Archive Copy.
Invited Speakers.
Click on an Invited Speaker's name to view the abstract for their main plenary, presentation or workshop. Click on Invited session to view the abstract for an Invited Speaker's subsequent presentations or workshops.
Thomas S. C. Farrell
Special Session
Dick Allwright
Invited Session
Graham Crookes
Invited Session
Willy A. Renandya
Invited Session
Lillian Wong
Invited Session
Jihyeon Jeon
Gabriel Diaz Maggioli
Invited Session
Curtis Kelly
Invited Session
Sue Garton
Invited Session
Jun Lui
William Littlewood
Invited Session
Additional Session
Annamaria Pinter
Beverley Burkett
Charles Browne
Invited Session
Featured Colloquium
IATEFL Young Learners Special Interest Group (SIG)
Hans Mol
Gemma Fanning
Jooyoung Lee
Annamaria Pinter
1.Thomas S. C. Farrell, Brock University (Canada)
Plenary Session: I Feel I Have Plateaued Professionally…Gone a Little Stale: Reflective Practice for Professional Development
Plateauing is marked by feelings of sameness, frustration, disillusionment, and career stagnation. It can happen at many different times during a language teacher’s career. This plenary session will show how language teachers can overcome plateauing through Reflective Practice. The plenary will look at the origins of Reflective Practice, what has influenced my approach to Reflective Practice while also examining the tools of Reflective Practice so that teachers (novice and experienced) can not only overcome the real experience of plateauing but also generate their own theory from practice.
Special Session: Teacher Career Cycle Trajectories: Getting Into Reflective Practice
Reflective practice involves examining our assumptions, values and beliefs, and our classroom practices to see what impact each has on each other. Some say just reflect! However, it is not always easy to get started or to find a place to start because reflection is very personal and unique to individual teachers. This practical interactive discussion will first outline and discuss Teacher Career Cycle Trajectories and examine where teachers are and what influences teachers at various parts of this cycle. Then, teachers can decide what type of reflective practice they want to engage in, depending on their particular place on the teacher career life cycle, in a Q&A format. It is hoped that teachers leave this session with a plan to engage in some kind of reflective practice because I will be willing to give feedback long after the conference has ended.
for more see: www.reflectiveinquiry.ca
Dr. Farrell will be giving out one copy each of the books in his new TESOL series -- 14 books in all!
2. Dick Allwright, Lancaster (UK)
Plenary Session: Theorising “Down” Instead of “Up”: The Special Contribution of Exploratory Practice
Taking Exploratory Practice work in Brazil as my starting point, I will argue that we need to look again at the awkward relationship between theory and practice.
Science typically works by theorising upwards, by abstracting away from the messiness of real-world “practice” to reach a higher realm where a “theory” can help us understand that world.
In principle, we can then use our theoretical understandings to cope better with the real world. Unfortunately, abstracting far away from the world makes using your theory back in that real world highly problematic, because you now have to deal with all the complexities that the theorising was getting away from.
Theorising downwards, instead, can be a practical, and highly productive, alternative.
“Theorising downwards” means accepting the bewildering complexities of life and digging down into them to try to find a way of developing understandings that will help us live more productively. Exploratory Practice is a form of practitioner research that does just that. It can also bring teachers and learners together in their search for understandings that may be “too deep for words” but that will nevertheless help them get more out of their lives together as practitioners of teaching and learning.
Invited Session: Does It Make Sense to Treat Learners as Practitioners of Learning?
In this workshop, I will start by asking you to consider how the following five statements about learners might relate to your pedagogic context.
1. Learners are unique individuals who learn and develop best in their own idiosyncratic ways.
2. Learners are social beings who learn and develop best in a mutually supportive environment.
3. Learners are capable of taking learning seriously.
4. Learners are capable of independent decision-making.
5. Learners are capable of developing as practitioners of learning.
We will then consider whether or not it makes sense for you to treat learners as practitioners of learning, just as we happily treat teachers nowadays as practitioners of teaching. In either case, what implications can we see for our pedagogic practice?
3. Graham Crookes, University of Hawai'i at Manoa. (USA)
What Does "From Practice into Theory" Look Like for Philosophies of Language Teaching and Critical Language Pedagogy?
