Here is a highly engaging game about educational planning, sent in by Dr Richard Watson-Todd at KMUTT in Thailand ( [email protected] ). Though designed with Thailand in mind, it has much wider implications. Possibly a good project for MA students? The MinEd Game (Ministry of Education Game), where you can choose policies to influence English education in Thailand, is now online and ready to be played (in both Thai and English versions). You can play it at http://meg.ibankstory.com/ (Note: it doesn’t work very well in IE, so please use Chrome, Firefox or Safari) If you enjoy playing the game or find it useful, please forward the URL to friends (and students and anyone else who might be interested) and encourage them to play it, or post a message about the game on social media. Just to remind ourselves why we learn languages, and what creative teachers can do to help.
(To read the article, click on the image below) Dr.J.Mangayarkarasi Associate Professor of English Ethiraj College for Women, Chennai The International Association of Teachers of English as a Foreign Language - IATEFL - mission is to link, develop and support English Language Professionals worldwide. The 51st annual conference and exhibition was held in Glasgow, UK from April 4th to 7th, with over 3,000 delegates in attendance. The venue was the SECC - Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre - which is a truly world-class venue and one of Europe's highest profile conference centres. I was privileged to attend this conference as an Indian Associate Member of ELTAI. On 2nd April evening, the SVA dinner, previously arranged by the British Council for the associates from different parts of the world, took place in Argyll 2, Crowne Plaza Hotel, Glasgow and we got acquainted with the IATEFL Patron Prof. David Crystal, President, Secretary and other conference co-ordinators. It was a big gathering, and the past and present presidents addressed the associates. This was the most memorable event of the conference as we got to know over 100 associates from different parts of the globe. ASSOCIATES’ DAY The event began with the pre-conference events (PCE) and Associates Day on 3rd April and I was registered to attend the Associates’ Day. Lou McLaughlin, IATEFL’s Associate Chair introduced and welcomed the Associates to Glasgow followed by the formal welcome by the out-going president Marjorie Rosenbergand and In-Coming President Margit Szestztay. They both spoke of their personal association with the associates and how much it meant to them to attend for part of the day. We had a warmer session called ‘Buddy System’. Then, Lou McLaughlin read the Associates’ Representatives Report followed by updates on the award winners of 2016-17 Hornby Trust – IATEFL Associates Award, IATEFL Projects Award and IATEFL Scholarships. Following on from Scholarship Updates by George Pickering, IATEFL Special Interest Groups Chair and Lou McLaughlin provided an introduction to an online course for TA’ Committees, the details on pilot project and so on. After the coffee break, we had an opportunity to listen to TED-style Presentations by the four Associates MATEFL, TESOL Arabia, ELPA (Ethiopia) and IATEFL Hungary. In this sessions, we explored the strategies followed by the associates of IATEFL globally for teacher training and networking. POSTER PRESENTATION The atmosphere in the room turned to be one of lively discussions during the poster sessions. I had been allotted poster presentation slot on Associates Day between 13.40 and 15.50pm. I had an opportunity to display information about our association (ELTAI), our events and our Publication details such as Virtual Learning Workshops, Shakespeare Festival 2016 and Academic writing workshops organized by ELTAI for teacher training. This was the perfect opportunity to discuss ideas for the future and begin tentative plans for collaboration. There were many ideas on display by the Associates. As always, no day is complete without thanking all those involved in working behind the scenes: the IATEFL Committee with Lou McLaughlin and George Pickering who worked tirelessly throughout Associates’ Day and also the British Council who were the generous sponsors for both SVA dinner and Associates’ Day. INTERESTING SESSIONS IN THE CONFERENCE The conference began on 4th April with IATEFL How to…sessions. “How to get the most out of this conference” with Susan Barduhn was for new IATEFL conference participants as well as those who attended many conferences in and around their country. This has been introduced to form learning groups for those who wish to jigsaw their conference experience and to share conference time management