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International IATEFL	
Slovenia Annual Conference	
7 - 10 March 2013	
Terme Topolšica	
informedTeacher	
Naslov /Title:
20. mednarodna konferenca IATEFL Slovenia @informedTeacher Zbornik povzetkov 7.-10. 3.2013 Terme Topolšica
20th International IATEFL Slovenia Annual Conference @informedTeacher Book of Abstracts 7 -10 March 2013 Terme Topolšica
Uredniški odbor / Editorial Committee: Alenka Tratnik, Lea Sobočan, Peter Oletič
Organizacijski odbor/Organising Committee:
Sandra Vida (predsednica/chair), Alenka Tratnik, Jasna Džambič, Anže Perne, Peter Oletič, Janja Čolič, Dolores Malic, Lea Sobočan, Mateja Kores, Polona Šivec
Izdajatelj / Issued by:
Slovensko društvo učiteljev angleškega jezika IATEFL Slovenia
CIP - Kataložni zapis o publikaciji Narodna in univerzitetna knjižnica, Ljubljana
37.091.3:811.111 (082)(0.034.2) 37.016:811.111 (082)(0.034.2)
MEDNARODNA konferenca IATEFL Slovenia @informedTeacher (20; 2013; Topolšica)
Zbornik povzetkov [Elektronski vir] = Book of abstracts / 20. mednarodna konferenca IATEFL Slovenia @informedTeacher, Terme Topolšica, 7.-10.3. 2013 = 20th International IATEFL Slovenia Annual Conference @informedTeacher, Terme Topolšica, 7-10 March 2013 ; [uredniški odbor Alenka Tratnik, Lea Sobočan, Peter Oletič]. - Ljubljana : Slovensko društvo učiteljev angleškega jezika IATEFL Slovenia, 2013
ISBN 978-961 -91438-1 -0 (pdf)
1. Vzp. stv. nasi. 2. Tratnik, Alenka, 1965-
266768384
20. mednarodna konferenca IATEFL Slovenia @informedTeacher Zbornik povzetkov 7.-10. marca 2013
Terme Topolšica
20th International IATEFL Slovenia Annual Conference @informedTeacher
Book of Abstracts 7-10 March 2013
Terme Topolšica
iatefl^lovenia
www.iatefl.si f
Local Materials for a Global Audience: Ireland Adult ELT Materials & Courses................................................5
A philosophy of teacher development...........................................................................................................6
Open Space: becoming the best teacher you can be......................................................................................6
Saying yes to literature..................................................................................................................................7
Fun and games for motivation.......................................................................................................................7
Vocabulary Learning Tips...............................................................................................................................8
Bringing life into the classroom......................................................................................................................8
Bringing Ireland into the classroom................................................................................................................9
SO(u)L surfer's guide to SOL galaxy................................................................................................................9
Getting them to speak..................................................................................................................................10
Group dynamics and warmers......................................................................................................................10
Interactive tools in the third triad of the primary school...............................................................................11
My Fairyland: Contemporary approaches to teaching young learners and the use of interactive materials ...11
Mixed Ability in the Primary Classroom.........................................................................................................11
Cyberbullying................................................................................................................................................12
Songs, Chants & Nursery Rhymes ... We'll Have Great Times.........................................................................12
I speak meme!..............................................................................................................................................13
Using newspapers in the classroom..............................................................................................................13
Does the teacher play a crucial role in motivation?.......................................................................................14
Social media exploited..................................................................................................................................14
The English Waltz.........................................................................................................................................15
Methodological implications on age differences: an experimental study .......................................................15
Facing New Challenges .................................................................................................................................16
Old is Gold....................................................................................................................................................16
Making the Right Noise.................................................................................................................................17
Animal-assisted language teaching...............................................................................................................17
Different Strokes For Different Folks.............................................................................................................18
English Matura Literature - Make it Shine....................................................................................................18
Critical Thinking in ELT Curriculum................................................................................................................19
Teaching English. Like, comment, subscribe..................................................................................................19
»I am the Lorax, I speak for the trees!«.........................................................................................................20
iTools for iTeacher........................................................................................................................................20
Fandom........................................................................................................................................................21
English Language Programs and Resources: What your RELO can do for you.................................................21
The Power of Laughter Exercises in Learning.................................................................................................22
Weaving your Web.......................................................................................................................................22
From reading into writing.............................................................................................................................23
Getting to know the world............................................................................................................................23
Digital storytelling projects...........................................................................................................................24
Teaching with Youtube.................................................................................................................................24
Wings and Webs: Education transformation through social media................................................................25
Translation in testing....................................................................................................................................25
Aligning Matura and Vocational Matura to the CEFR.....................................................................................26
CLIL - Content and language integrated learning..........................................................................................26
IB or not to Be and how to Be (become) an @IB Student..............................................................................26
Learn English Teens......................................................................................................................................27
Slang in English and Slovene teen magazines................................................................................................27
Dyslexia and learning English - helpful tips for teachers................................................................................28
English language teaching resources from the U.S. Embassy in Slovenia.......................................................29
The hidden potential of classroom English....................................................................................................29
How good is your Naturese?
