National Geographic Learning and the Michigan State University English Language Center co-host an annual Learning Symposium in East Lansing, Michigan, for higher ed TESOL professionals.
2018 Theme: Best Practices in Teaching Speaking and Pronunciation
Despite its clear connection to both listening and speaking, pronunciation is often overlooked in the ESL classroom and in ESL programs more generally. Teachers—first-year instructors and seasoned veterans alike—often shy away from teaching pronunciation due to a lack of training or to the misguided belief that it is an endeavor largely wasted on adult learners. However, oral fluency and intelligibility remain high on both the lists of ESL programs’ learning objectives and students’ needs. Come, learn, and become a leader in the pronunciation revival! While this year’s Learning Symposium will skew toward an emphasis in pronunciation, quality proposals targeting best practices for teaching speaking more generally will also be accepted. The Learning Symposium Planning Committee is excited to announce its keynote speaker: Linda Grant. The author of two pronunciation texts for students, "Well Said" and "Well Said Intro" (National Geographic Learning), and the editor of the teacher resource volume "Pronunciation Myths: Applying Second Language Research to the Classroom" (University of Michigan Press), Grant is an expert in pronunciation pedagogy who strives to help teachers implement research-informed best practices in their classrooms. This year’s Learning Symposium will again feature a National Geographic Emerging Explorer presentation, and both concurrent session presentations and a poster session featuring TESOL scholars, instructors, and researchers from around the Great Lakes region.
