Wednesday, 22 March

8:00–9:00 am
Presidential Keynote: Professional English Language Teachers in a 2.0 World
Washington State Convention Center (WSCC) Ballroom
Dudley Reynolds will deliver the 2017 Presidential Keynote.

9:30–11:15 am
Actions and Advocacy in a 2.0 World
Grand Ballroom A, Sheraton
Dudley Reynolds, moderator; Ahmar Maboob; Eric Dwyer; Ester de Jong; Misty Adoniou; Brenda Custodio; and Giselle Lundy Ponce

We live in a world where governments increasingly pander to people's unfounded fears of immigrants, refugees, and even students who are “speakers of other languages.” As educators of speakers of other languages and as teachers who are speakers of other languages, we bear a responsibility to speak up and act out. In this session, TESOL professionals from across the world will share stories and pose challenges for what it means to be active advocates in a 2.0 world.

9:00–11:15 am
Connecting Research to Practice: Serving Adult Emergent Readers
WSCC 618
Jenna Altherr Flores, Martha Bigelow, Patsy Egan Vinogradov, Raichle Farrelly, Heather Tatton-Harris, and Rosie Verratti

Serving the diverse needs of adult emergent readers is challenging. This research-to-practice panel includes SLA-informed recommendations for instruction, assessment, and teacher education. Participants receive ideas for balancing literacy and language, embracing loss due to migration, using mobile devices, and employing multimodal design in literacy assessments and classroom pedagogy.

1:00–2:45 pm
Educating Refugee-Background Students: Adjustment, Literacy, and Equity
WSCC 610
Raichle Farrelly, Amanda Hiorth, Amadu Khan, Paul Molyneux, Kristina Montero, Delila Omerbasi, and Shawna Shapiro

This research-based panel comprises invited chapter authors and the editors of an upcoming book on educating refugee-background students. Presenters share studies that foreground students’ goals, experiences, and voices, and they highlight the broader context of school and society. Themes explored in this session include adjustment, literacy, and equity.

1:00–2:45 pm
Preparing TESOL Educators to Address the Needs of Refugee Students 
WSCC 310
Laura Baecher, AndreaHellman, Allene Grognet, Lois Scott-Conley, Josephine Kennedy, Jennifer Ballard-Kang, Julie Kasper, Stachy Brown, Judie Haynes, Debbie Zacarian, and Brenda Custodio

Researchers and practitioners discuss critical issues in preparing teachers to serve refugee students. Topics include cultural diversity, students’ strengths and contributions, trauma and social-emotional support, unaccompanied minors, limited and interrupted formal schooling, community resources, curriculum, team collaboration, and evidence-based training programs for teacher professional development.

2:00–3:45 pm
Bystanders Becoming Upstanders: Visual Media Education for Secondary ELL Students
Tahoma 5
Zsuzsanna Kozak and Lydia Stack

The presenters share ELL visual literacy lessons aimed at raising awareness of how someone becomes a victim of labeling and discrimination and how the passivity of bystanders, peers, and neighbors can exacerbate the situation. A traveling international exhibit of secondary student work will be shared.

4:00–4:45 pm
TESOL: Your Contribution to World Peace and Harmony
WSCC 613
John Knagg, British Council

A celebration of ELT programmes designed to increase understanding in contexts of conflict and distress globally and a preview of the forthcoming British Council publication English Along the Fracture Lines. Case studies come from military conflicts, racial tension, and refugee situations in the Middle East, Africa, and Asia.

5:00–6:30 pm
Interest Section Open Meetings: Refugee Concerns
WSCC 617 

Thursday, 23 March

2:00–2:45 pm
The Language of Peacebuilding: Empowering Young People for Peaceful Purposes
WSCC 213 
Valerie Jakar, Cheryl Woelk, Lydia Stack, Alison Milofsky, and Zsuzsanna Kozak

Based on the precept that language learning, both process and product, should be meaningful, ESOL teachers around the world create curricula to help students explore identities, gain understanding and appreciation of the Other, and build peaceful and sustainable communities. Educators working with immigrants, refugees, and at-risk youths share their stories.

3:00–4:45 pm
Political, Social, and Integration Implications for Refugees and Asylum Seekers
WSCC 211
Kinana Qaddour, Earlene Gentry, Jenna Altherr Flores, Stacy Brown, Pindie Stephen, and Deborah Norland

This panel discusses access to citizenship in European countries; pathways to citizenship in Egypt, Turkey, and Jordan; governmental assistance for refugees; structures of identity among displaced persons; and social needs and legal rights of unaccompanied minors.

4:00–4:45 pm
Partnerships Supporting Refugee English Instruction
Issaquah Room, Sheraton
Joan Acosta, Lesley Hemsworth, Pat Kennedy, Virginia Christopher, Ann Talbot, and Jennifer Pearson Terell

The BC TEAL Refugee Project is a partnership between the Association of British Columbia Teachers of English as an Additional Language (BC TEAL) and the agencies and community-based organizations that serve refugees in British Columbia. This collaboration enables members of BC TEAL to offer free English language instruction to refugees who are unable to get into government-funded English language classes.

Friday, 24 March

9:30–10:30 am
Refugee Concerns Interest Section Booth

Members of the Refugee Concerns Interest Section will be available at their booth across from the TESOL Center in the Exhibit Hall to discuss refugee issues and answer questions about the interest section.