Register for upcoming, live webinars covering industry trends and insights in English language teaching and join in a discussion with experts in the field to learn, share, and engage with the global community. You can also browse past webinars to watch sessions you missed anytime, on-demand.
Thursday, May 26th, 10:00 am MDT
As a business English instructor, you’re not only teaching the English language–you’re also preparing your students for success in their careers and helping them become more employable. As the world of work changes, it’s critical for you to evolve to prepare your business English students to thrive in the 21st century workplace. What are the current skills your students need and how can you help them develop these skills? Join us for this webinar, where our expert speakers will discuss what employability means and what employers are seeking from professionals.
Meet the Duolingo English Test, the digital-first English proficiency test that can be taken online, any time, anywhere in the world. In this session, we’ll walk through the journey of a test and explain how we use the latest assessment science and AI to deliver reliable and secure results. We’ll also give you our best tips for test readiness and free resources to prepare students to test their best. Click “Watch On-Demand” to access all sponsored webinars!
Introducing Bright Language Testing. Join this session to discover the online, flexible and recognized testing solutions that are opening the doors of education to candidates around the world thanks to a worldwide network of partners and the development of innovative solutions for today’s challenges. During this presentation we will also be discussing how we collaborate with Universities, schools and companies in the design and administration of specialized testing solutions.
Join us for an introductory session on PTE Academic, a leader in language testing. We’ll uncover not only the fundamentals of the product, but what makes this test so unique. Convenience, speed of delivery and results are just some of the reasons test takers are choosing PTE over other high stakes tests, but with new developments in test format and availability, there is now even more to cheer about. Learn how your institution can work with us and discover for yourself why PTE Academic is accepted and trusted by thousands of institutions worldwide as proof of a candidate’s English skills.
Research shows us that effective teaching and learning is outcomes-focused. By setting clear goals – and measuring progress towards those goals – we can better understand the impact of what is being taught, even for the youngest of learners. The Global Scale of English (GSE) was developed to address some of the limitations of the CEFR and, in so doing, to support teachers in the practical application of goal setting, lesson planning and syllabus design. In this session, we will look at ways in which the GSE supports teachers in their day-to-day work, showcasing the tools and resources that are freely available online.
This session will share key features of two ETS world-class high-stakes proficiency tests: The TOEFL iBT® test, the premier test of academic English communication and brand-new TOEFL® Essentials™ test, an efficient, digitally-delivered assessment that maintains a meaningful focus on communicative ability. Each test is uniquely designed so students can choose the TOEFL test that’s best for them to achieve their dreams of university study and more.
Whether you’re a teacher, administrator or student, the stakes are high when we’re not aware of the spectrum of details surrounding English proficiency tests available globally. This presentation will discuss the risks of not being assessment literate and will present a model to adopt for measuring quality control when considering English proficiency exams.
You’ve honed your English language teaching skills and know your participles, phrasal verbs and clause structures, so what’s next? Why not leverage your experience into creating custom courses! This is an excellent way to meet the needs of niche English language learning audiences. Plus, once you become proficient, there are opportunities to offer your course design services to companies as a side gig.
Are you looking to engage intermediate or advanced learners in meaningful conversation? Whether you use authentic materials as inspiration or find ready-made materials and add your own twist, there’s a whole world of exciting topics out there for you to discuss. Our expert panelists are excited to share their sources of inspiration and concrete methods for developing and expanding lesson plans, as well as techniques for facilitating conversation. Join Bridge and Ellii (formerly ESL Library) as we focus on helping English teachers discover materials to generate interesting conversations with intermediate and advanced level learners.
Everyone loves to make learning English fun, but can you play games and still teach your lesson with older, more advanced students? Whether online or in-person, learn to make it fun and conversational!
Join Bridge and our expert panelists for a hands-on demonstration of how games can help accomplish your lesson plans and get more engagement from your intermediate and adult learners.
English is the language of choice for many professionals in the business world. What are the implications for teachers of Global English, the “lingua franca” of the world? What kinds of additional instruction and support do professionals using English need to succeed in an international setting? Join Bridge’s Expert panel to learn why showcasing Global English is important in your business English classes, and discuss practical suggestions to effectively integrate accents, cultures, and business terminology with your clients.
Online Teacher Marketplaces are quickly becoming a trendy method for online teachers to connect with students. As they become increasingly popular, how do you stand out to attract more students and increase your rate? Join Bridge to understand the mechanisms behind how marketplaces suggest teachers for prospective students. We will cover strategies that the most successful marketplace teachers use to create noteworthy profiles and generate booming business!
Considering a career transition to TEFL/TESOL (or just a great part-time job or retirement activity)? No matter your previous work experience, age, education or background, you can find a path towards a fruitful career teaching English! Join Bridge and experts from the ELT sector to learn how you can reimagine yourself as an English language teaching professional. We’ll share insights into the different paths that exist within ELT and help you recognize how your previous experiences translate to the classroom (online or in-person). We’ll also discuss the hard and soft skills that transform your teaching toolkit and help identify your strengths.
Join Bridge and experts from the ELT sector to learn what it takes to teach Business English in the 21st century. We’ll break down how much background you should have in business, how deeply you need to understand your niche, what trends and technologies you need to stay on top of, and what employers and students really seek from a Business English teacher.
