-1.png?width=900&height=280&name=CVCELE%20%20banner%20(900%20x%20280%20px)-1.png "CVCELE banner (900 x 280 px)-1")
Conference Sessions and Speakers
With over 25 concurrent sessions, 2 Teacher Tips roundtables, and other engaging activities, you won't want to miss this opportunity to learn alongside English language teachers and trainers from around the world who share an interest in spoken English, accents, pronunciation, phonological awareness, effective teaching, and learner-centered instruction.
Our Invited Speakers
Gemma Archer
Level 3 Teacher Trainer, ELTS
EAP Teacher and programme coordinator
University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, Scotland
Fri 11:00 am
Auditorium
Not Just Another "ism": Moving from Accentism to Accent Equity
Keynote Address
What does Modern Family actor Sofia Vergara have in common with former U.S. presidential advisor Fiona Hill, and the film and TV adaptations of Lord of the Rings? They may seem entirely unrelated, but each has sparked local, national, and international debates about how English should be pronounced and what its many diverse accents represent to us. Whether we are aware of it or not, our experiences of and interactions with certain accents lead us to associate them with specific demographics, attributes and qualities, but this is not always to the benefit of the speaker. In fact, it can cause serious repercussions: jobs can be lost, opportunities denied, and countries, communities and cultures closed off. Such occurrences can be described as ‘accentism’, a form of discrimination whereby individuals are judged negatively and mistreated because of their pronunciation. In this session, Gemma will discuss how and why in today's global world, accents still have the power to silence us, and the steps we can take to overcome this very real issue in the classroom and beyond.
Fri 2:15 pm
Classroom B
The Capstone of My Color Vowel®
Teacher Trainer Journey
Panel Discussion
The Color Vowel® Level 3 training program is an intensive journey. Four apprentice Teacher Trainers share insights they've gained along the way.
Sat 10:55 am
Auditorium
Accent, Speech, & Identity
Panel Discussion
The way we speak is deeply intertwined with how we see ourselves. Panelists will share their stories and insights as we ask: If accent is identity, how can we ensure that pronunciation instruction supports positive identity development in the learner's new language?
Sat 1:45 pm
Auditorium
Exploring Local and Global Englishes with the Color Vowel® Chart
Invited Session
English today is a truly international language, but this is rarely reflected in most published teaching resources. Thankfully, the Color Vowel® Chart is an excellent tool for exploring both local and global pronunciations. This session will focus on ways in which we can use the Chart to help students make sense of new and unfamiliar varieties of English they will encounter beyond the classroom walls.
Karen Taylor
Director & Co-founder
English Language Training Solutions
Sat 10:00 am
Auditorium
Vowel Yoga: Movement for Language Awareness, Understanding, and Fun
Plenary Session
Color Vowel® Yoga is a collection of simple movements that parallel the movement of the jaw, lips, and tongue when producing the vowel sounds of English. These movements serve as physical anchors for producing sounds that the learner may not yet be able to perceive. For English language educators, Vowel Yoga awakens phonological awareness. In this session, we'll explore the vowel universe as we set the tone for an entire day of sound discovery.
Fri noon
Auditorium
Giving Effective Pronunciation Feedback: Strategies that Work
Panel Discussion
How do you decide what to correct, and how do you know if what you're doing really helps? Three expert pronunciation coaches share their insights, strategies, and tips.
Shirley Thompson
Co-founder
English Language Training Solutions
Sat 1:45 pm
Classroom A
Don't Stress about Stress: How to Understand and Teach It
Spotlight Session
Stress: in spoken English, it's a good thing! Stress is key to helping your learners become more easily understood, and it enables them to better understand others. In this session you'll explore how stress affects meaning and sounds, identify six layers of stress, and practice recognizing and producing the various types of stress. You’ll also create activities to help your learners use stress effectively to produce the unique rhythm of spoken English.
Dr. Robin Barr
Lead Phonologist, English Language Training Solutions
Instructor, Washington Literacy Center
Sat 2:40 pm
Auditorium
Blame It on the French!: Why English Spelling Drives Us Crazy (and what you can do about it)
Spotlight Session
Why is English spelling so strange? Between the Great Vowel Shift, the invention of the printing press, and yes, the French, what's an English teacher to do? Join Dr. Barr for this deep dive into English orthography, and come way with pearls of wisdom you can put to immediate use in the classroom.
