Custom TESL

The English Language Institute (ELI) Teaching English as a Second Language (TESL) program creates custom courses and professional development workshops delivered in Toronto or abroad. This training is available for teachers of English and other subjects who require English in their work. The custom courses can combine English improvement skills with TESL topics. We arrange dates to suit the schedules of international groups and institutions. 

All our custom programs include certificates and a graduation ceremony, as well as post-program access (available over the Internet) to our famous digital language lab for the same amount of time as the program. For a four-week program, clients have access to our lab for four weeks following the program. This ensures that clients continue to improve their English skills following the program.

Please email eli@senecapolytechnic.ca regarding your specific programming needs.

Examples of customized TESL programs delivered by the ELI:

Client: 20 K-12 English Teachers/two weeks

Academic Program: English Improvement Skills with TESL Topics (20 hours/week plus five lab hours/week). The English skills were based on a diagnostic and the TESL topics were chosen by the group.

Tours and visits: Visits to one school board, one private elementary school, one private high school, Niagara Falls, city tour including CN Tower, Black Creek Pioneer Village.


Client: 22 university professors (all disciplines)/two weeks

Academic Program: Postsecondary Instructional Practices (e.g. peer teaching, lesson planning, use of technology, etc.)

Three hours per day plus one lab hour per day for English improvement skills and observations of Seneca classes by discipline (three hours per week).

Additional lectures by Seneca’s Vice-President Academic, Director of Teaching and Learning, and Dean of Students. Translation provided when necessary.

Walking tours and visits: University of Toronto, Niagara Falls, city tour including CN Tower, outlet mall. 

Sample Training Topics:

  • Developing critical thinking skills for the 21st century
  • Creating an inclusive classroom environment
  • Aligning learning outcomes and assessment
  • Strategies-based instruction
  • Creating dynamic lessons
  • Student-centered teaching; interactive activities
  • Building academic vocabulary
  • Pronunciation 
  • Variables in second language acquisition
  • Effective questioning techniques
  • Dynamic assessments
  • Education in the 21st century
  • Second language acquisition theory
  • E-Learning
  • Lesson planning
  • Curricula design
  • Creating, evaluating and using materials
  • Learning environment management
  • Providing effective feedback
  • Contextualizing grammar
  • Using music/film in the classroom
  • Articulating personal teaching philosophies
  • Update your English