APIBA BESIG

From APIBA BESIG, we wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.💫
May 2026 bring new opportunities, meaningful connections, and continued growth. ✨

On Friday, November 28th, our APIBA BESIG Coordinator, Virginia López Grisolia, delivered an insightful and inspiring webinar hosted by APIBA titled “Revisiting BELF: Where Are We Now?”

This session marked the end of APIBA’s webinar series and the final event of the APIBA BESIG for the year.

Virginia explored themes such as:

1️⃣ Revisiting the core principles of BELF
2️⃣ The role of BE trainers as agents of inclusion and equity – *Linguistic Ecology*
3️⃣ Practical challenges and real-world experiences relating to BELF
4️⃣ Looking ahead: BELF in the era of AI and automation

A big thank-you to Virginia for her valuable contribution to the APIBA community!

✨ Join Us for the Last APIBA Webinar of the Year & the Final Session of the APIBA BESIG! ✨

We’re closing this year’s webinar cycle with a very special session led by Virginia López Grisolia, who will revisit the concept of English as a Business Lingua Franca (BELF) and explore where we stand today.
As the global business world keeps evolving, this webinar will delve into recent BELF research and its implications for trainers, professionals, and clients. Together, we’ll reflect on how BELF principles continue to shape communication in diverse business contexts and what this means for our daily practice.

🗓 November 28
🕖 7:00 p.m.
💻 On Zoom

Don’t miss this opportunity to wrap up the year with insights, reflections, and forward-looking conversations that strengthen our BE community.
We look forward to seeing you there! 💼🌍💬

Enroll here: https://forms.gle/qUUk56st1Tp9zayk8

A few snapshots from our last APIBA BESIG session! 📸✨

It was a meeting full of ideas, best practices, and inspiring conversations about what truly works in our Business English classes. 💬📚🤝

🔜 Join us again on Friday, November 28 — 7 to 8:30 p.m. 🗓️⏰

Our APIBA BESIG Coordinator, representing us internationally at the 38th IATEFL BESIG Annual Conference in Athens, Greece, where she delivered her plenary session.

This Friday at 7 p.m., we’ll be holding our monthly session led by Mercedes Moya Ocampos and Laura Saslavsky. They’ll be guiding an open discussion on Best Practices in Business English Classes — a great opportunity to exchange ideas, share what works for us, and get inspired by our colleagues’ experiences.

We’re sure everyone will have something valuable to contribute. 💬✨

Let’s learn, share, and grow together!

Register here: https://bit.ly/3G4wCXC

On Friday, September 25th, Virginia López Grisolía, one of the APIBA BESIG coordinators, gave her first FAAPI plenary at the XLIX FAAPI Conference 2025: 21st Century ELT: Bridging Encounters for Language Development in Tucumán, Argentina.

Her talk, “Interaction, Inclusion, and Identity: Rethinking Language Education through Diversity”, invited us to see English not as a monolithic, “native-speaker-owned” code, but as a living, flexible resource shaped by its global users. She reminded us that language is never neutral—it carries values, choices, and power (Freire, 1970).

The most striking aspect was the call to embrace:

ELF (English as a Lingua Franca) as a paradigm shift, prioritizing intelligibility and intercultural communication over conformity to native norms.
Multilingualism & Translanguaging as tools for inclusion, allowing learners’ languages to be seen as assets rather than barriers.
Decolonial perspectives in ELT, challenging us to move beyond Anglo-centric textbooks and create space for local voices, cultures, and identities.

Her plenary was both inspiring and unsettling—in the best sense. It asked us to reflect on whether our teaching reproduces inequalities or fosters justice. As Virginia put it: “Every language carries a world; every student brings that world into the classroom.”

The takeaway for all of us is clear: teaching English today is not just about grammar, It’s about empowering learners, validating identities, and building bridges across diversity.

September is the blooming season: want to see what springs up in our next session after so many gripping topics we’ve tackled this year?
Come join us for what’s bound to be a juicy rountable discussion!
When? Fri, Sept 19
What time? 7 to 8.30pm Arg time
How? On Zoom

❗️ Anyone can be part of the APIBA BESIG.
🔗 Find the enrollment link in our bio.

We are proud to announce that our APIBA BESIG coordinator Virginia López Grisolía, will be a plenary speaker at the 38th Annual IATEFL BESIG Conference in Athens, taking place November 7–9, 2025.

Learning from Athena: Embracing Change and Renewal in Business English Teaching

In this inspiring plenary, Virginia will draw on the wisdom of Athena to explore how the role of Business English (BE) teachers has evolved from the 1980s to today. She will examine how technology—especially AI—is transforming BE teaching and helping educators meet the needs of today’s learners. The session will also feature a case study from the capital markets sector, showcasing how BE teachers can support multilingual and multicultural teams in achieving their goals.

📍 The President Hotel, Athens, Greece
📅 November 7–9, 2025
🔗 More info & registration
https://www.iatefl.org/event-details/?fbclid=IwY2xjawMr8ftleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHt1EjVoTaLPvPPWZO5tq3alzj58PGKWk0kaJmvBkiWl-DSdztnI6dZc9BAeZ_aem_vyt9rMXVQZ8GZsAiLFX7YA #/?id=674

We’re incredibly proud to see Virginia representing the APIBA BESIG on the international stage! 💙

On August 29, our BESIG community came together once more — this time to explore Learning How to Learn: Metacognition in Business English.

With an inspiring presentation by Cecilia Sassone and Gabriela Pezzi, followed by a lively and insightful group discussion, participants gained valuable perspectives on how metacognition can transform the way we approach Business English learning.

These sessions continue to spark ideas, build connections, and strengthen our community spirit.

📌 Mark your calendars: our next BESIG meeting will take place on Friday, September 19. Stay tuned for more details!

✨ We’re delighted to announce that IATEFL BESIG will host a webinar with Virginia López Grisolía, our APIBA BESIG Coordinator, on the evolving role of English as a Business Lingua Franca (BELF) in today’s globalised, multilingual world.

📅 Sunday, 31 August 2025
🕒 15.00–16.00 UK time | 11.00–12.00 Argentina time
📍 Online

In her talk, “Revisiting BELF: Where Are We Now?”, Virginia will explore how global communication needs are shifting and how Business English professionals can adapt to support effective collaboration across cultures.

🔗 More information & registration: https://www.iatefl.org/event-search/

Learning How to Learn: Metacognition in Business English

Metacognition in Business English helps professionals understand how they learn, manage study habits, and use resources more effectively. Beyond grammar and vocabulary, it equips learners with the ability to learn how to learn, boosting confidence, fostering autonomy, and ensuring skills are applied directly in workplace contexts.

In this BESIG meeting, we will explore the whys and hows of metacognition in Business English contexts—why it matters, how it can transform learning, and how to apply it effectively in professional settings. As for the what… well, participants are in for some eye-opening insights, practical strategies, and a fresh perspective on learning how to learn.

Enroll here: https://bit.ly/3G4wCXC