ATESOL ACT

Newsletter

2012 Looking back over all that ATESOL ACT has achieved during the last few years, there is a very

long list, which makes me feel proud to have been part of such a great organisation. The

high quality professional learning that has been provided, the submissions and letters

advocating for and on behalf of our members and the liaisons with other organisations has

impacted not only personally for teachers and others associated with ATESOL ACT but also

generally on education.

Well done, to all the committee members and to the general membership for allowing it to

happen!

I would like to acknowledge the contributions made by Marina Houston over the last few

years as both a member, committee member and as President of ATESOL ACT. Marina has

decided to take some time to focus on her family and other commitments and we wish her

well.

To all our members, have a restful and regenerating

holiday and we hope to see you at the first ATESOL

event in 2013.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Sue Amundsen

Vice President ATESOL ACT

A Snapshot of 2012 ATESOL supports the review into funding for

EAL/D (English as an Additional Language or

Dialect) students.

Currently 40 per cent of eligible EAL/D students are not receiving targeted English language

support in ACT Public Schools. Early in the year ATESOL members attended a meeting held

at HBCTL and provided input into the review of funding. Committee members from

ATESOL ACT also met with AEU representatives and local politicians to discuss the lack of

funding and resourcing for EAL/D students in our system and the long term implications not

only for the students but their families and the community as a whole. Our continued

interaction with all political parties meant that EAL/D was kept on the agenda and we believe

there is now a solid commitment for additional funding in this area. The way that the funding

is allocated has still not been determined. If it is not used to specifically target these students,

we will need to continue this work. It will remain at the top of our priority list and will look

forward to your continued input on this matter.

Professional Development

During the year, ATESOL ACT provided a number of professional development

opportunities for our members. The topics were varied and we used local, national and

international presenters.

Best Lessons (31 March)

Speakers from adult, early childhood and high school/college presented an ESL issue from

their sector or presented a best lesson to spark our interest and creativity at this session.

Topics were:

“The Refugee Classroom: Language, Culture and IT”

“Effective ESL Teaching Strategies in the Primary School Classroom”

“The Newest Introductory English Centre: the journey so far”

“Transition to the workplace: preparing students for work in Australia”.

A Newest Introductory English Centre: the journey so far.

At the beginning of this year a new centre was opened in Belconnen.

Previously many New Arrivals in this area were being transported long

distances by bus across Canberra to other centres. The new centre, which

is located in Charnwood Dunlop School, has allowed the students who

live in the North Canberra area to travel shorter distances to and from

school. This has been a positive change for the students and their families.

The centre was officially opened in April. Our members were provided

with an insight into its setting up, the programs provided, the students and

families that are part of the centre, and how the new EAL/D Policy is

being implemented there.

Photo: IEC students with family members enjoying Harmony Day at the new Belconnen

Introductory English Centre.

Pronunciation Tools for Fostering Intelligibility and

Communication Success (7 July)

Dr Marnie Reed, Associate Professor in the Program in Applied Linguistics and Graduate

TESOL Program at Boston University, presented this workshop. Marnie guided us through

the world of suprasegmental features, described ways to help our students learn to hear and

use intonation and contrastive stress, and so assist them to access a greater range of English

communication. The outstanding contribution of this workshop was the way in which it

offered practical ways of integrating pronunciation into lessons within the broader framework

of current research and latest practice.

Support Networks for English Language Teachers: Local,

national & global (15 June)

Our speakers Misty Adoniou and Lesley Cioccarelli shared their knowledge of organisations

that are national (ACTA); international (TESOL International and TESOL) and global

(online networks) at this session.

Lesley Cioccarelli provided us with great links to websites for both networking and for

excellent resources.

Scaffolding Literacy AND Core Skills for Work (1 December)

Our last PD for the year hosted two speakers who presented to over 50 people, a great turn-

out for this time of the year.

Core Skills for Work: Josie Allocca from CIT shared current work on developing a

framework of employability skills.

Scaffolding Literacy: Misty Adoniou from the University of Canberra presented a 3 hour

workshop to introduce us to an exciting and totally integrated approach to teaching literacy

that uses quality literature to teach both reading and writing.

The morning tea was a hit as well!

Check our website in Events for information for 2013.

ATESOL ACT Annual Spring Dinner – 31st October

2012

Members and non-members enjoyed a lovely evening with good food and company at the

Yacht Club. Dr Jeremy Jones, Lecturer in TESOL at the University of Canberra and a long-

time friend of ATESOL ACT, entertained us with his talk entitled Think different: a talk

about discourse, from Steve Jobs and K-pop to Tiger Woods and the Bra Boys.

Sponsoring Cambodian provincial teachers to

attend CamTESOL 2013

At our annual dinner, we raised funds to sponsor Cambodian provincial teachers to attend

CamTESOL 2013. Guests gave generously and the donations made have been matched dollar

for dollar from ATESOL ACT funds. This generosity allows ATESOL ACT to donate

US$350 to cover the registration of five teachers. A special thanks to everyone for their

generosity at such an expensive time of the year!

Our sponsorship is highly valued because these teachers are among CamTESOL’s least

privileged participants. Through partnership with the Cambodian Ministry of Education,

Youth and Sport, the conference helps to arrange transport to Phnom Penh, accommodation

and a per diem for a limited number of these teachers. Our support for their registration fee

allows them to access valuable professional development in ELT and a unique chance to meet

international colleagues.

