IATEFL eBulletin November 2019

From the President

Welcome to this November edition of our eBulletin, which is also the last edition I will be introducing to you. In this edition, we have contributions from 15 of our 16 Special Interest Groups (SIGs). November is that time of the year when our members get to know if their proposals for a presentation at the next annual conference and exhibition have been successful. The Proposals Committee has been reading through hundreds of proposals and will be sending you an email at the end of this month. In the meantime, there are still opportunities to submit a proposal to some of our SIG PCEs and webinars if you would like to share your fantastic work with other colleagues around the globe.

As we get ever closer to the Annual Conference, our SIG committees are working hard to make their PCEs as rich and diverse as always. Besides that, there are other events, activities and publications aimed at enhancing the professional development of our members. Read on to see the wide range of online and face-to-face professional development opportunities our SIGs are offering you. This eBulletin showcases examples of how our SIGs can collaborate with our Associates around the world and we are particularly delighted to say that at the moment a number of SIGs are planning or have ongoing projects and events with Associates in Europe and Africa.

Finally, I would like to thank everyone who has sent us comments, suggestions and other forms of feedback on the eBulletin over the last several months. Our new Vice President, Gabriel Diaz Maggioli, will be introducing future eBulletins and I hope we will all continue to support the PubsCom team’.

With best wishes from all of us at PubsCom,

Harry Kuchah Kuchah, IATEFL President and outgoing Chair Publications Committee

From Head Office

Proposal results
Members who submitted a speaker proposal for Manchester 2020 will be emailed the Proposal Committee’s decision at the end of November. Remember, if your proposal is accepted, you must pay the conference fee in full by 16.00 GMT on Thursday 12 December. Speakers who need an invoice before payment can be made should email: [email protected] as soon as possible to ensure their payment is received by 12 December.

From the SIGs

Quick links:

From the Materials Writing SIG

December: Manuscript – the IATEFL MaWSIG annual ebook
Before stepping down from the committee in September, our publications coordinator, James Styring, compiled our 2018–2019 ebook. Manuscript will be available to all IATEFL members via the Members’ area of the IATEFL website as of December. MaWSIG members will receive their copy by email.

6 Dec 14.00 GMT: Webinar: MaWSIG meets BESIG: ‘Making materials that reflect learner realities’ with John Hughes
Our current series of webinars is called ‘MaWSIG meets …’. Each webinar is co-hosted with one of our sister SIGs. They explore the ‘five wishes’ for the future of ELT materials, which Kath Bilsborough presented at IATEFL 2019. They provide ideas, inspiration and practical tips on the various areas of materials creation. All our webinars are free to join here. There is no need to register. Find out more here.

11 Dec 19.00–22.30 (food from 20.00) UK time: the MaWSIG traditional Christmas party
Our traditional Christmas party, at the Wig and Pen in Oxford, is to be held in conjunction with ELT Freelancers this year. Special price for MaWSIG members. Festive fun, food, friends, and fizz. Tickets available from mid-November. Save the date!

17 April 2020: PCE Manchester 2020 ‘Practical tools and tricks of the trade’
We are excited to announce our line-up of expert authors, syllabus-creators, designers and editors for the 2020 pre-conference event. There really is something for everyone. Register and find out more here. Places are limited, so don’t miss out!

From the Teacher Training and Education SIG

Update on PCE Manchester 2020 Programme
We have been busy putting together an exciting programme for our pre-conference event at the IATEFL conference in Manchester this coming April. Our topic is: ‘Trends in teacher training: The needs of trainers in different contexts.’ We are delighted to announce our first confirmed speakers. Penny Ur will be presenting for us on the theme of ‘In-Service teacher training’. Russell Stannard will be speaking about ‘Technologies that can impact on teacher training.’

Looking forward to meeting you there. You can keep track of new developments for the pre-conference event here.

Best training practices *
We are continuing to collect best practice ideas to share with the teacher training community. We now have a dedicated section on our website for all of your ideas here. Please continue to send your best practice ideas for teacher training to our Newsletter Editor Jennifer Book. *

Are you following us yet?
We now have new-look Facebook and Twitter pages to celebrate our recent facelift! Follow us and join the conversations to keep up with all things TTEd-related.