tips. How to get involved in an IATEFL SIG with George Pickering enabled IATEFL members in an area of particular interest to them. In this session, brief discussion on What SIG’s are and how they can help the members to develop professionally has been discussed, before the discussion the different ways of involving actively in a SIG, from writing a newsletter article to volunteering to work on a SIG committee has been explored. Following this was a session on by “How to get published in a refereed journal” with Graham Hall. This session had thrown light on how to look at and to get published in an “academic” journal. The editor of ELT journal had shared some tips and suggestions for getting our work print in an academic journal. The grand opening plenary of Gabriel Diaz Maggoli on the topic “Empowering teachers through continued professional development: frameworks, practices and Promises.” Gabriel Diaz Maggoli is a teacher who applied the lessons learned in the classroom to his roles as writer, researcher, administrator and teacher educator. He got his BA in TESOL in Uruguay and completed Masters and doctoral work at the University of Bath in the UK. He has acted as consultant for international organizations such as UNICEF, UNESCO, The European Union, Inter-American Development Bank. A frequent presenter at local and international conferences, Gabriel has shared his theory-in-practice with colleagues in America, Europe, the Middle-East and East Asia. He currently lives in Uruguay where he is a tenured Professor of TESOL methods at the National Teacher Education College. In the Plenary Speech Gabriel stressed on the notion that language teachers need ongoing professional development opportunities should be considered a harmless platitude. Yet, as the field stands now, most of our colleagues have not been given such opportunities as part of their jobs. But even then we hear so many wonderful tales of exploration and discovery! Teachers have taken upon themselves to build these growth opportunities. In the plenary he had shared some stories, and weaved the plots of new stories to come by presenting a “state of the art” hawk eye view of professional development and recommending potential ways in which colleagues can help each other to learn and develop. Followed by the plenary there were parallel sessions in ten halls and ten executive rooms. I have attended the following two presentations – TELLING AND RETELLING: THE MAGIC OF STORIES IN ELT The session by Jeremy Harmer (Freelance/The New school, NY) & Jane Revell (Freelancer) was an interesting one. Stories are important resource for language learning-especially when re-retold and ‘re-signified’. They both had effectively discussed on how teachers can tell stories most effectively; how they can use them for language learning, use them for memory training, and if students use stories and tell their own. This session dealt with the story-with passing reference to Jetstream (Helbling). FACILITATING MEANINGFUL STUDENT-STUDENT COMMUNICATION ONLINE This talk by Deidre Cliffers (Cambridge University Press) addressed the challenge of creating peer-to-peer interaction within a group in online learning. Drawing on experience of live online teaching using Viewpoint, we can identify actions teachers need to take to ensure that students actually talk to each other online. This session had ensured the teachers on how to create and manage communicative tasks for the online classroom. SYMPOSIUM ON TEACHING-LEARNING STRATEGIES TO ENGLISH LEARNERS This presentation described the teacher preparation programmes that help English teachers to integrate language learning strategies instruction into their classrooms. Speakers from the George Washington University, National Institute of Education, Singapore, Poland and Jill Robbins stressed on the role of learner metacognition in strategy learning, Teaching grammar learning strategies and Making learning strategies fun with a free web-based multimedia course. 5th April began with how to sessions by Alison, Madeline and Daniel Xerri. The presentations dealt with how to write for IATEFL voices, How to submit speaker proposal and how to reflect on research talks at the conference. This was followed on by plenary session by Sarah Mercer, Professor of foreign Language Teaching at the University of Graz, Austria. Her Plenary on ‘Connecting Minds: Language Learner and Teacher Psychologies’ reflected on the fundamental role played by psychology in the learning and teaching of foreign languages. She had addressed on the diverse aspects of psychology such as beliefs, emotions, sense of self, agency and engagement and how to help learners to connect mentally and emotionally to their language learning and how we can support teachers to ensure a positive level of professional well-being in their jobs. To sum up, this talk aimed to focus our minds on what matters most in language education: The stakeholders. THE FUTURE OF ENGLISH: THE NEXT 20 YEARS David Graddol had thrown light on the main factors guiding the future of English in the world over the next two decades. 