We are organising a series of bi-monthly Turkey Higher Education Talks which will help you connect with colleagues in Turkey and the UK to share your experience and learn from them.
The topic of the discussion is ‘’English language teaching in higher education under Covid-19 circumstances: How did language programmes prepare for the fall semester and beyond?’
With the approaching academic year, English language programmes had to make major revisions to the delivery of English language teaching in the higher education context. While most of the English course as still online, some institutions have moved to blended models. The assessment of some writing-based classes in Turkey are still face-to-face. And the list of responses continues…
In this webinar, we aim to discuss the current context of English language provision in universities in the UK and Turkey. We would like to explore:
- How have English language programmes in Turkey and the UK responded to the challenges of moving their English language provision to online?
- What are current institutional reflections on quality assurance systems that can support high quality online teaching of English?
- What teacher support systems are needed to facilitate large scale remote teaching?
- What are the learning points that can take institutions from emergency remote teaching to high quality remote teaching of English in pre and in-sessional course?
- How did students respond to learning English online?
About the Speakers:
Asst. Prof. Dr. Bahar Gün - Head of the Teacher Development Unit, Izmir University of Economics. She has 27 years of experience in the field of English language teaching (ELT). Her research interests include EFL teacher education in general, teacher cognition, reflective teaching and learning in particular. She is also a Certificate in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (CELTA) and In-service Certificate in English Language Teaching (ICELT) tutor, an OTA trainer and a trained reviewer for Commission on English Language Program Accreditation (CEA). She has presented in many national and international conferences and extensively published in the field of English Language Teaching. She is the President of the Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) Turkey Association and a Board Member of Language education evaluation and accreditation board (DEDAK).
Conrad Heyns - Director of the Centre for Academic Language and Literacies at Goldsmiths, University of London. Prior to his current work, he worked in other higher education institutions in the UK and also in a number of international positions in South Africa, Japan, Australia, the USA and across China. He has particular interests in intercultural communication, the student experience and quality assurance within Higher Education institutions. He is currently an inspector for four schemes: The BALEAP Accreditation Scheme, the Evaluation and Accreditation of Quality Language Services, the International House World Organisation and Cambridge English Certificate in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (CELTA) teacher training. He is the Chair of the BALEAP Accreditation Scheme. He is also a judge for the British Council ELTons and the English-Speaking Union Duke of Edinburgh Awards.
Professor Dr. Bilal Kırkıcı – Director, School of Foreign Languages, Middle East Technical University, Ankara. As well as his title in School of Foreign Languages, Bilal Kırkıcı is also a Professor of Linguistics in the Department of Foreign Language Educationat Middle East Technical University. He predominantly conducts research into the morphological and syntactic processing mechanisms of native and non-native speakers.
Sophia Mavridi - Digital Learning Specialist and Lecturer in English Language Teaching, De Montfort University, Leicester, UK. Her research focuses on online learning and the increasingly important role of digital literacies in education. She has trained for major organisations such as the British Council and she is a regular keynote speaker at international conferences. Sophia is the Joint-coordinator of the IATEFL Learning Technologies Special Interest Group; her latest co-edited volumes are ‘English for 21st Century Skills’ (Express Publishing, 2020) and ‘Digital Innovations and Research in Language Learning’ (IATEFL, 2020), both of which reflect her keen interest in innovative pedagogies in language education.
Moderator: Ayşen Güven - Director Education, British Council in Turkey. She has been working intensively on improving the quality of English provision in the higher education sector in Turkey at national and institutional level. Ayşen worked at an English as a medium of instruction (EMI) university for 20 years as a teacher, trainer and supervisor, focusing on English for Academic Purposes (EAP), specialising in EAP curriculum design, reflective practice, leadership and change management. She is currently the co-ordinator of the IATEFL English for Specific Purposes Special Interest Group (ESP SIG).
In every two months, higher education professionals will be brought together to exchange knowledge and ideas on different topics. Come back and tune in to find out more, the series is free of charge.