Cambridge University Press - ELT Lectures - 10 November 2008
Corpus Analysis for Developing Teaching Materials (5:00 - 5:45pm)
The speaker will explain what a corpus is and demonstrate its importance in writing teaching materials. Participants will have the opportunity to investigate some problematic areas of grammar, and suggestions will be given on how teachers can easily develop their own corpus-based classroom activities.
Pronunciation teaching: from low-tech to high-tech (6:15 - 7:00pm)
The speaker will demonstrate pronunciation teaching techniques and materials from the "low-tech" (involving nothing more than a simple whiteboard) to the "high-tech" (using CD-ROM based exercises). General principles on which to base pronunciation improvement activities will also be discussed.
Dr. Martin Hewings is a senior lecturer in the Centre for Academic and Professional English at the University of Birmingham, England. He is the author of Advanced Grammar in Use, Pronunciation Tasks, Pronunciation Practice Activities and English Pronunciation in Use Advanced, all published by Cambridge University Press.
Venue
College of the North Atlantic-Qatar (CNA-Q)
New Campus, Building 1, Theatre 1 (Room 1.104)
5:00–7:00pm
Click on the link below for a location map
http://www.cna-qatar.com/aboutcnaq/contactUs.asp
Snacks and refreshments will be provided and there will be a book display of the latest Cambridge University Press ELT publications.
To register, please email Audrey Blincow at [email protected] by no later than Thursday 6 November 2008
Note: Space is limited - a maximum of 4 teachers from each school/institute can register.
Cambridge University Press - ELT Workshop for Teachers - 20 October 2008
Ain’t nothing like the Real thing… for Skills
Learners have different needs: for work, study, travel and/or socialising – but all (will) need help to cope with the ‘real thing’. This workshop focuses on participants’ own teaching situations while introducing the new four-level Cambridge English Skills series from A2 to C1 for Real Reading, Writing, and Listening & Speaking. We will especially look at reading and writing needs of native Arab speakers. Real skills for real life.
New Insights into IELTS
After discussing the place of course books and supplementary resources in language learning, we will focus on activities from Cambridge ELT materials for teaching both the general and academic modules of the International English Language Testing System (IELTS). We will look at course books, including New Insights into IELTS, for both extensive and intensive preparation classes as well as supplementary materials, including Grammar for IELTS and the new Vocabulary for IELTS, for classroom use or for self-study and autonomous preparation.
Gary Anderson was Pedagogical Director of the language program of the former American Center in Paris where he taught and co-ordinated classes for all ages of learners. He was President-elect of TESOL France when he joined Cambridge University Press as International Teacher Trainer based in Paris. He has since given talks and workshops in over 50 countries on five continents, including several times in the Gulf.
Venue
College of the North Atlantic-Qatar (CNA-Q)
New Campus, Building 3
5:00–7:00pm
Click on the link below for a location map
http://www.cna-qatar.com/aboutcnaq/contactUs.asp
Snacks and refreshments will be provided and there will be a book display of the latest Cambridge University Press ELT publications.
Prize Draw – Win Exciting Teacher’s Resources!
To register for these free workshops, please email Audrey Blincow at [email protected] by no later than Wednesday 15 October.
Qatar TESOL Mini- Conference - January 2008
Once again, kindly sponsored by Georgetown University, Qatar TESOL is presenting its second annual Mini-Conference this January at Education City. This event is free for all current Qatar TESOL members. If you're not already a member, there will be a membership table on site. The theme of the conference will be: "Teacher to Teacher," .and will focus on practical ways to improve teaching and learning. Come and share breakfast, ideas and experience with your colleagues!!
When: Saturday, January 19th, 2008, 8:30am - 12:30pm
Where: LAS Building, Education City (leave ID at entrance gate)
Interested in presenting at the mini-conference? Click here to download a Call for Participation Form. First-time presenters are welcome! Please consider putting forward a proposal for a presentation, poster session, publisher presentation, or round-table discussion. All primary, secondary, and university-level teachers and administrators, as well as other professionals in the field of English language teaching are encouraged to participate.
Deadline for proposals: extended to January 5th, 2008
Presentation by Sue O'Connell at the College of the North Altantic-Qatar - October 28, 2007
IELTS* for Lower Level Learners: Targeting the Language That Counts
Lower level IELTS learners need basic language development as well as exam skills. But what grammar and vocabulary should we include? This talk will look at a no-frills approach to syllabus design, which aims to provide a reliable repertoire of essential language needed for success in the exam.
