English Language Teachers' Summer Seminar



Overview

The Summer Seminar is designed for teachers of English as a Second Language who either teach secondary school pupils or adult learners. The programme is delivered by a team of highly experienced international trainers as a series of practical workshops. 

You'll collaborate with teachers from many different countries, and in this way, the programme also functions as an exercise in community building and international understanding.

2021 marks the 25th anniversary of the Summer Seminar.  We look forward to welcoming English language teachers from across the globe to Oxford for an enriching, exhilarating and unforgettable professional development experience in New College, one of the University's largest and most striking colleges.

Who is the programme for?

The Summer Seminar is for English language teachers who would like to:

  • produce more effective classroom materials
  • explore new teaching techniques
  • reflect on and develop their practice
  • share teaching experiences with international colleagues
  • keep abreast of current trends in ELT

For a flavour of what to expect please take a look at our video (also available on YouTube):

Programme details

The Seminar provides 42 hours of tuition over two weeks, comprising 20 workshops, 5 lectures and 3 seminars.

You'll choose two morning workshops per week.

Workshops week 1:

Workshops week 2:

ELT guest lectures

After lunch we invite you to join us for a stimulating and informative plenary lecture or seminar:

  • Dyslexia and Learning English: Literacy and Wider Issues - Jon Hird
  • The Story of your Professional Development: Sowing the Seeds of an International Learning Community - Adrian Underhill
  • Artificial Intelligence and Language Learning - Shaun Wilden
  • Personalization in an Impersonal World - John Hughes
  • Visual Literacy in the ELT Class - Hanna Kryszewska
  • Taking the ELTSS Experience Back Home - Adrian Underhill
  • I've started so I'll finish: good reason to stick with bad books, and other lessons in resilience - Edmund Dudley

Schedule

Monday - Friday

09.15 - 10.45  Workshop
10.45 - 11.15  Tea/coffee break
11.15  - 12.45  Workshop
12.45 - 13.45  Lunch
13.45 - 15:15  Lecture

The programme provides 42 hours of tuition, comprising:

  • 12 hours of lectures (8 sessions lasting approximately 1.5 hours each)
  • 30 hours of workshop meetings (7.5 hours per course)

Please note that as the workshop sessions incorporate a large amount of interaction and participation with colleagues, all teachers are invited to contribute proactively to group discussions.

Social programme

We have carefully tailored your social programme to allow you plenty of free time to explore and enjoy Oxford. We have arranged a number of optional activities (all at no extra cost) during your course which, under normal circumstances, may include the following:

  • Guided walking tour of Oxford
  • Coach transport to and from London on Saturday 31 July
  • Cultural exchange evening
  • Punting on the river Cherwell
  • Scottish country dancing evening
  • Oxford scavenger hunt
  • River and Canal walk
  • Quiz Night
  • Open-air play
  • Pub visit with tutors

You will also benefit from the services of two programme assistants who will be available to offer information on available social activities in Oxford.

Meals and refreshments

We invite all participants to join us for an opening drinks reception and dinner on Sunday 25 July and for our formal closing drinks reception and gala dinner on Friday 6 August.

Breakfast, lunch and dinner are provided in the college's dining hall.  With the exception of the opening/closing dinner, all meals are self-service with a range of options available. 

ELT publishers' book display

During the Seminar, representatives from Oxford University Press and Macmillan will be present to showcase current and forthcoming ELT publications. All teachers will be offered a discount of 20% on ELT publications purchased during the seminar.

Certification

On successful completion of the Summer Seminar, all participants will receive a University of Oxford Certificate of Attendance.

The attendance certificate will state the course title and location, the course dates, and hours of tuition involved. It will be signed by the programme director and the principal tutor.

Please note that this course does not offer any form of official credit to participants.

Fees

Description Costs
Non-Residential Fee £1715.00
Residential Fee: Ensuite £2900.00

Funding

The Department is, unfortunately, unable to offer any scholarships or reduction in fees for the English Language Teachers' Summer Seminar at present.

Payment

Residential

En suite (private shower and toilet) - £2,900

Fees include:

  • Tuition; social activities
  • Accommodation in a single en suite room with private shower and toilet for the nights of Sunday 25 July to Friday 6 August 2021 inclusive;
  • All meals from dinner on Sunday 25 July to breakfast on Saturday 7 August 2021 (with the exception of lunch and dinner on Saturday 31 July).