6th April sessions began with How to give a presentation at an international conference with Jeremy day, ‘How to become a successful freelancer’ by Chia Suan Chong was an interesting one which dealt on the three key areas such as organizational details-budgeting and finances, flexible schedule and security, How to get work- self-marketing and professionalizing, and How to Keep work-quality control referrals and solid administration. Plenary Speaker, JJ Wilson has taught in Egypt, Lesotho, Colombia, England, Italy and the United states, and has trained teachers in 30 countries. He is currently the writer-in-residence at Western New Mexico University, where he teaches ESL Methods, Linguistics, Publication, and Creative Writing. His Plenary on ELT and social justice: Opportunities in a time of chaos dealt with teaching methodology. He argued that teaching is never neutral through their methods; classroom persona and the materials teachers use advocate certain values. In the plenary he looked at the arguments for including social justice issues in ELT classrooms. MY IMPRESSIONS ABOUT THE CONFERENCE I was delighted to attend the presentations, talks, symposia and panel discussions of English teaching professionals around the world. Many presenters spoke about the paradigm shift from teacher-centered to learner and learning-centered education. Many of them were worried on how to engage their learners all the time in the classroom and I found that all are interested in technology enhanced language teaching. The conference has provided a chance to meet teachers from all the corners of the globe to discuss the various classroom practices. I have also understood that teachers have stopped taking notes and instead they use their mobile devices to capture the presentations and when it is more interesting they video record the whole event. EXHIBITION A large resources exhibition involving around 70 ELT-related exhibitors was arranged in the conference venue. It gave a chance to witness the latest ELT publications and services in one place and I had the opportunity to serve as a staff representative in IATEFL stand on the first day, 4th April. PLACES I HAVE VISITED IN THE UK I spent a day in Lake District, few days in Scotland, Edinburgh, and London, and visited Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, London Bridge, Cruise in River Thames, London Eye, Buckingham Palace, St.James Park, Cavalry museum, Changing of the guard to the Queen, Hyde park, Edinburgh castle, and the Glasgow University. The IATEFL Conference is a massive event with a multitude of sessions from 8am to 6pm. Even the coffee breaks are moments for further discussion and exploration of ideas among the English teaching professionals around the globe. I thank Almighty God for giving me such an opportunity to enjoy the conference and visiting UK. ELT@I has given me a platform to know about IATEFL and I thank the patron of ELT@I Dr. S. Rajagopalan for his constant motivation. I thank our college and chairman for the constant support and encouragement in all our endeavors. Is it ever too late to learn a language? In 1997, Jonathan ‘Jonny’ Wilkinson left university to become a professional rugby union player. Since then, Jonny Wilkinson has excelled in the sport, becoming captain of the English rugby national team and seen as the key force that drove his teams to victory in the 2003 and 2007 Rugby World Cup finals. After 12 years with the Newcastle Falcons, he transferred to Toulon in 2009 and that’s when his language-learning journey began… Discover how Jonny found out the hard way the importance speaking the language of his team mates.
Click on the image below to read the interview: Why we celebrate Shakespeare J. Mangayarkarasi, Associate Professor of English Ethiraj College for Women, Chennai- 8 There can be no doubt about the brilliance of Shakespeare who was, and still is a beloved playwright for many theatre and literature enthusiasts. 2016 marks the playwright’s 400th death anniversary. His writing is still looked up to and his plays are still relevant to the present day world. The magic of Shakespeare is that he has managed to stay alive in his works which have not been shelved yet, unlike his contemporaries.