Mojca Belak
Target audience: All
Type: PowerPoint free workshop
Summary: What all activities in the workshop had in common was ecology and the exploration of space where human civilization meets wilderness be it through a contact with a wild animal, a trip to an untouched place or simply by staying at home but being open to what is going on around you. The presentation started with a listening and speaking activity based on a supposedly true story of Python Albert. Afterwards the participants focused on smells and created a Hobbit calendar with special names of months based on smells. Activity If I were a tree included kinaesthetic work on vocabulary while Natural sounds raised awareness of what people often hear but rarely listen to. In the activity How birds see the world participants were gently led from visualizing the surroundings of their homes to drawing a map of where they live.
The workshop was a mixture of ecocriticism and NLP: activities for primarily visual, auditory and kinaesthetic learners were introduced while striving to point out that particularly in the western hemisphere fewer and fewer people are fluent in Naturese, the ability to understand nature and communicate with it.
Local Materials for a Global Audience: Ireland Adult ELT Materials & Courses
Alan Brennan and Gary Tennant
Target audience: Adults Type: Commercial presentation
Summary: Ireland often lies under the radar for students and teachers seeking a quality ELT destination. The aim of this workshop is to increase awareness of Ireland's contemporary culture and set out to Slovenian teachers and students the possibilities it offers as a quality centre for English language teaching and learning.
This workshop was divided into two parts. The first part had a focus on introducing tailor-made, Irish-themed materials and activities aimed at B2+ adult learners and teachers themselves. It explored contemporary Ireland, its people, traditions, and modern life through the use of communicative tasks that teachers with no assumed knowledge of Ireland could take away and use with their students. The second part introduced Atlas Language School (Dublin) and some of the study holiday options they offer, including junior program, exam preparation, group courses, and teacher refresher courses that are available through the EU life-long learning program.
A philosophy of teacher development
Willy Cardoso
Target audience: All Type: Plenary
Summary: One of the most powerful tools we can have is the ability to uncover what underpins our practice and the language we use to describe it. Through the presentation of various theories, he encouraged the teachers to make a portfolio of their best work, their techniques and to share their knowledge at workshops or on blogs. It is essential, therefore, that we open educational spaces for teachers to grow from classroom technicians to reflective educators.
Three things which are very important, according to the presenter, to reach this goal of becoming a reflective educator are:
>	Taping ourselves presenting before we actually step out there into the world and make it plain for everyone to hear and see. The goal we want to reach here is being satisfied with our manner of presenting,
>	Creating a blog, where we can post ideas and make them public. We can also get some constructive feedback from readers,
>	Creating a portfolio, something special and innovative, with all our previous teaching methods, places we have taught, plans for the future, etc. This could make us recognize our own potentials, and what is more, our future employer is able to see all the potential we possess.
Open Space: becoming the best teacher you can be.
Willy Cardoso
Target audience: All Type: Workshop
Summary: Relying on the power of self-organization, the agenda of the session was designed by the participants. They were encouraged to take ownership of the issue that emerge, address what puzzles, blocks, motivates, and influences their teaching; share stories and learn from others. Open space or Non-conference or Self-organized meeting has few principles: 1) whoever comes is the right people, 2) whenever it starts it is a good time, 3) when it is done it is done, and some others. At the end a report was produced and shared with the whole group.
Saying yes to literature Peter Cigrovski
Target audience: Primary, Secondary, Adults Type: Workshop
Summary: Literature can be fun. Correction. Literature IS fun - if done right. It's interesting, exhilarating and often a welcome change from the course book and/or newspaper articles. Linguistically and culturally relevant, literature offers a window on the target culture, enabling students to develop a number of language skills. Additionally, if teachers use the project-based approach to teaching literature, it makes students work more and teachers less - which is always a welcome change.
