For the first time the BC Association for Teaching English as a Second Language will host their fall conference in the BC Interior.
The two-day event will bring together a range of professionals at Thompson Rivers University Kamloops campus. Sessions run from 9am to 4pm, followed by a reception from 4pm – 6pm on Saturday, October 4. The reception will include remarks by Mayor Terry Lake and others as well as entertainment.
At TRU, the English Second Language academic programs and the short-term contract programs offered have seen phenomenal growth the past few years, reflecting how the field has flourished both locally and internationally. This event will bring together instructors from colleges and universities in BC as well as instructors who teach English to immigrants in English Settlement Assistance programs such as the one at Kamloops Immigrant Services. TRU World will have a recruitment station at the event, so conference attendees will have the opportunity to explore potential ESL employment opportunities.
“We’ve also been working with the ESL Settlement Assistance Program through the Ministry of Advanced Education and Labour Market Development to involve and form linkages with instructors working in smaller communities as instructors to immigrants,” said conference organizer Joe Dobson, TESL faculty at TRU.
The workshops are designed to be hands-on and the topics offered reflect the range of needs of instructors in the contemporary classroom and a sampling of sessions to be offered include “Working with Students from the Middle East”, “Computer Assisted Language Learning Tools for Teachers”, and “Multiple Intelligences: Visual Imagery in Reading-Writing Instruction”.
“Given the focus on practical solutions, activities, and ideas, the TEAL Sessions will provide instructors with a veritable toolbox that they can take home,” Dobson said.
On-site registration will be available from 8am on Saturday, Oct. 4.
Online registration and information is available on the BC TEAL website
Contact: Joe Dobson, ESL, 250.371.5642
