PROGRAMME

CREATIVITY IN ELT4TH ELT MALTA CONFERENCE

MEDITERRANEAN CONFERENCE CENTREVALLETTA

22-25 OCTOBER 2015

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09.30 – 16.30Nicky Hockly

GETTING CREATIVE IN THE ELT CLASSROOM WITH DIGITAL LITERACIES

Pre–conference event in collaboration with IATEFL Learning Technologies SIG

Getting creative in the ELT classroom with digital literacies – Nicky Hockly

09.30 – 10.00 Registration and welcome coffee

10.00 – 11.30 Part 1:

Digital literacies: An introduction and overviewDigital literacies, the skills needed to effectively interact with digital technologies, are key 21st century skills, and are increasingly important in educational curricula. What exactly are these literacies, and where might they have a place in the English language classroom? We look at some of the theory underpinning digital literacies, and also at some practical classroom activities for teachers to try out with their own students in the EFL classroom.

11.30 - 12.00 Break 12.00 – 13.30 Part 2:

Facebook nation: Network literacySocial networking sites such as Facebook are big news as well as big business. Clearly they are an integral part of the daily life of millions of people all over the world. But what does this mean for English language teachers? Should social networks be kept out of the ELT classroom? Or is there a place for these and similar sites in our classrooms? And if so, where and how, and what do we and learners need to know to be fully ‘network literate’?

13.30 – 14.30 Lunch

14.30 – 16.30 Part 3:

Moving with the times: Mobile literacy & ELTOur experiences of the world are increasingly mediated by mobile devices. In this workshop we explore a number of mobile device based projects and activities, which can enhance not only our learners’ English language

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skills, but can also help develop mobile literacy. We also consider the challenges facing teachers wishing to work with mobile devices in the classroom, and explore some of the thinking behind the current rise of the BYOD (bring your own device) approach. Bring your own devices (cellphones, tablets...) to the session!

Nicky HocklyThe workshop will be led by Nicky Hockly. Nicky is Director of Pedagogy of The Consultants-E [http://www.theconsultants-e.com], an online teacher training and development consultancy. She is a well-known international speaker, and prize-winning co-author of methodology books How to Teach English with Technology (2007), Learning English as a Foreign Language for Dummies (2009), Teaching Online (2010), Digital Literacies (2013), and Going Mobile (2014). She has published an e-book, Webinars: A Cookbook for Educators (2012), and she maintains a blog called E-moderation Station [http://www.emoderationskills.com]. She is currently working on a book about technology and language learning in K12, and is a technophobe turned technophile.

13.00 - 14.00 Registration and welcome coffee

14.00 – 14.30 Conference opening

14.30 - 15.30 Closed Workshop for Heads of Schools, Directors of Studies and Marketing Managers by invite only – Alex Grech

Alex is a strategist, change agent and educator. He holds a PhD in Internet Computing from the University of Hull and is a Fellow of the Association of Certified Accountants. As the founder of StrategyWorks, for the past 15 years Alex has advised multinationals, NGOs, startups and government in sectors ranging from ICT and neurosciences to culture and language education. Alex is currently the advisor to the Minister of Education and Employment in Malta on digital education and lifelong learning. He is a Visiting Senior Lecturer in Digital Strategy at the University of Malta, an Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Hull, a Director of The Critical Institute and an expert on vocational education and training at the European Training Foundation. His ongoing research activity is in digital citizenship, digital literacies, social media and power. More about Alex www.about.me/AlexGrech

14.30 – 15.30 Plenary 1 – Michael McCarthy and Jeanne McCarten

Key concepts in spoken grammarBased on corpus evidence, I present examples of the core features of spoken grammar and show how these underpin successful interaction. Being able to use spoken grammatical features appropriately and successfully enables learners to break down communication barriers and facilitates the creation and maintenance of good relations. I consider how best to approach the teaching of spoken grammar and

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how we can overcome some of the reluctance and even, in some cases, prejudices that discourage material writers, curriculum designers and teachers from incorporating spoken grammar into their teaching programmes.

Teaching the vocabulary of conversationWhen we look at a corpus of conversation and the vocabulary people use, we find a core of regularly recurring items, both single words and phrases or ‘chunks’, e.g. anyway, I mean. In addition to purely grammatical words (e.g. articles, pronouns, prepositions), modal items (e.g. can, should, probably), delexical verbs (take, get, do), and common everyday nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs, there remains a set of vocabulary which gives informal spoken language its character and can be said to constitute a ‘vocabulary of conversation’. Teaching this vocabulary can help learners develop useful conversation management strategies, and above all, to sound natural and more fluent. The presenter shows examples of activities to teach this vocabulary of conversation.

About JeanneJeanne has been involved in ELT in a variety of roles for 35 years. As a teacher, she taught mostly general and business English in Sweden, France, Malaysia and the UK. As a publisher, she specialised in examinations, grammar and vocabulary materials and was also closely involved in the development of the spoken English sections of the Cambridge International Corpus. Currently a freelance ELT writer, her main interests lie in applying insights from corpus research to language teaching, about which she has published several academic papers. She is co-author of the corpus-informed materials Touchstone, Viewpoint, and Grammar for Business, published by Cambridge University Press.

About Michael Michael is Emeritus Professor of Applied Linguistics at the University of Nottingham, UK, Adjunct Professor of Applied Linguistics at the University of Limerick, Ireland and Visiting Professor at Newcastle University, UK. He is co director (with Ronald Carter) of the 5-million word CANCODE spoken English corpus project and the (co-)author and (co-)editor of 50 books and more than 100 academic articles, including Touchstone and its higher level, Viewpoint, as well as the Cambridge Grammar of English, English Grammar Today, Spoken Language and Applied Linguistics and several titles in the CUP English Vocabulary in Use series.