Non-residential

No accommodation - £1,715

Fees include:

  • Tuition; social activities
  • Lunch Monday to Friday, and the programme's opening and formal closing dinners on Sunday 25 July and Friday 6 August 2021, respectively.

Cancellations

Please note that refunds are only offered in exceptional circumstances. Please consult our terms and conditions for more details.

Applicants are strongly recommended to take out vacation cancellation insurance, and should consult their travel agent and/or insurer for information and advice. Please note that the Department does not offer any insurance cover.

Alteration or cancellation of a course by the Department

The Department reserves the right to alter details of any course should illness or any other emergency prevent a tutor from teaching, and to cancel a course or seminar if exceptionally low enrolment would make it educationally unviable.

The status of the course will be reviewed on 17 May 2021, after the Government announcement due on that date. If it is likely that the course may be cancelled, all participants enrolled on the course will be notified in writing within seven days, and possible options clearly explained.

If participants have not heard from the Department by 24 May 2021, they should assume that the course will be running; there is no need to contact us to confirm. Participants may wish to delay finalising their travel arrangements until after this date.

Tutors

Edmund Dudley

Tutor

Edmund Dudley is a teacher trainer, materials writer and teacher of English with more than 25 years of classroom experience. Based in Budapest, he has extensive experience of English language teaching at both primary and secondary levels. He has worked with teachers of English from around the world as a teacher trainer, delivering seminars and courses, speaking at conferences, and presenting webinars. He is the author of ETpedia Teenagers (Pavilion Publishing) and co-author of OUP’s Mixed-Ability Teaching (2016).

Jon Hird

Tutor

Jon Hird is a teacher, teacher trainer and ELT materials writer based in Oxford. He teaches at the University of Oxford and frequently gives teacher-training talks and workshops in the UK and overseas. He has written and contributed to many ELT publications for a number of publishers. His most recent publications include Oxford Learner’s Pocket Verbs and Tenses and components of the Language Hub, Roadmap, Navigate, Keynote, Oxford EAP and Life course book series. He has also written and adapted a range of materials for learners with dyslexia. 

John Hughes

Tutor

John Hughes is a teacher trainer and ELT course book author. He has worked as author and co-author on over 40 titles including the course book series Business Result (OUP) and Life (National Geographic Learning). He is also series editor of the ETpedia series of resource books for teachers (Pavilion ELT) and specialises in training courses on materials writing.

Hanna Kryszewska

Tutor

Hanna Kryszewska is a teacher, teacher trainer, trainer of trainers and mentors, author of resource books and course books and senior lecturer at the University of Gdańsk, Poland. She co-wrote: “Options for English” - PWSiP, 1991, “Learner-based Teaching” (OUP, 1992), “Reading on Your Own’ (PWN, 1995), “Towards Teaching”, (Heinemann, 1995), “Stand-by Book”, S. Lindstromberg, Ed. (CUP, 1996), “Observing English Lessons”- A Video Teacher Training Course, and “The Company Words Keep” (DELTA, 2012).Since February 2006, she has been the editor of website magazine ‘Humanising Language Teaching.’

Adrian Underhill

Tutor

Adrian Underhill is series editor of the Macmillan Books for Teachers and author of Sound Foundations: Learning and Teaching Pronunciation, and its associated phonemic chart. He was trainer and director of the International Teacher Training Institute at International House in Hastings until 1999, since when he has worked internationally as an independent ELT consultant with a focus on teacher training, professional and organisational development, and school leadership. He is a past president of IATEFL and principal tutor on the Oxford University ELT Summer Seminar.

 

Shaun Wilden

Tutor

Shaun is an education technologist who teaches and trains both face-to-face and online courses.

In the Department for Continuing Education he teaches digital literacy as well as short courses in mobile learning and teaching online. His latest book, Mobile Learning, was published by Oxford University Press.

He is the academic director for online courses for the International House World Organisation overseeing their suite of asynchronous teacher development courses and is a consultant to a number of educational organisations to assist them in their synchronous and asynchronous course provision.

His current area of interest and research is learner expectations in peer to peer social presence within asynchronous courses.

