The speakers
Keynote speaker sponsor
Thank you to ESB for their support.
We are delighted to welcome the following guest speakers to this year's conference.
Stephen Evans, the Learning and Work Institute
Dare to dream?
Friday 28 June, 13:15 - 14:15
About the talk
Adult education in England has faced a massive drop in funding over the last decade and a half, with ESOL provision especially squeezed. However there are grounds for optimism, especially with some of the initiatives being pursued by a number of the Mayoral Combined Authorities (MCAs) to use their newly devolved responsibilities to prioritise additional support for ESOL learners along with the recruitment and training of ESOL teachers. With the next UK General Election only months away, Stephen will open this year’s Conference by considering the current landscape and how we might dare to dream.
About Stephen
Stephen has been chief executive of the Learning and Work Institute since 2016, having spent two years previously as deputy chief executive. He joined from Working Links, where he led on policy, strategy and business development. Prior to this, he worked for the London Development Agency as director of employment and skills, commissioning programmes and leading the work of the London Skills and Employment Board; was chief economist at the Social Market Foundation; and spent six years as senior policy advisor in HM Treasury working on policy for skills, productivity and child poverty.
Richard Chinn, King's College London
Reactive teaching: responding to learners’ emergent language needs.
Saturday 29 June, 9:00 - 10:00
About the talk
In general, there has been a focus in English language teaching on curriculums, schemes of work, lesson planning, approaches, and procedures. While all of these are of importance, a key area of teaching is often overlooked: the unplanned moments in class when learning opportunities arise. This talk will examine the important role of skilled improvisation in teaching and explore how teachers can work with learners’ emergent language needs. The talk will include practical examples of how teachers in ESOL incorporate responsive teaching into their classes and will suggest ideas for teachers, managers, and educators to explore in their own context.
About Richard
Richard Chinn is a teacher educator based in London and he works on MA and BA programmes at King’s College London. He is also involved in pre- and in-service teacher training courses at International House London. He began his career 20 years ago, teaching EFL in London and then ESOL in Birmingham, where he spent five productive years as a teacher and later a teacher trainer at Brasshouse Language Centre. Since then, Richard has taught English and worked on teacher development courses in the Middle East, Europe, Central America, South America, Africa, and Asia. His current professional interests are in emergent language, multilingualism, classroom interaction, and teacher development. He is co-author of the book ‘Working with Emergent Language’ published by Pavilion ELT, 2023.
