2009
Teacher Training Workshops in Sakhalin
Sakhalin State University gathered a group of future and current teachers in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk for a series of workshops on the use of various Web 2.0 tools in English Language teaching. Participants explored the use of social networks and social bookmarking in teaching and training. They also experienced first-hand the use of online corpora in English language teaching and how access to various online media, including National Public Radio and YouTube, can enhance learning. One of the sessions in the series of five was at the American Corner in the Regional Library. At that event, apart from future and current teachers, there were approximately two dozen English language enthusiasts. The group discussed the impact of “teentalk”, Spanglish, Bloglish and other non-standard varieties of English on communication in general. They compared the change in language in the US with similar influences in Russia.