15.30 – 16.30 Plenary 2 – Chaz Pugliese

Jazzing it up: The creative teacher.In this participatory talk I will suggest that teaching creatively may have an impact on the students’ enthusiasm and may fuel their interest and curiosity to learn. I will firstly look at the different types of creativity and debunk a few myths, I will then outline strategies that may enhance our creative potential, and finally, I will illustrate with examples how these can be implemented in the classroom. The ultimate goal is for the teacher to come up with teaching ideas that are engaging both affectively and cognitively, are simple to use, require little or no preparation and are fun and challenging to do in the classroom.

About ChazChaz, MA (Applied Linguistics) is a trainer, presenter and author working out of Paris, France. Previously Director of Teacher Training at Pilgrims, UK, he is now self-employed, continues to collaborate with Pilgrims and regularly carries out consultancies for the British Council in China, namely. Chaz has trained hundreds

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of teachers all over the world, has been a keynote speaker at conferences in as many as 30 countries and has contributed over 60 articles and papers to all major ELT publications. His first book, Being Creative : the Challenge of Change in the Classroom was published by Delta in 2010. His second book, with Zoltan Dörnyei and Jane Arnold, The principled communicative approach, was published published by Helbling in 2015. A third one, on motivation, is in preparation. He’s co-founder, with Alan Maley, of the Creativity Group; www.thecreativitygroup/weeby.com His research interests are: motivation and creativity, materials development and group Processes. Chaz is a keen guitarist and likes any music that’s real, honest and raw.

16.30 – 17.00 Running coffee

17.00 – 18.00 Workshops A

Workshop 1 Patricia Vella Briffa

Comprehending comprehensionThe workshop explores comprehension within the wider context of reading. Comprehension is the most important outcome of any reading activity and the most difficult to monitor as it involves the interplay of a number of factors as the reader is able to read a text, process it and understand its meaning. The activity of reading comprehension sees the reader progress from understanding a text at the literal level to the inferential level and sometimes, on to the evaluative level. The workshop first considers what theory generally has to say about comprehension and reading by way of clarifying this complex process before proceeding to a brief reading comprehension task. This practical task serves to highlight these three levels of comprehension that take place when a reader engages with a text.The session encourages participants to be more aware of what goes on

during comprehension so that reading comprehension is improved.

About PatriciaPatricia currently teaches at the University of Malta Junior College. She has taught English to learners at various stages of language learning for general, specific, examination, or academic purposes. Her research interests include language teaching and assessment. She was involved in the design of a speaking component in the English ‘A’ level MATSEC examination which was awarded the Innovation in Assessment Prize by the British Council (UK) in 2014.

Workshop 2 Rebekka Mamo

Literature in the ELT classroom: “No way, José!” or “Oh yes, s’il vous plaît!”?The aim of the session is to practically demonstrate how a literary text can be used to achieve linguistic learning outcomes while encouraging student-as-reader autonomy in English. After discussing different views on the incorporation of literature in the ELT classroom, the participants will consider an example of a lesson based on a stylistic approach to the use of a short literary text. They will evaluate the sequencing of the lesson activities from lower- to higher-order questions through a series of pre-, first, second and post-reading tasks. They will then draft a plan for a short prose text or poem and present this to their peers. By the end of the session, participants will develop a better understanding of how pedagogical stylistics can act as an effective way of using literary texts in the language classroom. Pedagogical stylistics takes learners beyond surface comprehension to a more engaging encounter with unadapted, authentic material that empowers them as foreign-language readers.

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About RebekkaRebekka works as an Assistant Director of Studies at Gateway School of English. She is currently completing an MA in TESOL at the University of Malta. Her research interests include pedagogical stylistics, TESOL management and second language acquisition. She has experience working with a variety of levels and nationalities.

Workshop 3 Natasha Fabri

My top 10 “tech” tools for the modern EFL classroomHelping your students learn faster, increase their confidence and have fun while doing it! Using “tech” tools needn’t be a daunting experience, even if you are not a tech savvy teacher. The essential quality of the modern language teacher is a willingness to explore and make the most of the wide array of resources we have at our disposal, most of which are free and easily accessible. In this practical session, we will explore a variety of freely available online tools and discuss how to make the most of them both in class and out. These will include useful mobile apps as well as tools/resources to be used on IWBs. We will cover all the 4 skills, reading, writing, speaking and listening, as well as delving into topics such as Business English and exam preparation.

About NatashaNatasha has been an ELT trainer for 15 years and is currently a Director of Studies. She is passionate about technology in the classroom and giving teacher training workshops. As a member of the MATEFL committee, she writes a regular feature for the newsletter called: “Teacher 2.0, a survival guide to technology in the classroom”. Find her on Facebook: NatashaFabriTEFL.

Workshop 4 Katerina Kazanovska

Creative writing: Inspirational language practice and whole brain learning in your EFL classroomWriting, somewhat overlooked in the late 90ies and early 00ies is, once again, gaining more and more we: text, tweet, facebook and send e-mails as much, if not more than we actually speak. In this new modern, and often somewhat de-personalised world of online communication, people are desperate to be understood. Alas, being able to write formal letters of complaint or fill out application forms is no longer enough. I would like to present an authentic course in creative writing, which, brought into being by an EFL teacher and a professional writer, gives students an opportunity to practice language in contexts of their own creation, bringing together the best of communicative language teaching and creative writing techniques. In the workshop, we will try out some creative writing activities, go through the stages and discuss the setup of a creative writing class, and discuss the ways in which creative writing can and should be incorporated into any EFL class.

