ELC Webinar Series

We’re delighted to announce that Pharos University is starting a PD initiative “ELC Biweekly Webinar Series”.

Our speakers who are experts in ELT for many years aim to deliver effective and fruitful sessions for you all. They volunteer to pass on their knowledge. These webinars are free of charge and designed for all English teachers working in mainstream education. Our webinars are different as they are not just a presentation! All participants will go away with new and applicable ideas. Participants will receive a certificate of  attendance for each webinar they attend.

See you in December!

Classroom Management

Dr. Rania Alshater

December 6th, 2022 @ 12:00 P.M  (Egypt’s time)

Classroom Management is an evidence of quality teaching and learning. A well-managed classroom helps to create the appropriate conditions for student learning and engagement. Disruptive behaviors hinder effective teaching and lead to loss of learning. Opposed to the traditional view of classroom management that entails compliance to rules, the updated view of classroom management extends to include all of the things that a teacher does to ensure that instruction in content and student learning can take place. Behavioural theories, including Skinner’s Operant Conditioning, Canter’s Assertive Discipline, Glasser’s Choice Theory and Kohn’s Student Directed Learning Theory as well as Vygotsky’s social theory of Proximal Development explain how the learning process is facilitated and components of the learning environment that affect classroom management. Thus, teacher’s roles and responsibilities have changed based on such understanding. While planning and delivering their lessons, teachers need to proactively address disruptive behaviour to effectively manage their classrooms through planning for unexpected events. Added to this, consistency is key to help create an effective learning environment and is needed in classroom management practices. Evidently, Classroom Management is an essential part of a new teacher preparation and any continuous professional development framework.

Dr. Rania Al-Shater is an educational practitioner with a PHD in TEFL (Menoufeia University) and TESOL and TOT diplomas (Notting Hill College). She worked as an ESL Lecturer at a technical college in Saudi Arabia (from 2017 to 2020) and is currently an ELT materials writer focusing on Teacher Training. Dr. Rania is a member of TESOL International Association and Nile TESOL.

Making Speaking Assessments Relevant and Fun Experience

Bassant Shenaf

December 13th, 2022 @ 12:00 PM Egypt’s time

As teachers, we spend much time and energy into adapting ready-made lessons to something more relevant, memorable, and teachable to our students. However, we do not always dedicate the same energy for adapting assessments. Indeed, teachers’ assessments tend to be one of the neglected tools in a teacher’s toolbox. Their crafting and maintenance are more often than not left to the assessors. Should I get selected to participate in Pharos University monthly webinars, I will share some tips and tricks on how to adapt assessments to cater to different language levels, age groups, and interests. Part of my talk will be allotted for recommended tech tools that could be used for assessing students’ speaking.

Bassant is a teacher of English at British Council Egypt who holds the CELTA & TYLEC qualifications. She is interested in inclusive learning and using IT tools for engaging classes.

Vocabulary Learning: Edutainment, M-Learning and Gamification

Hesham Mohammed

December 20th, 2022@ 12:00 PM Egypt’s time

Constituting the building blocks of a language, vocabulary plays a crucial role in ESL learning and teaching. ESL learners in Egypt are accustomed to memorize word lists for exams, but they may find difficulty in using these words effectively in speaking and writing. To engage in the communicative processes efficiently, students should be aware of several features of the vocabulary they learn: parts of speech, register, connotative and denotative meanings, collocational restrictions, idiomatic meanings, synonyms, antonyms, correct pronunciation and stress placement.

Hesham Mohammed Abu Mostafa is a Lecturer in English Linguistics and ex-head of the Department of English Language and Translation, College of Sciences and Arts, Qassim University, KSA. He has been teaching English for Over 20 years. He has taught several linguistics courses such as Phonetics, Phonology, Semantics, Morphology, Grammar, Discourse Analysis, Pragmatics, Islamic Translation etc.