PronSIG PCE 2024 - ATTENDING ONLINE: Pronunciation ‘unplugged’: teachers as resources for low-tech classrooms

Join IATEFL Pronunciation Special Interest Group (PRONSIG) online for their 2024 Pre-Conference Event on 15 April 2024: Pronunciation 'unplugged' : teachers are resources for low-tech classrooms

Today, many teachers of English language are fortunate to have a variety of resources at their disposal to aid their instruction: from a teacher’s library full of books and a photocopier to make class copies, interactive mobile phone apps, reliable internet access and smart boards onto which we can project audio and video from any genre that fits the lesson’s objectives. However, while access to these resources is increasingly common, particularly for pronunciation instruction, there will always be locations or scenarios when it is impossible or impractical to rely upon them. This could be a remote school with little funding or provisions; a classroom with unreliable technology or electricity supply; a lockdown with students who have little-to-no technological experience; or even a low-level or low-literacy class for whom colourful textbooks and innovative printed materials are of limited help. For our 2024 PCE IATEFL PronSIG wants to take you back to basics, and focus on the techniques, methods, and strategies that allow us to teach pronunciation ‘unplugged’. Turning away from ever-advancing technology for a day, we’ll share with you how you can teach pronunciation anywhere, to anyone, with nothing but yourself as a resource.

Speakers- Michael Burri , Emily Bryson, Gemma Archer, Andrea Echelberger and Marisol Hernández

Michael Burri is a Senior Lecturer in TESOL at the University of Wollongong and Editor of English Australia Journal. His research focuses on pronunciation teaching and teachers’ uptake of neuroscience.

Emily Bryson is an ELT professional with over 20 years’ experience in the classroom. She has written various print and digital materials, including National Geographic Learning’s Voices series, 50 Ways to Teach Life Skills and the A-Z of ESOL. She is passionate about diversity, equity and inclusion and the use of visual tools and graphic facilitation strategies to make learning more engaging, accessible and fun.  She is a resident blogger for Ellii learning and frequently delivers teacher development sessions for a variety of ELT organisations. Her teacher development courses with a visual twist have been described as ‘the nicest corner of the internet’.  You can find out more about her at www.EmilyBrysonELT.com and follow her on socials @EmilyBrysonELT.

Gemma Archer is an EAP teacher and programme co-ordinator in the ELT unit at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, Scotland. She is also the joint-coordinator of IATEFL Pronunciation special interest group (PronSIG), a Color Vowel Level 3 apprentice trainer, and co-author of forthcoming book Teaching English Pronunciation for a Global World (OUP, 2024). Her research interests lie in the field of pronunciation pedagogy and accent, and the issues which can arise when students and teachers of English are confronted with diverse regional and global varieties of English. She is the creator of The Scottish Sound School a resource to help new arrivals to Scotland acclimate to the unfamiliar sounds of Scottish speech.   

Andrea Echelberger is a literacy instructor at the Robbinsdale Adult Academic Program. She has worked in the field of adult education as a teacher and trainer for over 18 years, specializing in literacy level instruction, pronunciation, and learner-centered instruction. Previously, she worked as the ESL Training Coordinator for Literacy Minnesota, where she developed professional development workshops and instructional materials for English language teachers and volunteers. Andrea served as an EL Fellow and EL Specialist with the US State Department in SE Asia, and is currently serving as Past President on the international board of LESLLA, an organization that focuses on adult emergent readers.

Marisol Hernández is a higher education teacher of English specialising in English phonetics and phonology. She has been teaching modules on Phonetics and Phonology, and English Language for over fifteen years. She holds a BA in Translation and Interpreting and is currently completing her MA in English Language at Universidad de Belgrano in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Having completed a four-year vocational course in Professional Acting, she also works as an actor in fringe and independent theatres and projects. She is the author of the forthcoming book English Pronunciation through Acting Exercises and Techniques (2024)

Please click on the image below to view the programme- 

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