About KaterinaKaterina Kazanovska was born in Latvia and is a professional CELTA and DELTA qualified EFL teacher and teacher trainer. She spent 8 years working for International House Riga. She is the co-author of a number of creative EFL courses. She moved to Malta in September 2015 to work with International House Malta – Gozo and she hopes to be able to continue research in the area of creative language learning.

Workshop 5 Alan Marsh

Storytelling and language developmentThe benefits of useful teacher talking time through ‘live’ listening to stories, anecdotes, jokes and personal experiences are well documented. These narratives also serve as meaningful and memorable contexts for real language, either embedded or inspired, and can serve as launching pads for both language focus and language practice activities. So come

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along and enjoy a few good stories … and some ideas for exploiting them in class to develop your learners’ language accuracy.

About AlanAlan has been a teacher and teacher trainer for many years (he’s stopped counting). For the past twenty-something years he has lived in Malta, where he trains teachers on Cambridge Celta and Delta courses, writes materials, and is the president of MATEFL, the ELT teachers’ association. He also regularly travels to various European countries to deliver Erasmus/Comenius-funded teacher training courses.

18.15 – 19.15 Workshops B

Workshop 6 Antonia Clare

Get your creative thinking hats on...Creativity is often cited as one of the 21st century skills we need to be teaching our students. But why is creativity so important in language classrooms? And what exactly do we mean by creative thinking skills? This will be a practical session which briefly examines the relationship between creative and critical thinking skills, and discusses how and why we might nurture a culture of creativity in our classrooms. We will demonstrate practical ideas for exploiting images and video, look at ways in which we can use poetry to help learners express their ideas, and explore the use of frameworks to encourage learners to actively and creatively engage in the learning process.

About AntoniaAntonia is an English language teacher trainer, international conference speaker and award-winning materials writer. Her special interests include the use of video and new technologies in ELT, creativity and the psychology of language learning. She has taught and trained in many countries around the world and is a co-author for Language-to-Go, Total English, English in Common and Speakout (Pearson).

Workshop 7 - Steve Flinders

Bringing management training into the Business English classroomThe boundary between Business English and management training is becoming blurred as BE trainers focus increasingly on the soft skills that professionals working internationally need to get results. How can this approach be translated into activities and materials relevant to learners who already have some experience of working in English? Which management training exercises will work in the BE classroom? In this talk I will look at the range of language, communication, intercultural, interpersonal and leadership skills that managers need when they work internationally, and give examples of some activities which can help them develop greater competence in these areas. I shall draw on material in Leading People, one of the four titles in the International Management English series published by York Associates and Delta Publishing.

About SteveSteve is a business coach, trainer and writer based in Malta. Until 2014 he was a director of York Associates, UK, whose mission is to develop people for their international roles. His latest book is Leading People, part of the Delta International Management English series. His special areas of interest include international political, human resources and trade union communication.

Workshop 8 Corinne Vella

Authentic materials from corpora: An ESP workshopToo many textbooks present activities which prepare the students to talk about business rather than to do business. Authentic materials from corpora allow us to engage learners with language which they encounter in their day-to-day leisure/work environment. Corpora have opened new doors for ELT teachers as the authentic materials, both in written and spoken form, enable teachers to present to their learners materials from both native and non-native speakers of English, thus engaging the learners in genuine examples of the language which

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are more effective than fabricated situations. During this hands-on workshop participants will work through ESP materials designed after the current speaker collected her own data, carried out an analysis, and prepared ESP classroom materials addressing sales meetings. A short discussion will ensue to discuss the implications/ techniques/ building one’s own mini-corpus.

About CorinneCorinne has been in the ELT industry for the last 13 years, having taught in Malta, Australia as well as at a German advertising agency. Holding CELTA, DipTESOL, a BA in English, and an MA in English Language, Corinne was a DOS for 3 years and her latest undertaking is that of venturing out as a Teacher Trainer.

Workshop 9 JJ Wilson

Great speakers need great listenersListening should be impossible. The things listeners do – pick up acoustic signals, re-imagine them into words, turn the words into meaningful sentences, and organise the sentences into propositions – are highly complex cognitive processes. And yet many foreign language students do eventually become great listeners. This practical workshop first looks at the difficulties of the skill, then introduces a number of ways to improve our students’ listening. These include the use of ‘frameworks’, the effects of teaching listening strategies, and several innovative and enjoyable activities that teachers can take away and use immediately in class.

About JJJJ has taught adults and teenagers in Egypt, Lesotho, Colombia, the U.K., Italy and the U.S., where he is currently the writer-in-residence at Western New Mexico University. He teaches courses in writing, linguistics, and ESL Methods, and has presented his ideas in over 40 countries. JJ has written or co-authored numerous ELT books including Language to Go, Total English, Active Listening and the award winning titles How to Teach Listening and Speakout. He also publishes fiction under the name JJ Amaworo JJ. His first novel, Damnificados, comes out in January 2016. Wilson blogs at blog.reallyenglish.com and jjawilson.wordpress.com.