Shannon Felt
Founder & Teacher Trainer
TEFL Horizons
Fri 3:15 pm
Auditorium
Frameworks that Work: Streamline Your Lesson Planning Process
Spotlight Session
How do you build a cohesive, useful lesson around authentic material? Which activities should you teach and which should you skip? And where does pronunciation fit in? In this session, you will learn the “foolproof frameworks” that streamline your planning process and empower your English language learners. Use these techniques to design lessons that are more fun to teach and easier to plan!
Laura McIndoo
Master Trainer and Game Designer, ELTS
ESL Faculty and Chair
Central New Mexico Community College
Sat 3:35 pm
Classroom B
Unleash Your Color Vowel® Creativity in the Classroom
Spotlight Session
"You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have." (Maya Angelou) Learn how to unleash and nurture your inner creativity in this dynamic session. Discover how to integrate Color Vowel® using innovative strategies, games, music, and mindset shifts to bring your classroom to full Color Vowel Technicolor life!
Our Featured Speakers and Panelists
In alphabetical order
Paula Amadeo
National Board Certified Teacher, ESOL Success Coach
International High School at Langley Park
Prince Georges' Public Schools, Maryland
Sat 11:55 am
Auditorium
Empowering Adolescent Multilingual Learners: Integrating Color Vowel® Across the Curriculum
Presentation Session
Step into our high school, where every student is a Multilingual Learner. Explore our journey integrating Color Vowel® into ESOL classes, then expanding its impact across content areas. Discover how Color Vowel helped us unlock the voices of our MLLs, boosting their pronunciation, fluency, and confidence across content areas. Relevant to educators at all levels, seeking effective and engaging approaches to support language acquisition in their classroom.
Karin Bates
Curriculum and Training Specialist
Intercambio Uniting Communities
Fri 2:15 pm
Classroom A
Building Confidence in Adult English Learners through Pronunciation Activities
Presentation Session
In this workshop, participants will get an overview of how working on pronunciation builds confidence in adult learners, how Intercambio trains its new volunteer teachers to engage with pronunciation in lessons, how we incorporate the Color Vowel® Approach into class materials, and how our supplemental materials encourage the use of the Color Vowel® Approach in classes for adult English language learners.
Liz Bigler
Teacher and Owner
Bigler English Coaching
Fri noon
Classroom B
Why I Never Want to Go Back to
In-person Teaching!
Presentation Session
Like a lot of teachers, Liz was thrust online as COVID changed the world. Since then, she’s discovered and created a lot of techniques using simple, free, online tools, and now, she’ll never go back! Learn how to create super easy instant cloze tests, instant phoneme finders, go-to documents to quickly find the “Usual Suspects” you teach over and over with online Color Vowel® Organizers, and more!
Brock Brady
Former President, TESOL International
Former TESOL Program Director, American University, Washington, DC
Retired Teacher trainer, U.S. Department of State and Peace Corps
Sat 10:55 am
Auditorium
Accent, Speech, & Identity
Panel Discussion
The way we speak is deeply intertwined with how we see ourselves. Panelists will share their stories and insights as we ask: If accent is identity, how can we ensure that pronunciation instruction supports positive identity development in the learner's new language?
Becky Horner
National Board Certified Teacher, English as a New Language
Solis-Cohen Elementary School, Philadelphia Public Schools
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Sat 1:45 pm
Classroom B
Science of Reading, Meet the
Color Vowel® Approach!
Presentation Session
Listening, Speaking, Reading, and Writing - of these four interrelated language domains, Reading is arguably the most critical for academic success. In this presentation, participants will gain an overview of the evidence-based practices recommended by the Science of Reading. We will explore how the Color Vowel® Approach pairs perfectly with current programs, providing the missing piece for English learner success with phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and reading comprehension.
Aviva Katzenell
Academic Director
Intensive English Institute, Florida Atlantic University
Boca Raton, Florida
Fri 2:15 pm
Auditorium
Engaging Faculty and Students: Color Vowel® as Program Staple
Presentation Session
To Color Vowel® or not to Color Vowel, what do faculty and students say? This session will support teachers and program leaders in implementing Color Vowel as an essential staple program-wide. Discussion of faculty and student engagement both in and outside the classroom will provide a roadmap to whole-program Color Vowel implementation and its benefits to both teachers and learners.
