TESOL International Convention to Bring Thousands of English Language Educators to Toronto

News provided by

TESOL International Association

Mar 23, 2015, 08:00 ET


Alexandria, VA (PRWEB) March 23, 2015 -- This week, approximately 6,000 educators from across the globe will come to Toronto, Ontario, Canada, for the 2015 TESOL International Convention & English Language Expo. The largest of its kind in the world, the annual convention is organized by TESOL International Association, the professional association for more than 12,500 teachers of English to speakers of other languages.

In support of the convention theme, “Crossing Borders, Building Bridges,” attendees will have access to nearly 1,000 educational sessions presented by experts on a broad variety of topics, including language testing and assessment, technology in language learning, bilingual education, and standards. The programs will provide valuable opportunities to cross familiar boundaries of knowledge and experience and to build new understandings and networks across various contexts.

International keynote speakers include Sonia Nieto, who will discuss working with students and communities from diverse backgrounds in “Teachers’ Roles in Crossing Borders and Building Bridges”; Jim Cummins, a leader in research on literacy development in educational contexts characterized by linguistic diversity, who will present “Evidence-Based TESOL: Teaching Through a Multilingual Lens”; Jun Liu, Lourdes Ortega, and Michael Byrum who will lead a panel discussion titled “Redefining Communicative Competence and Redesigning ELT in the 21st Century” that aims to challenge early models of communicative competence and create contemporary ELT frameworks; and TESOL President Yilin Sun, who will shed light on her cross-cultural teaching, learning, and research experience in China, Canada, and the United States in “Building Bridges: Journey to a Better Future of TESOL”

Convention highlights include

  • TESOL Presidents’ Award presented to Linda Darling-Hammond, Charles E. Ducommun Professor of Education at the Stanford Graduate School of Education
  • 2015 TESOL Outstanding Advocate Award presented to Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne.
  • Adult Ed Day, a special one-day event that provides professional development and networking for adult education professionals.
  • K–12 Dream Day, an interactive education program for primary and secondary mainstream and ESL teachers and administrators.
  • The ELT Leadership Management Certificate Program for ELT professionals in various kinds of ELT organizations and institutions.
  • TESOL Classroom of the Future, a dedicated space in the English Language Expo that focuses on technology, design, and pedagogy of the ELT classroom in the next 5 to 20 years. The classroom is presented by design sponsor Virco, the United States’ leading manufacturer and supplier of furniture and equipment for K–12 schools; by technology sponsors TutorGroup, the world’s premier online education platform; and VOXY an online learning platform for institutions.
  • 2015 TESOL Teacher of the Year Award presented by National Geographic Learning to Sherry Blok, Concordia University in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
  • 2015 TESOL Award for Distinguished Research presented by ETS/TOEFL to Yasuko Kanno, associate professor of TESOL in the College of Education at Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
  • Electronic Village and Technology Showcase, a special venue to explore technological resources for language teaching and learning in the classroom and online.
  • Installation of Andy Curtis, Anaheim University in Anaheim, California, as 2015–2016 president of TESOL International Association.

TESOL gratefully acknowledges its strategic partners, National Geographic Learning, ETS/TOEFL, AFT–American Federation of Teachers, British Council, and TutorGroup, and all its other partners for their support of the 2015 convention.

Visit the TESOL convention website for complete information.

About TESOL International Association
Founded in 1966, TESOL International Association is a professional community of educators, researchers, administrators, and students committed to advancing excellence in English language teaching for speakers of other languages worldwide. With more than 12,500 members representing more than 150 countries, TESOL fosters the exchange of ideas, research, and peer-to-peer knowledge, and provides expertise, resources, and a powerful voice on issues affecting the profession. Through professional development programs, its international conference, special interest groups, and publications, TESOL engages tens of thousands of professionals to collaborate globally and create a world of opportunity for millions of people of all ages who want to learn English. For more information, please visit http://www.tesol.org.

Barry Pilson, TESOL International Association, http://www.tesol.org, +1 703.518.2512, [email protected]