Hawaii TESOL Spring '09 Conference

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“Ideas that Work for the ESOL Student, Teacher, and Program” is the theme of the 2009 Hawaii TESOL Spring Conference to be held on Saturday, Feb 14, 2009 at the University of Hawaii at Hilo campus from 8:30 am to 4:30 pm.

This conference, sponsored by the UH Hilo English Language Institute, will feature guest speaker, Joy Reid, who will give a plenary speech entitled “Who are the L2 Students in our Classes?” Ms. Reid is a retired Professor of the English Department at the University of Wyoming and currently a part-time research writing instructor at Maui Community College. She has written numerous ESL textbooks, including her most recent work Writing Myths: Applying ESL Research to Classroom Teaching. She is currently co-editing a series of teacher resource books for the University of Michigan Press. In addition to her many publications, she has done teacher training within and outside the U.S., including seminars in Hungary, Malaysia, Russia, Ukraine, Egypt, Lebanon, Dubai, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. Her research interests include student learning styles, the change process, discourse analysis, and the need for curriculum change in MATESL/TEFL programs.

Throughout the day, attendees can attend the two dozen or so conference presentations by ESL professionals throughout the state and from abroad. They can also talk to publisher representative and peruse exhibits of current ESL teaching materials which will be on display. Attendees may get free examination copies of materials they are interested in. After a catered lunch by Sodexho, attendees can stay back for practical workshop conducted by Joy Reid entitled, “Write to Learn” in which attendees learn about how to successfully teach: sense of audience, research skills, and the use of specific detail. There will also be a raffle to close the conference.

The conference registration fees range from $15 to $40 depending on the status of registrants. The deadline for early registration (which includes lunch) is Friday, January 30, 2009 (postmark). Onsite registration (with no guarantee of lunch) will also be available. Conference hotel rooms are provided at Hilo Hawaiian Hotel. Post-conference activities have also been arranged.

Hawaii TESOL is a volunteer-based professional organization for teachers of English to speakers of other languages (TESOL) and has traditionally held its annual conference on Oahu. In an effort to spread its membership base and to become a truly state-wide professional organization, the board members of Hawaii TESOL decided to hold its annual conference on the Big Island to serve a population that would usually not be able to fly to Oahu to attend the annual conference.

Event Sponsor
English Language Institute, Hilo Campus

More Information
Laura Kimoto, 756-6186, laura.kimoto@yahoo.com, http://www.HawaiiTESOL.org/AnnualConference