Diane Menga's List: Online TESOL Courses & Seminars

English Language Learner University (ELL-U) is an innovative, accessible, easy-to-use, and free learning portal. ELL-U provides English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) practitioners with unlimited access to high quality online professional development and learning opportunities. Here practitioners can access evidence-based instruction training, leading adult ESOL experts, and resources, while helping to build a community of practice for ESOL professionals.

What is grammar, and how is it internalized in the mind? Is it made up of symbolic code or of neural connections? Is it a sedimented trace left by previous conversations or an innate human capacity? Our answers to these questions obviously shape the way we go about teaching second languages. In this talk, Scott Thornbury reviews some of the main models of grammar—often couched as metaphors—and looks at their implications for classroom practice.

Language instructors face several problems when teaching pronunciation, including time constraints and the difficulty of designing effective tasks. This hands-on workshop suggests practical solutions and outline seven concepts in teaching pronunciation. Participants will practice applying these concepts and utilizing presentation techniques. The presenter, Judy B. Gilbert, is an internationally respected authority on teaching English pronunciation,

Using a combination of lecture and experiential exercises, ESL education specialist Diane Larsen-Freeman traces the evolution of language teaching methods over the past 60 years, discussing how each evolutionary phase has contributed to a more "whole-person" view of language learners.

Many teachers are eager to use corpora in their classrooms but lack the training and resources to accomplish this task. In this interactive workshop, the presenter will help to demystify corpus linguistics with clear explanations, examples and hands-on activities. Participants will gain the knowledge and skills for creating classroom materials and activities, including how to create corpora to address specific class needs.

In this talk on English language teaching (ELT), Scott Thornbury, associate professor in the New School MA TESOL program, briefly reviews the work of six educationists whose ideas have helped shape his own practical theory of ELT. Professor Thornbury suggests that situating ELT within a broader educational context has important implications and benefits.

Learner language is the constantly changing ability students have to communicate as they learn a new language. It provides an index of students progress, allowing teachers to determine how to best educate them. By analyzing examples of learner language, students develop skills to address it when they are teaching.

Welcome to Basic Training and Resources for Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages. This site is designed to provide basic training ("the least you should know") and resource connections ("where to go to learn more") for people who are either on the verge of teaching ESL/EFL or already practicing TESOL in one way or another, but have no academic background or professional preparation in TESOL.

The Adult ESL Training Video Project: Our society needs affordable, accessible ESL classes for adult immigrants, but one obstacle is the shortage of well-trained teachers. The New American Horizons Foundation aims to enhance the development of teachers through the creation of a series of training videos, Teaching ESL to Adults: Classroom Approaches in Action. The project team includes MaryAnn Florez and Betsy Parrish, who are leaders in adult ESL teacher training.

The ESL Literacy Network supports continuous learning by offering professional development workshops and webinars. We invite you to participate in our upcoming training and learn more about previous training sessions.

Free Webinars for Teaching Reading to Struggling Readers and ESL Students. This collection of webinars is an excellent resource by professionals with expertise in a variety of reading-related areas. Most of these webinars have not only the recorded audio, but also handouts and full powerpoint presentations that are available at no cost.

Webinar Archives from Macmillan English on a variety of ELT topics such as vocabulary, phonics, reading, picture books, storytelling, and much more.

Webinars from Cambridge University Press on teaching Adult ESL. They focus on a variety of topics.

TOEFL TV is an Official Channel with videos about the TOEFL test, it's sections, and tips from real teachers and students.