Workshop 10 Nicky Hockly

Getting creative by going mobileAlthough the term ‘mobile learning’ has become equated with mobile phones, and ‘learning on the go’, it is much more than that. Mobile learning refers to the use of a range of handheld devices in education, across a range of contexts, and both inside and outside the classroom. This talk will outline a number of EFL classroom activities using mobile devices and examine how these can cross the boundaries between school and the outside world. Based on my own experience of using a BYOD (bring your own device) approach with EFL learners, we will discuss the choices and challenges involved in using mobile devices in the classroom. You will leave this plenary with a clear idea of ways to start implementing mobile-based activities in your own classroom with your own learners.

About NickyNicky is Director of Pedagogy of The Consultants-E [http://www.theconsultants-e.com], an online teacher training and development consultancy. She is a well-known international speaker, and prize-winning co-author of methodology books How to Teach English with Technology (2007), Learning English as a Foreign Language for Dummies (2009),

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Teaching Online (2010), Digital Literacies (2013), and Going Mobile (2014). She has published an e-book, Webinars: A Cookbook for Educators (2012), and she maintains a blog called E-moderation Station [http://www.emoderationskills.com]. She is currently working on a book about technology and language learning in K12, and is a technophobe turned technophile.

19.15 – 22.00 Networking reception for all participants.

08.30 - 09.30 Registration and welcome coffee

09.30 – 10.30 Plenary 3 – JJ Wilson

Journeys of the imagination: creativity and language teachingThis talk examines the idea that creativity is all around us. It helps us solve everyday problems, and is everywhere in the languages we speak and write. Using Ronald Carter’s idea that creativity is not an ordinary property of exceptional people, but ‘an exceptional property of ordinary people,’ I will make some general observations about creativity before moving on to the main topic: creativity in the classroom. Then we will look at how to recognize it, develop activities that encourage it, and nurture the creative spirit in our students.

About JJJJ has taught adults and teenagers in Egypt, Lesotho, Colombia, the U.K., Italy and the U.S., where he is currently the writer-in-residence at Western New Mexico University. He teaches courses in writing, linguistics, and ESL Methods, and has presented his ideas in over 40 countries. JJ has written or co-authored numerous ELT books including Language to Go, Total English, Active Listening and the award winning titles How to Teach Listening and Speakout. He also publishes fiction under the name JJ Amaworo JJ. His first novel, Damnificados, comes out in January 2016. Wilson blogs at blog.reallyenglish.com and jjawilson.wordpress.com.

10.30 – 11.30 Plenary 4 – Alan Maley

Creativity: What? Why? How?Creativity is at the heart of learning - but rarely at the heart of institutional education. One reason for this is the fear of losing ‘control’ in a culture of measurement based on the cult of predictable outcomes. I shall first explore what is meant by ‘Creativity’, focussing particularly on the element of play and curiosity, the factor of unpredictability, finding new connections between things, the role of

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constraints and the need for relevance as well as novelty value. I shall then discuss the reasons why we need creativity in education, and why we so rarely find it. I shall then suggest a number of ways to stimulate both more creative teaching as well as learning. These will include using heuristics, applying the random principle, harnessing the power of constraints and drawing on improvisation within a framework of more artful teaching. I shall also suggest that as teachers, we need to focus on presence and relationships as well as on technique. In closing, I will make a plea for the promotion and nurture of more creative teaching and learning in the current context, and refer to the mission of the new ‘C’Group.

About Alan Alan has been in ELT for over 50 years, living and working in Yugoslavia, Ghana, Italy, France, PR China, India, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia and Vietnam. He has published over 40 books and numerous articles. He is a past president of IATEFL, and co-founder of the C Group (Creativity for Change in Language Education). His current interests include creative writing, innovative methodology, classroom dynamics and idleness.

11.30 – 12.00 Coffee break

12.00 – 13.00 Workshops C

Workshop 11 Kevin Spiteri

Brain training for vocabulary

Teacher: “What’s your biggest problem with English?”Student: “Vocabulary”Teacher: “What’s your biggest problem with Vocabulary?”Student: “Remembering words”

The exchange above represents one of the most common

conversations surrounding lexis in an ELT classroom. This session targets, not just this problem, but the problems in general that surface due to the inefficient techniques used by learners to tackle their issues with vocabulary. By demonstrating the power of structured ways of recording and dealing with vocabulary this session guarantees results in a minute amount of time and is proven to be effective with all types of learners.

About KevinCurrently Director of Studies at EC Malta, Kevin has worked in a variety of positions in the industry for over 17 years. He is DELTA qualified and has been a teacher, teacher trainer and manager in Malta, Turkey, England, Scotland and Hungary. His areas of special interest within the field are currently the concept of gamification and has just started to delve into the idea of taking ELT out of the classroom and into the outside world introducing young learners to action learning.

Workshop 12 Michela Formosa and Sarah Zammit

Colouring outside the lines We are often told to be more creative for a hundred and one reasons but what is this thing called ‘creativity’? How do we achieve it within the confines of a prescribed syllabus? Creativity in the classroom means you have to think outside the book, Generate activities and material which are unique to you and your class and never teach the same unit twice. You have to avoid the phrase, ‘it always works well’ and above all shock your students out of their comfort zones and don’t let your lessons become routine. As teachers we should rethink the way we plan lessons and approach our students without losing sight of our aims and the intended learning outcomes for the students. In doing so, we hope that they perceive us as inspirational examples of creativity to adopt in their own learning and lives. In this workshop, we will explore how to change monotonous lessons into engaging, dynamic and memorable ones. You will be inspired to embrace creativity and colour outside the lines.

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About Michela and Sarah Michela is the Director of Studies and Sarah is the Quality Assurance and Teacher Development Coordinator at the European School of English. Apart from having over 30 years teaching experience between them, Michela and Sarah are a dynamic training duo who have delivered workshops both locally and abroad. They are advocates for excellence in teaching and the sharing of good practice.