From the Learner Autonomy SIG

Call for proposals – PCE Manchester 2020 *
LASIG has opened the call for proposals for our 2020 pre-conference event, ‘Defining and contextualizing language learner autonomy: theory and practice’. In recent years, learner autonomy has become increasingly more mainstream. In our pre-conference event, we seek to define learner autonomy in today’s educational field. Our emphasis is on hands-on applications of learner autonomy, with a focus on practical activities and tasks you can use in your classroom. Read more information and submit a proposal for your presentation. Deadline for proposals is 1 December 2019. *

From the Testing, Evaluation and Assessment SIG

26 Nov 17.00 – 18.30 GMT: Webinar
Our next webinar will be given by Michael Fields on the topic of ‘Using item analysis to improve test reliability’ on Tuesday 26 November 2019 at 17.00 – 18.30 GMT. Stay tuned to our social media accounts and website for further details.

17 April 2020: PCE Manchester 2020
We are looking forward to our 2020 Manchester pre-conference event in cooperation with IP&SEN SIG to explore issues and practices regarding inclusive practices in language testing and assessment. The programme is almost ready and all we need is your contribution on the day. Please come join us in Manchester if you need to find out about accessible assessment practices and viewpoints from teachers and experts from various backgrounds.

Upcoming TEASIG events
TEASIG is pleased to announce our next event to be held in cooperation with The ELT Council, Malta. The event will take place on 24 – 25 January 2020 at AX Seashells Resorts, Suncrest, Malta and aims at exploring ‘Best classroom practices on assessment’ through talks and workshops to be given by teachers, practitioners and experts in the area.

This one and a half day conference aims to support teachers in their efforts to apply best classroom practices on assessment, with plenaries from the leading voices in this field as well as talks and workshops from speakers coming from a range of educational settings. This conference will be a platform where practitioners and researchers come together to discuss theoretical insights and methods of implementation. You can read more about this event here.

We welcome proposals from language teachers and researchers working in assessment to contribute to this supportive environment where we can all exchange ideas to improve our assessment practices. Workshop and talk proposals may cover one or a few of the suggested themes as follows: assessment for learning, assessment of learning, technology and assessment, authentic formative assessment, washback of assessment, the role of teachers’ assessment literacy, teachers and learners as assessors, self- and peer assessment, and the role of placement testing and diagnostic assessment.

Proposals must be received by midnight (UK local time) on 16 December 2019. The Speaker Proposal form can be found here. *

We will be delighted to see as many of you as possible either as presenters or as delegates.

From the English for Specific Purposes SIG

2 Dec 16.00 GMT: Webinar
We are delighted to inform you that our next webinar ‘The need for Continued Professional Development for teachers of ESP – an example from English in the aviation world’ will take place on 2 December at 16.00 GMT and will be presented by Neil Bullock. By using examples from teaching English for aviation, the webinar will address some of the challenges ESP teachers face. It will offer some basic ideas from teacher training curricula on how ESP teachers can use their own continued professional development (CPD) to develop a better understanding of the technical domain communication and contextual features that determine the language that supports such communicative skills. Understanding and developing an awareness of these skills means enhanced credibility for teachers and a more effective learning process for the students.

Manchester 2020: PCE / Main Conference news
PCE theme and proposals: Our pre-conference event is taking place on Friday 17 April 2020 with the theme of ‘ESP in the world of tomorrow: academic and professional perspectives’. We will cover the changes, opportunities and challenges ESP may face in the future from two main perspectives: ESP in tertiary level education contexts, and in professional contexts. The deadline for sending us your proposals is 16.00 GMT on Friday 6 December 2019 using this link.

SIG Showcase: We are in the final stages of selection for our SIG Showcase on 20 April 2020, and are extremely excited about our line up! We can’t share it with you just yet, but we look forward to welcoming all our speakers.

May 2020: BELTA- Belgium & ESPSIG joint conference and ESPSIG Scholarship
In order to promote the ESPSIG’s activity, we are partnering with BELTA Belgium in the organisation of their conference and are offering a scholarship for participation with a presentation during the event. For more information, please visit the ESPSIG’s website or use the following link.

Position paper from OUP – exclusive access for ESPSIG members
As of mid-October 2019, 17 ESPSIG members had already downloaded the position paper offered to us with exclusive access by OUP. Why not check it out here?

From the ESOL SIG

17 April 2020: PCE Manchester 2020
Please join us on 17 April for our pre-conference event entitled ‘ESOL: sidelined no more’. The field of ESOL is growing exponentially as is the global human crisis of forced displacement and migration. ESOL teachers, many of whom are volunteers, have to navigate the complexities of this crisis head on. Our pre-conference event will look at how we are training ESOL teachers especially volunteer teachers, to ensure that they are equipped with the tools and techniques necessary to be able to address their learner’s multidimensional needs. We will also examine the role that ESOL has in the field of English language teaching in general. We will also explore how publishers, materials writers, and teachers are meeting the increased demand for relevant materials.