Sue O'Connell has worked as a teacher/teacher trainer in Greece, Portugal, Hong Kong and the UK. She is the author of the Focus series, which includes Focus on IELTS Foundation.
Where? College of the North Atlantic - Qatar, Building 1, Lecture Theatre 1
Time: 7 pm
Date: Sunday, October 28th, 2007
* IELTS is the International English Language Testing System. It measures ability to communicate in English across all four language skills - listening, reading, writing and speaking - for people who intend to study or work where English is the language of communication. Since 1989, IELTS has been proven and trusted worldwide to provide a secure, global, authentic and customer-focussed test which measures true-to-life ability to communicate in English. Close to 5,000 education institutions, faculties, government agencies and professional organizations around the world recognize IELTS scores as a trusted and valid indicator of ability to communicate in English. More than 700,000 people a year are now using IELTS to open doors throughout the English-speaking world and beyond. The test is taken every year across 120 countries, and is one of the fastest growing English language tests in the world, and sets the standard in integrity, research and innovation. In Qatar, 3,140 people took the exam in 2006-7. |
Click here for a printable version of the presentation advertisement.
Middle East & North Africa Writing Centres Symposium - October 26-27, 2007 
Are you an educator interested in establishing a writing center in your institution?
Are you an administrator or tutor in an established writing center in the Middle East or North Africa?
If your answer to either of these questions is yes, you will want to attend this symposium presented by the Qatar Writing Centers Network (QWCN), an affiliation of six universities in Doha, Qatar:
Middle East and North Africa Writing Centers Symposium
The Intercontinental Hotel, Doha, Qatar
October 26-27, 2007
In this conference, colleagues will
- share best practices in opening and operating a writing center
- establish a regional network of writing center professionals and
- inaugurate a branch of the International Writing Centers Association (IWCA) for the Middle East and North Africa.
The guest speaker and workshop facilitator is Michele Eodice, Vice President of IWCA and Executive Director of the Conoco Phillips Writing Center at the University of Oklahoma, USA. She will conduct in English a fully interactive conference with roundtable discussions and hands-on workshops that address such questions as:
- What is a writing center?
- How do I start and operate a successful writing center?
- Is networking valuable, and, if so, how do I do it?
Registration
The registration fee is only $50 (US currency), and attendees can ask for a discount rate at local hotels. For full details and answers to your questions, please
- access the official website, https://www.regonline.com/fsmewc, or
- email Cecelia Hawkins at [email protected].
For the sake of your students, this is an outstanding opportunity that you cannot afford to miss!
Scott Thornbury Seminar at College of the North Atlantic-Qatar - Thursday, 22 March 2007
Scott Thornbury has written a number of books about language teaching (including How to Teach Grammar, How to Teach Vocabulary, Natural Grammar, About Language, Uncovering Grammar) as well as lots of articles for journals and magazines (such as Modern English Teacher and English Teaching Professional).
Scott Thornbury has a special interest in teacher education (it was the subject of his MA dissertation at Reading University) and has been involved in writing coursebooks and overseeing the writing of an on-line learning course in general English.
Sponsored by the British Council, Scott Thornbury will be in Doha as part of the regional ELT project English for the Future. After participating in TESOL Arabia in Dubai, he is also visiting Kuwait and Oman.
On Thursday 22 March, at 5.30pm he will hold a seminar at the College of North Atlantic-Qatar (CNA-Q) campus, in the auditorium. All are welcome.
Announcement: WiAOC 2007 - Webheads in Action Online Convergence
CALL for Participation
Webheads in Action http://webheads.info, a world-wide cross-cultural online community of several hundred ESL/EFL educators and other professionals, invites your participation in CONNECT: Conversations on Networking, Education, Communities, and Technology, a unique conference to be held entirely online May 18–20, 2007.
The conference is called a convergence because it is intended to be a fair or festival in which many communities of colleagues converge to celebrate with us by presenting their work in a wide variety of formats. Participation is free and open to all who are interested. Keynote speakers include Stephen Downes, George Siemens, Etienne Wenger, Barbara Ganley, Teemu Leinonen, and Leigh Blackall.
Content and Language Integrated Learning: teacher training workshop
Sponsored by the British Council, this event will be held at:
College of the North Atlantic
28 February 2007
5:30pm
Workshop for practising teachers of subjects taught through the medium of English and teachers integrating content and language.