Workshop 13 Pam Borg

Game on! Game on!There has been much research done on the use of educational games in general, and on using games to teach English in particular. What has emerged from this is that games are now being seen not merely as classroom ‘filler’ activities, but as an important part of any language teaching program. They not only motivate students but also provide meaningful contexts in which the various language skills can be practised and developed and by doing so play a key role in language acquisition. Playing games and doing quizzes encourages enthusiasm for the essentially difficult and often frustrating task of learning a foreign language. Put simply, they help to make learning and teaching fun, which in itself may be a good enough reason to use them. We will take a look at some practical EFL Games and Quizzes; from how to revamp some golden oldies to where to find useful online games and what’s what in the latest EFL apps.

About PamPam is a Freelance Academic Consultant, Teacher Trainer and IWB Trainer. She is an experienced TEFL Teacher. She has worked as an English Language Course Director and Online Lecturer for ISEG and UNIDAF in Senegal, West Africa; as well as having taught in mainstream education in the UK. Currently she is working with ACE English Malta on Teacher Training, IWB Training and the school’s Teaching Resource Programme.

Workshop 14 Maria and Sarah Cutajar

Critical and creative thinking in the ELT ClassroomThe need to promote critical and creative thinking skills in the ELT classroom is often recognized as a key learning objective. A growing body of research suggests that both educators and students with diverse learning needs and predispositions benefit from the activation and implementation of higher order thinking skills. In addition, the inclusion of complex cognitive tasks is said to result in more engaging, motivating and stimulating lessons. In view of this, this workshop primarily refers to the theory behind incorporating higher order thinking skills in the ELT classroom. Moreover, it largely takes on a hands-on approach that seeks to discuss different ways of infusing, implementing and integrating such skills in the ELT classroom by means of effective, meaningful and challenging tasks. Particular emphasis shall be made on the transition between critical thinking and learners’ creativity i.e. learners’ ability to process information as conducive to designing or composing something new.

About Maria and SarahPrior to completing their MA in English Language, Maria and Sarah, graduated with a BA in English and Maltese and PGCE in English. They are also qualified EFL teachers and teacher trainers and have been teaching foreign learning of English on and off for five years. They are currently working as Assistant Directors of Studies and EFL teachers at ELA.

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Workshop 15 – Stephanie Xerri Agius

A creative practice community: Stimulus-material ideas for classroom writersIn this workshop, we shall consider the role of teacher-writers and how this can shape their expectations of student-writers. The premise for teachers who write is based on research on classroom writing voices. After evaluating a range of print and digital stimulus-materials for the ELT classroom, we shall engage with activities that promote writing in the classroom and beyond. One aim is to encourage students to perceive writing as enjoyable, while another is to bolster their creativity by offering them varied target-specific writing opportunities. Such activities enable teachers and students to explore their creative ‘voice’ via writing. By the end of the workshop, we will have considered how stimulus-materials can foster creativity. Workshop participants will also reflect on how positioning themselves as writers can enable them to better understand their students as writers, and to cultivate a community of creative practice.

About StephanieStephanie teaches English at the University of Malta Junior College. She is currently conducting doctoral research at the University of Leicester. Her main research areas are the teaching of writing and feedback practices. She has presented at a number of international conferences, and has also published articles in journals and magazines.

13.00 – 14.00 Lunch

14.00 – 15.00 Workshops D

Workshop 16 Candy Fresacher

Using advertising for more creativity in the classroomRather than just watching TV advertising, there are plenty of ways to use it to give students a chance to be more creative in their use of English. Not only can they make storyboards, invent new advertisements as parodies to those they see, but also have sales pitch competitions during class time. They

can also create print ads or radio ads and film 30-second advertisements themselves. This workshop will explore some of these ideas and more.

About CandyCandy, an American living in Austria for over 35 years, has been teaching at vocational colleges, including the Advertising Academy, for 25 years. She has been holding teacher training sessions since becoming Chair of Teachers of English in Austria, presenting in Beijing, Manila, USA and Europe and has had various articles on teaching published.

Workshop 17 Larissa Attard and Jean Theuma

Engaging learners: An ESL approachWith a background in ELT in both EFL and ESL, Jean and Larissa have recently been teaching students at post-secondary and tertiary levels. They have both found their students to be bilingual to varying degrees of capability, some of whom consider English to be a waste of time if it is not one of their core subjects - ‘Why do we need English lessons anyway? We speak English after all.’ - leading to a sense of apathy in the classroom. Jean and Larissa have both found that applying an ESL approach in the local mainstream learning environment has helped them come a long way in engaging students. In this workshop, they would like to share their experiences with other teachers and open up a discussion on engaging students.

About Larissa and JeanLarissa and Jean have worked in EFL for over 20 years, both as teachers and in academic management, and for the past three years, as freelance ELT professionals. They are independently involved in various ELT-related activities, and their paths coincide in teacher-training and lecturing part-time at the University of Malta. They share similar interests

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in teaching and learning techniques as well as use of language.

Workshop 18 – Jean Sciberras

English through art: An EFL enrichmentWe know what attracts students, why one course book is more popular than another. Much of it depends on the layout and the colourful pictures. If images are so motivating then why not go a step further and use famous paintings to engage students? By using the universal language of visual art to bridge language barriers we are also enriching students by exposing them to a variety of world cultures and experiences. Paintings from all over the world can be used in the adult classroom as well as for young learners. In this creative, practical workshop we will explore how paintings can be used as ‘launch pads’ to practise and develop various language skills and sub skills. Your ‘tourist’ days in an art gallery are over: Never again will you look at a painting and not think of how you can adapt it for the classroom.

