Speaker
Description
While English-speaking clubs have long served as a complementary platform for language learners, participants often remain passive, limiting the potential for meaningful engagement. As a result, learning outcomes tend to mirror those of traditional classroom settings. This workshop introduces a model in which club members gradually take on leadership roles in planning and facilitating sessions. Activities such as debates, peer-led games, and participant-designed events are used to promote a sense of ownership and agency. This shift encourages not only learner autonomy, but also learner agency - the ability of learners to make choices, influence the learning process, and take meaningful action within their learning community.
This approach draws on theories of learner autonomy (Little, 1991) and learner agency (Benson, 2011). Drawing from over a year of co-hosting a mixed-level English club, the presenter demonstrates how this model fosters higher engagement and more sustained language use among participants. In this workshop, attendees will take part in a hands-on task to co-design a learner-led club session tailored to their own teaching context. They will reflect on potential roles, challenges, and strategies to implement learner-driven initiatives effectively.
Attendees will leave with a practical, adaptable framework for transforming club participants into empowered co-creators of their learning experience. This session is particularly relevant for educators working in low-resource, community-based, or blended learning environments.
Biography
Quynh Nguyen is an English lecturer and freelance ELT practitioner with over five years of experience teaching both English-majored and non-English-majored students at the university level. Since transitioning into independent practice in 2022, she has focused on creating inclusive, learner-centered environments through her work as the founder of TalktoQuynh, an English language learning initiative based on communication, confidence, and community.
In 2024, she co-founded Blossom Circle, a mixed-level English-speaking club that blends informal peer interaction with structured, purpose-driven language practice. Her work emphasizes learner autonomy, creative task design, and the use of low-tech but high-impact strategies to engage learners from diverse backgrounds.
