BC TEAL 2026 Annual Conference

Finding Relevance: The BC TEAL Journal’s Pathway to Scholarly Publication
Scott Roy Douglas

With over ten issues, the BC TEAL Journal offers an array of papers related to the field of English as an additional language (EAL) teaching and learning. As EAL educators face a changing world, these papers provide a solid grounding in which the field can continue to take root. Strong roots underscore not only the relevance of EAL teaching and learning, but also its vital contribution to the common good. A common good demonstrated by the journal’s commitment to free and open access.

From its start, the BC TEAL Journal has supported scholarly inquiry by explicitly reflecting and making connections to the varying contexts of BC TEAL’s membership. These contexts include adult education, graduate studies, post-secondary settings, K-12 schools, teacher education, and professional development. Within these contexts, overarching themes include academic misconduct, assessment, culture, curriculum development and programming, diversity and inclusion, language and literacy, educational materials, teaching methods, services, research engagement, theory building, vocabulary, workplace English, and writing instruction.

This poster provides an overview of the types of papers published in the journal as well as an outline of the key stages from submission to publication for prospective authors. These stages include submission, editorial review, peer review, revisions, developmental editing, copy editing, layout and proof reading, and publication. Factors to keep in mind at each of these stages are shared with prospective authors, with an inside look at the various pitfalls and supports that can be found along the way. There are also opportunities for attendees to find out about becoming a volunteer peer reviewer as part of their own continuous professional development. Visitors to this poster will leave with a strong understanding of what the journal offers to BC TEAL’s members as well as the opportunities they have to offer back to the journal in turn.

Since the shift to online learning during the pandemic, digital platforms have become a regular part of LINC programming. Literacy instructors continue to navigate how (and whether) the Moodle-based Avenue platform fits the needs of their learners. While some instructors find Avenue challenging and time-consuming, others have discovered practical ways to use it to support literacy development.This panel brings together instructors from different organizations across British Columbia who have used Avenue with literacy-level LINC learners. Panelists will draw on their classroom experience, focusing on the challenges they face, what they actually do in practice, and what has worked with their students. The session will showcase ready-to-use Avenue units and activities, as well as available supports, offering multiple perspectives shaped by different learner needs, program contexts, and levels of instructor comfort with technology.

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Relevance to the BC TEAL CommunityThis session reflects the conference theme by grounding digital instruction in the realities of literacy classrooms while responding to a changing instructional landscape. By centering instructor experience and learner needs, the panel supports relevant, adaptable EAL practices that acknowledge both opportunities and limitations of digital platforms in LINC literacy programs across BC.
Focus of Each Presenter’s Portion 

• Presenter 1: Moderator  Literacy Materials on Avenue and Instructor Support 
• Presenter 2: The use of Avenue in a Literacy/CLB 1 in-person course with 12-18 students as part of a weekly routine to enhance digital literacy and classroom material, as well as an exploration of constructive solutions to ease the login process, maintain a simple course design, and implement literacy-friendly activities through Avenue’s URL option.
• Presenter 3: Teaching LINC-Online for literacy learners in remote areas, focusing on accessibility to learning and practical strategies to engage with Avenue successfully. 
• Presenter 4: Administrative supports and systems that reduce barriers for literacy learners accessing online language training, and on building digital capacity in ways that are practical, sustainable, and learner-centered.
  
  Panelists are practicing LINC literacy instructors with hands-on experience using Avenue with literacy students. Their expertise is rooted in daily teaching practice and working directly with adult literacy learners in varied instructional contexts.