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Plenary events

#NATECLA26

We are delighted to bring delegates two plenary events to our 2026 Annual Conference:

On Friday 26th June from 13:15 -14:15

Transforming Lives Through ESOL: Learner Perspectives

On Saturday 27th June from 09:00 to 10:00

Jon Hird on "Bringing Spoken Grammar into the ESOL Classroom"

Friday 26th June 2026, from 13:15 - 14:15

Transforming Lives Through ESOL: Learner Perspectives

This keynote talk is kindly sponsored by:

A plenary talk by Axel Heussi, Aster Haile and Akram Elsir Elmisbah

About the talk

The opening plenary focuses on celebrating success stories of ESOL learners. We hope that the session can counteract the recent negativity in the press and media and highlight the importance of ESOL classes, the difference they make in our learners' lives and within the wider society.

We will hear from three speakers about their ESOL journeys, the challenges and successes they experienced along the way, as well as their current situation and future plans and hopes. Following this, the audience will have a chance to engage further with the speakers through a Q&A session.

About the speakers:

Axel Heussi is from Cameroon, he arrived in Birmingham in 2022 with the Cameroon Weightlifting Team as a coach for the Commonwealth Games. After successful games, he made a difficult decision to stay and seek asylum, knowing no-one in Birmingham, leaving his family, friends and team-mates behind. With French as his main language, he knew he had to improve his English to gain qualifications and start a new life in the UK. While in temporary accommodation, he found "St Chad's Sanctuary" charity where he started learning English and began volunteering. Then he found Brasshouse, where he felt at home. He joined ESOL class there and continues to study at Brasshouse, where he was awarded an Outstanding Learner Award 2024. He is now following his dream to become a physiotherapist or a nurse.

Aster Haile is from Eritrea. She came to the UK in November 2013. She has three children, all born here in the UK. She started learning English when her children were very young in a charity English class and later went to college. She studied maths, English and beauty therapy and has recently started working as a massage therapist.

Akram Elsir Elmisbah is originally from Sudan. He is a qualified Graphic Designer holding a bachelor’s degree in fine and applied arts in Graphic Design. Akram is married to an architect and the father of three girls. He came to the United Kingdom nine years ago with very little spoken English. He started learning English through ESOL classes at St. Chad’s Sanctuary and at Birmingham Matthew Boulton College. He then continued his studies in higher education, obtaining another degree in Graphic Communication, followed by a master's degree. Now, Akram is looking for a full-time job as a junior graphic designer.

Saturday 27th June 2026, from 09:00 - 10:00am

Bringing Spoken Grammar into the ESOL Classroom

This keynote talk is kindly sponsored by:

A plenary talk by Jon Hird

About the talk

The natural grammar of spoken, and particularly everyday conversational and workplace, English is in a number of ways very different from much of the grammar that published ELT/ESOL material covers and that learners are generally taught. While it has increasingly been the subject of (largely corpus-based) research, and while it is the kind of language that many of our learners will likely be exposed to and benefit from producing, spoken grammar hasn’t yet become part a routine part of our everyday teaching syllabuses. Through the brief analysis of an authentic dialogue, this practical session looks at some key (and teachable) features of spoken grammar and explores how we can actually incorporate this into our teaching to help our learners better understand and use it. The session will draw in part on ideas presented in the speaker’s recent Pavilion ELT publication ‘Spoken Grammar’.

About Jon Hird

Jon Hird is a teacher, teacher trainer and ELT materials writer based in Oxford, UK. He is a departmental tutor at the University of Oxford, where he teaches courses in grammar, pronunciation, EAP and professional English, and frequently gives talks and workshops in the UK and overseas. He has over the last 25 years written and contributed to a number of ELT publications for a range of ELT publishers, including grammar, course book and other resource material as well as material for learners with dyslexia. His latest book, Spoken Grammar, was published by Pavilion ELT in 2025.

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