Modern day usage of English may seem to have nothing in common with the English that was used in Shakespeare’s time, but it is not so. His usage of English and his diction may seem very different and old now, but his contribution to the current set of words and syntax is immense mainly because he structured his poetry and plays in a different manner. This helped to standardize grammatical rules and his invention of new words added to the existing corpus of words. He revived the usage of suffixes and prefixes, and was brave enough to change the verbs into adjectives and nouns into verbs. Though his spellings have been changed over the years, his grammatical rules are still being followed by the users of the English language even now. Many people who use certain phrases and words from the English language do not realise that before Shakespeare’s time they existed either as a word that meant something completely different to the modern day usage or did not exist at all and were coined by Shakespeare. The risks and artistic license taken by a single playwright has had such a huge impact on the very language that was his mother tongue and his tool of trade and this kind of magic can be wrought only by someone who is truly gifted. And a universally acknowledged fact is how gifted Shakespeare was. His usage of iambic pentameter in his sonnets gives it a particular rhythm that is very catchy and mesmerising at the same time. The metaphors, similes’ and the rhyme scheme makes it easy on the ears and compels one to remember them, long after they have been spoken. He is credited with coining over a hundred and thirty five phrases, many of which are still being used and has invented over one thousand and seven hundred words which we use in a slightly altered manner nowadays. His flexible usage of words can be seen in his usage of the word “antic”. An antic is a fool, which is a noun. Shakespeare turns it into a verb ‘to make a fool of.’ He can also be credited with simplifying the English language and through the usage of his words and phrases one can easily master speaking English fluently. Since his phrases have a certain rhythm to them they can be easily remembered and would enhance the listening skills of the students. Works Cited Baluch, Changiz Khan. "The Influence of Shakespeare on English Language." Web log post. Changizbaluch.wordpress.com. N.p., 8 Nov. 2013. Web. 30 Nov. 2016 King, John, and Warren King. "Words Shakespeare Invented." No Sweat Shakespeare. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Aug. 2016. A platform of authentic materials for children and young teens developed by children and young teens! Maria Heron Learning from others of the same age is the idea behind the new platform palm-edu.eu which wants to make the learning of foreign languages attractive for children in the European Union. The Erasmus+ project PALM (Promoting Authentic Language Acquisition in Multilingual Contexts) will design a platform of authentic materials for children and young teenagers developed by the children and teenagers themselves. By the end of the project in August 2018, the platform will contain 1500 texts and 250 activities in 8 different languages: English, French, Spanish, German, Hungarian, Greek and Ladin, a minority language spoken in South Tyrol. For teachers, the site is a resource for learning and teaching materials, as well as assessment tools, to go with various input texts developed by trainee teachers for piloting. They will then report back on the usefulness of texts and materials using short on-line surveys to provide feedback. NILE, represented by Maria Heron, is one of the partners in this project which is being co-ordinated by Prof. Claudia Mewald of the Pedagogic University of Lower Austria. The team, which includes partners from Cyprus, Italy, Hungary, Austria and the UK, have been meeting twice a year and are meeting again next week in Bressanone in South Tyrol. They will be working on the platform but also planning and preparing for the first intralanguage gathering with some of the children and teachers in Bressanone in May and for the final junior symposium in Baden in June 2018. These gatherings will provide opportunities for plurilingual and intercultural exchange. From left to right:
The story telling goddess from Hyderabad opened with a short, fun story about a frog race. She went on talking about the beauty and dangers of storytelling, the power of imagination and the importance of day dreaming.
Deepa Kiran is a storyteller, education consultant, writer and voice-over artist. She weaves in music and movement into her telling and holds training programs for teachers on employing storytelling in the language classroom. She lives in Hyderabad and holds her shows and workshops across the country. She holds a Masters in English Literature from the University of Hyderabad and a PGCTE (Post graduate specialization in the teaching of English) from EFLU, English and Foreign Languages University. In her latest blog post, Chrysa Papalazarou shares a fine resource she came across and how to use it: the UNICEF’s Cartoons for Children’s Rights series.
