TESOL conference scheduled for October

Tytti Rantanen

By John Redmond

Hundreds of English teachers and scholars from around the world will meet for the two-day Korea TESOL (KOTESOL) International Conference at Sookmyung Women’s University in Seoul from Oct. 15 to 16.

The theme of KOTESOL’S 24th International Conference is “Shaping the Future with 21st Century Skills.”

“The theme of the conference highlights the challenges that both teachers and learners face in the 21st century,” the organizer said in a press release, “especially in regard to advances in communication technology, and the growth of global media.”

The international conference offers more than 200 sessions over the two days, bringing together educators from around the world.

The sessions, featuring 15 speakers, are a mix of academic lectures, practical workshops and discussions focused on teachers of young learners to adults and university students, also offering 101 workshops for new teachers.

There will be a plenary session from a leading researcher in the area of reflective practice, Thomas S.C. Ferrell of Brock University in Canada, who will open the conference with a presentation on reflective practices for 21st century language teachers.

“Farrell argues that professional development in the 21st century is about encouraging teachers to engage in reflective practice,” said the organizer. “Reflective practice helps teachers maintain their curiosity and passion for teaching and leads to collaboration. Farrell will discuss five stages of teacher reflection that teachers can immediately start using.”

Plenary speaker Tracey Tokuhama-Espinosa, of Harvard University, will continue the theme with a session on the five major changes to hit education in the 21st century.

Also speaking is Dr. Lee Bo-young, a well-known associate dean of the English language graduate school at Ewha Womans University in Seoul, who will discuss how communicative language teaching can be effectively implemented in Korea.

The Korea TESOL International conference offers attendees the opportunity to discuss new ideas, gain practical knowledge and network with other educators from all over the world. Those interested in attending can save money by preregistering online.

Online preregistration for the conference began Aug. 1 and ends Oct. 1.

For more information about KOTESOL, visit koreatesol.org and navigate to koreatesol.org/IC2016 for more about the International Conference.