Within the scope of Erasmus Staff Training Program, I attended ‘Teacher Refresher Course’ in UCC in Ireland between the dates 19-30 August 2019. The course offers the following:

• Methodology and latest ELT developments;
• Developing material evaluation and creation skills;
• Integrating technology into the classroom;
• Developing effective language skills and language system lessons;
• Developing skills to integrate pronunciation improvement effectively into your teaching contexts;
• Developing skills for different teaching contexts and environments;
• Empowering learner autonomy.

As the name suggests, the course refreshes the existing ELT knowledge of English Language Teachers and lecturers for whom English is a Medium of Instruction (E.M.I) and introduces new trends in an engaging and fun way. As a part of the program, I had the chance to observe two lessons in the summer school. One of them was B1 and the other one was B2 level English classes. The learners were international students from different countries ranging from Spain to Japan. In these lessons, I observed a real classroom setting where the teachers integrated games in lessons and how they managed time during one class hour. This experience gave insights not only about how to allocate time efficiently to each activity, but also how to engage students from different cultural backgrounds in classroom activities.
Moreover, there were various classes throughout the course such as Phonology, student centered approaches to engaging grammar lessons, strategies and techniques to improve learners’ skills, classroom management: dealing with mixed abilities & learning styles, teacher& learner roles, using authentic materials and evaluating commercial materials, integrating technology into the classroom and latest approaches in language teaching. I can say that I benefitted a lot from the lessons as well as from my classmates when we exchanged information about classroom activities and some ways about motivating our own students.

The program also included cultural visits to important landmarks as well as social activities to mingle with other participants and international students. So, I had a great experience by refreshing my knowledge in ELT and establishing new network with other participants.