Dr. Sarah Knowles
Senior Professorial Lecturer
TESOL Program, American University
Washington, District of Columbia
Fri 4:15 pm
Classroom B
The Promises and Pitfalls of
Learning English on YouTube
Presentation Session
Chances are that your learners (and you!) have turned to YouTube for English instructional help, but how do we choose the right video among thousands of search results? We’ll discuss how the most popular YouTubers (1+ million subscribers) contribute to global perspectives on what it means to "speak English,” and we’ll consider research-based tips for finding and recommending YouTube content to English learners.
Ann Kumm
Lecturer of English for Academic Purposes
English Language Center, Old Dominion University
Norfolk, Virginia
Sat 10:55 am
Auditorium
Accent, Speech, & Identity
Panel Discussion
The way we speak is deeply intertwined with how we see ourselves. Panelists will share their stories and insights as we ask: If accent is identity, how can we ensure that pronunciation instruction supports positive identity development in the learner's new language?
Sat 3:35 pm
Auditorium
Training Pre-Service Educators and SLPs:
Color Vowel® Across Disciplines
Presentation Session
Introducing the Color Vowel® Approach provides opportunities to color outside traditional disciplinary lines to enrich the journeys of SLPs, pre-service teachers, and volunteers. We'll explore its potential to spark educator curiosity, cultivate phonologically aware spaces, champion accent equity, and bridge training gaps. Join us to envision educational innovation, dismantling silos for a future where all learners are supported and celebrated.
Tamyres Ladeia
English for Academic Purposes Instructor
Intensive English Institute, Florida Atlantic University
Boca Raton, Florida
Sat 10:55 am
Classroom B
The Efficacy of the Color Vowel® Approach on Adult L2 English Learners' Vowel Discrimination
Presentation Session
This session provides an overview of a study which investigated whether the Color Vowel® Approach enhances L2 learners' discrimination between the /ɪ/ and /i/ (SILVER PIN and GREEN TEA) vowel sounds. The hypothesis posited that the group exposed to the Color Vowel® Approach would achieve higher scores in a forced-choice (AX) same–different discrimination task, thereby demonstrating the superiority of perceptual training over simple exposure or no training.
Gilson Lopes
English Teacher
Escola Estadual Henrique Sapori
Minas Gerais, Brazil
Sat 11:50 am
Classroom A
Learning English with Color Vowel®: A Non-Native English Speaking Teacher's Perspective
Presentation Session
A non-native English-speaking teacher recounts how he has used Color Vowel® tools to improve his skills as both a learner and a teacher. He will discuss how using Color Vowel has helped him be confident about the main stress of English words and how he is now going further to explore consonant sounds.
Melissa Bitter Lu
National Board Certified Teacher, ELD Teacher and Department Chair
International High School at Langley Park
Prince Georges' Public Schools, Maryland
Sat 11:50 am
Auditorium
Empowering Adolescent Multilingual Learners: Integrating Color Vowel® Across the Curriculum
Presentation Session
Step into our high school, where every student is a Multilingual Learner. Explore our journey integrating Color Vowel® into ESOL classes, then expanding its impact across content areas. Discover how Color Vowel helped us unlock the voices of our MLLs, boosting their pronunciation, fluency, and confidence across content areas. Relevant to educators at all levels, seeking effective and engaging approaches to support language acquisition in their classroom.
Sarah Mannix
English for Academic Purposes Instructor
English Language Center, Old Dominion University
Norfolk, Virginia
Fri 4:15 pm
Auditorium
Ways to Enhance Your ESL Program with the Blue Canoe® App
Panel Discussion
Wish your learners had more opportunities to speak English? Panelists will share how they are enhancing their ESL courses with Blue Canoe®, a mobile app that pairs voice recognition with AI to provide learners with daily practice and real-time pronunciation feedback.
Suzanne Nicks
Coach, Pronunciation Course Instructor, and Content Developer
Gabby Academy, Canada
Fri 4:15 pm
Classroom A
1, 2, 3, 4: Beat, Rhythm and More (in English)
Presentation Session
Just as nursery rhymes and limericks have specific rhyme schemes, structure and rhythm, spoken English has certain common rhythm patterns that make up its natural cadence. Tapping into these natural rhythmic patterns can transform English learners’ spoken English. Join this session for an exploration of using beat and rhythm in a fun way that will excite students.
Chelsea Olsen
ELL Teacher, Wisconsin Virtual Academy
Virtual Educator, U.S. Dept. of State English Language Programs
Sat 11:50 am
Classroom B
"Color-izing" Names as a Tool for Empowerment and Equity
Presentation Session
How can Color Vowel® be used as a tool for equity in and beyond the classroom? Discover how "Color-ized" names can empower learners in the pronunciation of their names and create a dialogue for educational equity. Engage in interactive activities with fellow passionate educators and take back tangible ideas to your classrooms and school communities.
