Authors

Shawna Cole has spent more than 15 years in the education and ESL fields in various capacities including teacher, administrator, and curriculum developer. Her passion has always been teacher training and teaching excellence. She has had the pleasure of sharing this passion with hundreds of teacher trainees over the last 10 years as a TESOL instructor and by presenting and hosting workshops internationally. As a freelance consultant in recent years, she has been involved in the development of more than 30 programs and courses for various corporations, ESL schools, and private career colleges across Canada. She also provides professional development training for educators on instructional design locally and internationally.

Sonia Egron has been teaching ESL for 17 years and is currently a teacher at the Collège International Marie de France in Montreal, Canada. She has been authoring ESL material since 2012. Sonia is co-author of the enriched ESL textbook Raising the Bar 5, published in 2013, as well as the ESL textbook On Track 3 published in 2018. She has also authored material used by the University of Ottawa for a special ESL teaching project in Haiti.

Natasha Forgues has been teaching ESL for over six years in the classroom and online. She is currently teaching at Languages Across Borders in Montreal, Canada. Natasha has also contributed to various Pearson ELT publications including Leap 2, Avenues 3, and Goals, Second Edition.

Diego Pelaez Gaetz has been teaching ESL for eight years, and is currently a teacher at Languages Across Borders in Montreal, Canada. He has contributed to several ELT textbooks for Pearson ELT, including Avenues 3 in 2018. In addition, he was a co-author of Goals, Second Edition in 2017.

Ken Lackman started teaching EFL and developing materials in Prague in 1995. Since that time, he has also served as an academic director and a CELTA trainer. He is currently working as an EAP instructor at Ryerson University in Toronto and as a freelance writer. He has written or co-written over 20 books and has had several articles published in English Teaching Professional. He is a frequent presenter at conferences in Canada as well as at the IATEFL conference in the UK.

An avid traveller, Michelle McNaughton studied abroad throughout her undergraduate degree and upon graduating, Michelle started teaching in different parts of North America after earning her CELTA diploma. With over 10 years in the English Language Teaching field, Michelle has taught English to students of many levels, ages, and backgrounds. In that time, Michelle’s passion extended into the professional development of those in her field as both a TESOL trainer and practicum host. Michelle believes in the CLT (Communicative Language Teaching) approach and teaches language as a function at the core of her lessons. Michelle is currently continuing her lifelong connection in education in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Afshin Vatandoost is an English teacher, teacher educator, and curriculum designer, with an MA in ELT and over 28 years’ experience in the field of English language teaching. He has taught English, educated teachers in various programs including CELTA and TESOL, developed curricula and materials, and presented in Canada, Iran, and Mexico. Currently, he is an ESL and EAP teacher at ILSC Toronto, and he continues his other ELT-related activities internationally.

Sonja Winks has been teaching English as a second language since the early 1990s, first in Japan and then, after travelling extensively, in Vancouver, Canada. She loves the field for its diversity of students: she has taught teens, adults, and seniors, each with their individual learning styles and cultural backgrounds. She has also been a TESL Canada certified teacher trainer, and has frequently been a mentor teacher to new teachers doing their practicums. She has been involved in curriculum development for ILSC Language Group, where she currently works, and designed a course on the environment that is taught in Canada and Australia. She has a Cambridge University certificate for teaching online and has been applying those techniques in a variety of classes since then. She was also a speaking examiner for Cambridge Exams, testing many students over a period of several years. Her long career allows her to see the significant changes that have taken place in this industry over time, changes which excite and motivate her to keep growing along with her students. Connections 6, both student book and teacher’s edition, reflects lessons she has learned from students and teachers throughout her career.

Joanna Katerelos has been in the field of ESL for 22 years and is currently working for ILSC Education Group in Vancouver, Canada. She has taught in many departments over the years including EAP and Communication; however, Humanities classes are the ones she is most passionate about. In addition to teaching all facets of the English language to mature students of all levels and backgrounds, she has done extensive work in curriculum development, program coordination, and mentorship programs. She has also actively participated and presented in education fairs and has been interviewed and featured twice in publications about her role in the industry. Connections is the culmination of these rich and varied professional endeavours.