In this short and concise workshop the participants examined a longer piece of writing, a novel The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, and found out how this film-lit combo can be used effectively and successfully in the EFL context. As the workshop was based on a literature project that had already been successfully carried out in the classroom, the participants received materials and ideas that motivate students and can be used virtually for any other work of literature at the primary or secondary school level. There was also a detailed plan on the handout how the work of the students is supposed to be graded in this project. The grade should consist of the following: in-class literature presentation (20%), shared glossary entries (10 %), creating students' own film (30 %) and creative writing of 250-300 words (40 %).
The presenter stressed that after the project a tangible product should be made: a student guide to studying the book with glossary and a chapter-by-chapter analysis of the book. The presenter showed an example of his students' final product.
Fun and games for motivation
Stephanie Clarke
Target audience: All Type: Workshop
Summary: The workshop offered demonstrations of various games, exercises and activities, taught in EIA lessons and designed to boost fluency confidence and motivation. The presenter introduced the English in Action educational organization. The workshop continued with several activities which included finding a partner and briefly introducing ourselves, our work, and our thoughts (both positive and negative) about the conference, providing a chance to get to know different people right at the beginning of the conference. The workshop also included several activities to practice fluency, among them practicing explanations inside a very well-known fairy tale. The workshop concluded with pronunciation and vocabulary exercise on chanting phrases in a melody of participants' own choosing.
Vocabulary Learning Tips
Janja Čolič
Target audience: All Type: Workshop
Summary: If teachers want their students to fully acquire English, they have to cover all four skills in the English classroom: listening, reading, speaking and writing. Besides that, it is also very important, from the early stage of teaching English that students learn as many words as possible to be able to read, speak and understand English better. The presentation strove to give the participants some ideas how to teach vocabulary and how to use Quizlet, an easy-to-use online tool.
Quizlet is now among the largest educational websites in the world. Millions of teachers and students from every country in the world use Quizlet. While doing exercises prepared in Quizlet, students practice all four skills since some of the exercises practice listening, other practice reading and some practice writing. By repeating what they hear, the students can practice speaking as well. The teacher needs to dedicate some time to define what their students need to learn and then the tool itself does the rest. As a memorization tool, Quizlet lets registered users, create "sets" of terms (words) customized for individual students' needs. These sets of terms can then be studied by the students under several study modes. First, it provides users with flashcards; the students can simply flip through them and familiarize themselves with the material. Secondly, there are many games to help the students review vocabulary and different kind of definitions the teacher wants them to learn. There are also tests available that are automatically graded, matching exercises, listening activities and more. Students can track their progress and review the things they got wrong. The teacher can even prepare a contest for students in a space race. The presenter stressed that once students get to know Quizlet, the school computer room is not the only place where they will be learning English vocabulary. Many students love going on Quizlet after school, at home, as well.
Bringing life into the classroom
Sanja Čonjagič
Target audience: All Type: Workshop
Summary: The main theme of the talk was "teaching unplugged", a different approach to teaching on all levels. The main ideas behind this method are that teaching is supposed to be conversation-driven, materials-light and based on selecting stimulus to share with the learners. Some more theoretical points were made and then the participants were divided into three groups where they were encouraged to talk to the rest of the group actively and share ideas, experiences, and stories about approaches to teaching in a more improvised fashion.
Bringing Ireland into the classroom Barbara Dvornik and Erika Zorko Muller
Target audience: Primary, Secondary Type: Workshop
Summary: Although Ireland is one of three English-speaking states in the EU, it tends to be overlooked in prescribed school materials and overshadowed by larger English-speaking countries. The aim of this workshop was to increase awareness of Ireland's contemporary culture. This workshop was divided into two parts each including tailor-made activities for primary school students and the other one for secondary school students and/or adults. The presentation included interactive activities on topics such as contemporary Irish music, listening comprehension, word formation, interactive quiz on general knowledge on Ireland and reading comprehension. Primary school part focused on:
>	Introducing Ireland in general by using a short interactive (power point) quiz where students' active knowledge acquired in other school subjects is used (cross-curricular integration). The quiz was upgraded by matching exercises plus it has a competitive team value to it.
>	Music power-point presentation including contemporary artists (U2, Cranberries, The Corrs, Snow
>	Most important Irish sites (Cliffs, Dublin,...)
The activities for the secondary school part were designed with 'matura' preparation in mind, including a listening comprehension activity and a word formation activity based on Irish topics.
