Southern Ontario Cooperative of ESL Ministries
By Sandy Ho-Lam As an ESL teacher, I have wrestled with the question of how to become Jesus’ hands and feet while students seem to come and go through a revolving door without any chance of building long-lasting relationships. Then one day, things started to change. A student, one day, said: “Sandy…I have a lot […]
A review article by Timo Posti This helpful article was written by Dr. Allyson Eamer, a sociolinguist who teaches at The University of Ontario Institute of Technology. Dr. Eamer outlines the challenges of providing accessible, suitable and practicable language instruction to migrants. She lists several reasons why some migrants do not readily benefit from language […]
Many of us work with immigrants. Are you aware of the larger context we are working in? Below is some immigration and citizenship information released by Statistics Canada as part of the 2016 Census. See full details at this site.
Once again we will be gathering in the fall for our annual training conference. SOCEM’s Gathering XVI will be on October 26, 2019 from 8:15am to 2:30pm at Trinity Church Streetsville. There will be a plenary panel discussion on “Building Community in ESL Ministry,” 14 workshops to choose from (see below), a Getting Started in […]
By Linda Reed At this time of year, many of us are wrapping up our ESL programs for the year. Some of us are tired, while others begin overseas ESL experiences. Often, the summer provides time for quiet reflection on the year past. Did we finish well? If we want to evaluate the year, what […]
Is your program continuing through the summer? Or perhaps you’re looking for summer-related materials to wrap up the year? Here is an assortment of ideas and lesson plans based on topics to do with the summer. Let these be a springboard for further ideas. Summer Worksheets (beginners’ level) 103 Free Summer Worksheets (all levels) Summer […]
By Nathan Kwan There are endless number of activities your students can do during the summer. The following are some possibilities mainly around the Greater Toronto Area, but including Ontario as well. We just took a group of students to Kensington Market in Toronto on Pedestrian Sunday (see here for this year’s dates). The roads […]
By Johnson Hsu Having worked in and with ESL ministries for over 20 years now, I know that sometimes we can question what we’re doing and why. Sometimes we get asked how this is ‘ministry’ work. I’d like to look at that question through the lens of one of the primary groups we serve: international […]
https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/corporate/publications-manuals/annual-report-parliament-immigration-2018/report.html#introduction
By Carol Blake Does grammar make you nervous? Do you wonder if you know enough to be able to help your students with their grammar? Let’s take pronouns, for example. Can you explain when to use who or whom? You and I or You and me? You can Google these issues fairly easily and find […]