A philosophy of teaching is, among other possibilities, an organized and coherent set of principles which guide one's practice as a teacher. Resources that can be drawn upon to develop one include the results of personal reflection, but also positions that pre-exist one's own practice. These may be concrete, as in an observation of apprenticeship, or abstract, as in philosophies of education. The literature of philosophy of education can provide lenses through which to inspect practice; it can provide conceptual frameworks through which to interpret practice, and so it can guide the cyclical movement between practice, theory, and more (and better) practice. Favorable conditions for such movement are, however, comparatively rarely experienced by language teachers, which is why a critical theory, or critical philosophy of language teaching might be necessary to understand where we are and where we should be going.
Invited Session: Introduction to Critical Language Pedagogy: Principles, Materials, and Examples
Turning to critical perspectives on language teaching is one response in the movement from practice to theory. When the contradictions to be found in attempting a professional language teaching practice within unprofessional working conditions are great, a language teacher may develop overall a more critical view of education and society. Those who develop such a (theoretical) perspective may wish to explore the (practical) ideas of critical pedagogy. Contexts limit application and compromise may be necessary, but attempts can be found in both ESL and EFL settings. Materials are a good place to start thinking about critical language pedagogy; knowing about one or two small-scale examples from Korea may also be encouraging.
4. Willy A. Renandya, National Institute of Education. (Singapore)
Strategies That Really Work in the L2 Classroom: From Practice to Theory
For many years, we have been trying to find an answer to the classic question of why some L2 learners succeed while many seem to fail to achieve an acceptable level of proficiency in English. Various proposals and explanations have been offered in the professional literature, but these are often too complex and theoretical for typical classroom teachers to digest. In addition, for those new in the field, these explanations sometimes seem to be at odds with each other. In this presentation, I will draw upon my own experience as a language learner, and also the experience of other successful language learners, to explore a number of factors that seem to play an important role in L2 learners’ language development. When these factors (e.g., sufficient amount of input, opportunity for meaningful language use, focus on implicit grammar, mastery of core vocabulary, and sufficient motivation to learn) are fully accommodated in the language curriculum, there is a good chance that we may be able to increase the percentage of L2 learners who can achieve a higher level of proficiency in English. Throughout this presentation, I will highlight how the practices of successful learners of English can be productively incorporated into mainstream ELT theories.
InvitedSession: The 5 Ts of Motivation in the Language Classroom
There are three points to note about motivation, and all of them concern the most important player in the classroom: the teacher. Firstly, it’s widely accepted that the responsibility to motivate students rests with the teacher. Secondly, we now know that what we do and how we behave in the classroom has powerful impact on motivation. Thirdly, the quality of our teaching is associated with higher levels of student motivation. In other words, almost everything that we do in the classroom has a motivating or demotivating effect.
The aim of this workshop is to explore practical strategies that teachers can use to foster motivation in the L2 classroom. I will focus on five areas, which I shall call the 5 Ts of motivation:
- Teacher: How do teachers create a healthy, motivating language learning environment?
- Teaching Methods: What kinds of teaching methods are likely to increase student interest and engagement in learning?
- Tasks: What are the key characteristics of tasks that learners perceive to be motivating?
- Text: What kinds of text are likely to increase students’ interest and enthusiasm in learning?
- Test: How can teachers develop more learner- and learning-friendly tests for classroom use?
This is a practical workshop that is particularly useful for every English teacher who has a keen interest in helping their students become more enthusiastic, engaged, and motivated in learning.
5. Lillian Wong, The University of Hong Kong (SAR, People's Republic of China)
Innovation and Change in English Language Education – Using Technologies to Support Autonomous Learning: From Practice to Theory
Interest in learner autonomy has increased substantially in recent years with the promotion of student-centered pedagogy and the growing awareness of the need to address learner diversity. New directions and developments in technology are driving and, to certain extent, enabling more innovative approaches to learning and teaching by providing more and more varied online resources, network services, and educational platforms which create opportunities for interaction and support for learning outside the classroom. More recently, developments in mobile technologies and the explosion in the use of social media have accelerated and extended opportunities for autonomous language learning, both in the classroom and beyond.
In this presentation, I will discuss English language education in this time of change and innovation by proposing a reconceptualization of autonomous learning from its general understanding as a set of skills, strategies or attitudes, to more specific abilities to participate in and effectively employ different learning environments, in which technology plays an important facilitative and enhancing role. I will explore various practices in using (emerging) technologies to support autonomous language learning. I will examine theoretical concepts such as collaborative learning, social learning, learning to learn, self-directed learning, and personalized learning in relation to the use of various technologies in facilitating innovation and change in language education.
