Webinars 2022

Description: Are you aware of how different your ESL students’ worldview is from your own?  Most of them have come from an honour-and-shame based culture, which is drastically different from the innocence-and-guilt culture that is prevalent here in North America.  We need to be able to understand the way they think before we can “speak their language” and effectively teach and care for them.  What does an honour-and-shame worldview look like? How can we spot it, and what adjustments do we need to make in the way we interact with the ESL students who came from that culture?  Come join us and we will find out together!

About the Presenter: Rev. CY Yan can be best described as a “missionary-pastor”.  He currently serves as Director for Connections East Asia at OMF Canada – a mission that traces its origin to China Inland Mission, which was founded by Hudson Taylor in 1865.  In this capacity, he seeks to come alongside East Asian diasporas across the country, help build indigenous biblical church movements in their midst, and see them become missionary sending forces. CY is still serving as a part-time pastor in the English congregation of a grass-root church in downtown Toronto.  He spent most of his Sunday mornings speaking as an itinerant preacher in various churches.

Recognized by TESL Ontario for PD hours.

Description:

A: I might bring a mask…

B: Yeah, I think you should. I had to wear one when I went there.

A: OK I will, just in case.

How many times have you heard a conversation like this one? This conversation is possible thanks to modal verbs. Often taken for granted, modality is essential for precise communication. In this workshop, we will explore modality, its meaning, form and varieties and problems that English learners have with it. This session is useful for teachers of all levels and those who want to develop their own language awareness.

About the Presenter: Lydia Mountney has been an ESL teacher for 25 years and a teacher trainer for 20. She has trained teachers at Tyndale University College and Seminary and is a freelance teacher trainer for the University of Cambridge CELTA program. Lydia is the Director of the Don Valley ESL Career Centre, a language school that operates out of Don Valley Bible Chapel. Her overseas teaching and training experience includes teaching in Senegal, Niger, Madagascar and the UK. Lydia is also actively involved in music ministry and lives in Toronto with her husband and 2 daughters.

Recognized by TESL Ontario for PD hours.

Description: In this workshop, I will be introducing you to a variety of Bible-based curricula that teach the four aspects of English (speaking, listening, reading and writing), using the theories and techniques of teaching a language effectively. These Bible-based materials, all based on the same methodology, are easy to use, and since we have had to change the way we teach ESL because of COVID, I will be demonstrating how to use them in an online format.

About the Presenter: Gail Tiessen is a teacher educator. She has written and published many ESL/EFL curricula that are being used in communities, churches, workplaces, and colleges, nationally and internationally. See https://joytwopublications.com/ for her publications.

Recognized by TESL Ontario for PD hours.

Description: This workshop will explore the possibilities for supporting students who have a trauma background. We will identify the roots and features of trauma in immigrant populations. The workshop will address the implications of trauma and how it can affect learning and participation in the ESL classroom. We will then discuss considerations and adaptations for ESL teachers to use in their planning and practice. Our hope is that our ESL classrooms can become a place of safety and promotion of well-being for trauma survivors.

About the Presenter: Andrea Dyck spent some years teaching community-based and workplace-based ESL and literacy in her local community. She then lived internationally with her family for 18 years. During her time overseas, she studied multiple languages and trained language learning helpers. Andrea is completing her MA in counselling psychology and works as a counselling intern in a professional counselling practice in Manitoba. Her experience in international transitions with her family, some during times of crisis, has given her a small glimpse into the experience of immigration, cross-cultural adaptation, and trauma.

Recognized by TESL Ontario for PD hours.

Description: The English alphabet consists of 26 letters, yet there are over 40 different sounds in the English language. Because English spelling is not phonetic, it can be very challenging to teach proper pronunciation. For example, the letter “a” in bake, cat, mall, and sofa is pronounced in four different ways. In this webinar, I would like to introduce participants to the International Phonetic Alphabet, a sound classification system that is commonly used in pronunciation textbooks. I will take you on a guided tour of the mouth and its amazing articulators. We will analyze consonant sounds in terms of place, manner, and voicing; and I will show you how vowel sounds can be organized on the vowel quadrangle. My goal is to give you a more systematic approach to analyzing and correcting pronunciation errors when working with English learners. Detailed reference materials will be provided.

About the Presenter: Roslyn Zehr first discovered the joys of teaching English nearly 30 years ago when she worked for one summer as a volunteer mission servant in Venezuela. Soon after, she earned her MA-TESL degree at Penn State University and taught for six years in PSU’s intensive English program. After marrying and moving to Ontario in 2001, Roslyn continued working as an ESL instructor at Fanshawe College and later at Conestoga College. She is currently a sessional lecturer at Renison University College, teaching courses in oral communication, pronunciation, writing and grammar. Since 2013, she has helped to lead the ESL Community Outreach program, sponsored by local congregations of Lutheran Church-Canada in the Kitchener-Waterloo area.

Recognized by TESL Ontario for PD hours.

Description: Is your ESL program finding its way forward to accommodate students from both online classes and in-person walk-ins? Do you have students joining from other locations, while you want to harness the benefits of in-person classes? A “hybrid” model of an ESL program may be your solution – classes which are both in-person and online concurrently. Do you want to know the ins and outs of how that may work? If so, you don’t want to miss this workshop that SOCEM is offering, led by an experienced practitioner. The presenter will share the rationale and technical details of how “hybrid” ESL classes work, in the form of a live “hybrid” demo.

Location: In-person at Trinity Grace Church*, 826 Eglinton Ave. East, Toronto (map) OR online via Zoom.

*Parking directions if you attend in-person: Free street parking in the evening on side streets and on both sides of Eglinton, and some spaces beside the building next to Stephenson’s Rentals. Additionally, there is a Canadian Tire Plaza a short walking distance at Laird and Eglinton.

About the Presenter: Colin Brewster. Colin has been teaching English to non-native speakers for over 40 years. He began teaching in Turkey, continued in North West China, and for the past 20 years, he has taught Communications and English as a Second Language in community colleges in Toronto. Colin enjoys developing and testing different teaching tools and materials for church-based ESL programs. He is currently leading the ESL outreach of Trinity Grace Church, Toronto, where classes are delivered in a hybrid format.

This special hybrid event is FREE for in-person attendance, and $8 for online participants.

[Please note that this workshop is not recognized for PD hours.]