Interview with TESOL MTh Chair - Roger House

Interviewed by our Roving Reporter: Jo Psarra

Our 21st Annual International Convention Program

Click here for our 21st Annual International Convention program!

Meet our Roving Reporters

Look out for our Roving Reporters during the convention. They might want to ask you a couple of questions...

The 4th Tesol Macedonia Thrace Pecha Kucha Event

An event not to miss!

Last but not least...

TESOL MTh Board Members: 

behind the scenes and in front of the camera

Dave’n’Luke at the 21st TESOL MTh Annual International Convention

Meet Our Convention Speakers - cont'd

Meet Our Convention Speakers - cont'd

Meet Our Convention Speakers - cont'd

Meet Our Convention Speakers

Plenary Speakers: Interviews (Vicky Loras)

Please tell us a few things about yourself and your involvement in education.

My name is Vicky Loras, born in the beautiful city of Toronto, Canada. I have been teaching English as a Foreign Language and Literature to students of all ages, for a total of almost seventeen years. I now live in Switzerland and I am the co-founder and owner of The Loras English Network, a school I have opened with my sister Eugenia. We teach English to students of all ages and levels, train teachers and also hold children’s educational events. 

What attracted you to the field of education? 

To be honest, I never intended on being a teacher! As long as I remember myself, I always wanted to be a lawyer. When I did my university entrance exams, we had to fill out a form which schools we wanted to enter in order of priority for us. Law school was at the top, ELT was second. I missed Law School for a fraction of a grade and fell into ELT. I did not even want to go to university then, as it was not my first choice, but I thought I would try it out and see what happens. After a few months, I fell in love with ELT! I have never looked back.    

Which are some of the most memorable highlights of your career in 

education? 

I am fortunate to say there were quite a few. One of them was the school we had in Greece – with lovely teachers and amazing students we still keep in touch with now. The fact that we can now continue this school in Switzerland.  

Which aspects of your work do you enjoy the most? 

Kids and their amazing questions and thoughts. Mainly this! I learn so much from them, I learn a lot from all of my students actually – and that is the beauty of it. I also love the fact that we can connect with other educators on social media and learn from and with each other – and this is the beauty of our profession, that we learn something new all the time.  

What are you working on now? 

I continue working on my blog. MY sister and I have also opened an online bookshop and we are thrilled, because it is all about children’s books which we love – we love talking to the people who are interested in buying them about which ones we like!  

Eugenia and I are also planning our 2nd Loras Network Workshop with amazing speakers and we are very excited! 

What are your professional plans for the future? 

I would like to finish my MA in Applied Linguistics and TESOL and then pursue a PhD. I would also like to go more into educational consultation.  

What should your audience expect to learn during the plenary session at the 21st TESOL Macedonia-Thrace Northern Greece Annual International Convention? 

What really counts in education.  

What are the three words that sum up your session?  

People, dedication, learning.  

Multiculturalism in education and cultural diversity in the classroom seem to be among your areas of interest. What is the importance of understanding culture and identity in language teaching/learning process? 

I think it is an essential part of a person’s identity, and everyone needs to be tolerant towards that identity. The kids come to our classes not only to be taught the present perfect, but to be given values as well and learn how to respect each other. And they are so open and so understanding!   

Thank you very much, 

Efi Tzouri 

for TESOL Macedonia Thrace Northern Greece

Plenary Speakers: Interviews (Dr Terry Lamb)

Please tell us a few things about yourself and your involvement in education.

First of all, many thanks for your interest in interviewing me. I began my career teaching French and German to 11-18 year olds in secondary schools in London, where I taught for eleven years. This is where I did my MA in Urban Education and became committed to the idea that multilingualism is a huge resource for language teachers of any language. (My last school in London had over 40 languages spoken by pupils.) With my wife and baby daughter, I then moved back home to Sheffield, and continued teaching in a secondary school for another few years. This was where I really took my work on flexible learning further, which sowed the seeds of my later work on learner autonomy. Deciding that I wanted to remain involved in languages and teaching, I moved into higher education, working with pre-service and in-service language teachers. I also became very involved in the national language teacher association (ALL, the Association for Language Learning), and eventually became President. My work has since extended into research and this has brought me into contact with many teachers around the world, which is a brilliant opportunity to keep on learning about education. I’ve also worked closely with our Government on language policy, which is always fascinating and a huge privilege as it means really being able to make a difference. 

