Need a break? Well, slip on your slippers, grab a coffee or tea, get a donut and slip on into the Break Room, a new feature from the IATEFL BESIG is back.

The committee would like to invite members and non-members to join us in online networking meetings. The idea is to provide a platform where both can meet up informally, and chat about life, the universe and everything. If lots of people turn up it will be easy to split into smaller break-out rooms and chat in smaller groups. A great chance to catch up with IATEFL BESIG friends and make new ones.

Just click on the right Wednesday below to enter the Break Room.

• 2nd Wednesday of the month at 11:00 UK time 

• Last Wednesday of the month at 18:00 UK time 

More than ever before, today’s business leaders are exposed to the public through various media outlets, sometimes without the help and guidance of PR departments, resulting in blunders or mixed messaging.

This workshop presents the case for incorporating elements of Media Training (from camera competence to crisis communication) in the Business English classroom to help improve students’ professional communications skills. The workshop will provide teachers a hands-on approach to using Media Training as a multi-purpose tool, that they can adapt to their own Business English needs. The workshop will take the form of an interactive quest on building a course together, around the provided teaching activities. Participants will be encouraged to interact and work together.

Konstantin Mikaberidze was born in Georgia, raised in Greece and lives in France. With a background in filmmaking and photography, he obtained a CELTA in 2020. Over the years, Konstantin has garnered valuable experience teaching in higher education and as a Media Trainer for an e-learning platform. He currently holds the position of teacher and coordinator at the Pôle Universitaire Léonard de Vinci, creating Professional English courses.

Most BE teachers agree that the native speaker aspect as a criterion does not tell us whether a teacher is qualified and apt to teach Business English. Still, language schools and companies cling to that idea when they are hiring teachers, missing out on many qualified and motivated candidates. In this discussion, Ian McMaster and
Patrick Mustu will explore the business rationale behind native speakerism and argue why schools and companies are limiting themselves through such a hiring policy.

In this webinar, the speakers will further discuss what we as teachers can do to promote change for the benefit of BE teachers and language schools alike. They will draw upon legal aspects, methodical and pedagogical aspects, and cultural and linguistic aspects as well to outline what a sustainable hiring policy could look like. That will help teachers understand their own position in a negotiation and what they need to bring to the table to be successful in the recruiting process. There will be time for the audience to share their opinions and experiences and to ask questions.

Ian McMaster is a business communication consultant and author. He was editor-in-chief of Business Spotlight and coordinator of IATEFL BESIG. His latest book (with Bob Dignen) is Trainingsbuch Business English.

Patrick Mustu has been teaching legal and tax professionals for 20 years. He is also a translator, writer and examiner, as well as a practising lawyer. He has been an active advocate of fair hiring policies.