ESOL is now seen as having a significant role to play at the intersection of education, migration and integration policies. The need for pedagogies and materials that reflect the reality of learners’ lives is greater than ever.

The day will be a combination of examining policy issues and practical ideas for the classroom. Our confirmed speakers are: Jeremy Harmer, Mel Cooke and Becky Winstaley, Rachael Roberts, Philida Schellekens, Jo Gakonga, and Steve Brown.

Please check the IATEFL website for more details about the conference, and how to book.

Newsletter *
Call for contributions: please consider submitting articles for our newsletter, send to [email protected]. We want to hear from you! *

ESOL Champion *
Please check out our new feature: ESOL Champion. We want to recognize people who are making outstanding contributions to the ESOL field. Please nominate someone who deserves the recognition by emailing [email protected]. *

Webinars
Our next webinar will be on 23 January by James Simpson- more information about it to follow. The recording of Dr. Michael Perrone’s webinar on assessment is available on the ESOL SIG website.

From the Teacher Development SIG

Nov 2019: DEVELOPOD, EP 15
Lucy Norris, independent education consultant, writer and professional development facilitator, talks about the ‘Teaching for success’ self-study guides that she has helped to produce for the British Council and how they may be integrated into professional development. Listen anywhere you get your podcasts or here.

30 Nov 2019: Write for TDSIG member eBulletin *
Topic: 5-minute Teacher Development Tips
If you have cheap and cheerful tips for TD that include easily implementable ideas and invaluable tips, consider writing up a short (<500 words) article for publication in our next eBulletin to members. We are especially looking for advice from teachers in Central & South America for this issue. Please submit yours to [email protected]. *

6 Dec 2019: TDSIG New Member competition *
We’d like to help you start or restart your friends’ and colleagues’ involvement with IATEFL and TDSIG by paying their membership fees next year! Tell us about someone you don’t know personally in ELT who has inspired your development and win a free IATEFL 1-Year Individual Membership (along with TDSIG membership). For more details on entering this competition, visit here. *

14 Jan 2020: Book your early bird place at our PCE 2020 in Manchester
LOCALISED / TEACHER-DRIVEN / SUSTAINABLE IMPACT
These are the focus areas for our ‘underdog forms of TD’ full-day pre-conference event at the IATEFL Conference on 17 April 2020. Underdogs aren’t those we immediately think of for success, but ultimately they’re the superheroes. More details on the theme of our spectacular event, to learn about the speakers, and to register, please visit: tdsig.org/pce

From the Leadership and Management SIG

6 Dec 2019: Pre-conference workshop at the ATES Annual Conference, Dakar, Senegal, in association with Africa TESOL and Transform ELT
Title: Leadership and Management for Teacher Associations
Confirmed talks and speakers so far:

The learning organization: Implications for TAs and leadership development (Aymen Elsheikh, Texas A&M University at Qatar)
Great. Another meeting! – Get the best out of the meetings you lead or attend. (Liam Brown, Liam Brown Training, Ethiopia)
Developing strategies to plan and manage teacher association workflow (Aubain Adi, freelance, Ivory Coast)

Further details click here.

From the Inclusive Practices and Special Educational Needs SIG

#IPSENchat
In November and December, #IPSENchat discusses celebrations, festivals and other important times of the year that our students may celebrate: #NotJustChristmas. We welcome your experiences, resources and suggestions of how we acknowledge this aspect of diversity in our classes. Join in the conversation on Twitter @IPSENSIG and Facebook IATEFL IP&SENSIG.

12 Jan 2020 9.00 GMT: Webinar
On Sunday, 12 January at 09.00 GMT, IP&SENSIG is teaming up with TESOL Spain to bring you a webinar. Agnieszka Dzięcioł-Pędich will be talking about ‘Teaching ADHD students – tips for teachers’. More information and the link to join us for this event will be coming soon.

TESOL Interest Section ‘Supporting Students with Disabilities’: Call for book chapters *
IP&SENSIG is strengthening connections with other groups around the world. The TESOL Interest Section ‘Supporting Students with Disabilities’ has shared a call for book chapters for a volume they are compiling. They are looking to collect case studies on inclusive practice for specific learning difficulties in postsecondary English language learning. If you would like to contribute, please visit our website for more information. *

17 April 2020: Manchester 2020 PCE
Our joint pre-conference event (17 April 2020) with TEASIG is now open for booking. Our invited speakers, Richard Spiby (British Council) and Judit Kormos (Lancaster University), will be joined by five others, all talking about inclusive and accessible classroom and formal assessment. The day will end with an opportunity to hear from exam boards about how they are making their assessments more accessible. You can find out more and sign up here.