What attracted you to the field of education? 

I think probably two things one was that ’d done voluntary work with children in a very poor part of Birmingham when I was an undergraduate, and loved it; the second was the desire to do something that gave me ongoing opportunities to work with languages, which I am passionate about. 

Which are some of the most memorable highlights of your career in education? 

Such a hard question! Working with children, university students and teachers brings highlights on a regular basis, because whatever stage you are at in your career, you learn something exciting! However, key highlights for me include becoming President of ALL and then of FIPLV (the International Federation of Language Teacher Associations), which provides an opportunity to work with teachers all round the world. Receiving a medal from the French Prime Minister was definitely a highlight, as I was able to take along family and friends. And most recently, a few weeks ago I was presented with a Senate Award for sustained excellence in learning and teaching’ by my University, and again my family was able to be present in the graduation ceremony. Then most recently, last week in fact,  heard that ’d been given a personal chair and am now a Professor of Languages and Pedagogy!   

Which aspects of your work do you enjoy the most? 

I enjoy working with all students and teachers, but most of all I enjoy working with people from different countries. I learn so much from the ways in which they perceive the world, and believe that it is the biggest privilege to be able to travel to meet people in their own contexts. 

What are you working on now? 

I’m actually spending a lot of time in my role of director of learning and Teaching, developing new programmes in the School of Education. In particular, I’m developing new international programmes to build on our existing ones, and these include international postgraduate programmes which are at PG Certificate, Diploma and Masters levels. These involve extending our work on distance and online learning, and we are very excited about the ways in which these programmes will enable teachers from all over the world to work together to enhance learning and teaching. Apart from this, I’m working on a book on language and education policy, and preparing for a symposium on learner autonomy, space and place, which I’ve convened together with a colleague in Japan, Garold Murray, and which will take place in Brisbane, Australia in August. This will then also become a book. 

What are your professional plans for the future? 

I am increasingly working across the University on learning and teaching issues there, as well as with the city of Sheffield on a scheme to recognize the 140 languages spoken in the city. I’m also applying for research funding, and working on the programme developments I just mentioned. 

What should your audience expect to learn during the plenary session at the 21st TESOL Macedonia-Thrace Northern Greece Annual International Convention? 

My focus will be on 21st century learners, and what it means to be a learner in our rapidly changing and increasingly small world. Basically I will argue that our learners need now more than ever to learn how to take responsibility for their learning so that they can become lifelong learners. This connects with my field of learner autonomy, which ’ll pick up further in the workshop. However, what hope most of all is that teachers will learn that they are already doing many of the things that we are talking about, and that through greater awareness can build on this more easily. I also plan that they will learn from each other in the workshop. To me it is most important to help teachers to connect their own practice to theory, as this makes finding solutions so much easier. It also teaches them to try out ideas and to tap into, and value, their own expertise. 

Learner autonomy is among your areas of interest. How much autonomy should teachers give their students and how important is this autonomy in the process of learning? In what ways can teachers increase student autonomy in a language classroom? 

That is a very big set of questions! I’ll explore them in Thessaloniki, but for now let’s just say that we mostly learn, and remember, what we need to learn and what makes sense to us, so having some control over the process is essential to ongoing motivation. Also, no one else can actually learn for us. For teachers, this means providing opportunities for learners to make choices wherever possible (which doesn’t mean they can simply do what they want to all the time), and to reflect on how they have learnt and how they might do it differently next time. However, this is a gradual process as many learners need to build the skills and confidence to take control of their learning and to develop a learner identity. Teachers therefore need to have this in mind when planning their lessons and teaching in the classroom, so that their learners can become better learners as well as better linguists. That way, we are equipping them with the skills and motivation to continue learning throughout life, when we are no longer there to teach them. n other words, it’s a bit like being a parent, where our job is to enable our children to cope without us.  

