Please check out the summaries and bios of our presenters. Look forward to seeing you next Saturday!

1. SHARJAH CHAPTER/TEACHER TRAINING
AND DEVELOPMENT (TTD) SIG
present
A MORNING OF WORKSHOPS
Where: American University of
Sharjah (LAN Building)
Free for TESOL Arabia members
40 Dirham for non-members
When: November 16, 2013
Time: 10 a.m. to 1p.m.
(Registration starts at 9:30
a.m.)
Click here for the location map
Pre-register with
tatdtsig@gmail.com
OR
Amr El Zarka,
Sharjah Chapter
amr.elzarka@tesolarabia.org
Time
Presenters
Concurrent Session 1
10:00- 10:45
Betty Lanteigne
Farah AlBash
Avoiding Common Pitfalls in Multiple-Choice Test Questions
Using Video to Generate to CLT and Effective Learning
Coffee Break
Concurrent Session 2
10:55 –11:40
Eli Ghazel
Stanislaus Ayyadurai
Writing the 10 Minutes IELTS Essay
PD Courses & Resources to Empower Language Teachers
Coffee Break
Concurrent Session 3
11:50 –12:35
David Bozetarnik
Andwatta L. Barnes
Screen casting and Asynchronous CPD
Lesson Planning 101: Working with TESOL Pre-service Teachers
Followed by Presentation of Certificates and Prizes
TESOL Arabia Publications will be on sale
TESOL Arabia Website: www.tesolarabia.org
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2. Concurrent Session 1
10:00-1045
Betty Lanteigne
American University of Sharjah
Avoiding Common Pitfalls in Multiple-Choice Test Questions
Assessing students’ English language ability is a major part of English teachers’ responsibilities.
One aspect of such assessment includes developing, giving, and grading tests to evaluate what
students have learned from class instruction. As such, test writing is a major part of every
teacher’s life, ranging from short quizzes to major unit tests, mid-year and final exams.
One frequently used test question format is multiple choice, which is often used by teachers in
assessing students’ knowledge of grammar, vocabulary, reading comprehension, and so on.
However, even though they can make grading student answers quick and easy, multiple-choice
questions are a particularly challenging type of test item to write well.
This presentation points out common problems with multiple-choice questions – particularly
issues that facilitate student guessing of the correct answer – and provides simple solutions to
make multiple-choice test questions more effective. To make the demonstration more practical,
participants can bring tests from their schools which contain multiple-choice questions, and seek
to identify and rectify any such problems in test questions.
About the presenter:
Betty Lanteigne (PhD from Indiana University of Pennsylvania) has taught English as an
academic language in the USA and the Middle East for 19 years and linguistics and language
assessment literacy in the Middle East for 8 years. Her main areas of research are language
assessment, sociolinguistics, and pragmatics.

3. Farah AlBash
Using Video to Generate Communicative Language Teaching and Effective Learning
Communicative language teaching aims to help learners develop their communicative
competence and make meaningful communication. Current learning and teaching situations
demand the use of technology and/or real world objects to support learners' autonomy in
addition to communicative language teaching in the EL classroom. The aim of this workshop is
to introduce the concept and practices of the communicative approach and some related key
concepts. The presenter will discuss the importance of using videos in learning and teaching.
The audience will be engaged in different tasks to help them come up with activities that
generate communicative teaching in the EFL Classroom via a presentation supported by some
activities. Teachers will work in small groups to come up with ideas to provide communicative
teaching that caters for different students’ needs and styles. It also suggests easy applicable
steps to manage a video activity. Finally, the session will end with some tips to overcome
common challenges and come up with some recommendations.
About the presenter:
Farah AlBash is a TESOL Arabia member residing in Dubai. She holds an M.A. in TESOL and
she earned her B.A. in English language and literature. She presented in a number of
international ELT conferences and symposia. She worked as a consultant, a teacher trainer and
an EL instructor for adults in Aleppo, Syria. Farah’s research interests include teacher’s
effectiveness and learner’s autonomy. Currently she is researching in EFL/ESL and attending
different PD events and courses.
Coffee Break 10:45-10:55