Keith Kelly ([email protected])
SAW team member, NILE associate tutor (Norwich Institute for language education), FACT founder and coordinator (Forum for Across the Curriculum Teaching)
Keith Kelly is a freelance education consultant based in Bulgaria. He has an undergraduate degree in Modern Languages and a PGCE in French, Russian and German from Bristol University. He then took a Masters degree in English Language Education at Manchester University. He is an experienced teacher and teacher trainer, a team member of Science Across the World, and an Associate Tutor for the Norwich Institute for Language Education (NILE). Keith is also a founder and coordinator of the Forum for Across the Curriculum Teaching (FACT). From 1999-2003 Keith was coordinator of the English Across the Curriculum project for the British Council in Bulgaria where he worked in and with bilingual schools around Bulgaria and the region. Keith, along with John Clegg, is co-author of the CLIL MA Module for NILE and Leeds Metropolitain University. He has been working as a freelance education consultant since August 2003 on education projects mainly focusing on the teaching of content through the medium of a foreign language.
The Audience:
The seminars are of interest to language teachers as well as teachers of other subjects who work through the medium of English or other foreign languages, as well as teachers of subjects working in other languages with a working knowledge of English.
The workshop:
The workshop will discuss the questions and issues involved in CLIL - content and language integrated learning:
CLIL in practice
Enchanted Learning
Primary SYCD
Science Across the World – Eating and drinking, plants, domestic waste
CLIL Issues
Getting started
Guidance and support
Discourse analysis and ideational analysis (frames, diagrams, structures)
CLIL networks and resources
Opportunities to study abroad!
The British Council would like to draw the attention of Qatari English teachers and supervisors to the following ELT seminars which are to be run in the UK in the coming months:
Teaching Associations
- This session will examine the role of Teachers' Associations in the professional and personal development of teachers.
Where & When: Cambridge, December 2006English Next
- One year on from the publication of David Graddol's English Next, this seminar looks at the implications of Graddol's research for people working in the field of English Language Teaching and asks how far the central messages are unravelling.
Where & When: Venue TBA (to be announced); October/December 2006Blended Learning (ICT in ELT)
- More and more tools are becoming available to support the learning of English and other languages. What are these tools, and how can they be integrated into learning programmes alongside face-to-face teaching?
Where & When: Venue TBA ; April/June 200.
If you are:
- a committed teacher of English
- a Qatari national
- working for a Qatari institution, and
- willing to lead a public session in Doha based on whichever of the above seminars you have attended,
you may be eligible for a British Council grant to cover the costs of the seminar, excluding travel expenses (your institution may be able to help with these).
Please contact Chris Nelson, Deputy Director, The British Council: [email protected]. State your interest in the seminar and how you think it would benefit yourself and your colleagues if you attended it.
QatarTESOL Mini-Conference: January 2007
Kindly sponsored by Academic Bridge Program and Georgetown University, Qatar TESOL is presenting a mini-conference this January at Education City. This event is free for all current Qatar TESOL members. If you're not already a member, there will be a membership table on site. Our theme for the mini-conference will be: What Works in Qatar . Join us for breakfast, poster sessions, presentations and discussions!
When: Saturday, January 27th, 2007, 9am - 12:30pm
Where: LAS Building, Education City (leave ID at entrance gate)
Interested in presenting at the mini-conference? Click here to download a Call for Participation Form.
Olha Madylus Lecture at College of the North Atlantic - Qatar
On Wednesday 22 February, from 5:45 - 7:45, the British Council and Qatar TESOL were pleased to present a special lecture by Olha Madylus, who spoke on Practical Ways of Motivating Young Learners. The lecture was held at the Main Campus of the College of the North Atlantic in Duhail, (next to Qatar University) in Lecture Hall 104, Building 1.
Synopsis of the February Lecture: Motivation is thekey to effective learning. Teachers can only do so much to establish the learning environment of the classroom, but it is the learners who need to be engaged, challenged and stimulated: it is they who need to be active in the process of learning.
This presentation addresses the broader range of Young Learners: 5-18 year-olds; and looks at practical approaches and activities that teachers can readily take into their language classrooms. It takes into account cognitive development and recent discoveries of brain development as well as the presenter's particular area of interest - the pleasure principle in learning.
For more information and to view Olha's presentation, visit the British Council website.
