PD Day 2023 – Meet the Speakers

Barbara Althaus, Guy Walker, and Sylvia Goetze are experienced teachers who have been involved in the creation and delivery of one or more ESP courses in a higher education context. They all currently work at the University of Lausanne Language Centre and a surprising point they have in common is that they all lived and worked in Japan.

Anna Bennett is an experienced teacher and teacher trainer. She is Head of Product Support (English Language) at Trinity College London Italy and her expertise lies in implementing technology-based pedagogical techniques that foster the acquisition of language skills and equip learners with what they need to excel in real-life situations.

Sylvie Dolakova is a teacher trainer focusing on working with children aged 3–15, (with over 25 years’ experience), specializing in teaching English through art and stories. She publishes materials for children (Pearson ELT Award – best innovation), presents at conferences and webinars, she was an ELT consultant (NILE, Norwich, British Council etc.).

Choreanne Frei is a teacher, trainer, and presenter with 25 years of ELT experience. Her interests include teacher development, Business English/ESP, learner autonomy, developing language skills, coaching, and everything digital. While she enjoys the comfort of things tried and tested, she likes to explore almost anything outside her comfort zone.

Rachael Harris teaches EFL literature, and current affairs to young learners and teens in a French lycée where she is also Special Educational Needs Coordinator. She is joint-coordinator for IATEFL Inclusive Practices and Special Educational Needs SIG. She is a lifelong learner, passionate about learning theory, connection, and belonging, both in and out of the classroom.

Judith G. Hudson, an Australian/Swiss English teacher and trainer since 1976, enjoys trying out new ideas especially in flipping face-to-face short teacher training courses. Her special interests are helping teachers feel more comfortable in promoting pronunciation, using Cuisenaire rods, and generally helping teachers become the best teachers they can be.

Laura Hudson has been working in ELT for 25 years. She started her career as a teacher/teacher trainer and worked in Austria, Germany, and Denmark before moving into publishing in late 2004. She has spent 16 years working in the German, Swiss, and Austrian markets and joined the National Geographic Learning team in January 2020.

Jane Kaskova is an experienced ESL teacher, trainer and assessment professional. She was active with a large Cambridge centre in Ukraine, before joining the CEL-Cambridge English Languages centre in 2022, in multiple professional roles. She is CELTA certified, combined with a master’s degree in Economics, and has a NILE diploma in “Prepare your students for IELTS”. Jane has delivered teacher development courses on topics such as train the trainer, professional development, and helping learners to prepare for exams.

Laura Kennedy is based near Lausanne but is originally from the UK. Before training as an English teacher, she worked in corporate and not-for-profit communications in Switzerland and the UK. She now specializes in business English, helping her students communicate better in the workplace, and in exam preparation classes.

Kristy Kors has a BA (Hons) from Leeds Metropolitan University and a CELTA allowing her to study different types of teaching methodological approaches. She taught English as a foreign language for several years before joining Express Publishing as an ELT Consultant. She now participates in seminars and conferences around the world, conducting teacher training sessions where she shares her research and ideas on the latest methodological advances. She has also been an oral examiner for various world renowned International exams for the past five years.

Stephen Lander is British and has been an ETAS member almost since its foundation. He has worked in the UK, Spain, and Switzerland as an EFL teacher, translator, and information technologist. In the past, he has been ETAS Publications Chair, Web Chair, and Branch Contact for Basel.

Olaf Lenders can’t believe that he’s been teaching English, ICC and Dutch and German at universities in Germany and Holland for more than 25 years. For the past one and a half decades he’s been teaching engineering and journalism students at Bonn-Rhein-Sieg University in the romantic stretch of the Rhine valley.

Dorinda Maio-Phillips is originally from London, England, Dorinda came to Geneva in 1968 and never looked back. After many years working in industry, she then decided to teach children at home when the Cambridge YLE exams came out. Now officially retired, Dorinda still has a few students and a lively coffee club for those who want a conversation class. 

Ian McMaster is a business communication consultant, author, and journalist. He was editor-in-chief of Business Spotlight magazine from 2001 to 2021 and is a former coordinator of IATEFL Business English SIG. His latest publication (with Bob Dignen) is Trainingsbuch Business English – Kommunikation und Zusammenarbeit in internationalen Teams.

Cecilia Nobre is an experienced English language teacher, teacher trainer, and materials writer. Her interests include reflective practice, video for reflection, and continuing professional development. She is a co-author of Using Video to Support Teacher Reflection and Development in ELT and is currently pursuing a PhD in Applied Linguistics at the University of Warwick.

Yuval Shomron has 48 years teaching experience. He manages his own school in Canton Schaffhausen, which caters mainly to adults. He has travelled widely and has presented workshops and talks in 12 countries. He is currently the President of ETAS.

Samvidha Srinath is a university student at the Pädagogische Hochschule FHNW and is studying to teach teenagers English, French, and German. She is CELTA certified and among other things her interests include learning new languages, like Korean and Japanese.