Madrid Region
Teacher Development Event
The
International Institute in Madrid, founded initially as a centre for good
education for Christian girls in Spain, and still operating today as a
non-profit centre for cross-cultural education is an impressive site. A
majestic 19th-century building, it occupies a very desirable piece of real
estate just one block away from the Paseo de la Castellana. On the evening of
February 4th, however, thanks to the initiative of a number of TESOL-SPAIN
members including Sarah Kegley, the Director of English Studies at the
Institute, the building became the home to another successful TESOL-SPAIN
regional event.
Simply but very aptly named a ‘Teacher Development
Event’, the evening was the outcome of the drive and enthusiasm of
newly-appointed Madrid Regional Coordinator, Kate Marriage. The final product
was a perfect example of how TESOL-SPAIN can work at regional level when like
minds meet (especially Kate and Sarah’s), and all present agreed that the
only thing left to do is to repeat the experience.
Tempting many
speakers with the chance of a dry run of the talks they
are due to give at the 2005 National Convention in Sevilla, Kate had used her
ample persuasive powers to bring together a varied and attractive group of
speakers from the Madrid area. The outcome was a valuable experience in
discovering the seldom-appreciated benefits of bringing local experience into
direct contact with local practitioners, and by the end of the evening, it had
become clear to most just how much we can learn from each other.
More than 70 Madrid members signed up for the ‘Teacher
Development Event’, which covered current trends in ELT, aspects of
classroom methodology, and internet marketing for academy owners. Very few
failed to turn up, despite the glorious Friday afternoon sunshine, making the
initiative a success in every respect. The staff at the International Institute
ensured that everything went smoothly, the speakers accommodated generously
around the one small technical hitch that arose, and suddenly it was nine in
the evening, and we were raffling the Advanced Learners Dictionaries that
Cambridge University Press had kindly donated as the final part of their
generous contribution to the day.
Our thanks, then to Sarah Kegley and all the staff at the
International Institute, as well as to Cambridge University Press, Express
Publishing and Stanley ELI. Thanks to all of the speakers for sharing their
knowledge and ideas, and congratulations to Kate for such a timely, quality
contribution to the work of our association.
Robin Walker
Regional Officer
TESOL-SPAIN
Madrid, February 5th, 2005
The
worst of the organizing, done, there was even time for a smile from the
culprits.
The
International Institute proved ideal for the event in every way
Current Trends in ELT in Spain
Hilary Plass
An Introduction to the European Language Portfolio (ELP)
The European Language Portfolio is being
implemented in an increasing number of European countries in a wide range of
contexts. This introduction will focus on the contents and layout of the
Spanish versions of the ELP and examine the prominence given to learner
training and learner autonomy.
Annie McDonald
An introduction to the Common European Framework of
Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching, Assessment (CEF)
In this presentation I aim to show how the CEF, which
has been referred to as one of the most important published documents about
language teaching in living memory, can be of invaluable help to all language
teachers. I will begin by situating the document in a broad political context
and providing a brief synopsis of the CEF. I will then present some of the most
important implications for language learning, teaching and assessment which are
likely to impact on our European language teaching context in the
future.
Begoña Nuñez and Robert Raabe
Piloting the European Language Portfolio (ELP) with University students:
Implications, improvements and reactions
This talk discusses ELP
implementation from two angles: organisational planning and development, and
classroom implications. We report on changes made for our second year of
practical piloting and discuss methodological implications that the ELP has for
teachers in terms of lesson planning and teaching-learning strategies. Feedback
from students and teachers will be presented. Sharing of ideas and experiences
is more than welcome.
Aspects
of classroom methodology
Tom Spain
Developing vocabulary awareness in text using songs, stories and
articles.
I will
demonstrate ways of raising vocabulary awareness by using games and activities
based on authentic texts. The activities involve pairs competing against each
other to guess and/or predict vocabulary using all four skills to do so. The
activities are suitable for teenagers and adults at Upper-Intermediate and
above.
Mark White
Liven up your reading
I will
demonstrate two ways of adapting coursebook readings, making them more
interesting, memorable, - and effective. Converting them into listening for
gist and detail uses noticing and memory; running dictations are followed by
ordering or matching activities. I will suggest ways of modifying methods to
particular circumstances, with examples. A third method, retelling using
words/phrases, is included in a handout.
Ruth Howarth
Using visual aids in the language classroom
Many of us are visual learners. In this workshop we will
look at what kind of visuals you can use in the EFL classroom and explore
why and how visuals can be used as an effective aid for teachers. Participants
will get the chance to actively take part in a wide range of activities for
using visuals aids.
Shona Fulton
Pronunciation fillers
Are you and your students intimidated by phonemic symbols?
This workshop is for new teachers or for teachers who have thus far avoided
pronunciation teaching. I will suggest some practical activities to help
your students learn as they play. These fillers can be used to focus on
pronunciation differences between English and your learners' L1.
Audience participation essential.
Amy E. Field
Using List Poems in the Language
Learning Classroom
After briefly examining different rationales for using
creative writing in the classroom, we will go on to look at different types of
poems which can be used with students from the primary levels to university
age. Participants will have the opportunity to use a few of the different
structures. We will conclude with different ways the creative writing can
be shared.
Of
special interest to free-lance teachers
Steven Starry
Internet marketing for English teachers
A session on the possibilities and problems of creating and
maintaining a website for marketing purposes. Aspects to be discussed: time
required for learning and maintenance, expenses of site-creation and marketing,
and positioning in search-engines and networking. |