About JeanJean works full time at NSTS ELI, the very first English Language school in Malta, as Assistant DOS. She is a teacher, teacher trainer, and Celta trainer. She has an Honours Degree in English, Celta, Delta and a Post-graduate Certificate in Educational Management in TESOL from Aston University. She has worked in TEFL for 30 years, in Malta, Perugia and Milan. She is Team Leader and Oral Examiner for Cambridge Main Suite exams and often delivers seminars for Matefl of which she is an honorary member. She was also instrumental in organising national seminars and workshops in Malta with world renowned speakers like Mark Powell, Jeremy Harmer and Adrian Underhill.

Workshop 19 Dave Spencer

EXAMS: The X-FactorExams! It seems like they’re everywhere. In ELT, exams are becoming more and more frequent, and more and more essential, particularly for secondary school students. Unfortunately, as teachers we may sometimes feel that exams are having a negative impact on our students and on the way we teach. The challenge is to find ways in which we can successfully prepare our students for exams but at the same time keep their (and our own) motivation high. After taking a sometimes light-hearted look at several key issues related to exams and exam preparation, we will look at a variety of different classroom activities which can help train our teenage students to become both efficient language learners and successful exam candidates.

About DaveAfter studying languages at Oxford University, Dave trained to be a secondary school teacher. He then moved to Spain where he has been living and teaching ever since. Dave began writing ELT courses for teenagers for Macmillan in 1994. The First Edition of his series Gateway was shortlisted for the British Council ELTons award for ‘Excellence in Course Innovation’.

Workshop 20 Sigo Gatt

To IWB or not to IWB? Here we will analyse the possibility of enhancing some great old activities and other classroom ideas with the help of Interactive Whiteboards (IWB) and Other Technology Wizardry (IWBW & OTW). These activities include: Reading and Voting on each other’s Advert, Dictionary Skills Acquisition, Utilising Vocabulary Cards, Sentence Auction Activity and Class Correction Techniques. Participants will explore ideas how to exploit technology to enhance tried and tested class activities and other classroom ideas. They will come up with their own conclusions whether it’s best to stick to the non-technologically aided way or not. Sometimes technology can get in the way of teaching and this workshop also helps acknowledge that fact. To take part in this workshop you preferably

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bring in a Smartphone and have already used an IWB even if only once.

About SigoSigo is currently working as a Director of Studies at Skylark School in Malta by day and as Singer/Musician by night. He uses Music and Technology to target language but also to stimulate discussion and promote autonomous learning.

15.15 – 16.15 Workshops E

Workshop 21 Caroline Cambell

CLIL in the EFL classroom: to integrate or not to integrate?Over the last two decades, innovative CLIL programmes have been increasingly used in mainstream schools around the world, but what about private EFL schools? Can EFL teachers use CLIL? Is CLIL completely foreign to them? Can the principles underlying CLIL be applied to the EFL classroom? Would this promote a more natural use of the target language? What do EFL teachers think about it? These are just some of the questions that will be explored in this workshop. As someone who has encouraged EFL teachers to employ CLIL principles in general English classes, I will be sharing some experiences, opinions and ideas in this regard. I will shed light on how topics tackled in the EFL classroom can become as important as the language being learnt without being of detriment to it. All of this will be supported with hands-on CLIL activities and ideas, ready to be used in the EFL classroom.

About CarolineCaroline is currently the Director of Studies of Easy School of Languages. She has gained her experience from teaching EFL in Italy and Malta. Four years ago she moved into educational management and became more involved in teacher training. She enjoys sharing her ideas at local and international conferences. For a good work-life balance, she travels, cooks and paints.

Workshop 22 Chuck Sandy

The ELT creative writer’s retreat: A workshop approach Since experience tells us that aspiring professional writers working in their first language benefit from a workshop approach, wouldn’t this also benefit writers working in a second language? This is the idea behind The ELT Creative Writer’s Retreat – a series of practice driven lessons led either in the classroom or online which mirror professional writer’s workshops by helping participants see themselves as authors honing their craft rather than as language students focused on mechanics and form. The teacher serves as a writing coach who delivers mini-lessons on craft, provides prompts, directs projects, assists with editing, meets in conference, organizes sharing, helps with portfolio creation, and suggests methods of publication. Teachers write and share, too. In this interactive session Chuck will discuss the approach, outline the framework, lead a typical lesson, and share activities. Participants will be invited to continue the session post-conference in an online offering of the ELT Creative Writer’s Retreat.

About ChuckChuck is an author, educator, and teacher developer based in Japan. He’s cofounder of the International Teacher Development Institute (iTDi).

Workshop 23 Claire Said

Creativity in the classroomImagine you’re a firefly….When our teaching careers began, we were all ready to take the bull by the horns, the firefly inside us shining bright. Over time, the light might dim and it may seem that the horns are all we have. We may feel dependant on others for new ideas and start losing the spark we first had when we started teaching. This workshop is all about keeping the creative firefly inside us shining. We will not talk about new activities, but ideas on how to remain creative throughout our careers, using our students as fuel to our

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light. We all need to give ourselves challenges and be daring and creative by using new tools and techniques. We will see how to use activities to promote different skills in different ways, and how one lesson can be adapted to any level in a matter of minutes. Just think…. if you are asked to replace an elementary class last minute, and you are used to teaching advanced students, the firefly has no choice but to…. be creative!

