux).  Continue Reading →

Categories:
Other
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Dynamic assessment of L2 writing


Written by - Alina Filip, International Centre for EAP

“But I did everything you said and my grade is still low…” If you teach writing in an ESL or EAP class is quite likely that you routinely have a handful of students expressing their disappointment at the grades they receive. Teaching academic writing is of particular interest in my teaching setting, an EAP language program for international students who intend to pursue a masters in Education. While process writing is reinforced in my course, I often find that my students are feeling ineffective and frustrated with their writing progress. In order to help them develop their writing skills and nurture their confidence as writers I started using dynamic assessment (DA). In this article, I will try to define what dynamic assessment is and provide a model that could be easily adapted to any level.  Continue Reading →

Categories:
Assessment, Writing
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The oral group essay


Written by - Jocelyn Wiley, American Community School of Abu Dhabi

Before I became an English teacher, I was a freelance journalist and a publicist. I wrote almost every day, almost always for publication. I remember working in a newsroom full of reporters, most of them muttering to themselves at their computers as they composed their stories. They would write a sentence, read it aloud, and alter it—or not.

In the classroom, I’d advise my students to read their writing aloud to themselves as they drafted, edited and proofread because that was what I’d learned by observing the professional writers around me. My students, however, were resistant. They thought it was downright crazy to talk out loud to themselves; they believed they could edit perfectly adequately by doing so silently, in their heads; or else they wrote assignments the night before the due date without ever editing their work.  Continue Reading →

Categories:
Teaching, Writing
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