Invited Session Abstract: Exploring Innovation and Change in English Language Education for Professional Development: Theory to Practice, Practice to Theory
Innovation and change in language education has been a subject of interest for both educators and researchers for many years. Driven by professional dissatisfaction with the status quo in local contexts or, increasingly, by the imperatives of quality audits and external course assessments, questions concerning the design, implementation, and maintenance of innovation and change are, perhaps more than ever before, of central concern to teachers.
This interactive session will first explore the processes of change and adoption of innovation and discuss factors affecting change and innovation in English language education. Case studies will be used for illustration. Then drawing on teachers’ experiences and the theoretical perspectives, participants can examine their own teaching contexts and practices for initiating innovation and change, and they can generate their own theory from practice. It is hoped that this discussion session will provide insights into professional development for facilitating teacher change and teaching innovation.
6. Jihyeon Jeon, Ehwa Women's University (Korea)
English for Global Communication: What Matters?
This presentation will provide the audience a chance to critically look at current second language teaching practice. The Korean government has announced that its goal is to enable Koreans to be able to communicate in English for global communication. What are the major constraints on achieving this goal? Are there any factors that we miss in our views on language teaching practice? In real communication, is “what we say” more important than “what they hear”? This presentation calls for an audience-centered approach in teaching English for global communication.
7. Gabriel Diaz Maggioli, The New School, New York (USA)
Teacher Education at the Crossroads: The Role of Theory and Practice
Teacher training and education practices in language teaching have tended to oscillate between either an emphasis on practice or an emphasis on theory. In this ongoing "tug of war" among traditions, three perspectives can be clearly deemed: (a) Look and learn – with a strong emphasis on practice, (b) Read and learn – with a strong emphasis on theory, (c) Think and learn – the first attempt at bringing theory and practice together. I want to propose a fourth perspective, which I call “Participate and Learn,” which allows teacher educators and aspiring teachers to engage in cycles in which they practice theory and theorize practice. In this session, we will explore the main tenets of this fourth perspective and offer concrete, tried-and-tested means through which teachers can theorize their practice.
Invited Session: Supervisors with superVision
In this workshop, we will explore a redefinition of the role of the observer in classroom observations (Director of Studies, Mentor, Coordinators, Teacher Educators), which explores sociocultural tools and procedures that put teacher learning at the center of the supervisory process. After an examination of current practices, we will advance two tools that help both the observer and the observed: a "map" that establishes a safe environment for the interaction to take place and a "compass" that outlines possible interventions during the feedback session. Participants will have the opportunity to try these out by collaboratively engaging in role-playing so as to experience how the tools can help teachers practice theory while theorizing practice.
8. Curtis Kelly, Kansai University (Japan)
Solving Classroom Problems with Neuroscience
My own classroom problems have been eager students whose learning does not hold, uneasier students who don't even try, and what I call 3Ls: students with Low ability, Low confidence, and Low motivation. Educational psychology provided some solutions for these problems, but neuroscience provides the reasons. The presenter will describe typical classroom problems like these and some of the amazing, and often unexpected, insights on them coming out of neuroscience. Neuroscience has given us a new understanding of why there are a multitude of critical ages, why some learning sticks, how emotion shapes memory, and why classroom teaching should be more like computer games.
Invited Session: How Preschool Might Save the World: Executive Function and Success
A major study found that under-privileged children put in preschools made immediate gains in IQ, but more surprisingly, kept them into adulthood. Another study found the claims for IQ gain were questionable, but found that other merits were gained, such as self-control and cognitive flexibility. Such children were found to be more likely to have better incomes later, to have fewer teen pregnancies, and to be less involved in crime. So, preschool education has a huge impact on the lives of children, and might be the answer to many societal problems, but why does this happen? The reasons lie in the form of interaction provided and how executive function is developed. Executive function takes place in the pre-frontal cortex and includes: a) inhibitory control, b) working memory, c) attention focusing and shifting, and d) cognitive flexibility.
Can executive function be improved through training? Scientific evidence with various degrees of dependability shows that certain means of instruction, from computer software, to Vygotsky’s “Tools of the Mind” to taekwondo, have a positive effect on EF. Let’s examine how these approaches work, what benefits they bring, and how we can incorporate them in our own classrooms.