SO(u)L surfer's guide to SOL galaxy
Jasna Džambič
Target audience: All Type: Talk, commercial
Summary: The speaker presented SOL teacher training courses. She stressed that the courses offer great insight into the English language, where you get the chance to experience it through thinking about (inter)cultural differences, national identity and your own system of beliefs and principles as a teacher and as a person. She stressed that SOL courses are all attended by colleagues from different parts of Europe, thus ensuring an intercultural experience and that they offer many extra-curricular activities, such as day trips to nearby towns and villages.
Getting them to speak
Peter Dyer
Target audience: All Type: Plenary
Summary: The talk was in workshop form and the theme was getting students to speak using improvisation and drama. The presenter talked about how we can use improvisation to encourage our students to talk and free the imagination. He stressed that we not only learn ways to only encourage speaking but to allow our students to participate in conversations fluently and without fear of making mistakes. The resulting conversations or stories may not be great gems of literature but participants were delighted at the humour and their spontaneous creativity. The presenter stressed that these same exercises may be used for creative writing, such as dialogue rehearsals, written in the way that the first letter of your partner's sentence starts with the last letter from your sentence. Everything was mostly done in groups of two.
Group dynamics and warmers
Peter Dyer
Target audience: All Type: Workshop
Summary: The workshop concentrated on group dynamics and co-ordination and warmers using drama techniques. Much is being said about dynamics of groups and it is extremely important that we as teachers establish as much as we can, a group rapport with our classes, particularly new classes and this workshop is aimed at helping to do that. During this workshop all the participants were asked to take an active part. The presenter introduced several different approaches on how to warm up a group, how to motivate groups and how to make people to improvise in specific situations or if they are under pressure. He provided several examples how to do that, explained the purpose of the exercise and demonstrated it with an assistant. Some of the exercises that he presented are:
>	receiving a clap and saying something (either a name or a fruit or anything else) and passing it to the neighbour; she or he has to receive it and pass it onwards (so there are two claps),
>	the clapping exercise can be upgraded from clock-wise to anti-clock-wise; and lastly the claps can be sent from one part of the circle to another directly,
>	how to improvise different usages of a scarf: as a halter, as an towel, as a broom or similar,
>	how to get an imaginary present and talk about it with a partner.
Interactive tools in the third triad of the primary school
Andrea German Velušček, Bernarda Avsenik
Target audience: Primary Type: Workshop, commercial
Summary: The speakers presented the newest Touchstone interactive textbooks for teachers. They can use it in seventh, eighth or ninth grade and those textbooks can make teaching easier and at the same time they can be a real motivation for students. Since interactive materials are becoming a part of everyday language lessons, students find interactive activities motivating and more fun. E-book is designed to be user -friendly which makes it easy to use, as it includes a full scan of the whole book and offers different types of interactive exercises. It also includes all the tapescripts. The presenters showed the online tools and different ways of using the book and the interactive exercises with students in the classroom. Different types of interactive exercises for use at home or at school were also presented.
My Fairyland: Contemporary approaches to teaching young learners and the use of interactive materials
Andrea German Velušček, Bernarda Avsenik
Target audience: Primary Type: Workshop, commercial
Summary: The workshop presented contemporary approaches teachers can apply when teaching with the interactive materials for my Fairyland May series with young learners. The presenters introduced mainly activities that involve students very actively (singing, dancing, communicating with their class mates etc.) but are also appropriated to the rest of the students' curriculum - e.g. no writing in the first
Mixed Ability in the Primary Classroom
NickGoode
Target audience: Primary
Type: Workshop, commercial presentation
Summary: In this interactive workshop the participants found out how the primary course Hot Spot from Macmillan Education (approved for 6th - 9th grade) can help teachers cope with mixed ability classes. The speaker started the workshop about mixed ability classes with a warmer - a 3 fact presentation of each person to their partner. Later on he presented ways of dealing with stronger and weaker students on the basis of the primary course Hot Spot from Macmillan Education. The participants took part in exercises for fast finishers, as well as for slow learners. The speaker was motivated in presenting the best possible
exercises you can give to such students. Some strategies for dealing with dyslexic students were also mentioned.
Cyberbullying
Renata Halasz
Target audience: Primary, Secondary Type: Workshop
Summary: Because so many teens are Internet savvy, it is imperative that they also have an understanding of dangers that exist on-line and how to deal with them. Participants of the workshop watched real-life stories shared by actual teens who have experienced victimization firsthand and encourage teens to learn from their peers' mistakes. Activities that the presenter used in her classes and the feedbacks from her students were presented. Activities included:
>	'Amy's Choice,' a true story about a 15-year-old girl who ran away from home to meet in person with a man she first met on-line. A discussion followed on how Amy was at risk and how they can avoid similar situations by communicating with trusted adults.
