Dear HLT Readers,
Welcome to the new issue of HLT. Christmas time and New Year is the time of good news, sending greetings and giving presents. HLT received many e-mails with warm words, some of which you can read in the Letters section. I am happy to say that this section is expanding fast. There are so many interesting e-mails I receive from you, and thank you for agreeing to have them published in this section so that we can share them with all HLT readers. Please keep writing I enjoy receiving and reading your e-mails.
|
Organized by the Department of English, Politeknik Negeri Jember based in East Java-Indonesia, the 2011 Asia Creative Writing Conference, which is to be held by March 31-April 1, 2011, is trying to address how creative writing can be incorporated in English language teaching so that forms of creative writing like poems, short stories, plays, or other forms of creative writing can be interactive learning tasks, which enable language learners to express themselves, their culture, society, and their world around them. The theme of the conference is Creating Interactive Language Classrooms through Creativity, Exploration, & Self Identity in the Asian Context. Thus, this conference will be a venue where teacher educators and practicing teachers can mutually share and voice their ideas, expertise, and experience in creative writing in different perspectives. For more information about the conference, please visit:
http://2011asiacwc.polije.ac.id/index.html
|
This year HLT received a big present from Abdullah Coskun who is an avid reader and fan of HLT, as well as a regular contributor. Thanks to his initiative HLT is now part of Genamics JournalSeek indexing. It is great news that HLT is expanding fast. For a couple of years now HLT has also been included in DOAJ indexing. So although HLT is not a peer reviewed journal, it is winning more and more status and recognition. We intend to keep it a free-for-all magazine, at the same time maintaining our high standards. Please, submit your paper to HLT and help us share and spread great ELT ideas worldwide.
HLT has been also recognised by The Bridge the bi-monthly magazine for English teachers in Mexico. Thank you dear Colleagues. You are doing a great job too!
New year is also the time of resolutions and new career moves. You may decide to come to Pilgrims. Please read about our new courses and a new offer for Comenius grants in Pilgrims Courses 2011. Two articles: Straitjacketed Classrooms by Ripu Daman Singh and The Pilgrims Experience 2010 by Hanna Kryszewska et al. talk about the impact the courses have. You may decide to attend a course and stay on to take part in the TTTJ Conference. Read more about it in the Editorial. TTTJ is our sister magazine focusing on the teacher trainer side of ELT.
This year you may decide to apply for the Humanising Language Teaching Scholarship, which is sponsored by Pilgrims/OISE. The winner for the 2011 IATEFL Conference is Ekaterina Rudenko. Who knows you may be the winner next year? Perhaps it will be you. We will remind you about the deadline but you may start thinking about your contribution.
As for this issue there is wealth of articles. Don’t miss the three major articles: The Advantages of Learning a Dominant Language: Addressing the Integrity of Individuals by Miguel Mantero and David Backer, The Challenges and Opportunities of On-line Language Teaching by Kristina Mullamaa and Reading Outside of the EAP Classroom by Nicholas Northall.
A number of articles are related to teaching language skills On speaking there is Teaching Oral Presentation Skills to College EFL Students by Odiléa Rocha Erkaya and Oral Assessment: A Mission Impossible? by Alexandra Costa. On reading there is Teaching English at University Level: How to Make It a Memorable Experience when Reading Comprehension and Grammar Instruction Prevail by Georgina Hudson, Argentina. And on writing there is Experiments in Process Writing: Writing, Correcting and Reflecting in an 11e ‘Jeunes Adultes’ by Line Jovanovic and Creative Writing Ideas by Alina Ianeţ. When we talk about writing these days, the issue of dyslexia springs to mind. Read more about ways of dealing with the problem in Dyslexia and Learning a Foreign Language: Tips for Teachers by Karen White.
Two articles deal with teaching culture in ELT: Aren’t Language Teachers Too Concerned About Cultural Issues? by Mandana Arfa Kaboodvand and Is It Really Necessary to Teach Culture? by Gabriela Mihaescu. In fact both of them question importance teachers attach to culture.
Dear colleague
I am conducting a survey into attitudes towards storytelling in English Language teaching, and your participation would be very much appreciated. There are only eight multiple choice type questions to answer, and these can be found by clicking on this link:
www.surveymonkey.com/s/LXVQ33K
It is hoped that once the results of the survey have been analysed, they will form the basis of an article on the subject, which will be made available on The Storyteller website.
Thank you for your help
Michael Berman www.Thestoryteller.org.uk
|
One country receives great prominence in this issue. EFL in China features in two articles: Ni hao, tovaritch by Simon Greenall and China EFL: The Four Great Lies by Martin Wolff. Don’t miss them as they are both a great read.
There are practical ideas and ready to use materials for the classroom in: Playing With Sentences by Simon Mumford, The Voices of Birds , Buddhist Parables both by Michael Berman, All-in-One Game by Riyad Al-Homsi and Literature-based Activity by Natasha Jovanovich.
For your entertainment there are some jokes in What Teachers Make submitted by Bill Templer and poems in Guided Writing Poems, submitted and edited by Phil Doran, Poems by Ian Mole and The Club by Paul Bress.
Enjoy the February issue
Hania Kryszewska
HLT Editor
hania.kryszewska@pilgrims.co.uk
|
CONFERENCE THEME
In 2011 the Teacher Trainer Journal will be 25 years old! We want to celebrate that quarter of a century by bringing together readers, subscribers and contributors to the Teacher Trainer journal, together with new and experienced teach trainers, and those soon to enter the field, so we can share perspectives and practical ideas on teacher education.
On the agenda…..
- Plenary session on major issues in pre and in-service teacher training
- Participant presentations and practical workshops with the chance of publication as a follow up
- ‘Writer’s Workshop’ – Tips on publishing articles on work as a trainer
- ‘People who Train People’ – A live interview with someone from a parallel field
Proposals Accepted for:
- ‘An article comes alive!’ – Past contributors to the journal will choose one of their own articles, talk about why they wrote it and invite comments from participants
- ‘Case Study Hour’ – Participants present a case study based on a work issue and offer it up for analysis and comment by colleagues in small groups
The Venue
The Teacher Trainer 25th Anniversary Conference will be held at the University of Kent, on the hilltop overlooking the beautiful city of Canterbury in the county of Kent – known as the Garden of England. Accommodation can be booked on the campus which has easy transport links into Canterbury and London airports.
|
|
