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BC TEAL is proud to present our 2025 Annual Conference: Disruptive Educational Practices: Strategies for Transformation.

Educators shine in times of change to face unexpected challenges. This is when creativity flourishes by combining proven practices with fresh and innovative ideas. These times call for transformation which can be rooted in tradition or experience, or it can arise through unexplored approaches. The synthesis of old and new ideas drives meaningful progress. Join other insightful and creative educators as we flourish within the power of our community.
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Teaching old methods in creative ways: is it possible?
Saturday May 3, 2025 11:00am - 11:45am PDT
TBA
It is common for EAL educators to study texts that review and critique key historical methodologies and approaches in language teaching, e.g., Richards (2017) and Thornbury (2017), at different stages of their academic and professional careers, including the direct method, immersion approaches, audio-lingualism, task-based learning, grammar translation, lexical approaches, and many more.
 
In this interactive session, I focus on three well-established strategies that I am interested in and which I strive to employ creatively in EAP and academic literacy classes: [i] grammar translation, [ii] vocabulary learning, and [iii] peer review. After presenting a brief overview of the key ideas associated with each strategy and why they may be critiqued, I will ask participants to spend a few minutes doing exploratory writing to reflect on how/if these strategies may be useful to them as teachers and the issues arising in their practice.
 
Drawing on a long career teaching EFL, EAP, academic literacy, and applied linguistics in different international settings, I will then show issues that have arisen in my own practice, illustrating how I have aimed to engage learners in creative ways in my classes and in the materials that I develop for EAP and academic writing classes. Specifically, we will look at the following: the case of much-maligned grammar translation as effective plurilingual pedagogy (Galante et al., 2029; Lau & Van Viegen, 2020) that can embrace other languages and perspectives in the classroom; teaching academic vocabulary through extension and usage rather than solely focusing on meaning; and bringing self-evaluation into formative peer review in academic writing classes (Lundstrom & Baker, 2009; Wakabayashi, 2013). The session will be interactive, involving participants’ analysis of scenarios, their responses, and consideration of related classroom materials. The session will thus give participants a space to reflect on their own practices and those of others.
Speakers
avatar for Dr Steve Marshall

Dr Steve Marshall

Professor, and Associate Dean, Research and International, Simon Fraser University
Steve Marshall is a Professor and Associate Dean, Research and International in the Faculty of Education at Simon Fraser University. His research focuses on plurilingualism, academic literacy, and international teacher education. Steve has taught EFL, EAP, and applied linguistics... Read More →
Saturday May 3, 2025 11:00am - 11:45am PDT
TBA
  English for Academic Purposes (EAP), English for Academic Purposes (EAP)

Attendees (3)


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