From the Reseach SIG

Supporting Teacher Research in Africa Online
Following the TESOL Africa Pre-Conference Event ‘Teachers in action: Exploring global issues through classroom research’ that ReSIG and GISIG jointly organised and held on 8 August in Abuja, we are now supporting teacher participants develop their research projects via mentoring, webinars and discussions online. We are expecting to publish the work the mentors, organisers, webinar hosts and teacher-researchers are doing by August 2020. Find more in our website.

17 April 2020: ReSIG PCE Manchester 2020
The ReSIG is holding a pre-conference event at the IATEFL Conference in Manchester entitled ‘The role of research in English language teaching and teacher education’. The event features two plenaries by Sarah Mercer and Maggie Kubanyiova, who will be talking about research in language teaching and research in teacher education, respectively, as well as eight poster presentations by language teachers, teacher educators & researchers. The pre-conference event programme can be viewed here.

17 April 2020: Scholarship opportunity for the ReSIG PCE Manchester 2020 *
The ReSIG is offering a ReSIG member a £200 scholarship for travel and expenses, and free registration to attend our pre-conference event in Manchester, UK. Deadline for applications is 9 December 2019. Submission guidelines can be read here. *

From the Young Learners and Teenagers SIG

Latest Blog Post
This month, Sofia Leone shares a range of practical ideas for building upper secondary learners’ self-esteem. Please visit our website to read the post.

17 April 2020: PCE Manchester 2020
The IATEFL Manchester 2020 Young Learners and Teenagers SIG pre-conference event will explore children’s and teenagers’ multilingualism in ELT from a variety of sociolinguistic, cognitive and affective perspectives. The day-long event will unpack ways children and teenagers develop and manage their multiple languages, consider the benefits of multilingualism for ELT and identify classroom strategies to value children’s and teenagers’ linguistic repertoires. The 2020 PCE aims to help YL ELT professionals to move from a ‘monolingual’ to a ‘multilingual’ mindset by being inclusive of linguistic diversity in the YL classroom and ultimately, by celebrating the rich skills of multilingual children and teenagers. We can now confirm the line-up of speakers:

Nayr Ibrahim’s opening plenary will set the scene by outlining key current issues in multilingualism in YL ELT
Lijuan Shi’s keynote talk will share classroom-based examples of translanguaging in early years settings
Hamish Chalmers’ keynote talk will explore ways children can create linguistic landscapes at primary school, particularly those learning in multilingual environments
Constant Leung’s keynote talk will demonstrate how teenagers’ languages are included (as well as to what extent) to access the curriculum in English as an Additional Language contexts
Leketi Makalela’s closing plenary will provide delegates with a focus on translanguaging via a holistic lens to foster connection and solidarity (including the concept of ‘ubuntu’)

We will also have an open space format to provide an interactive opportunity for delegates to reflect on the pre-conference event contents in relation to their own contexts. To provide creative inspiration for the pre-conference event, the venue is Manchester Art Gallery, a very short walk away from the main Manchester Central venue. For more information and to book, please visit the IATEFL Manchester website.

From the Learning Technologies SIG

17 April 2020: PCE Manchester 2020
Are you planning on attending the IATEFL conference?
The LTSIG pre-conference event will take place in Manchester University and will be about the possibilities of AI (Artificial Intelligence) applied to the learning and teaching of English. We will have specialists presenting ways in which AI can enhance the language learning process and also the challenges and further developments to follow.

Book your place and join us here!

Throwback Thursdays #tbt
For the past eight weeks we’ve been opening our archives and sharing inspirational presentations, most of them in the members’ area of the website. There are two more to go, so stay tuned in our social media channels!

LTSIG scholarship winner interview
Our Diana Eastment scholarship winner for the IATEFL 2020 annual conference, Kateryna Tishaninova Holubinka from Ukraine, talks about her plans and expectations regarding her participation as a roving reporter. She is interviewed by our webmaster, Phil Longwell here.

Write for us *
How about sharing your teaching experience with our LTSIG teachers community? Get inspired in our blog where you can find the accounts of many English language teachers who have written before and add your experience of teaching English with technology.