9. Sue Garton, Aston University, Birmingham (UK)
Developing Theories from Practice: The Role of Materials Development and Use
As teachers, we often find ourselves saying “it’s all right in theory, but it doesn’t work in practice.” This presentation starts from the assumption that if it doesn’t work in practice, then it’s not all right in theory either. Theories are all too often handed down to teachers by “experts” who may have little idea what the day-to-day realities of practicing teachers are. Through examining the use of ELT materials by teachers in a variety of international contexts, this presentation will show how teachers can build their knowledge out of experience and develop personal theories of learning from practice. It will also consider how local personal theories can be globally relevant.
Invited Session: Dealing with the Transition from Elementary to Secondary School
What happens when the Road Less Traveled has barely been traveled at all? In many countries, English is now compulsory in primary education, and South Korea is no exception. This major innovation clearly has effects on other areas of ELT, especially secondary-level English, yet very little is known about what happens in the transition of young learners from elementary to secondary schooling. This presentation discusses the issues involved in transition and examines some possible courses of action by drawing on the experiences of teachers from around the world who are directly involved in the process.
10. Jun Lui, Anaheim University (USA)
Six Abilities Every English Language Teacher Should Have
The world is changing around us so quickly that it is difficult to track. How will the increasing global population, combined with technological innovation and globalization, affect our everyday lives? Furthermore, how will it affect the future of English language teaching (ELT)? These are questions that our field needs to consider carefully if we are to move forward responsibly as a profession. In this featured presentation, Liu is to propose six abilities that will characterize competent and successful ELT professions in the future. These include the following: 1) Make constant and effective changes; 2) Learn and speak at least one other language; 3) Teach less to maximize learning; 4) Teach English in at least one subject area; 5) Familiarize oneself with new learning and teaching modes, and 6) Ensure learning outside the classroom. The future is here. Globalization, migration, greater accessibility to technological breakthroughs, and an increasing global population all suggest that ELT professionals cannot afford to hesitate any longer in preparing for the future. As the global changes influence language use and ELT in nuanced and complex ways, the essence of a successful ELT professional will be adaptability, innovation, and a willingness to learn, each of which is reflected in the six abilities proposed. Liu will conclude his talk by saying that these six abilities will characterize successful ELT practitioners today, as well as in the future.
11. William Littlewood, Hong Kong Baptist University (SAR, People's Republic of China)
Developing principles and strategies for communication-oriented language teaching
Communicative language teaching (CLT) has long been recommended as the way ahead for language teachers in Korea. However, the recommendation has often led to uncertainty and misunderstanding. For example, it has sometimes been interpreted to mean excluding grammar teaching, teaching only speaking and always using group work. Many teachers have felt uncomfortable with it and questioned its suitability in their own situations.
Even if CLT is now questioned as a package of ideas suited to every classroom, most teachers identify with its underlying message: that our mission is to teach communication skills through activities that are engaging to the students. This message serves as an orientation in developing varied ways of teaching which are suited to specific learners, teachers and contexts. The present paper distinguishes three main approaches to converting this communicative orientation into more specific principles and strategies for implementing context-sensitive practices. One approach is to develop a ‘teacher-generated theory of classroom practice’ (Senior, 2006) based on accumulated experience. Another is to start from theoretical accounts of the nature of learning and use these as a principled basis for a ‘theory of instructed language learning’ (Ellis, 2005). A third is to elaborate on the pedagogical implications of the communicative orientation mentioned above and design a methodological framework through which specific classroom activities are seen in relation to students’ goals and adjusted to their learning needs.
This talk concentrates on the third approach. It outlines a framework in which one dimension locates classroom activities along a ‘communicative continuum’ according to how they relate to the goal of communicative competence. A second dimension addresses the need to stimulate engagement, at all points along the continuum, by considering factors such as motivation, individual differences and affective needs. The strategies that emerge through this framework are tested and refined through our ongoing practice.
Invited Session: Using Collaborative Learning Techniques to Encourage Participation in Classroom Interaction
A common stereotype of Asian learners is that they are reluctant to participate in classroom interaction and prefer to learn passively. However, surveys indicate that most tertiary English learners in Asian countries (including Korea) hold positive attitudes towards working in groups and value classes in which discussion and critical thinking take place. So why do they often appear to be passive? Students themselves see the main obstacles to participation as shyness, fear of being wrong, insufficient interest or knowledge in the subject, and insufficient time to formulate their ideas. They advise teachers to attach greater importance to creating an informal atmosphere, giving encouraging responses, and ensuring that topics engage students’ knowledge and interest. This paper will focus on some ways in which collaborative learning techniques can help us to structure classroom interaction in ways that minimize some of the obstacles and open space for greater participation. The techniques include “jigsaw” and “expert jigsaw,” “think – pair – share,” “three-step interview,” “forward snowball,” “reverse snowball,” “constructive controversy” and “numbered heads.” They provide interactional structures which require and support contributions from all students in non-threatening contexts and, since they involve learning through purposeful talk, they also provide rich contexts for the development of cognitive and communication skills.
