Professional development is an important facet of the teaching experience here at the ELC. In addition to a comprehensive orientation before the beginning of each academic year, the ELC provides year-round opportunities for its faculty members to build on their experiences and advance in their careers. The center emphasizes the importance of conferences, workshops, research, and publications to enhance the quality and focus of the instruction at the ELC.

As a center, the ELC organizes periodic workshops, inviting scholars and researchers from both China and abroad. Past workshops include: “Academic Writing in ESL/EFL,” “Learner Autonomy,” “Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL),” “Peer Response in L2 Writing,” “Cooperative Language Learning,” “Self-Access Language Learning,” and “Scholarly Publication by Chinese Professionals.” We also provide training in specifically targeted areas, based on the stated needs and interests of the ELC instructor.

We strongly encourage classroom research and the dissemination of research findings via conferences and publications. So far, the ELC faculty has presented in Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand, the U.S., and many places within China. Our publications have appeared in numerous journals, includingTESOL Quarterly,Asian Journal of English Language Teaching,International Journal of English Studies,ELT Journal,Foreign Languages in China, andShantou University Forum. For more information on the individual publications from our faculty, please visit the Faculty Research page.