About ClaireClaire has been involved in the EFL business since the ripe age of 16, and started teaching as soon as her EFL permit was first issued in 2008. Teaching soon joined what she calls her 3 passions – teaching, culture and writing. Claire believes in doing what you love rather than loving what you do, which is what inspires her to develop herself personally and professionally at every opportunity.

Workshop 24 Justyna Rogers and William B ‘Charlie’ Laidlaw

Bringing creativity to teaching pronunciation: An interactive workshop“I’m ok with English ‘theory’ (grammar, vocabulary) but when speaking in practical situations, no one understands me. It is so depressing.” Ivan – Russian L1 student.The main question for this interactive workshop is how to get beyond boring drills and methodologies often associated with teaching pronunciation - and enable Ivan and the ‘000’s like him experience the joy of using their English as it should be – a means of communication. Three themes to explore:• How can we teachers quickly/easily identify core pronunciation

issues students have?• How can we address these in a fun/exciting/compelling way?• Bottom up’ (phonemes to syllables to word stress to the ‘music of

the language’) – or ‘top down’? Justyna and Charlie will seed each theme. Please bring and contribute your experience and creativity: what works/what does not? Ethos is -

‘borrowing each other’s heads’ to co-create solutions to help Ivan and other English language students.

About JustynaAn enthusiastic professional with over 8 years experience in EFL - in the UK, Hungary, Poland and Malta. Director of Studies at Global Village (GV) Malta. Polish born but living abroad for over 12 years – the last 6 in Malta. First degree in Pedagogy, MSc in Geography of Tourism, CELTA and DELTA. Numerous presentations and workshops on EFL – including the 1st ELT Malta Conference.

About WilliamAn enthusiastic teacher at GV with CELTA and 5 years experience within EFL, mainly in China, latterly Malta - so still learning! MA’s in Philosophy/Psychology from Cambridge and London. Whilst a native English speaker, recently tried to learn Spanish – so deep empathy for those learning a second language - how completely stupid that makes you feel!

Workshop 25 Brian Hallas

LEGO: Learning should Enable Greater Options “Children enter school as question marks and leave school as periods.” [Neil Postman] It is when we lose our innate interest in the pieces that we hold; when we forget to ask questions of ourselves, those very pieces and the environments that we share; it is in these moments that we lose our potential to create. This workshop explores the anti-creativity of growing old with something we think we know so well, LEGO, and creating a poignant parallel with several aspects of the English teaching field. At what point does instruction or example impede upon inventive processes and lead to accurate but often blind dependence? Are we not aware of the value contributed through self-discovery? And, why should either of conformity or creativity have to each look the same and potentially instil fear upon an individual? The answers and our ingenuity lie within.

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About BrianBrian is passionate about his native tongue, the intricacy of its design and the interpretation of any logic that can be gleaned from it by either analogy or illustration. A popular and well-travelled CELTA teacher of eight years who strives to bring new life to the English language learning experience and new horizons to users of English as their guide.

16.15 – 16.45 – Running coffee

16.45 – 17.45 Plenary 5 – Luke Meddings

Learning space: Creative ideas for self-study We all want our students to take more responsibility for their own learning, but it isn’t easy - for them or us! Self-study materials are often based around uninspiring gap-fills and sentence completions, but it can be hard to capture language from more stimulating sources like movies and music. In this talk I’ll propose a range of spaces, large and small, from which we can learn. This means thinking of familiar things in creative ways, and asking ourselves - as teachers and learners - what patterns can I see? We’ll take our inspiration from spaces like the night sky, city streets and the local café - I’ll suggest ways to get your students really engaged with their learning outside the classroom, and we’ll try out ideas you can take into the classroom tomorrow.

About LukeLuke is an international speaker, author and teacher trainer with over 25 years experience in ELT. In that time he has worked as a teacher, journalist and school manager, and wrote an online column for Guardian Education. In 2000 he co-founded the Dogme in ELT movement with Scott Thornbury, and their book Teaching Unplugged (Delta, 2009) won a British Council ELTon Award for Innovation in 2010. In 2011 he started the independent e-publishing collective, the round, with Lindsay Clandfield: their first book, 52: a year of subversive activity for the ELT classroom, appeared in 2012.

09.00 – 10.00 Welcome coffee

10.00 – 11.00 Plenary 6 – Alan Marsh

Making your toenails twinkle In this interactive talk Alan will share some poems with us, accessible poems he has used with his learners and which in turn have inspired them to play with grammar and vocabulary and to create ‘learner poetry’ of their own. Such encounters with poetry and the creative moments they can inspire not only extend learning and make it memorable but can also transcend language and may even ‘make your toenails twinkle’. Alan also argues that such opportunities for productive creativity in the classroom should be an integral part of the foreign language syllabus and suggests three conditions for making such activities effective: appropriate scaffolding; an explicit link to syllabus language items; and the engagement of ‘the whole person’.

About AlanAlan has been a teacher and teacher trainer for many years (he’s stopped counting). For the past twenty-something years he has lived in Malta, where he trains teachers on Cambridge Celta and Delta courses, writes materials, and is the president of MATEFL, the ELT teachers’ association. He also regularly travels to various European countries to deliver Erasmus/Comenius-funded teacher training courses.

11.00 – 11.30 Coffee break

11.30 – 12.30 Workshops

Workshop 26 – Michael McCarthy and Jeanne McCarten

Teaching spoken grammar at the higher levelsIn this workshop, we consider some of the features described in Michael McCarthy’s plenary talk and examine how they might be taught, particularly at the higher CEFR level s (B2, C1, C2). Most of the features are essential to good spoken interaction, some are

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controversial and all present a challenge to methodology. In more specialised areas (e.g. speaking in academic or business contexts), we need a more specialised approach. Using corpus samples, we will work together to explore the methodological issues and practical implications of lessons in spoken grammar.