4. Concurrent Session 2
10:55-11:40
Eli Ghazel
Writing The 10-minute IELTS Essay
Helping students learn to write depends on the instructor’s insights and abilities in writing. In
this 45-minute workshop, participants will identify and apply strategies and steps that lead to
improved writing in a shorter period of time, especially in writing essays in the IELTS exam.
These strategies will include instruction analysis, mind organizer development, and various
ways of collecting ideas and details. During the workshop, participants will examine a variety of
essay genres and use ‘close reading’ strategies for comprehension and for developing writing
models. They will also get an introduction to using these models for writing across the
curriculum. Generic rubrics will be used to identify the criteria of essays and for self and peer
feedback. By the end of the workshop, participants will test their own ability to write the 10minute IELTS essay. This workshop includes handouts.
About the presenter:
Eli Ghazel, MA (Language and Literacy, University of Sheffield) has given talks at Dubai
Knowledge Village, TESOL International and Florida Foreign Language Association in Orlando,
Florida. He was also a featured speaker at TESOL Arabia in 2008 and the keynote speaker at
the First Annual Conference on Curricula in Yanbou, Saudi Arabia in 2012. In May 2013, Eli
gave a talk on Smart Learning at Harvard University.
Among his works:
 Authored six ELT textbooks for KSA high school students published by McGraw Hill,
 Authored four adult English language textbooks for the UAE Ministry of Education,
 Authored three Science and Health books for Hecma University in Abu Dhabi published
by McGraw Hill,
 Trained over 1900 public school teachers and supervising staff in the UAE and KSA,
 Designed and developed curricula for the Ministries of Education in the UAE, KSA,
Japan, Lebanon and private international schools.

5. Stanislaus Ayyadurai
Ministry of Education, Oman
Professional Development Courses &Resources to Empower Language Teachers
Professional development courses are the timely guiding forces to in-service teachers. They are
the growth mindset forces to any language teachers who are in need of a support who are
deserted by their colleagues. They are the boosting factors for the teachers who after four to
five years of teaching find it difficult to continue. The purpose of this workshop is to discuss
ways on how professional development courses can enhance and empower language teachers.
How far professional development courses can address the needs of the teachers if the courses
are particularized to a specific group of teachers.
Objectives:
1. The participants will be able to understand the need and the importance of professional
development courses and resources to get empowered as teachers.
2. They will also be able to choose the right in-service professional development courses
and resources available time to time.
3. They will know the easy steps on how to choose the professional development courses
in order to get rid of the burn-out periods in their teaching profession.
About the presenter:
Stanislaus Ayyadurai is an English language teacher working for the Ministry of Education,
Sultanate of Oman.
Coffee Break 11:40-11:50

6. Concurrent Session 3
11:50-12:35
David Bozetarnik
Higher Colleges of Technology, Sharjah
Screen casting and Asynchronous CPD
Ever wanted to, or been pushed to, attend or present PD sessions but haven’t the time?
Screen-casting apps and web-based software, and a learning management system (LMS) like
Blackboard, give the chance to accomplish this when convenient for you. These days more and
more demands are placed on teachers’ time during the workday. Time and funding for attending
professional development conferences are likewise often tight. However, with more advanced
technology many institutions are collaborating electronically. The presenter argues that it is
possible to use said technology in satisfying vital CPD needs across departments and indeed
across related institutions through the use of screen-casting apps and computer-based
software. In addition to LMSs such as BlackBoard Learn, or other educational sites such as
Edmodo, faculties can produce and store presentations, workshops and lectures in an electronic
bank, from which members can share. The presenter will share his experiences so far and
thoughts on this topic. Participants will have the chance to contribute their own ideas and
experiences. While not mandatory, iPads or laptops (the presenter’s institutions uses MacBook
Pros) will allow participants to sample/download examples discussed during the session.
About the presenter:
David has taught ESP and EAP for 22 years. He is always searching for fun and innovative
ways to improve his teaching and students’ learning through technology. He is interested in
MOOCS and other asynchronous forms of CPD. David is currently teaching at Sharjah HCT.
Ms. Andwatta L. Barnes
UAE University, Al Ain
Lesson Planning 101: Working with TESOL Pre-service Teachers
As a final component of UAEU Applied Linguistics/TESOL degree, pre-service teachers
(trainees) must complete a semester engaged in supervised work with older children and/or
adult learners. This practicum gives the pre-service teachers an opportunity to observe and then
apply theoretical concepts in actual teaching practice. The presenter will share her experience
as a supervisory teacher of pre-service TESOL teachers in their efforts to create effective
lesson plans for Foundations level students. A list of the most common challenges that have
arisen in supervising pre-service teachers with lesson planning and various approaches and
solutions to the challenges will be presented. Common challenges for the trainees pertain to
making distinctions between goals and objectives, transferring their knowledge of language into
instruction, responding to supervisor feedback, and stressing the importance of the assessment

7. component in every lesson. To conclude, attendees will be shown examples of lesson plan
models and which ones have been most useful to the pre-service teachers the presenter has
supervised.
About the presenter:
Ms. Andwatta Barnes holds an M.Ed. in TESOL. Before joining UAEU in Fall 2011, Andwatta
worked several years as an elementary school teacher, adult education teacher, assessment
specialist at Educational Testing Service, and was an English Language Fellow at Qatar
University.
12:35-13:00 Wrap-up
TESOL Arabia General Update
Sharjah Chapter Update
TTDSIG Update
Certificates
Raffle