Biography
Celina Costa has worked at George Brown College since 2004. In that time, in her role as professor, she has taught most of the levels at the School of ESL (levels 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 regular, 7 business, and 8 regular) and has contributed to the curriculum development of some of these levels. She uses a range of methodological approaches to maximize student learning.
She spent two years as an academic coordinator at the School of ESL, and she was seconded to the Communications departments to teach College English at the School of Hospitality and the School of Social and Community Services. She has also served as advisor on a number of committees during her time at George Brown College. As a new faculty member, Celina was part of the team responsible for aligning the School of ESL’s curriculum to the Canadian Language Benchmarks (CLB). Celina was later part of the team responsible for aligning the School’s curriculum to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages.
Celina is a committed and dedicated professional that greatly values staying current with pedagogical trends in second language learning. As a result, she recently enrolled in a full-time graduate certificate on language teaching and technology. Celina infuses educational technology and artificial intelligence tools throughout her language teaching. She also is the creator of Celina’s Ed Tech Corner – a newsletter on recent educational technology with a focus on language teaching and learning. This academic year, she is publishing AI Bytes – a newsletter that focuses on artificial intelligence tools that can support and improve language teaching and learning.
She has been fortunate enough to both participate in and present at various national and international conferences. Celina continues to have the privilege of mentoring new teachers to the field.
Celina is excited to be working in a vibrant and dynamic school like the School of ESL and is looking forward to being a part of its continued growth.
Academic Credentials
- Graduate Certificate, Technology and Language Teaching, University of Boulder Colorado, 2022
- MA, Second Language Acquisition, OISE/ University of Toronto, 2004
- B.Ed, Intermediate/Senior, History and Civics, OISE/ University of Toronto, 2001
- BA (Honours), Political Science (major) and French (minor), University of Western Ontario, 1995
Areas of Specialization
- English for Academic Purposes
- Educational Technology
Career Highlights
- 2005- Present – Professor, George Brown College School of ESL
- 2013-2014 – Professor (College English), George Brown College, School of Social & Community Services and School of Hospitality
- 2010-2011 – Academic Coordinator, George Brown College School of ESL
- 2003-2004 – Part-time Instructor, English Language Institute, University of Toronto
- 2001-2003 – Professor, English Language Institute, University of British Columbia
- 1998-2000 – English Instructor, OTC Inc., Osaka, Japan
Other Activities
- Assessor training, The Centre for Canadian Language Benchmarks, January 2007
- Co-Presenter, TESL Toronto Conference, Motivating Students Through Critical Thinking: Incorporating Documentaries, Toronto, Canada, November 2007
- Co-Presenter, TESL Toronto Conference, Successfully Using Novels to Promote Language Acquisition, Toronto, Canada, November 2007
- Advising Member, Assessment Committee, George Brown College, 2007-2008
- Co-Presenter, TESL Ontario Conference, Using Documentaries to Motivate Students Through Critical Thinking and Inquiry, Toronto, Canada, November 2008
- Co-Presenter, TESL Ontario Conference, Successfully Using Novels to Promote Language Acquisition, Toronto, Canada, November 2008
- Presenter, TESL Ontario Conference, Empowering and Engaging Language Learners with Listening Circles, Toronto, Canada, November 2012
- Presenter/Participant, TESOL International Convention, Empowering and Engaging Language Learners with Listening Circles, Dallas, Texas, USA, March 2013
- Invited Speaker/Participant, TESOL International Convention, Empowering and Engaging Language Learners with Listening Circles, Portland, Oregon, USA, March 2014
- Advising Member, Policy Committee, George Brown College, School of ESL, 2019-2020
- Participant, Effective Team Building Strategies for Preventive Mediation in Language Programs, TESOL, Boston, Massachusetts, USA, March 2010
- Participant, Pre-Convention Institute, TESOL International Convention, Boston, Massachusetts, USA, March 2010
- Participant, TESL Toronto Technology for Teachers (T4T) Minicon, Toronto, Canada, January 2019
- Participant, TESOL International Convention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA, March 2019
- Practicum Mentor Teacher, University of Toronto and the College of Canadian Educators, 2012-present
- Presenter, TESL Ontario Conference, Online, Innovate your ESL Teaching with Accessibility Tools, 2022
- Presenter, TESL Toronto Technology for Teachers (T4T), Google Jamboard: Tips, Tricks, and Templates , Online, 2022
- Presenter, TESL Toronto Conference, Engaging your Language Learners with Virtual Field Trips, Online, 2022
- Presenter, GBC Innovation Exhibition, Escape the Classroom with Digital Escape Rooms, Online, 2022
- Presenter, GBC Innovation Exhibition, Using Virtual Field Trips to Engage and Motivate Students, Online, 2022
- One of five professors chosen to participate in the pilot of D2L’s Brightspace Learning Management System, Toronto, Canada, 2022-2023
- Participant, STLHE Annual Conference, Charlottetown, PEI, In person, June 2023
- Participant, TESL Toronto’s Annual Conference, Toronto Metropolitan University, Toronto, Canada, In person, June 2023
- Co-facilitator, Using Improv to Boost Language Learning, School of ESL, George Brown College, Toronto, Canada, Summer 2023
- Presenter, TESL Ontario Conference, Energize your Teaching: Boosting Productivity with AI, Online, 2023
- Member-at-Large, Executive, TESL Toronto, Toronto, Canada, 2023