About JeanneJeanne has been involved in ELT in a variety of roles for 35 years. As a teacher, she taught mostly general and business English in Sweden, France, Malaysia and the UK. As a publisher, she specialised in examinations, grammar and vocabulary materials and was also closely involved in the development of the spoken English sections of the Cambridge International Corpus. Currently a freelance ELT writer, her main interests lie in applying insights from corpus research to language teaching, about which she has published several academic papers. She is co-author of the corpus-informed materials Touchstone, Viewpoint, and Grammar for Business, published by Cambridge University Press.

About Michael Michael is Emeritus Professor of Applied Linguistics at the University of Nottingham, UK, Adjunct Professor of Applied Linguistics at the University of Limerick, Ireland and Visiting Professor at Newcastle University, UK. He is co-director (with Ronald Carter) of the 5-million word CANCODE spoken English corpus project and the (co-)author and (co-)editor of 50 books and more than 100 academic articles, including Touchstone and its higher level, Viewpoint, as well as the Cambridge Grammar of English, English Grammar Today, Spoken Language and Applied Linguistics and several titles in the CUP English Vocabulary in Use series.

Workshop 27 Luke Meddings

50-Free: An equation for educationEducation is being unbalanced by an increasing focus on standardisation and accountability. As curricula become more prescriptive and testing organisations become more powerful, teachers and students lose their autonomy - and we wind up teaching to the test. In this workshop, we’ll discuss the way we feel about these issues and share our knowledge, hopes and fears. I’ll outline my proposal that we teach half of every class free from the curriculum, free from assessment and free from summative testing - an equation, or balancing, for education. And together we’ll work out what we can do to make a difference.

About LukeLuke is an international speaker, author and teacher trainer with over 25 years experience in ELT. In that time he has worked as a teacher, journalist and school manager, and wrote an online column for Guardian Education. In 2000 he co-founded the Dogme in ELT movement with Scott Thornbury, and their book Teaching Unplugged (Delta, 2009) won a British Council ELTon Award for Innovation in 2010. In 2011 he started the independent e-publishing collective, the round, with Lindsay Clandfield: their first book, 52: a year of subversive activity for the ELT classroom, appeared in 2012.

Workshop 28 Alan Maley

Writing creatively: The power of constraintsWe will start by discussing the unique nature of creative writing and how it differs from the kind of factual, expository writing we usually teach. I will then briefly outline the benefits which creative writing can bring to both teachers and learners – in terms of language, life and learning, including the value of such activities for promoting language learning, stimulating motivation, enhancing self-esteem, promoting personal development, and forging a learning community.

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now self-employed, continues to collaborate with Pilgrims and regularly carries out consultancies for the British Council in China, namely. Chaz has trained hundreds of teachers all over the world, has been a keynote speaker at conferences in as many as 30 countries and has contributed over 60 articles and papers to all major ELT publications.

His first book, Being Creative: the Challenge of Change in the Classroom was published by Delta in 2010. His second book, with Zoltan Dörnyei and Jane Arnold, The Principled Communicative Approach, was published published by Helbling in 2015. A third one, on motivation, is in preparation. He’s co-founder, with Alan Maley, of the Creativity Group www.thecreativitygroup/weeby.com His research interests are: motivation and creativity, materials development and group processes. Chaz is a keen guitarist and likes any music that’s real, honest and raw.

12.45 – 13.45 Symposium on Creativity in ELT led by Daniel Xerri, Alan Maley and Chaz Pugliese

13.45 – 14.15 Conference closure and raffle

Contrary to popular belief, creative writing is not ‘too difficult’ in a foreign language. Neither is it a matter of ‘letting it all hang out’. To the contrary, one of the great advantages of writing creatively is the need to work within constraints. Activities combining constraints and freedom of personal expression will be at the centre of the workshop. We shall explore a number of simple techniques together – and generate some interesting texts. This will be a practical, hands-on workshop. Bring paper. Bring a pen. Bring your whole self along!

About Alan Alan has been in ELT for over 50 years, living and working in Yugoslavia, Ghana, Italy, France, PR China, India, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia and Vietnam. He has published over 40 books and numerous articles. He is a past president of IATEFL, and co-founder of the C Group (Creativity for Change in Language Education). His current interests include creative writing, innovative methodology, classroom dynamics and idleness.

Workshop 29 Chaz Pugliese

How can I motivate my students?Motivation is a vast and complex phenomenon. In this very practical workshop, I will not attempt to provide a list of tips which would inevitably be shallow, simplistic and would fail to do justice to such an important topic. Instead, we will first look at what the students themselves say is de/motivating (there’s no shortage of literature on motivation!). We will then focus on the key notions of challenge, flow, and pedagogic surprise. Participants will experience a great deal of exercises they can do with their own students so they will walk away with more classroom ammunition as well as a wider understanding of key motivational issues.

About ChazChaz, MA (Applied Linguistics) is a trainer, presenter and author working out of Paris, France. Previously Director of Teacher Training at Pilgrims, UK, he is

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ELT CouncilEducation Information CentreMinistry for Education and Employment (MEDE)Great Siege Road Floriana, VLT 2000.

Tel: (+356) 2598 2741 | Email: efl.mb.mede@gov.mt Website: eflmalta.gov.mt