Susan Reynolds
Level 3 Teacher Trainer, English Language Training Solutions
ESL Instructor, Oklahoma City Community College
Board Member, Oklahoma Literacy Coalition
Fri 2:15 pm
Classroom B
The Capstone of My Color Vowel®
Teacher Trainer Journey
Panel Discussion
The Color Vowel® Level 3 training program is an intensive journey. Four apprentice Teacher Trainers share insights they've gained along the way.
Keenyn Rhodes
Teacher and Owner
Clear English Academy
Fri noon
Auditorium
Giving Effective Pronunciation Feedback: Strategies that Work
Panel Discussion
How do you decide what to correct, and how do you know if what you're doing really helps? Three expert pronunciation coaches share their insights, strategies, and tips
Phil Rice
Assistant Professor
English Language Institute, University of Delaware
Newark, Delaware
Sat 3:35 pm
Classroom A
"Tapping" into Your Learners' Inner Musician
Presentation Session
Have you ever wanted to engage your students in speaking English in a fun, musical way? This presentation will focus on how teachers can use music to increase accuracy, engagement, and motivation in spoken English. Attendees will participate in two exercises that are simple, effective, and easy to implement in their own classrooms: the first will be a drumming exercise to engage learners in proper syllable stress production, and the second will be a musical speaking exercise that reinforces the proper pronunciation of key word endings in English.
Dawn Saint
ESL/Bilingual Resource Instructor
Northeast Alabama Community College
Fri 4:15 pm
Auditorium
Ways to Enhance Your ESL Program with the Blue Canoe® App
Panel Discussion
Wish your learners had more opportunities to speak English? Panelists will share how they are enhancing their ESL courses with Blue Canoe®, a mobile app that pairs voice recognition with AI to provide learners with daily practice and real-time pronunciation feedback.
Sat 10:55 am
Classroom A
Contextualized Color Vowel® Word List Tools
Presentation Session
ESL lessons are usually thematic: we can use technology tools to build a contextualized word list for whatever theme we are studying. We can use these lists for warm-up reviews, wrap-ups, and even paper “follow the Color Vowel sound” mazes that are easy to make.
Claire Schneider
Director
Language Matters
Fri noon
Classroom A
Move It!
Presentation Session
Are you looking for new ways to energize and motivate your students? Do you want to include music in your lessons? Join us to explore how to integrate music and movement into your classes. You will listen and move to music (and maybe sing-a-long!), practice strategies, and create a mini-lesson. Fire up your creativity and let’s Move It together!
Lynn Swanda
Level 3 Teacher Trainer and Educational Consultant
English Language Training Solutions
Fri 2:15 pm
Classroom B
The Capstone of My Color Vowel®
Teacher Trainer Journey
Panel Discussion
The Color Vowel® Level 3 training program is an intensive journey. Four apprentice Teacher Trainers share insights they've gained along the way.
Fri 4:15 pm
Auditorium
Ways to Enhance Your ESL Program with the Blue Canoe® App
Panel Discussion
Wish your learners had more opportunities to speak English? Panelists will share how they are enhancing their ESL courses with Blue Canoe®, a mobile app that pairs voice recognition with AI to provide learners with daily practice and real-time pronunciation feedback.
Nao Yuhki
Level 3 Teacher Trainer, English Language Training Solutions
English Pronunciation Coach, Gabby Academy, Japan
Fri 2:15 pm
Classroom B
The Capstone of My Color Vowel®
Teacher Trainer Journey
Panel Discussion
The Color Vowel® Level 3 training program is an intensive journey. Four apprentice Teacher Trainers share insights they've gained along the way.
Additional Participants
Fri 3:15 pm
Classroom B
Teacher Tips for
Pronunciation and Speaking
Swap Shop
Christine Fiorite
Phil Rice
Dawn Saint
Ruth Voetmann
Sat 2:40 pm
Classroom B
Teacher Tips for
Reading, Writing, and Grammar
Swap Shop
Naydu Nosse
Chelsea Olsen
Lynn Swanda
Rebecca Wilner
Schedule
Schedule may change. Check back for updates.
QUESTIONS?
If you have questions regarding any of the sessions mentioned above, please contact English Language Training Solutions at customersupport@colorvowel.com.