Click on the image below to access the post: BREXIT – The Ugliest Word in 2016! A Special “TESTING TIMES” Feature Geoff Tranter BREXIT!! – A firm favourite for the title of the ‘Ugliest Word of the Year’! Ugly not only because of the sound of the word, but also because of the many ramifications. TESTING TIMES presents in this special BREXIT Christmas Edition news, views, clues and adieus connected with the Past, Present and Future of the UK and Europe following the result of the 2016 CEFR (= Conservatives European Frame-Up Referendum). BREXIT for BREAKFAST Did you know that many people confuse BREXIT with the word ‘BREAKFAST’, as did a Government Minister during a speech at this year’s Conservative Party Conference as well as a backbencher M.P. during the parliamentary debate in the House of Commons in November. Perhaps this is where the concept of a Hard BREXIT and a Soft BREXIT comes from! Hard-Boiled Eggs and Soft-Boiled Eggs for breakfast/BREXIT? And perhaps many people voted with visions of a ‘full English breakfast/BREXIT’ with rashers of ham (to go with the rash decision by approx. 52% of the voters) and fried eggs (perhaps not sunny side up) and (as Cameron made a hash of the whole thing) a portion of hash brownies? And of course with real British sausages, not saucissons or Würstchen, i.e. going out with a banger and not being wursted!! Another option would be a ‘Brown BREXIT’ or “Sweet BREXIT’ made of dairy milk chocolate - rather like the Kinder eggs made in Germany – with a big surprise inside! The BREXIT Collocation Competition In the ensuing months since the Referendum, many collocations of the word BREXIT have been suggested. Not only ‘Hard BREXIT’ and ‘Soft BREXIT’, but also ‘Black BREXIT’ and ‘White BREXIT’. Even ‘Grey BREXIT’ has been proposed, perhaps to reflect the fact that the result of the Referendum was to a large degree due to the grey-haired Be-Leavers who “wanted their country back”. The latest colour collocation is a “Red, White and Blue” BREXIT – most probably a reference to the colours of the British flag, the Union Jack, although the spin doctors seem to have been completely oblivious of the fact that many other countries across the globe have flags with the same three colours, including the Netherlands (!), France (!!),the United States (!!!), and even Russia (!!!!). TESTING TIMES invites readers to contribute their own suggestions for the BREXIT Collocation Competition to be printed in the next edition of this jocular journal. The first entries include: ‘Happy Hour BREXIT’ = BREXIT only applies three hours a day – with cheap drinks. ‘TESCO BREXIT’ = Every little helps! It will need to, especially for Marmite fans! ‘Boxing Day BREXIT’ = Every day of negotiation could be a boxing match. ‘April Fools BREXIT’ = That might have been a better date for such a referendum ‘Guy Fawkes’ BREXIT’ = The best way to deal with the politicians responsible. One of the best comments on “BREXIT” came from a stand-up comedian at this year’s Edinburgh Fringe Festival: “BREXIT sounds like a breakfast cereal for people suffering from constipation!”. What’s in a Name? Now that the BREXIT European Placement Test (which was a dismal failure) has proved to be in reality a DIS-Placement test, displacing not only hundreds and thousands of EU citizens and probably hundreds and thousands of British citizens from the other member states of the EU, but also Prime Minister Cameron. Although many might not see this as a great loss – in fact it could even be seen as the only positive outcome of the Referendum, the question on which the jury is still out is whether his successor is a suitable person for the job. On the principle of ‘nomen is omen’, the main issue is: How can a country like the United Kingdom appoint a Prime Minister whose name is a MODAL VERB! What is more, a MODAL VERB expressing UNCERTAINTY???. Would the French in 2017 elect a lead called Marine Le Peut-être? Will the Germans re-elect Angela Möglich? It remains to be seen whether by 2020 both the voters and the country, should the UK then still exist in its present form, will be dismayed at the aftermath of the referendum results, and whether the British government will be ‘dis-MAY-ed’, the worst-case scenario being ‘Mayday’, ‘Mayday’, ‘Mayday’, especially as the confusion and chaos at present emanating from the