As you’re developing lessons plans, how can your learning objectives and desired outcomes for students be mapped to create “scaffolded” lessons that challenge them to move from lower- to higher-order skills? And how can you check that students are achieving the objectives you’ve set forth? Join Bridge’s expert panelists for answers to these questions and more about Bloom’s Taxonomy in the ESL classroom.
Do you often feel bored or constrained by the limits of the textbook? Do your students? Would you like to better engage your learners with richer, more diverse material that’s specifically relevant to their interests or matched to their particular learning styles? Join Bridge’s expert panel to learn about the process of developing unique materials (including authentic, digital, and multi-media) that will excite your students.
Conducting a needs assessment with new students – asking about their motivation for studying English, past learning experiences, and current learning goals – is a vital starting point for all English teachers. This is especially true in Business English, where you’ll often assess not only the student’s goals but also the goals of the company sponsoring that student. As a Business English teacher, how can you conduct a needs assessment that takes the student and the employer’s expectations into account? After the course, how do you report on the student’s success, and to whom?
CLIL stands for Content and Language Integrated Learning and, as the name suggests, this approach to bilingual education, in which academic subjects are taught in the target language, relies on collaboration between teachers, administrators, students, and parents. Join Bridge, along with CLIL experts and practitioners, to discuss CLIL’s place in bilingual education, the key principles of this method (including the 5 C’s), and how stakeholders can support CLIL adoption at their institution to improve student outcomes.
What happens when language students make errors in the classroom? As a teacher, can you recognize the nature of that “error,” and do you know when it’s appropriate for students to self-correct or peer-correct versus when they need your help? The teacher’s ability to determine whether a student has made a mistake, a slip, or an error directly affects how to correct it. Properly executing these techniques can ensure that students avoid anxiety in speaking and feel comfortable putting their language skills to practice!
English teachers often use realia (authentic materials) to engage students and present new vocabulary or ideas visually. But what is digital realia, and how can online English teachers use it most effectively? This webinar addresses the use of both digital and traditional realia when teaching online, especially to introduce games to students of all ages. Prepare for this live panel by reading the BridgeUniverse article Tips for Using Games When Teaching Adults English Online. You can also watch useful videos on this topic, such as TEFL LIKE A PRO: Bridge Games & Activities for the Online Classroom (Adults): PechaKucha Games, on our YouTube channel.
You’ve chosen the teaching field because you believe in making an impact on students’ lives. But every educator has unique experiences, values, and motivations that drive their teaching. In this expert series live panel discussion, learn to communicate your values to employers and students by crafting a powerful philosophy of teaching statement that showcases your unique mission as an educator.
Join BridgeUniverse Director Ian Wright and senior leadership from IATEFL and TESOL International Association for updates on members’ experiences from the past 20 months as these organizations responded to the unprecedented circumstances of the global pandemic. How have these organizations, their respective members, and other constituents been impacted? What can they expect in the year to come?
In a recent BridgeUniverse webinar, we discussed how dramatic changes in China’s education policies are affecting current and prospective English language teachers. In particular, we examined the effect of this disruption on teaching English online, which makes up a large portion of the Chinese education market (about 500,000 teachers). Why did these drastic changes happen? What has the immediate impact of these policies been and what outcomes will we likely see in the future? Will the ripple effects be felt mostly on international student mobility to the West or on the EdTech unicorns in China?
Dramatic changes in Chinese law regarding education have resulted in hiring freezes and even closures of some big-name online English tutoring companies, including GoGoKid and Magic Ears. BridgeUniverse brings online teachers and representatives from top English tutoring companies together to discuss how changes in Chinese law are impacting the current job market and to explore new options for teachers, such as working with companies in other regions or teaching English as a freelancer. Learn more by checking out: Teaching English Online eBook and Quakes in the Landscape of China’s English Language Education System.
English proficiency testing has long been a high-stakes rite of passage for those looking to secure admissions to a top school abroad, get an international job, or land a promotion to the global C-suite. However, the COVID-19 pandemic made traditional, in-person testing impossible, thereby pushing online, technology-based assessment to the forefront and sparking discussion around whether the conventional paradigm is, in fact, as accessible or accurate as once perceived. This webinar builds on the themes in BridgeUniverse’s January 2021 article, English Test Providers Jockey for Position as Pandemic Accelerates Online Trend.
How are MA TESOL programs emerging from the pandemic? Are they providing enhanced/hybrid learning environments for students while keeping the degree relevant for an evolving job market? Join a panel of university admissions professionals and moderator Ian Wright, Director of BridgeUniverse, to discuss the challenges and prospects MA TESOL students and graduates face in a post-pandemic world. Our discussion will be followed by at least 20 minutes of questions and comments from our global audience. This live panel builds on the BridgeUniverse article: Is Getting a Master’s in TESOL Worth It?
This series of info sessions addresses frequently asked questions about teaching English as a foreign language and TEFL/TESOL certification. For some sessions, we cover special topics (such as teaching English online) and invite guest speakers, including current English teachers, to share their insights and expertise. Other times, we host live Q&A sessions with a Bridge program advisor. Altogether, sessions last around 45 to 60 minutes.