>	Participants watched a true story of a boy who rated girls from school on a website, thinking it was a private joke between him and his friends. Students discussed the positive and negative aspects of the Internet and offered ideas about what the boy could have done when his friends asked him to rate the website.
>	After watching the video 'Two Kinds of Stupid' the participants discussed the controversial issue of schools disciplining students for what they post online. A debate followed in which the participants examined the issue in depth.
Internet Safety Basics were discussed as well.
Songs, Chants & Nursery Rhymes ... We'll Have Great Times
Nataša Intihar Klančar
Target audience: Young learners Type: Workshop
Summary: The presentation started off with a mini-lecture on the use of nursery rhymes, songs and chants in class. It is accepted that teaching vocabulary can on one hand be lots of fun but can on the other sometimes become repetitive and dull. Therefore teaching tools, techniques and approaches used should be versatile. So why not try using nursery rhymes, songs and chants with young learners? They supply enjoyable and easy-to-understand input, provide high motivation and at the same time enable faster learning and better remembering.
The presentation offered the audience a wide array of ideas, ranging from "If You're Happy and You Know It," "Pancake Song," "Elephant Song," "Are You Sleeping," "Itsy Bitsy Spider" to "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" and "The Grand Old Duke of York" to state a few. Various ways of incorporating them into English lessons were proposed with an emphasis on the presupposition that they can teach both, vocabulary and grammar.
Using chants, rhymes, and songs in class is far more than using them as time-fillers or rewards. They are all highly enjoyable, they create a motivating atmosphere and enable students to memorize and store the knowledge gained unconsciously and permanently. Fun and effectiveness hand in hand - what more could we wish from our English lesson?
I speak meme!
Nina Jerončič
Target audience: Adults Type: Talk
Summary: Television used to be the place where teenagers learnt most of their English, but the Internet is quickly overtaking this role. With the growth of communities such as 4chan, 9gag and tumblr, native and non-native speakers of English have developed their own slang, based on popular memes and pop culture. A teacher may therefore find that they do not understand certain words from the language they have dedicated their life to.
In this presentation the participants were introduced to the concept of a meme, the most popular ones were inspected and their origin, meaning and usage discussed. Some options of using them in class were presented, for example sparking a discussion with the use of'philosoraptor' or demonstrating puns with countless memes built in this way.
Phrases of memetic origin are already in active usage among the students of English and a lot of secondary school learners will at least recognize them. A teacher who masters the vocabulary of their students can not only understand them better, but make a real contact and a lasting impression.
Using newspapers in the classroom Tanja Kejžar
Target audience: Secondary Type: Workshop
Summary: The presenter started by discussing different authentic materials, such as newspapers, magazines, recipes, leaflets, TV listings, travel brochures, songs, posters and advantages and disadvantages of using them.
Certain criteria should be taken into account when selecting the appropriate news article, among them: suitability of the topic and task, length, language content and clarity of aims.
Newspapers can help students develop reading, writing and speaking skills if used in an appropriate way. A great supply of newspapers is needed because most of them have an online version. Participants of the workshop took part in several activities:
>	Guess the article
>	Summarizing the text
>	Newspaper treasure hunt
>	Put the text in order
>	Presentations
>	Role play based on text
>	Sets of three words
>	Letters to the editor
>	Creating and advert
At the end, the presenter distributed handouts with more creative ideas for using newspapers in a classroom environment.
Does the teacher play a crucial role in motivation?
Nurcan Kose
Target audience: Adults Type: Talk
Summary: A few studies have addressed the difference between native speaker teachers (NSTs) and non-native speaker teachers (NNTSs) in terms of motivation of students in oral expression skills. The aim of this study is to report the views of 20 English as a Foreign Language (EFL) students who had the opportunity to get the same course from a Native speaker and a non-native speaker teacher. The students were asked to talk about their feelings in regard to their level of motivation in communication skills classes. An open-ended questionnaire and an in-depth interview were used as the data collection tools to reveal students' feelings on the density of motivation they felt during their oral proficiency classes.
