Dr. Thomas S.C. Farrell

Brock University, Canada.

Click here for Dr. Farrell's website.

Presentation Outline:

In this keynote address I outline how language teachers can engage in systematic reflective practice every day using reflective tools such as journal writing, classroom observations and group discussions so that they can subject their beliefs and practices to a critical analysis. Experience as a teacher is not enough, for we do not learn much from experience as much as we learn from reflecting on that experience; so it is experience combined with reflections that leads to growth and this is how we become more effective language teachers. 

Biography:

Thomas S. C. Farrell is a professor in applied linguistics at Brock University, Canada. He has been involved with ESL and applied linguistics for the past 27 years and has written extensively on topics such as reflective practice, language teacher development, and language teacher education. His recent books include Reflective Practice in Action (2004, Corwin Press), Reflecting on Classroom Communication in Asia (2004, Longman), and Professional Development for Language Teachers (2005, Cambridge University Press, coauthored with Jack Richards).

See Dr. Farrell's Reflective Language Teaching Column for Asia TEFL at:
http://www.asiatefl.org/newsnet/ReflectiveTeachingColumn.html

Dr Farrell edited a special issue of TESL-EJ on Language Teacher Education:
http://tesl-ej.org/ej34/toc.html