For more information, please visit the Teacher Sponsorship webpage:

http://www.camtesol.org/index.php/sponsorship/cambodian-provincial-teachers or e-mail Ms

SRUN Sovan at sovan.srun@idp.com

Supporters are acknowledged in the Conference Handbook.

The 9th Annual CamTESOL Conference on ELT will take place in Phnom Penh, Cambodia

on 23-24 February 2013. The theme of the 9th CamTESOL is Language and Empowerment.

ATESOL ACT will have another presence at CamTESOL 2013 as member Lesley

Cioccarelli is conducting a workshop on: Connect with teachers around the world: How to

use the internet to develop a personal learning network (PLN). She is co-presenting with

Andrea Wade, a British teacher who is manager of the General English Programme at Eastern

International University in Binh Duong, Vietnam. A truly international collaboration!

CamTESOL 2013 website: http://www.camtesol.org/index.php/2013-conference

School Autonomy

ATESOL ACT has also put out press releases during the year. Below is our press

release on School Autonomy.

ESL teacher association gravely concerned about increased school autonomy in

government schools

The Executive Committee of the Association of Teachers of English to Speakers of Other

Languages (ATESOL) in the ACT is gravely concerned about the impending move to greater

school autonomy.

English language learners already lack adequate support in ACT schools. Many ESL

positions are part-time. Teachers often work piece-meal across several schools. They are

unable to develop coherent programs or support students whose English is well below the

level needed to participate in mainstream schooling.

Accountability for ESL funding allocations is already extremely weak. Once the money

reaches schools, it is often diverted to other programs or to start new programs that are not

directed to supporting English language learners.

With increased school autonomy, even less accountability will be required. Part-time,

itinerant ESL teachers are not in a good position to influence a principal’s decision-making,

demonstrate best practice in ESL programming or argue on behalf of English language

learners. These disadvantaged students and their parents will also have no influence on how

programs are funded within a school.

We call upon the ACT Government to retain and increase earmarked funding for ESL

provision for all students who fall below the English proficiency level necessary to

participate in schooling in the ACT.

Advocacy and Policy Development

On the local ACT level and nationally through the Australian Council of TESOL

Associations (ACTA), ATESOL ACT continued to contribute to policy development in 2012,

most notably the ACT Languages Policy, targeted EAL/D funding (see above), the Language,

Literacy and Numeracy Program and the Adult Migrant English Program.

Through ACTA, we provided input to the LLNP Discussion Paper Creating a more flexible

LLNP in 2013-16. To read the ACTA Position Paper, go to:

http://www.tesol.org.au/news/LLNP-Discussion-Paper Along with other ACTA affiliates, the ATESOL ACT Executive and members provided

feedback on the draft of the ACTA policy report “The Current AMEP Contracts and their

Impact on Programs, Learning, Teaching and Professional Standards”. The most notable

achievement this report so far has been that providers were permitted to reinstate continuous

enrolment. This change alleviated some of the most acute problems documented in that draft

but others persist. We understand that a revised version of the paper is in preparation. Further

comments for consideration towards a final report can be sent to ATESOL ACT and we will

forward them to ACTA. Special thanks to Helen Moore for her contribution to ATESOL’s

policy input during the year.

Our representatives on ACTA also provided us with the first two ACTA Illustrations of

Practice from SA (links below on the AITSL site):

“Differentiating Language Demands”

http://www.teacherstandards.aitsl.edu.au/Illustrations/Details/IOP00167

“Dictogloss for EAL/D

students”http://www.teacherstandards.aitsl.edu.au/Illustrations/Details/IOP00166

What’s happening in 2013? ATESOL will again provide you with great PD sessions and guest speakers throughout

the year. As always, there will also be an AGM and an Annual Dinner.

Don’t forget to renew your membership so that you can participate in everything

membership offers.

ATESOL ACT Annual General Meeting

The ATESOL ACT AGM will be held early 2013. The meeting will be followed by a special guest

speaker. As previously, we are endeavouring to find an interesting venue for this meeting.

Members Retreat Weekend

The ATESOL Committee is planning a member only retreat weekend in the mountains in early 2013.

Leave the worries of work behind and come to a relaxing weekend and good company with like

minds, spectacular views, bushwalking and other outdoor interests.

All guests will be requested to speak or entertain for 3 minutes on the Saturday night. You can be as

serious or silly as you like.

All meals will be provided. Maximum of 20 only. Be quick to register with payment when the RSVP is

posted.

Membership

ATESOL ACT’s membership covers the calendar year and the months up to the AGM, so if you paid

for your 2012 membership, it will expire in March 2013. To save money, consider our early bird

specials and pay your 2013 membership before March.

You will be added to our membership mailing list when we receive a completed membership form

AND confirmation of your payment. The form is available online and at meetings. It can be emailed

to the Membership Secretary or completed in hard copy and handed to a Committee member.

To help us track your payment, please indicate on your form the method of payment you used when

joining (cheque, direct deposit or cash).There is currently no membership card, so your receipt is

your membership acknowledgement.

NB: Your membership automatically lapses at the AGM. So don’t forget to renew at or before this

meeting.

If you became a member or renewed your membership at our last PD session (1st December), your

membership is valid until the 2014 AGM.

What else can you do to support ATESOL ACT?

Tell your friends and colleagues about us.

Become a committee member.

Email us with ideas, suggestions and links to resources you recommend.

The ATESOL ACT

Committee wish all our

members a Merry

Christmas and a Happy

New Year!