The final session of 2023 is happening this Thursday – December 7th – online on Zoom.
So here is a little recap of what it was all about and how these amazing professionals came together to create valuable input for teachers across the globe!
The idea behind the Continuous Professional Development sessions, which launched in July 2023, was to help multilingual teachers get rid of their impostor syndrome and take courage in the fact that they did not belong inside a monolingual framework – the type that seems to be celebrated and promoted still today. Most importantly, it catered to the idea that knowing more than one language could certainly allow us to do more rather than less with our students.
We kicked off with mindset coach Rhiannon Carter with her session on why teachers should stop trying to over-compensate with certificates to prove their worth (guilty as charged).
Dennis Warren’s Ultimate Phonology Primer for all levels, a 2-hour session packed with fun and active participation from the CPD participants. We covered many internal topics, such as:
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- The Influence of Phonology on Language Teaching
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- How Our Accent Influences Our Identity
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- Exploring Differences in Sounds Between English and Other Languages
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- Code-Switching and Accent Flexibility
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- The Necessity of Consonant Sounds for Intelligible Communication
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- The Benefits of Teaching Pronunciation, as well as
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- The Variety of Native Speaker Pronunciation in English
About Session 3
Kaila Diaz’s informative input session on how to raise bilingual kids & the common misconceptions about bilingualism and how fast or slow they/we learn when there is more than one language in the mix.
We focused on the following points:
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- Bilingualism and Multilingualism: Does It Lead to Confusion?
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- The Benefits of Translanguaging
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- Embracing Bilingualism in Monolingual Frameworks
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- Scaffolding Language Learning: The Advantages of Multilingual Teaching for Ages 6 to 11.
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- Bilingual Education: Does it Cause Language Delay in Children?
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- The Myth of the Language Learning Deadline: Can We Learn Anytime?
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- Exploring Different Approaches to Raising Bilingual Kids
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- The Benefits of Bilingual Parenting
The Fourth session was a recorded session ‘Defeating Systemic Bias in English Language Teaching’ which I personally delivered to the Braz-Tesol audience recently.
In this talk I discuss the importance of recognizing the biases and stereotypes that go into the native speaker ideology in the English Language Teaching (ELT) employment market, which is discriminatory towards non-native English speaking teachers.
Everyone should be mindful when hiring teachers, and strive to recognise the full potential of all candidates regardless of native speaker status. While language can help build identities and connect people, it is unfortunately still used as a form of discrimination that can be a barrier in career progression We see this type of discrimination very frequently on all media platforms. I speak about how it is important to remember that language is a unique and evolving concept that should be enjoyed and shared instead of monopolised.
David Cabezas spoke from experience in the most recent session we had about being both a native & non-native language teacher & which is more effective! I had never spoken to someone who was certified to offically teach 2 languages, one being is mother tongue, and the other being English. A really insightful conversation where he honestly shares what he feels more comfortable with and why.
This brings us to the final sessions for the year 2023 with the magnificent Ola! Ola is a business coach and mentor who specialises in helping freelance teachers to build fun, profitable and sustainable businesses to reach their own version of freedom.
She has had vast experience as an EFL teacher, CELTA trainer, language school owner and school manager and since 2021 has decided to focus on empowering her language teaching tribe to make more, work less, enjoy them selves and make a bigger impact. She also runs a weekly podcast called ‘Get richer, teacher’, sends weekly inspiring emails and is active on Instagram @ola_coaches_teachers.
Her engaging session is programmed for this week at 1pm UK time on ‘HOW TO BUILD AN AUTHENTIC TEACHING BRAND AS A NON-NATIVE SPEAKER’.
You can still join live on Zoom for this the 60(-ish) minutes of workshop where we will cover how to build a brand that stands out in the saturated ELT market so you can find your own perfect and well-paying clients.
Ola promises you will leave the workshop with a better understanding of the principles of marketing your language teaching services and have more confidence to get visible to your potential clients, ‘even’ as a non-native speaker. There will also be time to ask all your burning questions at the end.
All sessions are available for replay at just €29 which grants you lifetime access to view the recordings, notes and any pdf materials granted by the speakers.
Confirm your spot now and thank yourself later!