Professional Development Unit

Mission

To provide comprehensive and innovative continuous professional development programs and support systems that empower all instructors at Bogazici University School of Foreign Languages to enhance their teaching skills, and foster a culture of excellence, sharing and collaboration, which will ultimately have a positive impact on students’ language learning experience.

Vision

To be the leading hub of professional growth, collaboration, and pedagogical innovation, recognized for our commitment to equipping instructors with the tools, knowledge, and resources needed to excel in their teaching careers and create a transformative educational experience at Bogazici University School of Foreign Languages.

Objectives

1. Conduct ongoing professional needs assessments to identify the specific development needs of our instructors.
2. Develop and implement professional development programs and schemes, such as INSETs, observation, and induction, aligned with the SFL Teaching Framework to address those identified needs effectively.
3. Stay up-to-date with the latest trends in language teaching and professional development, and provide instructors with comprehensive training on current research and best practices in foreign language learning and teaching.
4. Encourage instructors to engage in self-directed professional development activities and maintain records for future reference and review.
5. Provide feedback to instructors in accordance with the CEFR, EAQUALS, and YOKAK standards to ensure continuous improvement in teaching quality and professional growth.
6. Foster open and ongoing communication with all stakeholders, including instructors, administrative staff, and other offices, to promote effective collaboration, knowledge sharing, and idea exchange among instructors.

At the PDU, we adhere to a comprehensive teaching framework that serves as a reference for effective teaching practices at YADYOK. This framework not only provides guidance for individual instructors but also establishes a unified approach across our institution. It incorporates valuable input from both our students and instructors.

To ensure its robustness, we have drawn from reputable international standards, including the European Profiling Grid by Eaquals, the Cambridge English Teaching Framework, and the Continuing Professional Development Framework by the British Council. By aligning our teaching practices with these esteemed standards, we strive to provide an exceptional learning experience for our students and support the professional growth of our instructors.

You can access the YADYOK Teaching Framework by clicking here.

Online CollabLearn Schedule

May 21, 2024 

10.00- 10.30  Welcome & Ice-breaking through Baamboozle by Sinem & Melek 

As we play a Baamboozle game to break the ice and get ready for the day, we will also explore how we can use this tool to create our own fun and interactive games for the class and beyond. 

10.30- 11.10  “Mining Rock’n Roll & Belgium Surrealism” by Rakesh Jobanputra 

In this session, Rakesh will demonstrate how to use art and music to foster spoken and written production. 

Short Break (20 min)

11.30- 11.50 “Ted in Classroom” by Nesrin Kutay

In this session, Nesrin will demonstrate one way of utilizing Ted talks in the classroom with the rationale behind the practice. 

11.50- 12.10 “Engaging Language Learners with Innovative Classroom Technologies” by Mesut Öztürk

In this session, Mesut will present two online tools (Flipgrid and Riseup Pad) to create more engaging and effective language learning environments. 

Lunch Break (50 min)

13.00- 13.40: Exploring “Film Theory” by Çiğdem Taban

Careful listening tasks present crucial information, some of which might be unknown to our students. With the aim of providing an insight into the major film theories and warming the students up before lecture delivery, this session suggests ideas to make the careful listening task more exciting. Through this effort, Çiğdem intends to aid student performance and humbly add to their general knowledge about movies. 

13.50- 14.10: “How to write a song like a lyricist using AI” by Masood Azimi 

This session will focus on using personalized AI created songs to boost motivation for learning English.

As Masood puts it “The theme for the song session is ANYTHING on the head, face, or other places, with cheerful ‘spring colors’. For color samples, please check https://gulakkoc.com or https://busraokumus.com”. Sounds fun! 

14.10- 14.20: Feedback and Closing Remarks

PDU Library:

PDU has a collection of methodology, activity and resource books. SFL Instructors can visit PDU to borrow some books that would help them with their teaching and/or research. You can access PDU library's book catalog from here.

Useful Webinar Videos:

• Creativity and 21st Century Skills in English Language Teaching 
• Integrating AI into Language Teaching and Learning 
• Developing Critical Thinking in the ELT Classroom 
• Developing Communication Skills through Debate 
• Best Practice for Integrating Technology to Teach Phonemic Awareness 
• Working with Emergent Language: Ideas and Activities from the Classroom
• Global Issues
• Using ChatGPT for Interactive English Language Content Creation
• Integrating AI into Language Teaching and Learning

Useful Websites:

• BBC Learning English: BBC Learning English https://wwwbbc.co.uk/learningenglish/
• BusyTeacher: BusyTeacher https://busyteacher.org/ 
• Teach-This.com: Teach-This.comhttps://www.teach-this.com/
• ESL Flow: ESL Flow http://www.eslflow.com/
• TES Resources: TES Resources https://www.tes.com/teaching-resources

Useful Online Tools:

• TWEE https://twee.com/ 
• Padlet https://padlet.com/ 
• Mentimeter https://www.mentimeter.com/ 
• Magicschool https://www.magicschool.ai 
• Nearpod https://nearpod.com/