Additional Session: Using Students’ Metaphors to Explore Perceptions of Second Language
This presentation can be seen from three perspectives. First, it describes a way of combining individual and group activity as a basis for communicative activity which is related to students’ own interests and experience. Second, this activity serves to stimulate students to develop awareness of their second language learning experience and perceptions. Third, it can be seen as a small-scale classroom research study into how advanced second language learners perceive second language learning. In the study, 30 advanced learners of English as a second language (in this case, native speakers of Chinese) were first asked to describe their experience of second language learning by completing this sentence frame: “Learning a second language is like _________ because ____________.” This produced 32 metaphors for second language learning. In groups they were given all 32 metaphors, asked to select and rank the five which the group thought reflected most closely their experience, and describe the features of second language learning that the metaphors capture (i.e., the “grounds” of the metaphors). The outcome of this stage was 11 sets of five metaphors accompanied by the grounds given by the groups that had selected them. Finally each metaphor from this stage was given a score indicating how strongly the learners identified with it. Taken together, these metaphors provided a profile of the communal experience of second language learning within the class.
12. Annamaria Pinter, Warwick University (UK)
A Road Less Travelled: Children as Co-investigators in Classrooms – How does it work?
Even though English as a foreign/second language is now taught in most primary schools all over the world, we, English educators, know very little about children’s views and perceptions regarding language learning. My recent research work with children suggests that children can voice their perspectives, and these are often different and “fresh” compared to our adult views. It is indeed important to take their views seriously. This talk is about my experience of involving children actively as “co-investigators” in classroom explorations. I suggest that working in partnerships with children is beneficial for both children and teachers in EFL/ESL classrooms. Children gain opportunities to voice their ideas, opinions, and perspectives, and while engaged actively, their levels of motivation will increase, and they will gain a sense of accomplishment. Children also report having fun and gaining new skills. Teachers will gain a better understanding of their own learners and will come closer to bridging the gap between adult and child perspectives. In order to illustrate these ideas, several examples from my own projects will be shown and further practical ideas will be offered for teachers ready to implement in their own classrooms.
13. Beverley Burkett, Marlboro College Graduate School (USA)
Developing a Personal Theory of Teaching Practice: The Role of Reflection
Developing a personal theory of teaching practice is the goal of a number of language teacher development programs. But how do teachers do this and why should they? This presentation draws on narrative data from teachers in South Africa, from Master's students doing practice teaching in diverse international contexts, and from students doing a TESOL certificate to try to answer these questions. In particular, it looks at the role of reflection in this development and how it contributes to theorizing from practice.
14. Charles Browne, Meiji Gakuin University (Japan)
Featured Session: The New General Service List: Celebrating 60 Years of Vocabulary Learning
In 1953, Michael West published a list of important vocabulary words known as the General Service List (GSL). Although the corpus used was extremely small by today's standards and is of course missing many modern high frequency words such as "email," "Internet," or "cell phone," the list was a remarkable culmination of nearly two decades of pre-computer era corpus research and a series of meetings and discussions with corpus linguists, and experienced EFL and ESL teachers around the world.
On the 60th anniversary of the publication of this list, we (Browne, Culligan, & Phillips, 2013) would like to introduce a New General Service List (NGSL). The NGSL is based on a carefully selected 273 million word subsection of the more than 1.6-billion-word CEC (Cambridge English Corpus) and uses the power of modern computers and corpus analysis software to help create a list of high-frequency words that provides a higher coverage of texts with fewer words than the original GSL. Like the GSL before it, this interim list is seen as a starting point for discussion and debate with corpus linguists, and experienced EFL and ESL teachers about what words should be added/deleted. A website dedicated to refining this list will be introduced at the end of the presentation.