Social media exploited
Renata Krivec
Target audience: All Type: Workshop
Summary: Social media are present in our lives and even more in the lives of our pupils. As teachers we can use different features of social media, adapted or not and thus motivate our pupils to do tasks they
otherwise might not. So instead of complaining how Facebook, Twitter, You tube and other media influence our lives, let's make a change and try and use them in the classroom as well. In this workshop some practical examples on how to encourage our pupils to do different activities with the help of social media and consequently develop their language skills were presented. She focused on how they can be used as a tool for creative writing (e.g. Twitter) or as a pre-teaching activity (e.g. posting a photo connected to the topic or from trips on Facebook).
The English Waltz Luka Lavrin in Biljana Makuljevič
Target audience: All Type: Workshop
Summary: The presenters seemed to have a good hunch on how to motivate a tired crowd because they confidently guided the audience through the workshop even though it was their first time at the conference and it was late. We were introduced to a brief history of the English Waltz, and were then shown the difference between the Viennese Waltz and the English Waltz. Soon it was time to stop the talking and start the dancing. The attendees were divided into two groups - the female dancers and the male dances (one was, of course, predominant, so some exceptions had to be made). When each person had a partner, the presenters started guiding us through the basic steps ofthe waltz. Some members of the audience proved to be natural talents, others were trying very hard not to make fools out of ourselves, but everyone was having fun.
Methodological implications on age differences: an experimental study
Ana Lazarova-Nikovska
Target audience: All Type: Talk
Summary: The presentation considered the age effects in the initial stages of second language acquisition (L2A) of English. Within the non-generative line of research on the age issue in L2A, the rate of L2 development has been the topic of most interest. Contrary to children's advantage over adults in the final stages of L2A, it has been suggested that adults are faster learners than children in the early stages of L2A of morphosyntax (Krashen et al. 1982).
Data was presented from an experimental setting in which a group of native Macedonian children (age 811) and adults (age 20-60), all beginners of L2 English, underwent four weeks of intensive instruction on Verb raising in English.
The experiment lasted for four weeks, during this time all the participants were instructed English twice a week, mostly in negation and interrogative sentences. The participants were never given a negative
feedback but rather the correct version was provided. Two types of tests were administered at the end of the instruction period: a written Grammaticality Judgment Test on L2 syntax and a Fill in the Gap written test on L2 morphology.
The methodological implications of the study for the L2 classroom are twofold, referring both to the L2 learner and the L2 input: the adult group is not as homogeneous as it has been traditionally accepted and children can deal with more L2 input than what they have been given credit for. The result was that in morphology children did better than adults, but in syntax adults had proven themselves to be better. As a conclusion the presenter stated that Krashen's first generalization should be reformulated.
Facing New Challenges
Tjaša Lemut Novak
Target audience: Primary Type: Workshop, Commercial
Summary: The presenter introduced a new textbook New Challenges and the way it is constructed, focusing on the parts that she found the most useful in her teaching. A large folder of material was given to each of the participants, including the students' book New Challenges. She pointed out what she thinks is interesting, good or useful:
>	the pages are well organized, there are sections like Key Words and Word Builder,
>	at the back there are the so called Time Out Activities, for those who finish their tasks before others,
>	a picture dictionary that covers basic vocabulary (animals, occupations, transport, places, clothing, food and drinks, etc.).
The speaker then provided a few ideas for classroom activities, such as mood eggs, shop till you drop. The former can be used for teaching emotions, whereas the latter is useful for practicing English in an everyday situation such as in the supermarket.
Old is Gold Tjaša Lemut Novak
Target audience: Very young learners, Young learners, Primary Type: Workshop
Summary: Various games can be used for younger or older students, with slight changes. Depending on the level of knowledge different topics, methods and follow-up activities can be used. The presenter wrote a booklet with 30 such games and all the steps for each game, namely how to make it, what to use it for and how to change it to suit different purposes and groups of students, with 20 photocopiable A4 ready-to-use models at the end. Those games can be used merely to have fun or to teach/learn almost any
school subject in numerous different ways. Games such as snail tic tac toe, snakes and ladders, memory, dress Bozo, checkers, cards, ladders, puzzles, new species, ludo and activity are used to become inspired and inspire your students.
Making the Right Noise Steve Lever
Target audience: Primary Type: Talk
Summary: During the session classroom control issues were explored. It was suggested that the easiest way to keep students behaving well is to keep them busy, involved and focused and that it is easier to channel our students' energy than fight it. The participants found out what help is available in terms of methodology and what this meant in practical terms.
