BESIG: Take Your TIME: A Framework for Teaching Profession-Related Communication in an AI-Accelerated World.

This interactive workshop gives BE and ESP trainers space and time to reflect on what recalibrations are required in an AI-accelerated world of work, and to take responsibility for the quality of our educational designs. Uncritical AI adoption in pursuit of short-term efficiencies risks eroding essential human capacities for judgement, voice, accountability, and ultimately employability. In profession-related communication, where trust is central and nuances matter, such risks are particularly acute.

The session proposes a framework using the acronym TIME to interrogate our clients’ new realities and provide reference points in support of principled, context-sensitive AI adoption that foregrounds human agency. At a time when the deployment of AI agents threatens to make human workers irrelevant, we take our stand and reaffirm our mission to help adult learners exercise ownership of their thinking, their expression, and their professional identities in ways which add to their employability and value.

Workshop participants will engage in collaborative analysis and practical tasks using a structured workbook to capture insights, test ideas, and adapt the framework to their specific teaching contexts. The session is also an opportunity to come together and be kinder to ourselves as fast-paced change becomes the new norm.

Speakers- Ioana Crețu & Neil Harris

Ioana Crețu is an independent ESP practitioner and OET Preparation Partner with over 20 years of experience in teaching medical and academic English. She holds a PhD in Education and has a background in applied linguistics, medical translation, and scientific writing. Her work focuses on supporting healthcare professionals to communicate effectively in high-stakes clinical and academic contexts. She is particularly interested in process-based approaches, including the judicious integration of AI in professional communications (training). Ioana contributes regularly to international ESP / ELT communities through workshops, webinars, and talks, and she hosts the ESP Unplugged podcast from IATEFL ESPSIG.

Neil Harris is a UK-based teacher, trainer, and materials developer. In recent years he has specialised in online teacher development for low-resource contexts and ESP, and in particular the design and delivery of OET medical English preparation for individuals plus groups of healthcare professionals. His interest in EdTech has led to the creation of a national special interest group which lobbies for the development of clearly articulated principles and AI solutions for the accredited English language teaching sector. Outside the classroom, Neil is a trustee of English UK and speaks regularly online and in person at international teachers' conferences.

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