Tory S. Thorkelson (BA, B.Ed., M.Ed. in TESL/TEFL), Ph. D (Language Studies/Curriculum Development) is a proud Canadian who has been an active KOTESOL member since 1998 and has presented at or worked on many local and international conferences. He is a Past-President for Seoul Chapter, a Past-President of KOTESOL (2008-2009) and an active KTT member. His 9-5 job is as an Associate Professor for Hanyang University’s English Language and Literature Program. He has co-authored research studies (see ALAK Journal, December 2001& June, 2003 as well as Education International September 2004 V1-2) and textbooks including a University level textbook, “World Class English”, with a team of fellow KOTESOL members. Currently, he is a regular contributor to EFL Magazine. Email: thorkor@hotmail.com
A few of my possible presentation topics....
A Teacher Training Program in Focus: Drama in the Public Schools
Part 1: The Vision: As one of the original curriculum designers for the program, with a small team of 3 others, I will outline the essential details of the initial program as it was designed and proposed in 2006 and launched in January, 2007.
Part 2: Reality: Although the original program was shelved briefly due to lack of students, the Ministry of Education became a partner in mid-2007 and the program was launched in September, 2007 with 75 trainees enrolled. However, there were some major changes made that will be noted.
Part 3: Lessons given and Learned: The presenter will explain and illustrate some of the materials and course work he created and used for teaching the “Drama Workshop” component of the program. Copies of the course workbooks and student assignments will also be available to look at.
Part 4: Results and Feedback: Based on the end of program report and feedback from the trainees, an overview of the good and bad points of this program (in the presenter’s opinion) will be presented and discussed. Also, some trainees comments will be looked at. Questions will be welcomed at any time throughout the presentation.
Creating a successful Content Based (CBI) Course
The purpose of this presentation will be to show how the presenter went about proposing, researching, collecting /creating materials /workbooks for and teaching a number of successful CBI courses that he taught throughout the year from up to 8 years. Many of these courses are still part of the university’s curriculum although other Professors now teach many of them. Courses include Tourism English, Presentation Skills, Introduction to Acting, Multimedia Reading Skills, English Dramaturgy, Interviews, Debate/Discussion and "The Story of English". Sample materials will be available to look at for many of these courses and, time permitting, a Q&A session will follow.
A template for proposing and assessing the success of a CBI course in a practical manner will also be offered as part of the presentation as a way to assist other teachers with this process and avoid some of the pitfalls of doing all new courses on subjects other than the traditional ones offered at many Korean universities.
Bringing Drama into your Classroom: How to ACTivate your students
The purpose of this workshop/presentation will be to demonstrate some practical dramatic games, techniques and ideas that can be incorporated into your English lessons and classroom. Both well known and original techniques designed for the Korean context will be used with participant involvement. Activities for breaking the ice, imagination, object exercises, and teamwork will be explained and done in the workshop among others (time permitting).
Experiencing Culture: The 5th Skill
The presentation will be divided into 3 parts:
Part 1: Participants will take a “Cultural awareness survey” after which we will discuss the answers. Then, I will show some definitions of “culture” and summarize a couple of the models I favor illustrating the problems people face when encountering or living in a different culture.
Part 2: I will hand out a sheet of “Cultural Quandries” that I have based on situations I or other people I know have encountered during their time in Korea. Groups will discuss and come up with their own solutions and share these with the other groups.
Part 3: In closing, I will briefly provide some conclusions, based on my knowledge and experience of living abroad, as well as sharing some of the references that have kept me “sane” during my time overseas.
Games and Communicative Activities: Not Just Entertainment
Having heard many teachers belittling the value of games in the language classroom, this presentation aims to encourage the planned and meaningful usage of games and communicative activities as an integral part of a lesson or unit or simply as a reward for good behavior on the part of students. Beginning with definitions of games and activities, I will compare the strengths and weaknesses of both. Next, I will look at students’ behavior, the uses of games and communicative activities, samples of both types and conclude with some suggestions for the proper usage of these activities in the classroom.
Konglish in the Classroom: The Teacher's Back Door (Workshop)
The presentation will be divided into 3 parts: First, I will briefly summarize our most recent study - which looked at how raising the awareness of Koreanized English (or “Konglish”) in Korean university students would affect their editing of a given text with regard to Korean or native English speaker audiences. Results showed that students edited quite differently depending on who the anticipated audience was. Part 2 will involve groups of participants who will discuss the “ifs”, “whens” and “hows” of using Konglish in the EFL classroom. I will provide some examples of activities I use in the classroom and groups will discuss these and/or their own ideas. Finally, I would like to give each group a chance to report what they came up with and answer any questions they may have.
Image and Imagination: Pictures and Picture-Based Activities in the EFL Classroom
Are you getting tired of doing the same old textbook activities? Do vocabulary drills and dialogues bore you? How about spicing up your classes with some picture activities? This presentation will look at both commercially available and original twists on picture-based materials I have used in my University English & CBI classes. If time and participant numbers permit, I would also like to get some feedback on how other teachers would use or have used pictures and picture-based activities in their own classes.
Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation (and Discipline) In the EFL Environment
This workshop looks at both the various theories related to motivating your students as well as some tried and true solution to some of the more common discipline problems that teachers in Korea face in their classrooms. While the workshop talks about experiences in a university classroom, many of the problems and solutions are also relevant to public school teachers as well.
New topic added regularly---- email me for details.