The presenter provided several different suggestions on how to cope if there are problems with the behaviour of the pupils and how to establish a contact with the parents in the way that the outcome of the meeting would be successful. Some of the issues that the presenter discussed were:
>	the teacher has to be firm,
>	the teacher shouldn't use the word 'but' when talking to parents, instead of that use the word 'and',
>	when we ask someone for help, we put them in a superior position,
>	do not take things personally.
When discussing classroom control the presenter gave some practical suggestions, among them tell bored students to run and race for a couple of minutes. He also stressed the importance of routine and consistency when dealing with classroom dynamics. The presenter reminded the participants that punishment is about power, so remembering the four Rs is imperative: reveal (make consequences clear), relate (response related to problem), respectful (tone and choices), reasonable (time for punishment/alternative).
Animal-assisted language teaching Jean McCollister and Bamm Bamm
Target audience: All Type: Talk
Summary: The talk covered the use of therapy dogs in teaching to reduce anxiety and increase motivation and engagement of learners. The presenter's companion was Bamm Bamm, a bilingual Border Collie, with the help of which she showed us how to use animals in the classroom. They demonstrated several
language-learning activities that the presenter had developed for learners of different ages in her work as an English teacher and volunteer in the Slovenian pet therapy organization Tačke pomagačke. The presenter showed some studies done on the subject and the results thereof, which point to the benefits of animal-assisted teaching. The benefits even extend to animal-assisted therapy for people with disabilities and elderly people.
Different Strokes For Different Folks
Marša Meznarič
Target audience: Very young learners, Young learners, Primary Type: Workshop
Summary: The workshop examined the practical ways of the Multiple Intelligence theory and other approaches to learning (a language), such as NLP, BrainGym. The workshop began with a BrainGym activity and continued with another one involving movement; it served to illustrate how demanding (if not impossible) it is to keep all students motivated at all times.
Many varieties of one activity were carried out in order to demonstrate how easily we can adapt it for different pupils.
After that another exercise was presented and each group of participants contributed their own ideas of how the exercise could be adapted.
At the end of the workshop some time was dedicated to discussion on Multiple Intelligences and their applications in class.
English Matura Literature - Make it Shine Helena Miklavčič Jakovac
Target audience: Secondary Type: Workshop
Summary: The presenter shared some useful links and activities that can be done with the radio plays (Orson Welles - This Is My Best and Escape) that were made based on Fitzgerald's novella The Diamond as Big as the Ritz. In addition, the idea ofthe American Dream was explored with video clips, an oppinionaire and reading activities. The concept of the American Dream is crucial in understanding American literary texts required for the Matura exam (The Diamond as Big as the Ritz, The Catcher in the Rye, "I'm Nobody! Who Are You?" and "I, Too, Sing America"). Some classroom materials that can be used when teaching basic literary terminology were presented and shared with teachers who are preparing the students for the literary essay. The participants were left to decide on which two examples (out of several options) on the handout would be discussed during the seminar. Afterwards the debate followed on those two
examples. In that way the presenter successfully included opinions of the participants into her presentation. She pointed out that there are no definite answers.
The presenter pointed out that it is not necessary that matura literature is studied only during the preparation for those exams. She uses literature texts even for the classes of grammar (for example for the exercises of tenses or gap fill). In that way grammar is incorporated in the literature and students are more motivated.
Critical Thinking in ELT Curriculum
Bojana Nikič Vujič
Target audience: All audiences Type: Workshop
Summary: The workshop aimed at showing how teachers can make a lesson plan with critical thinking included. It is of utmost importance that teachers think about the appropriate choice of the topic and material, and the way it will be presented to students. The teachers were be actively involved in using critical thinking before, during and after making a lesson plan. Special attention was be paid to various intellectual standards, cognitive categories, strategies, techniques, models, and taxonomies in order to plan for a lesson which actively involves students in higher order thinking. Various learning strategies and instructional techniques were analysed, so that teachers can choose the most appropriate ones. During the workshop Bloom's taxonomy and ABCD (Audience-Behavior-Condition-Degree) Model were used. The above mentioned can help teachers to approach their lesson plans in a critical way. The teachers are expected to think about the students as individuals, the objectives of the lesson, and the conditions necessary for fulfilling the objectives. That way the students have lessons where they are actively involved in higher order thinking, analysis and synthesis. It will help them to acquire the knowledge that will last much longer than the knowledge acquired by memorizing facts without processing them.