Assessment methods

There are no assessments for this course.

Oxford skyline from South Park

Application

Please download the application form.

All sections should be completed fully, clearly, and in BLOCK CAPITALS.

Applications should be emailed to the Programme Administrator at the following address:

Application deadline

Subject to the availability of places, the closing date for applications is 11 June 2021.

Notification of the admission panel's decision

Applicants will normally be notified of the panel's decision by email within 14 days of their application being received.

Applicants who are offered a place on the summer school must respond within 14 days to accept or decline the offer. In accepting our offer of a place applicants are committing to paying their programme fees in full by the due date.

Enrolling, invoicing, and further course information

Successful applicants will be formally enrolled on the summer school once they have accepted our offer of a place. The enrolment process includes the issuing of invoices, which will be emailed to applicants together with full instructions for payment.

Applicants will be required to pay the full fee within 28 days of their invoice date. Late applicants may be required to pay the full fee within 7 days of their invoice date. Places will not be held for students whose fees are not paid in full by the due date. Under no circumstance will applicants be admitted to the summer school unless all fees have been paid in full.

Once fees have been paid in full, applicants will be sent a formal letter confirming their place on the course and receipt of their payment.

Detailed course information notes will be emailed to participants in Spring 2021. These notes will contain practical information to assist students preparing to travel to Oxford.

Any Queries?

Please contact the Programme Administrator by email at ipteachers@conted.ox.ac.uk

Important information regarding visa requirements

If you require a visa to study abroad, then we strongly recommend that you apply for this course as early as possible in order to allow yourself sufficient time to make a successful visa application.

This may include a letter from the course administrator confirming your place on the course; this confirmation letter will not be issued until all course fees have been paid in full.

In the case of a visa application being unsuccessful the Department will not offer a refund.

Please note that, for legal reasons, the Programme Administrator is not permitted to provide any visa advice to applicants. All such enquiries should be submitted to Oxford University’s student visa and immigration advisers via email at student.immigration@admin.ox.ac.uk

Level and demands

This summer school is aimed at English Language Teachers with at least four years' work experience who teach one or more of the following:

  • Secondary school pupils
  • Adult learners, e.g. college or university students, professionals

All teachers should have a minimum level of CEFR C1 proficiency across all skills.

Please note that the workshops require active participation at the individual, paired and group level.

 

Selection criteria

Professional Experience

Applicants must have a minimum of four years' experience of teaching English as a foreign or second language to secondary school pupils, college or university students or adult learners.

English Language Proficiency

Applicants should have a minimum level of proficiency in English equivalent to CEFR C1.

Accommodation

Resident in College

For that real University of Oxford experience, you’ll have the opportunity Radcliffe camerato live in student accommodation in New College. Founded by William of Wykham in 1379, New College is one of the largest, best known and most beautiful of the Oxford colleges. The college is located in a prime city centre location. You'll be provided with a single study bedroom with private bathroom and toilet.

We regret that participants cannot be accommodated at New College either prior to or beyond their programme dates. Family members and/or friends who are not enrolled on this programme cannot be accommodated in college.

Non-Resident

Participants who choose to be non-resident on the summer school are responsible for finding their own accommodation. Information on accommodation in Oxford can be found on the internet at:

(Please be aware that demand for accommodation in Oxford during the summer months may be high).

Participants with a disability or mobility impairment

The aim of the Department is to treat all participants equally and welcomes applications from people with disabilities. Individuals` needs are taken into account as far as possible, providing reasonable adaptations and assistance within the resources available. We ask that people let us know of any disability or special need (confidentially if required) so that we can help them participate as fully as possible.

When applying for the Department's college-based summer programmes, prospective participants with mobility difficulties or visual or hearing impairments may want to make preliminary enquiries to the Programme Administrator, as the age and layout of these colleges often makes them user-unfriendly (although adaptations are often possible). Oxford, as an ancient city, tends to be difficult to navigate for people with disabilities. The number of very old buildings, designed in an age less sensitive to issues of disability, makes access to much of the city centre difficult. However, the Department will do as much as it can to make study with us possible.

Participants should contact us if they will have problems gaining access to a bedroom located on upper or basement floors.

Terms & conditions for applicants and students

Information on financial support