The Northern Association of Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages
About NATESOL
Learning from each other
NATESOL began with a small, enthusiastic group that wanted a place for academics to meet and conversations about education to thrive. Today, our events are full of diverse topics and engaging conversations covering all aspects of TESOL and education. Get involved today to learn, share, connect and collaborate with our community.
How We Began
A Community Since 1984
The Northern Association of Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages was founded in 1984 in Manchester to provide occasions for conversation among language teachers and between teachers and researchers, hoping to promote classroom-research; to keep teachers informed of new theory, knowledge and methodology and to encourage sharing of insight, good practice and productive experience.
Who We Are
A diverse community
Members are mostly teachers and academics working in the field of TESOL. However, we have a growing number of students joining our community, including English language learners themselves and TESOL students studying at university. With our core membership based in the North of England, our move online has meant we now have members spanning all parts of the globe. We are truly an international community and proud to be so. Everybody is welcome.
What We Do
Sharing, learning, discussing
Throughout the academic year, we offer a range of in-person seminars, online webinars, an annual conference, social media threads and blog posts. For members, we also offer recordings of past events and other resources.
Our Members
Members far and wide
We currently have both individual members and organisational members. Our members are located in the North of England, around the UK and in various countries across the globe.
Some of our institutional members include:
University of Sheffield ELTC
Oldham Lifelong Learning
University of Liverpool
Kaplan
INTO
University of Salford
Heart & Parcel
Cervantes Institute
Liverpool School of English
Manchester Adult Education Service
Trafford College Group
REACHE (Refugee and Asylum Seekers Centre for Health Service Education)
EF (English First)
University of Durham
University of Leeds
UKEC Academy
Our Partners
Organisations we work with
NATESOL works in partnership with a number of education providers, researcher communities, publishers and other organisations in order to strengthen ties between members of the TESOL and educational community and to share experiences, events news and more. To partner with us, please contact us.
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British Association of Applied Linguists
British Association of Lecturers of English for Academic Purposes
The Scottish Association for the Teaching of English
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Committee
The NATESOL Team
Alex Holloway
Co-chair
Alex is undoubtedly the most proactive member of the team, ticking off most of the tasks on our To do lists. After leading the General English programme at the University of Leeds, Alex has recently taken up a position working on the university's pre-sessional EAP course. She's passionate about teaching and bringing about attention to mental illness in the workplace.
Anthony Picot
Co-chair
Tony, as we call him, is studying for a PhD at Manchester Metropolitan University. He is also a Senior Lecturer in TESOL and runs the MA in Applied Linguistics and the Trinity Cert TESOL there. He's worked in Thailand and Japan and in a wide range of English language teaching and teacher training roles.
Mike Beaumont
Founding member
Mike has experience of working with teachers in over twenty different countries, from Bogotá to Budapest to Beijing. He spent 28 years as a lecturer in TESOL at the University of Manchester and since retiring, he has continued to take visiting posts in Vienna, Lancaster, Salford and Liverpool. Mike was part of the steering committee that brought NATESOL into existence in 1984. We owe you, Mike!
Jane Cabot
Secretary
Born in Leeds, Jane is the creative member of the team and her various roles as a performer, stage-designer, and dressmaker reflect this. Jane has an Med from Manchester University and TEFLA certificate. She's held many different educational roles such as teacher-trainer, lecturer, school teacher, exam coordinator and more. Nowadays, she can be mostly be found drawing, gardening and writing up NATESOL committee meeting minutes. Thanks, Jane!
Jonathan Nicolson
Treasurer
Jonathan is a talented linguist and will often throw in a few French, Arabic, Greek or Spanish words into his emails. After completing an MBA and working for many years in economics and administration, Jonathan turned to his passion for languages and began teaching English. He's worked in Saudi Arabia, Libya and the UAE. He is our numbers man and we'd be lost without him.
Heléna Stakounis
Website Co-ordinator
Heléna is Assistant Professor and Online coordinator of Applied Linguistics and TESOL at the University of Durham. Studying for a PhD in Applied Linguistics, she became passionate about TESOL through being taught by our very own Sian Etherington and Mike Beaumont at the University of Salford. She also had her own private language school (Language Café) where Jonathan learnt Greek. It's a small world in TESOL!
Rachel Lasham
Committee Member
Rachel is the most caring member of our team, interested in wellbeing, creativity and holistic approaches to learning. She began her career as a foreign languages teacher and committed herself to helping others gain their qualifications in foreign language teaching. She's won awards for the innovative teaching and learning programmes she's created.
Huixin Wang
Social Media & Website Coordinator
Huixin is a PhD candidate in the Education program at the University of Edinburgh. Her research focuses on the areas of applied linguistics and educational psychology, with a central focus on L2 motivation, teacher motivation, and Directed Motivational Currents (DMCs). She also serves as a Member of the Editorial Review Board for the ELTED Journal and is a producer for the University of Edinburgh's TILTED podcast.
Ana Emilia McDermott
Blog Coordinator
Dr Ana E. McDermott has been teaching English to multilingual students in schools, colleges and universities for over twenty years. After graduating with a first-class honours degree in English Linguistics from the University of Kent, Ana continued her studies part-time whilst working full-time and completed her teaching degree with Greenwich University, a postgraduate degree at South Bank University and her masters degree in Education (Linguistics) with the Open University. She received her Ph.D. from the Department of Education at Canterbury Christ Church University. Her major areas of research interests are Multilingualism, Translanguaging, Emotions, Evaluation and Perceptions in language use. She has published teaching practice articles and regularly presents at international conferences.