Invited Session: Maximizing Vocabulary Development with Online Resources
Although there has been great progress in the last 30 years since Paul Meara declared vocabulary to be the most neglected aspect of language learning, limited class time and other logistical factors have kept most teachers from being able to systematically tackle the teaching of important high-frequency vocabulary words. Fortunately, there is a rich and wide array of free, online resources for computers, smartphones, and tablets which can help teachers, learners, and researchers to do much more in this area. This presentation will introduce and demonstrate several of the most useful sites and software, and give all participants a much longer annotated list of sites they can take home to try out at their leisure. The last few minutes of the session will be devoted to Q&A, comments, and the chance for participants to talk about their own useful vocabulary resources. Best Ukrainian Wives Dating Websites https://genuinelovers.com/ . Best Dating Websites To Find Your Love.
Host:
Rod Ellis
Presenters:
Denise Murray - via web
Andy Curtis - via web
Jun Liu - in person
While the purpose of doing research in TESOL is to inform teaching and enhance best practices, teaching can also help generate research topics, empower teachers to be action researchers and be more mindful and purposeful in practices. In this webinar, three teacher researchers will share with the participants how to put theory into practice and practice into theory. Presenter I will focus on action research by drawing examples from online learning. Presenter II will talk about how online learners can inform the theory-building of online teaching which is happening now. Presenter III will justify why future language teachers should be teacher researchers.
IATEFL Young Learners Special Interest Group (SIG)
Hans Mol
Extensive Reading Practice in the Teenage Classroom: Using the R.E.A.D.I.N.G System
Reading is a very important part of learning English. It is a skill that also develops other skills, such as speaking and writing. It reinforces understanding of vocabulary and grammar without constantly analyzing what you read. It increases confidence and pleasure, and gives learners a sense of reward. In this workshop, we will look at the process of Extensive Reading in English language classrooms for teenagers, and consider ways in which to use graded readers. The main focus will be on generating interest and maintaining enthusiasm before, during, and after reading. We will discuss the importance for those learning to read to make connections with the real world while they read, and the relevance of relating what you read to one's personal experience and one's own opinions. During the workshop, participants will experience through activities what reading in a foreign language means. Participants will also discuss activities and produce ideas for use in their own teaching practice.
Gemma Fanning
A Multisensory Approach to Learning to Read
When a child begins to read and write, they firstly begin with looking at the different letters and sounds before moving on to how syllables make up words. As a child moves through each of these processes, they start to create a bigger process which brings meaning to words.
This discussion will focus on children learning to read in English for the first time, discussing the idea that children will benefit from a broad approach to literacy skills, from letters and sounds, morphemes and syllables, and begin to be able to identify words and learning them. The main focus will explore different phonics programs available and adapt them for our students needs, using a multi-sensory experience, so children can see, hear, manipulate, touch, and feel. There will also be a discussion on supporting students with SEN needs, who find learning to read challenging, and how to scaffold and support these students. There will also be an opportunity to look at how your classroom can further support your students and expose them to as many words as possible. Participants will be able to take back with them activities and ideas to adapt and use in their own classrooms.
Jooyoung Lee
The Meaning of “Good EFL Textbooks for Young Learners”: Reading with Young Learners
There has been an explosive increase in teaching English to young learners in many Asian countries in both the state school systems and private language institutes. Consequently, the number of English teaching materials for young language learners has been growing rapidly. Even though there has been considerable research about ELT materials, little is known about textbooks for young language learners in the EFL context. Although research on ELT materials has converged on textbook evaluation, there is a dearth of research on how young language learners perceive their textbooks. Many of the materials may rely on intuition and assumption, or marketability and convention, rather than on listening to young learners’ voices. Although the core of education is the learner, teachers and parents are also considered as key stakeholders. Hence, it is necessary to look at the perceptions of not only teachers but also parents in primary English education.
This presentation will identify and compare the perceptions of EFL textbooks from the viewpoints of parents, teachers, and young learners. This talk concentrates on reading with young learners.
Annamaria Pinter
L2 Reading for Children: 10 Lessons Learnt from Research
Reading is considered one of the challenging skills to teach and learn, and its role is particularly controversial in a children’s L2 classroom. This talk will start with exploring both the advantages and the challenges of teaching L2 reading to children of different ages in different types of learning contexts, including both formal and informal. Then, I will address ten key findings drawn from empirical research in relation to teaching literacy skills to children in a foreign/second language. In addition to a core focus on reading skills, some ideas about writing will also be incorporated because reading and writing are closely related and are supportive of each other as developing language skills. All theoretical points will be supported and illustrated with practical ideas and examples as appropriate to make immediate links with classroom practice. Teachers will have a chance to implement many of the ideas in their own classrooms as well as gain a deeper understanding of the principles behind practice.
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