ESL and Special Education Symposium Set for Sept. 30

The University of Arkansas' English as a Second Language and special education programs are hosting a symposium this month focusing on using writing to identify students' needs for additional academic language development and/or possible learning disability.

The event, titled "Is it ESL and/or SPED? Using Writing to Identify Needs," is sponsored by the College of Education and Health Professions, Department of Curriculum and Instruction. It's appropriate for educators at all levels who work with English learners whether as a classroom teacher, ESL specialist or administrator.

Presenters will give an overview of writing that reflects a need for more academic second language development and contrast that with writing that has indications of a different need such as a possible learning disability. Common errors that inexperienced teachers make when analyzing English learners' writing will be highlighted. Writing samples from English learners in Arkansas will be analyzed in small groups of participants and then debriefed by the presenters.

The session will end with a question/answer forum.

The event will be held 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.Monday, Sept. 30, at the Hilton Garden Inn in Fayetteville.

Presenters are:

• Paul Abraham is a professor of education and former director of the Master of Arts in Teaching ESL Program at Simmons University. He earned his master's degree in TESL at Boston University and his doctorate from Harvard's Graduate School of Education. His teaching focuses on research, curriculum and L2 literacy; his research focuses on the interface of ESL and language-based disability and the application of research to practice. Abraham is a frequent presenter at TESOL and he has coauthored, with Daphne Mackey, an ESL reading and vocabulary series, Contact USA, with Pearson as well as Get Ready: Interactive Listening and Speaking, a low-level listening and speaking book.
• Gareth Lindwall Honig has taught ESL students in seven countries since 2003. Her passion for figuring out "tricky beginner" ESL students led to an interest in studying the language development patterns of her students. She has earned degrees in Elementary Education, Educational Administration and completed advanced coursework in TESOL.
• Greta Phillips is an elementary school ESL teacher in Newton, Massachusetts. She has been teaching ESL in public schools for six years. Previously, she taught adult ESL courses locally and abroad. She enjoys working with students and families from all different cultures and loves to learn from them. Greta holds an ESL Master of Arts in Teaching from Simmons College in Boston.

If you would like to register for the symposium, please contact the registrar at jmichel@uark.edu. For more information on the ESL/SPED Symposium, please contact Janet Penner-Williams, Ed.D., at jpenner@uark.edu or Renee Speight at rspeight@uark.eduPor Participants may apply for six continuing education units depending on their professional designation. Link: https://cied.uark.edu/pro-development-childrens/esl-symposium.php