One of the principal benefits of a huge international conference like IATEFL is the wealth of new ideas on show from some of the ELT industry’s thought leaders. With such a lot of sessions to choose from though, it can be difficult to choose what to see. So, if you’re going to IATEFL 2019 in Liverpool hoping to learn about the most cutting-edge ideas and suffering from conference FOMO, read on! I’ll pick out some of the more innovative-looking sessions at this year’s Liverpool event.
Technology
Digital technologies always play a big part in the conference programme, and 2019 is no exception. What’s interesting this year is presenters openly taking a more critical approach to technology and questioning its value more than we may have seen in the past. Lindsay Clandfield leads the way here with his plenary talk on the Friday. But digital guru Gavin Dudeney also casts a critical eye at the tech world in his talk ‘Disruption ain’t what it used to be: EdTech & ELT’. Meanwhile, Heike Philp and Letizia Cinganotto’s talk on ‘GUINEVERE’. An EU-funded project into digital games and language learning – promises a more upbeat look at digital innovation.
Innovation
The influence of technology appears in a range of other talks presenting recent or forthcoming innovations. Some of these relate to assessment: Ben Knight and Clare Harrison will answer the question ‘How do we know what progress our students are making?’ and Nick Saville of Cambridge Assessment will be presenting on ‘The future of assessment in the 4th industrial revolution’ on Friday. Both talks are likely to draw on technological innovation. Approaches to design and development borrowed from the world of technology are also the focus of several interesting-looking talks. The team at ELTjam lead the way here. They have sessions on ‘Learner experience design in action’ and ‘The motivation mystery: What ELT can learn from wellness apps’, on the Tuesday and Wednesday respectively.
But not all the innovation is tech-focused: recent developments in the English language will be uncovered by corpus experts Olivia Goodman and Robbie Love in their talk ‘1000 hours of conversations: what does it mean for ELT?’. Scott Thornbury will also be on hand to describe how you can explain all that tricky new language to students in ‘How to answer learners’ grammar questions!’
Inclusion
Finally, a whole range of topics dealing with diversity and inclusion demonstrate how a broader spectrum of voices is now being heard in ELT. New IATEFL President Harry Kuchah Kuchah is aiming to use his time in the role to highlight what’s happening in ELT outside Europe, which has traditionally been at the forefront of the conference. There will also be a panel discussion on ‘Teacher agency and English language teaching in difficult circumstances’, which should be an interesting and enlightening start to that process.
The British Council’s Ellen Darling will also be presenting a global perspective in her talk ‘Creating an inclusive school environment: Strategies from around the world’. John Gray’s plenary talk on the second day of the conference highlights ‘Gender and sexuality in ELT – inclusive education vs queer pedagogy’.
Last but not least, Rachel Jeffries’ talk ties together the strands of innovation and inclusion. She looks at how they might be connected, reminding us that change is inevitable, growth is optional!
More on IATEFL 2019
To find out more about our IATEFL schedule visit cambridge.org/IATEFL.