Thank you very much, 

Margarita Kosior 

for TESOL Macedonia Thrace Northern Greece 

Plenary Speakers: Interviews (Kieran Donaghy)

Please tell us a few things about yourself and your involvement in education.

I’ve been teaching English for twenty five years and I’ve worked as a teacher in the UK, Portugal, Italy and Spain. I currently work at UAB Idiomes, the language school of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona where I teach general English courses. We offer courses to all the members of the university community but also to the general public, so we have learners from a wide variety of backgrounds which make the classes really interesting. At the moment, I’m mainly teaching seniors who are students aged over fifty five. The classes with the older learners are great fun and very rewarding. I’m also a teacher trainer and I’ve trained teachers in many different countries. In addition, I ’m a writer, I’m the co-author of a book on using films to teach medical English Films in Health science Education.   My website Film English is a free resource site with over one hundred detailed lesson plans designed around short films; it’s visited by over 80,000 teachers every month. I’m really passionate about the use of film in education in general and language learning in particular. I’m also very interested in the role of empathy in language learning and teaching English through values. 

What attracted you to the field of education? 

I studied Politics at the University of Nottingham, but I always wanted to be a teacher. Initially I was going to be a primary school teacher, but I decided to do a TEFL training course as I wanted to travel. I found I really enjoyed the combination of teaching English, travelling and living in different countries and I have stayed in language teaching ever since. I did an MA in ELT in 2000 and another MA in Business Communication in 2003. It’s been a really great career 

choice. 

Which are some of the most memorable highlights of your career in education? 

2013 was a really great year for me. My website Film English won a British Council ELTons Award for Innovation in Teacher Resources and the most important European media in education prize, the MEDEA Award for Best User-generated Educational Media. Another highlight was founding The Image Conference, the only conference in the world exclusively on the use of film, video, images and gaming in English language teaching. The conference is an innovative and collaborative project which seeks to explore the possibilities which film, video, images and video games offer to both language teachers and language learners, it brings together leading experts and practitioners in the use of images in language learning who share their experiences, insights and know-how and provides participants with an excellent opportunity to enhance their competence in the innovative and creative use of images. The first conference was run in conjunction with the IATEFL Learning Technologies SIG and my school UAB Idiomes, and was held in Barcelona in June.  The second edition was organised by Bras-Tesol and held in Brasilia. Both conferences were great successes and this was really satisfying and rewarding.  

Which aspects of your work do you enjoy the most?

I enjoy the relationships I build with students, especially the older learners. I find that by teaching English you’re really making a difference to the lives of your learners; English is really essential for the younger university students who need it to help them find a job. With the current recession in Spain a lot of young people are having to emigrate to find a job and English really helps them to further their careers. English is also very important to the older learners as

they didn’t have the opportunity to learn English when they were younger. They are really enthusiastic and hardworking, and make the most of the classes. 

What are you working on now? 

I’m currently writing a methodology book on the use of film in language teaching. It’s a lot of work but also a labour of love. I’m also doing some work on an app which helps students learn English through film. I’m also trying to find a location and venue for the third edition of The Image Conference. In addition, I’m also speaking at a lot of conferences and training teachers. 

What are your professional plans for the future? 

I’m going to write a book on how to write activities for video. One of my dreams is to write a book on teaching languages through values. I’m hoping to move more into materials writing. Another dream is to make a short film which I hope to fulfil in the not too distant future. 

What should your audience expect to learn during the plenary session at the 21st TESOL Macedonia-Thrace Northern Greece Annual International Convention? 

The session is titled teaching English Through Film in a World of Screens, and

in it I’m going to examine and offer guidance on using film critically and creatively in language teaching in a world of screens. I’m going to look at why film is increasingly important in society, education and language teaching in particular, the benefits of using moving images in language teaching, and some pedagogically sound approaches to film in language teaching. I’m also going to demonstrate some generic activities which can be used with virtually any film, film clip or short film. I’ll also show where teachers can find excellent free film guides and websites where they can send their students to learn English through moving images online. I hope the audience will go away with a better understanding of how we are living in the age of the image, how we can embrace this in language teaching and with very practical ideas and activities to 

use with their students. 

What are the three words that sum up your session? 

