Speaker
Description
Abstract
While English textbooks provide valuable linguistic input, many classroom activities do not always create meaningful opportunities for interaction, learner voice, or authentic communication. This interactive workshop explores how standard textbook activities can be transformed into communicative learning experiences that promote active student engagement, critical thinking, and cultural exploration.
Drawing on adaptations of America250 lessons implemented in Vietnamese Access classrooms, the presenters will share practical, classroom-tested strategies for maximizing communication and learner participation. Participants will experience interactive activities such as a “Human Bar Chart” discussion task, which encourages learners to express opinions, justify ideas, and respond respectfully to different perspectives. Additional examples will demonstrate how reflective discussion tasks can help students connect classroom content directly to their own identities, personal goals, values, and cultural understanding.
Through hands-on participation and collaborative reflection, participants will examine key principles of communicative task adaptation and explore how to apply them across different teaching contexts. Working in small groups, attendees will actively redesign a familiar textbook activity into a dynamic learning experience that promotes interaction, learner voice, and meaningful engagement.
By the end of the workshop, participants will leave with practical adaptation strategies, ready-to-use activity ideas, and a flexible framework for transforming textbook activities into engaging communicative learning experiences in their own classrooms.
Keywords: textbook adaptation, communicative learning, student engagement, critical thinking, Human Bar Chart
Biography
Pham Thi Thang holds a Master’s degree in TESOL and is an English teacher for the English Access Microscholarship Program in Lào Cai Province, Vietnam and a lecturer at the Faculty of Interdisciplinary Sciences, Thai Nguyen University – Lao Cai Branch, Vietnam. She has extensive experience teaching English to pre-service teachers, focusing on developing student confidence and communicative competence in mixed-level and under-resourced classrooms. Her professional interests include educational technology, AI integration in language learning, language teaching methodology, teacher education, and context-sensitive, learner-centered approaches. She is an active member of the VietTESOL community and has presented her work on reducing speaking anxiety and inclusive environments at numerous national and international English language education conferences.
Bui Thi Thuy Nhi is an English teacher for the English Access Microscholarship Program in Quang Tri Province, Vietnam. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in English Language from Hue University and is currently completing a Master of Public Policy at Fulbright University Vietnam.
Bridging experience in both public service and education, her work focuses on integrating critical thinking, cultural exploration, and real-world issues into language learning.
Through her involvement in the Access Program, she specializes in innovative textbook adaptation strategies that promote active student participation, reflection, and meaningful communication.
| Affiliate type | University |
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