There are two ways to take part:

Blog: Both members and non-members are welcome to contribute with articles.
Newsletter: Open to members as it can be accessed via the member’s area.
The sessions you can contribute are:
* Tech-it-easy
* My Learning Technologies journey

Get in touch with our LT Newsletter editors, Graham Stanley or Vicky Saumell, or Phil Longwell if you wish to submit your idea to the blog. *

Member’s Area
This is an area for our LTSIG community members with exclusive resources. You can find the password on page 22 of the October newsletter.

From the Literature SIG

Webinar
LitSIG’s next webinar will take place in January next year, when we will host Thom Robb. Thom became a member of the LitSIG committee earlier this year. A renowned expert in reading, Thom has long been a committee member of the Extensive Reading Foundation and his webinar will focus on reading material and extensive reading. The precise date has yet to be decided but we will announce it in next month’s eBulletin and also here.

17 April 2020: PCE Manchester 2020
We have finalised the programme for our pre-conference event. The day is entitled ‘Migrant narratives in the EFL and ESOL classroom’ and will take place on 17 April 2020 in Manchester. It is a joint event between the IATEFL Literature SIG and the Global Issues SIG. We have a great line-up of speakers: Jeremy Harmer, David Heathfield, Alan Maley, Judith B. O’Loughlin, Alan Pulverness, Varinder Ulu, Andrew Wright and Aiden Yeh.

Do please take the time to read through the programme here.

During the day we will examine migrants’ experiences as narrated in ‘diaspora literature’, works written by authors living outside their native country. As well as written and oral storytelling, we will include other media, such as song and music. Pedagogy will be an important feature: how to bring migrant narratives into the classroom, and how to use migrant narratives to promote intercultural awareness and social inclusion. To this end we will talk about using and creating materials, and we will suggest techniques suitable for teaching that involve migrant narratives, notably storytelling.

If you want to book a place, please go to our website or the main IATEFL Conference website. And do please follow us on https://www.facebook.com/LitSIG/ and https://twitter.com/Lit_SIG

From the Pronunciation SIG

Glasgow event
Our Glasgow event at the University of Strathclyde was a huge success, with around 70 participants, two plenary talks and 10 talks and workshops. Stay tuned to our social media for pictures and further info on the event.

17 April 2020: PCE Manchester 2020
You can find the full programme for our Manchester 2020 pre-conference event ‘Pron-tech collaborations: the role of technology in the pronunciation classroom’ here and on social media platforms (Facebook, Instagram and Twitter). Looking forward to seeing you there!

From the Business English SIG

Call for speakers and moderators *
BESIG Online Team is inviting BESIG members to become webinar presenters and Facebook discussion moderators. If you are interested in participating in any of these roles in 2020 events, please contact us at [email protected]. *

Would you like to be part of the Publications team? *
We are seeking two proofreaders to review the articles of the newsletter. You can join in for one or more issues. If you are interested, please contact us at [email protected]. *

6 December 2019: Webinar with MaWSIG
Join us online on Friday 6 December, at 14.00 GMT for a joint webinar with MaWSIG titled, ‘Making BE materials that reflect learner realities’ with John Hughes. For further information visit: https://besig.www.iatefl.org/events/online/

7 – 8 February 2020: BESIG strand at IH Barcelona
We are pleased to announce that, after last year’s successful participation, BESIG will be supporting IH Barcelona’s 2020 annual conference with a business English strand. More details will soon be available on the BESIG website. Stay tuned!

13 – 14 March 2020: IV APIBA Business English Annual Conference
IATEFL BESIG will be supporting APIBA (Buenos Aires English Teachers’ Association) in holding their fourth Annual Business English Conference on 13 and 14 March 2020 at Universidad de Belgrano, Buenos Aires, Argentina. Call for Proposals is now open, follow this link for more information.

17 April 2020: BESIG PCE Manchester 2020
This pre-conference event aims at bringing together business English professionals who are interested in exploring a wide range of business English training activities. The day will begin with three sessions led by experienced practitioners who will explore various approaches and different types of business English training activities. After a lunch break, attendees will take part in a swap shop where they will have the opportunity to share ideas which they have developed themselves. Come forward if you would like to be considered for one of the three places for the morning sessions.

BESIG on social media
To stay up to date with our regular news and updates, follow IATEFL BESIG official accounts on LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

* Privacy notice

By answering a call for contributions, or submitting a speaker proposal, to an IATEFL Special Interest Group (SIG) you are agreeing to share your details with the relevant committee member(s) of that IATEFL SIG, rather than to IATEFL Head Office.
The information included in your submission will be used only for the purpose defined in the call, and will not be disclosed to any third party or be used to send unsolicited emails. Any data that is no longer required by the IATEFL SIG for this specific purpose of the call will be deleted.