Are ‘exams’ and ‘fun’ mutually exclusive? Many examination preparation classes become over-serious, over-stressful and over-dull but they needn’t be, particularly when we teach young learners. In this session we will reflect on how to ensure a good balance of the serious and the funny in a modern young learners’ exam course. I will demonstrate several sound teaching strategies and easy-to-adapt tasks, which are not only enjoyable and motivating, but will also help develop your pupils’ English language skills, grammar and vocabulary while preparing them for exams.
Olha Madylus began her teaching career in a secondary school in England teaching English and Drama. She has been involved in YLELT for over 20 years: living, teaching and training in Hong Kong, Venezuela and Greece. For the past eight years Olha has been a freelance YL consultant and teacher trainer, as well as Cambridge ESOL CELTA and CELTYL trainer. Olha is also one of the writers of the Young Learner service at onestopenglish.com. She is now based in Athens and has just finished writing her first book of language activities for teenagers. She is particularly interested in understanding and motivating young learners.
Think Global, Teach ‘Global’
The aim of this short session is to offer a very brief introduction to the philosophy and methodology behind 'Global,' Macmillan’s new flagship general English course for adults. We’ll sample its fresh take on familiar topics, dip into some of its original resources and take a mini-tour of its outstanding digital components – all in the service of a modern global language education tailored to local learning needs.
Grzegorz ¦piewak holds a double MA in English & Linguistics (University of Essex, UK and University of Warsaw) and a PhD in Linguistics (University of Warsaw 2000). He has been a lecturer at the institute of English Studies, University of Warsaw since 1992, Head ELT Consultant for Macmillan Polska, teacher trainer, methodology adviser, ELT materials' writer, former president of IATEFL-Poland, founder and president of DOS-Teacher Training Solutions. His chief professional interests are teacher development (incl. applications of new media and new technologies), syllabus design (incl. classroom implications of CEFR), education towards plurilingualism (incl. ELF-related issues, re-defining pedagogical objectives, maintaining standards of excellence). His track record in ELT publishing consists in numerous articles, reviews and a few minor pieces, including a series of grammar contrast boxes and grammar summaries for the ForMat course series, grammar sections for L!VE 2 and L!VE 3 (all published by Macmillan Polska) and a section on Polish in Learner English edited by M. Swan & B. Smith, CUP. As a consultant he has also contributed to Macmillan’s best-selling Revise ForMatura Repetytorium. His most recent publication is another bestseller: Egzamin Gimnzajalny. Repetytorium z testami (co-author: Marta Rosińska, Macmillan 2008).
A truly unique insight into the very core of English language and culture. Less of a talk and more of a performance, it makes sense of Shakespeare by putting him back into context. The show includes an exploration of Elizabethan theatre and what a trip to a Shakespeare play in 1600 would be like, a master-class on the poetry style Shakespeare wrote in, and a look at Original Pronunciation (the accent Shakespeare would have spoken in). A must-see for a modern teacher.
Ben Crystal is an actor and a writer. He studied English Language and Linguistics at Lancaster University before training at Drama Studio London. He has worked in TV, film and theatre, including the reconstructed Shakespeare's Globe, London. He is a narrator for RNIB Talking Books, Channel 4 and the BBC. He co-wrote Shakespeare's Words (Penguin 2002) and The Shakespeare Miscellany (Penguin 2005) with David Crystal, and his first solo book, Shakespeare on Toast – Getting a Taste for the Bard was published in 2008. He regularly gives workshops on performing and speaking Shakespeare. He lives in London and online at www.bencrystal.com