British government can only be described as MAY-hem, or as somebody described it, a huge blob of MAYonnaise. BREXIT = EX-BRIT An interesting side effect of the BREXIT vote is the surge in the number of British citizens applying for dual nationality in other members of the EU. Hundreds of thousands of British passport-holders, who in the spirit of European integration have been resident and in employment in countries throughout the EU, and who furthermore were undemocratically excluded from participation in the Referendum, are now seeking a second passport to ensure ease of mobility, not to mention the duty-frees. The Goals (and Own Goals) of BREXIT BREXIT is not a new experience for English people – in fact, there has been a similar flop every two years for nearly a century. Whether it is the European Football Championships or the World Championships, British delegations have – with one exception – been excluded from success in the football single market, usually in the last few minutes of the game, as a result of penalty shoot-outs. The last occasion was in France just after the BREXIT vote, when Iceland consigned England to a second BREXIT – a Football-BREXIT! Two BREXITS in two weeks! A number of overenthusiastic British football fans believe this is due to FIFA’s discriminatory policy of using the metric system throughout football, as a result of which British-born players misjudge the size of the goal especially when taking penalty kicks. The reverse effect was actually seen in Wembley in 1966, when a German player hit the bar (built to the British Imperial system of measurements) in extra time and failed to score. NOMEN is OMEN Given that both the initiation and the outcome of the Referendum was both the result of the Anti-European feeling in the Tory Party and the political in-fighting for the leadership of that party, it is worthwhile looking at the Tories and analysing the structure of their elected M.P.s. Research has revealed the party is full of: Crema-Tories (those who are prepared to burn any bridges to achieve their aim) Gyra-Tories (those who simply keep going round in circles, i.e. round the MAY-pole) Innova-Tories (those with new ideas – an extremely tiny minority) Lava-Tories (the unmention ables) Manda-Tories and Regula-Tories (those who prefer the pro-wealthy leanings of the British judicial system to the worker-friendly judgments of the European Court of Justice/Human Rights) Manipula-Tories (the contriving schemers behind the scenes) Non-contribu-Tories (those without positive ideas – i.e. the great majority) Obfusca-Tories (those who persistently confuse the issues by talking rubbish) Purga-Tories (those who make life hell for most of the British population) Supposi-Tories (those whose idiotic ideas should be inserted in the appropriate aperture) And, of course, there is Boris Johnson, the absolute declama-Tory with the most ambiguous initials, who is on the constant search for models for new trade agreements, such as the Norwegian model, the Swiss model, the Canadian model, but who according to unconfirmed sources may have misunderstood the word ‘model’, which is possibly due to his new responsibilities for ‘Foreign Affairs’ and which could then possibly prove embarrassing for the British Government. QUO VADIS BREXIT and EU? After the BREXIT vote, it is generally expected / hoped (?) that many other EU countries will follow the BR-example given by the UK. In particular, Prague will presumably check out Warsaw will aim for a new Pole Position Bratislava and Ljubljana will begin a European Go Slo Vienna will initiate OUTstria Rome will follow with Italeave Brussels will remove Manneken Pis = P-Off Lisbon will de- or ex-PORT-ugal Copenhagen will dis-Dane the EU Helsinki will definitely start the FINN-ish Paris could take French leave signed with Le Pen. Dublin might try to correct their Eire in joining the EU Luxemburg will avoid and evade in their usual taxing way There might be a CYP-Riot in Nicosia Berlin will go one step further than BR-EXIT with a BRD-EXIT Amsterdam might get Wilder and really go Dutch And then only Bucharest will Remain-here. So if Europe was always Eur(h)ope, what can you do if BREXIT WREXIT? Click here to find out.
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November 2019
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