Creative Critical Fun  

Is film just a new medium or a whole new language for students? Can we use film in a form of short digital stories to replace written narratives and essays at school?  

I think that film is fun, motivating and entertaining. It’s undoubtedly the rising language of the 21st Century and we should embrace this in language learning.  This is not to say that print literacy is going to die, it’s obviously going to remain a key literacy. However, other literacies such as film literacy are going to become increasingly important. Print literacy and film literacy are not mutually exclusive; they often work hand in hand.   

One of the things I’m going to look at in my talk is how we can use student-generated moving images in language teaching. With the increasing ease of capturing, editing and distributing moving images through distribution sites such as YouTube and Vimeo anyone who has a smartphone or tablet is potentially a film-maker. This can be exploited in the language classroom. One of the things we can do is to get students to make very short videos of things which are important to them on their mobile devices, bring the videos to class and talk 

about the videos they’ve made.   

Thank you very much, 

Anastasia Loukeri 

for TESOL Macedonia Thrace Northern Greece  

Plenary Speakers: Interviews (Carol Griffiths)

Please tell us a few things about yourself and your involvement in education.

I initially trained as a high school teacher before moving into tertiary education in the field of ESOL. Although most of my teaching has been in New Zealand, I have also taught briefly in Indonesia, Japan and UK, and more long term in China, North Korea and, currently Istanbul, Turkey. 

What attracted you to the field of education? 

I guess like most idealistic young people I thought I could change the world! I am not sure that I have managed to do that, but I like to think I have made some small differences in some places.

Which are some of the most memorable highlights of your career in education?

Life as a teacher has many memorable moments, so it is difficult to identify particular highlights. I guess the most unusual period would be the time I spent in North Korea, because so few have actually been able to do this. It was a privilege to be able to view the situation from both sides, and to realize that people are people wherever they are. 

  

Which aspects of your work do you enjoy the most? 

I guess it would have to be working with motivated students. No doubt we all have our share of those who are only interested in doing the minimum to just scrape through their qualification, who use terms like “boring”, and who make you wonder why they are wasting their time and money doing something in which they appear to have absolutely no interest. But then there are also the delightful ones who work hard and produce much more than the minimum required and who really seem to learn something, even to teach you things you didn’t know! 

What are you working on now? 

In addition to a number of articles, I have been working with Rebecca Oxford to co-edit a special strategies edition of “System” due in April. And also with Ying Tang (Rose) to produce a book on strategy instruction aimed at the Chinese market. 

What are your professional plans for the future? 

I achieved Associate Professor status in 2013. Professor would be nice! 

What should your audience expect to learn during the plenary session 

at the 21st TESOL Macedonia-Thrace Northern Greece Annual International 

Convention? 

I would like the audience to develop an awareness of the motivating power of stories, and how this can be used to engage attention and promote language, including vocabulary, grammar and skills.  

What are the three words that sum up your session? 

Fun, motivation, attention 

One of your books has the title ‘Lessons from Good Language 

Learners’. Over the course of your career, what three most important 

things have you learned from good language learners? 

They are motivated 

They use strategies 

They work hard  

Thank you very much, 

Margarita Kosior 

for TESOL Macedonia Thrace Northern Greece 

Wanna Pecha Kucha?

Don't miss 

the fifth TESOL Macedonia-Thrace, Northern Greece 

Pecha Kucha Event 

at our convention 29th-30th March 2014

Meet our Plenary Speakers

Vicky Loras

Biodata

She has been teaching English as a Foreign Language and Literature to students of all ages, for a total of almost seventeen years. She now lives in Switzerland and she is the co-founder and owner of The Loras English Network, a school she opened with her sister Eugenia. They teach English, train teachers and also hold children’s educational events.

Plenary Presentation

The Human Touch

There are various types of classrooms all over the world – their variety lies not only in the environment, but the classes, the educators and students. We know this either from seeing them, or hearing and reading about them.

Some have state-of-the-art equipment and everything an educator and students would dream of. Several have a few things that could assist the class in their learning, colourful walls and children’s work displayed on them. Some, however, have nothing at all, apart from dirt floors and bare walls.

