College hosts a professional development day for ESOL professionals

SERC recently held a free workshop for English language teachers and volunteers to facilitate knowledge and skill sharing to experienced and novice teachers of English Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL), English Language Teaching (ELT), Education Abroad Programme (EAP) and International English Language Testing System (IELTS) who teach adult learners of English.

ESOL Teachers Network NI and SERC International teamed up to offer this free workshop. ESOL Teachers Network NI is a forum for all ESOL teachers in Northern Ireland to share resources, providing Continuous Professional Development (CPD). In partnership with SERC International, opportunities are available to study a range of internationally recognised qualifications throughout the SERC campuses, along with the provision of a high-quality environment in regard to IELTS.

The workshop was offered to a range of different professionals, volunteers and organisations such as classroom assistants, private tutors, charities, community centres and those supporting learning within a classroom setting. The workshop included preparing students for academic English, facilitating IELTS, teaching learners of English at a beginner level and recommended resources for continued learning were provided. There was also time allocated for interaction to share ideas along with a question and answer session during the final section the session.

Tom Le Seelleur, IELTS Examiner from the International Department at SERC said, “The feedback from those who attended the workshop was really positive and we have had requests to hold more of them in the future as a result.”   

Tom added, “We were able to adapt the session to suit our audience who worked predominantly with beginner English students. It was fantastic to see such enthusiasm and cohesiveness from the participants at this workshop and SERC International can’t wait to provide workshops soon.”

SERC provides ESOL courses, if you would be interested in studying an ESOL course, please email: [email protected] or call 02892 626752.