Professionalizing Your English Language Teaching

What is Professionalism?  Research on Professionalism in ELT.- Positive Psychology.- The Importance of Professional Learning Communities.- Teacher Professional Identity.- Professionalism and Integrity.- Personal and Professional Strategic Planning.- Increasing your Productivity & Effectiveness.- Time Management Skills for the Busy TESOL Professional.- Improving Your Communication Skills.- Transitioning from Teacher to Manager.- Using Technology Effectively.- Transforming Yourself into an Online Educator.- Dealing with Change/Motivation.- Stress Management.- Conflict Resolution Skills.- Enhancing your Employability.- Career Path Development.- Marketing Yourself (To Include Effective CVs, Job Interviewing Skills, Networking, Social Media Skills).- Developing your Online Profile.- Developing Leadership Capacity.- Increasing your Happiness Quotient.- Expanding your Geographical Horizons.- Creating your Own Professional Development & Lifelong Learning Plan.- Increasing your LanguageProficiency.- Getting Involved in Research.- Doing a Conference Presentation.- Publishing Pedagogical Materials.- Publishing Research-based Materials.- Involving Yourself in Professional Associations.- Mentoring/Coaching.- Engaging in Reflective Practice.- Giving Back to the Profession.- Giving Back to the Profession.- Professionalizing your Non-professional Life.- Surviving the Promotion and Tenure Process.- Thinking Ahead to Retirement.

Christine Coombe has a Ph.D. in Foreign/Second Language Education from The Ohio State University. She is currently an Associate Professor of General Studies at Dubai Men's College, and is the former Testing and Measurements Supervisor at UAE University and Assessment Coordinator at Zayed University. Christine is co-author of A Practical Guide to Assessing English Language Learners (2007, University of Michigan Press) and co-editor of Assessment Practices (2003, TESOL Publications); Evaluating Teacher Effectiveness in EF/SL Contexts (2007, UMP); Language Teacher Research in the Middle East (2007, TESOL Publications); Leadership in English Language Teaching and Learning (2008, UMP); Applications of Task-based Learning in TESOL (2010, TESOL Publications); The Cambridge Guide to Second Language Assessment (2012, Cambridge University Press); Reigniting, Retooling and Retiring in English Language Teaching (2012, University of Michigan Press); The Cambridge Guide to Research in Language Teaching and Learning (Cambridge University Press, 2015); and Volume 8 of the TESOL Encyclopedia of ELT (Wiley Blackwell, 2018). Christine's forthcoming books are on innovation in the MENA, international perspectives on language teaching associations and professionalism in education.

During her tenure in the Middle East, she won numerous awards including: 2002 Spaan Fellowship for Research in Second/Foreign Language Assessment; 2002-03 TOEFL Outstanding Young Scholar Award; TOEFL Board Grant for 2003-04, 2005-06, 2007-08 and 2009-10 for her work in delivering assessment training assessment in developing countries. She served on the TESOL Board of Directors as Convention Chair for Tampa 2006 and was the recipient of the Chancellor's Teacher of the Year for 2003-04. She was TESOL President (2011-2012) and a member of the TESOL Board of Directors (2010-2013). Christine received the British Council's International Assessment Award for 2013. Her most recent honors were being named