Why does this occur? How does this affect learning, if it does at all? What is the most important entity in the classroom?

Join me in a journey around the world, where we will be on a quest to search for where the importance lies.

Meet our Plenary Speakers

Carol Griffiths

Biodata

Carol Griffiths has been a teacher, manager and teacher trainer of ELT for many years. She completed a PhD on the subject of learning strategies at the University of Auckland. She has taught in New Zealand, Indonesia, Japan, China, North Korea, UK, and is currently Associate Professor at Faith University in Istanbul, Turkey. She has published widely, including her books ‘Lessons from Good Language Learners’, and ‘The Strategy Factor in Successful Language Learning’ and presented at many conferences around the world. In addition to learning strategies, her current research interests include the use of narrative/literature in language teaching and learning, individual differences and teacher issues. 

Plenary Presentation

Using narrative as a strategy to teach language

Stories are universal and enjoyed across all ages and cultures. For this reason, narrative is invaluable in the language classroom because of its intrinsic motivational potential and its power to engage attention across a range of learning styles. With careful planning, narrative can be used to develop both receptive skills (listening and reading) to utilize the input, and productive skills (speaking and writing), thereby providing output opportunities. In addition, narratives can be used to develop underlying linguistic knowledge (vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation). Following a brief discussion of related theoretical issues (such as motivation, attention, learning style, input, output), this plenary will illustrate how this development can be achieved by using an original story and suggesting an instructional sequence for using the story. The plenary will conclude by considering issues of authenticity and identity which may arise in the course of using narrative in the language classroom.

Meet our Plenary Speakers

Dr Terry Lamb

Biodata

Terry is Director of Learning and Teaching in the School of Education, University of Sheffield, England. He has authored and edited numerous publications in the areas of learner autonomy, multilingualism and teacher development, is founder editor of the International Journal of Innovation in Language Learning and Teaching, and a member of many other editorial boards of academic journals and book series. He has carried out consultancies and presented keynote papers in many countries around the world, and has been involved in numerous national and international research projects, including several through his close relationships with the European Centre for Modern Languages in Graz, Austria.

Terry plays a major role in the development of language policy nationally and internationally. He is former President of the UK Association for Language Learning and current President of FIPLV (Fédération Internationale des Professeurs de Langues Vivantes), the world federation of language teacher associations. He has worked closely with the UK and other Governments. In 2010 he became a Chevalier des Palmes Académiques, an honour awarded by the French Government. Most recently he has also been awarded the prestigious Senate Award for Sustained Excellence in Teaching by the University of Sheffield.

Plenary Presentation

Perspectives on 21^st Century Language Learners

This talk will explore ideas from research and practice in different sectors of education. It will touch on concepts such as learner autonomy, assessment for learning, metacognitive knowledge, motivation, and lifelong learning, all within the field of language learning. It will also argue that policy and practice need to consider such issues whilst learners are at a young age, if they are to make the most of the chances available to them throughout their lives.

Meet our Plenary Speakers

Kieran Donaghy

Biodata

Kieran Donaghy is a teacher, trainer and award-winning writer. He teaches at UAB Idiomes, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. He has a special interest in the use of film and writes extensively about film and education. He is the co-author of Films in Health Sciences Education and he is currently writing a methodology book on film in ELT.

His website on the use of film http://film-english.com/  has won numerous awards including a British Council ELTons Award for Innovation in Teacher Resources in 2013. Kieran is the founder of The Image Conference: Film, Video, Images and Gaming in English Language Teaching.

Plenary Presentation

Using Film to Teach English in a World of Screens

The advent of the digital revolution and the Internet, the proliferation of mobile devices; the introduction of user-friendly editing tools; and the emergence of video distribution sites, have changed the way moving images relate to society, education and language learning. This session examines and offers guidance on using film critically and creatively in language teaching in a world of screens.

Our 21st Annual International Convention

TESOL Macedonia-Thrace proudly invites you to the 21st Annual International Convention

Plenary speakers: Kieran Donaghy, Dr Terry Lamb, Carol Griffiths, and Vicky Loras


29-30 March 2014

Venue: American College of Thessaloniki (ACT)