Sarah Coutts

SARAH-JAYNE COUTTS LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT & CONTENT SPECIALIST Address: Unit 4, 30 6th Street Linden, South Africa | Telephone: - Email:-| LinkedIn: @Sarah-Jayne Coutts Languages: English (Native), Afrikaans (C1), French (B1), Korean (A1), SASL (A1) PERSONAL STATEMENT An experienced English language practitioner with diverse skills and 18 years’ professional experience. From teaching to teacher training and content development, I am passionate about language and believe that proficiency, especially in English, is essential for professional success in most fields. A reliable team member with a positive communication style, I have a solid record in editing, content development, syllabus design and training. I’m looking to combine these skills in a professional position as a language consultant or in ELT publishing. SKILLS ➢ Syllabus Design and Development: Identifying customer needs and objectives, developing and overseeing development of material, implementing and overseeing the implementation of new syllabi as well as customer feedback ➢ Trainer Development: Personnel management, identifying training needs, delivering skills workshops, mentoring new trainers, quality assurance measures ➢ Content Development: pitching and writing articles, guides and similar content for a variety of audiences ➢ Language Learning: in-depth understanding of adult language learning and its impact on materials design ➢ English Language: in-depth understanding of the language system, editing and proofreading WORK HISTORY Wits Language School, U. of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg June 2016 – date Acting Coordinator: Language Teacher Education ➢ Increased student numbers in 2020 by 40% and expanded course offerings ➢ Identify and adapt language programmes to move to blended and online learning ➢ Provide support for design, development and implementation of new online courses ➢ Oversee market needs and trends for courses and corporate offerings, including identifying suitable personnel and quality assurance ➢ Oversee quality assurance, standards and gaps in all language programmes ➢ Manage costings, projected revenue, marketing strategies and customer retention ➢ Personnel management of academic and support staff, including mentorship ➢ Identify ongoing CPD needs and suitable courses, workshops or mentorships ➢ Edit and proofread all marketing materials and standardise public content within the school ➢ Write marketing content for internal and external use (blogs, articles, press releases, website content, standardised customer texts, brochures, etc.) ➢ Deliver online TEFL, TEYL, TBE and grammar course offerings Seoul Education and Training Institute, Seoul, South Korea Oct. 2014 – May 2016 English Trainer ➢ Provided ongoing language support, editing and proofreading to all Korean English language teachers in Seoul, including the Korean SAT ➢ Created all content for English workshops delivered to Korean and foreign English teachers ➢ Trained approximately 450 native English teachers in teaching phonics and early reading, writing and speaking skills ➢ Trained 50 Korean teachers in developing academic writing skills in secondary students ➢ Delivered English CPD language training to Korean primary and secondary English language teachers Jeonbuk Foreign Language High School, Gunsan, S. Korea Sept. 2010 – Sept. 2014 EFL Teacher and Trainer ➢ Compiled a textbook to develop academic writing skills in high school students (used across the province) ➢ Recognised by the Jeonbuk Office of Education for effective collaborative teaching (Nov. 2013) ➢ Invited to train native native English teachers across the country (phonics, early reading and writing, academic writing, communicative speaking tasks, developing authentic tasks for speaking and writing) ➢ Assisted with task creation, writing and editing in a new national English test ➢ Prepared students for IELTS, American SAT and TOEFL ➢ Prepared final year students for academic interviews are top universities Oct. 2009 – May 2010 National School of the Arts, Johannesburg English Home Language Teacher (Grades 8-9) (Also from Jan. – May 2009) Camp Chateaugay, Merrill, NY Summer 2009 & 2010 Camp Pianist & Counsellor Reddam House BCC, Johannesburg 2008 Grades RRR – 3 Music Teacher University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg 2007 English 1 C/D Teaching Assistant (Also from 2004 – 2005) Stage Bright Musicians, Johannesburg 2006 Piano Teacher Rand Afrikaans University (now UJ), Johannesburg 2003 – 2005 EAP Teaching Assistant and Writing Centre Consultant (later Coordinator) QUALIFICATIONS University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg PhD in Deaf Education June 2019 – date Topic: The Experience of Hearing Adults Learning South African Sign Language Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch MPhil in Second Language Acquisition 2008 University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg Instructional Design 2019 SA Writers’ College, Johannesburg Copy Editing and Proofreading 2020 NILE, Norwich Trainer Development (Distinction) Syllabus Design and Development (Distinction) Management in Language Education Testing, Evaluation and Assessment - Akcent IH, Prague CELTA Certificate 2016 PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS Professional Editors’ Guild, SA Associate Member REFERENCES Available on Request