Presentations

While I was in grad school I went to my first professional conference, and it changed the way I think about the field of TESOL and my place within it. So many people came together in one place to share their ideas about teaching and learning English and thinking about them all was mentally invigorating. I felt like I had a professional community and I decided to attend as many conferences as was feasible. Now, when I present at conferences, I strive to balance theory and praxis, to ensure that my work is both academically sound and practical for working teachers.

Below are some conference presentations I’ve given, with abstracts and links to my slides and handouts. If you are interested in having me present at a conference or deliver a workshop, please contact me.

Upcoming Presentations

Race, Language and Power in ELT (with Ayanna Cooper, Hemamalini Ramachandran and Xavier Muñoz)

While English has a historical legacy as a white, colonial language, today TESOLers value inclusion and equity. In this panel, a multiracial group of presenters examine the intersections between racism, linguicism and oppression, and share strategies participants can use to counter these harmful discourses and work toward social justice.

• Panel accepted for the 2020 TESOL International Convention in Denver, CO.

Past Presentations

Translanguaging Strategies for African Classrooms: Empowerment, Identity and Plurilingual Pedagogy

Ivorian students are already multilingual, so we can use the languages they already know as tools to help strengthen their English skills and position their multicompetence as an asset. Translanguaging—a dynamic process that envisions all of a speaker’s languages as a single unified system of communication—has a long tradition in African communities and is currently at the cutting edge of international TESOL. In this keynote presentation, learn how you can use translanguaging and plurilingual pedagogy to draw on students’ full linguistic repertoires and create an empowering and identity-affirming classroom environment.

• Keynote presentation at the 2019 CINELTA Conference, Grand Bassam, Cote d’Ivoire.

Quick Arts-Based Activities to Enliven your Classes

The visual, literary and performing arts can all serve as sources of inspiration for engaging classroom activities. In this session, teachers will explore how a multidisciplinary approach to the arts can enhance language and literacy development, and experience easy to implement arts activities they can use in their own classes.

• Practice-oriented presentation at the 2019 TESOL Convention, Atlanta, GA.

Download Quick Arts Based Activities to Enliven Your Classes Slides.

Locally Contextualized Continuing Professional Development for African Teachers (with Aubain Adi)

African teachers face steep challenges in accessing effective continuing professional development (CPD) opportunities. This session presents an innovative, locally contextualized CPD model that combines workshops, online videos, and conferences for in-service teachers in Cote d’Ivoire, and highlights how the project could be adapted for under-resourced contexts around the world.

• Practice-oriented presentation at the 2019 TESOL Convention, Atlanta, GA.

Download Locally Contextualized Continuing Professional Development Slides and Locally Contextualized Continuing Professional Development Handout.

Social Issues in the Classroom: Ideas from African Teachers (with Kanda Ibrahim, Catherine Njau and Aubain Adi)

A panel of African teachers share their strategies for incorporating pressing social issues such as gender, human rights and economic inequality into their classes in compelling, locally contextualized ways. Learn how they design engaging lessons that help students practice their English and develop as world citizens at the same time. 

• Panel organized for the 2019 TESOL Convention, Atlanta, GA.

From Talk to Action: Putting Social Responsibility into Practice (with Suhanthie Motha, Gertrude Tinker Sachs, Sameh Marzouki, Christopher Hastings, Laura Jacob and Anastasia Khawaja)

Social responsibility, equity, and diversity aren’t just just buzzwords, they’re values that we can enact in our work. Join a panel of scholars and teachers from around the world as they share how they bring social issues into their practice and engage with these concepts in meaningful ways. 

• Panel organized for the 2019 TESOL Convention, Atlanta, GA.

Preserving the Tower of Babel: Language Diversity as Social Justice (with Chadia Mansour, Zoreh Eslami, Keith Graham, David Freeman, Yvonne Freeman, Jessica Guarrera and Anastasia Khawaja)

TESOL professionals in both ESL and EFL contexts have critical roles to play as advocates, researchers, and practitioners in the preservation of linguistic diversity. From the conservation and revitalization of indigenous languages to the embrace of World Englishes and translanguaging in the classroom, session panelists share their perspectives and propositions.

• Panel at the 2019 TESOL Convention, Atlanta, GA.

Video of part of my section available online here. Download Preserving African Languages through Storytelling Slides.

Countering Racism and Linguicism with Inclusive Teaching Materials

This session will raise awareness of the overlapping issues of racial and linguistic discrimination and share specific strategies that teachers can use to counter these harmful discourses. Teachers will leave the session with a list of resources and teaching ideas they can use in their own classrooms.

• Presentation at the Inaugural BELPaF Symposium, Atlanta, GA.

Download Countering Racism and Linguicism Slides and Countering Racism and Linguicism Handout.

Thinking Critically about Gender Equality in the Classroom

Throughout Africa, girls face more barriers to their educational success than boys. In this interactive workshop you will experience a classroom activity designed to raise students’ gender awareness while developing critical thinking skills. Participants will engage in a reading activity, discuss gender issues and learn gender inclusive teaching strategies to make your classroom a place where both girls and boys can succeed!

• Workshop presented at the 2018 Mauritius ELT Conference, Port Louis, Mauritius.

Download Thinking Critically about Gender Equality in the Classroom Slides.

Connecting and Supporting Socially Responsible Educators (with Anastasia Khawaja)

Have you ever wanted to incorporate social justice into your teaching but were not sure where to begin? Join the incoming co-chairs of TESOL International’s Social Responsibility Interest Section as they discuss resources and opportunities to connect and collaborate locally in order to make an impact on your community.

• Networking Workshop presented at the 2018 Bay Area Regional TESOL Summer Symposium, Clearwater, FL.

Download Connecting and Supporting Socially Responsible Educators Slides.

Classroom Strategies for Promoting Gender Equality

In Cote d’Ivoire, girls face more barriers to their educational success than boys. In this interactive workshop you will experience a classroom activity designed to raise students’ gender awareness and learn teaching strategies that you can use to make your classroom a place where both girls and boys can succeed.

• Workshop presented at the 2018 CI ELT Exchange Conference, Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire.

Download Classroom Strategies for Promoting Gender Equality Slides.

CI ELT Exchange: A New Model for Continuing Professional Development (with Aubain Adi)

The Cote d’Ivoire English Language Teaching Exchange is an innovative model for continuing professional development that combines workshops, online videos, and conferences to reach teachers throughout the country. This session outlines the development of the project and provides a planning checklist for those who want to start similar programs.

• Paper presented at the 2018 Africa TESOL Conference, Dakar, Senegal.

Download CI ELT Exchange Slides and CI ELT Exchange Handout.

Integrating Interactive Activities into Your Lesson Plans

Increasing student interaction is a goal for many teachers, but can be difficult with large classes, limited resources and mandated curricula. This interactive workshop takes teachers through the process of integrating interactive activities into their lesson plans, including matching activities to topics, troubleshooting potential challenges and creating personalized implementation plans.

• Workshop presented at the 2018 Africa TESOL Conference, Dakar, Senegal.

Download Integrating Interactive Activities into Your Lesson Plans Slides and Integrating Interactive Activities into Your Lesson Plans Handout.

Drama for Social Justice in ELT

Drama can help language learners counter dominant narratives, develop empathy and understand their identities, while developing their language skills and addressing social issues. This interactive workshop provides a framework for integrating drama for social justice into English classes and provides teachers an opportunity to experience dramatic activities firsthand.

• Workshop presented at the 2018 TESOL Convention, Chicago, IL.

Download Drama for Social Justice in ELT Slides and Drama for Social Justice in ELT Handout.