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Maruša Pangeršič
Target audience: Primary, Secondary Type: Talk, Workshop
Summary: The presentation consisted of some basic information about Generation Z and the effects of modern media. Understanding the new generation is crucial for the teachers to be able to connect with their students and try to adapt their teaching methods. Some practical ways for using social media (such as Facebook, YouTube and Twitter) both in class and from home were presented. There were several activities during the presentation when all the participants were included, one of them was asking the participants to write a story in groups of tree. The length of the story should be 140 characters or less,
which is also the maximum number of characters that can be used in one post on Twitter. The presenter also provided the information where such stories on Twitter can be found.
»I am the Lorax, I speak for the trees!«
Alan Paradiž
Target audience: Primary Type: Workshop
Summary: Creative, ICT supported, learner-centered ways to teach environment and ecology-related vocabulary in primary school.
Teaching vocabulary from the fields of environment, ecology and global warming is extremely challenging since majority of lexis pertaining these fields seems highly abstract and thus difficult for primary school pupils to comprehend, memorize and use.
The workshop illustrated that using ICT (in its broadest sense) aids students to acquire environment-related vocabulary much more easily, as a bunch of interesting, creative, fun and learner-centered activities, involving modern technology and much more, were put forward and demonstrated.
iTools for iTeacher Anže Perne
Target audience: Secondary Type: Workshop, Commercial
Summary: The presenter demonstrated a teaching technique he uses in his classrooms, the interactive new text books by Oxford University Press (OUP). They offer a full teacher support, video content is also included, and there are many new and updated texts. All this makes other media, such as DVDs, TV and radio, a thing from the past. What is more, dealing with an interactive board and an interactive text/work book, you can participate actively during your class, filling in the gaps as your students do in their work books, zooming important parts of texts and even give the students the opportunity to listen to parts of a certain text or the sentences from a dialogue. All material, from texts to pictures and tasks, are in the printed version of the book as in the interactive version. This workshop was also a possibility for other teacher to see how the programme works and to enlist for a free trial period with their students.
Get more Messages
Tanja Povhe
Target audience: Primary Type: Workshop, Commercial
Summary: The workshop revolved around the textbook Messages, the newly published Messages extension and the ways in the series can be used by the teachers of English. The presenter talked about the reasons behind the decision to publish the extension, which was at first meant to provide some additional material to students, who felt that the series was much too easy for them. That initial idea revolved into creating additional materials for students of various levels of knowledge of English. The presenter provided the participants with some of the activities she uses in her own classroom.
Fandom
Lora Rajič
Target audience: All Type: Talk
Summary: Fandom is a phenomenon which has existed for several decades, but has recently developed into a form of subculture, community and even a type of modern day book club. What is interesting about it is the strong effect it has on people, prompting them to form communities, write on their own and motivating them to study English. This process was stimulated by the growth of social websites and the accessibility of media due to the fast popularization of the internet. A short history of fandoms was mentioned, the first one being Sherlockians (fans of Sherlock Holmes), up to modern day fandoms such as the Harry Potter fandom and those who are still going strong such as Whovians (fans of Doctor Who), Janeites (fans of Jane Austen), the Tolkien fandom and others. The importance of fandoms was emphasized as a strong motivation for studying English and popular culture, its importance as a tool for developing creativity by writing fanfiction, and its social importance, that being the feeling of "belonging" to a community, the organization of social events such as conventions and gatherings and the formation of internet fanbases.
English Language Programs and Resources: What your RELO can do for you
Gergo Santa
Target audience: All Type: Talk
Summary: The speaker works for the US Embassy in Hungary and is active in the RELO programme, which stands for Regional English Language Office. The presenter talked about applying for the several programs
RELO offers to teachers and showed a video ofthe summer camp RELO organises every year. The teachers may apply for the summer camp, during which they are taught tolerant teaching, while their students have different activities during the day, building on their English knowledge as well as tolerance. The participants were encouraged to ask questions throughout the talk.
The Power of Laughter Exercises in Learning
Danny Singh
Target audience: All
Type: Talk, Workshop, Commercial presentation, PowerPoint free workshop
Summary: The main aim ofthe presentation was to show the power of laughter exercises on learning. The presenter is a qualified laughter yoga conductor and has been using these simple but effective exercises with his students for the last seven years with amazing results. Laughter does not only serve as a warm up, but helps shy students to reduce inhibitions, therefore making students more conducive and willing to learn. It opens up the right side of the brain making students more creative and in his most powerful experience. The presenter used the techniques with a group of 17 year old kids who had lost one of their classmates a few days before. They all laughed, even the girlfriend of the dead boy. Proof that laughter really does have all these benefits and more was tested in lively and dynamic exercises that followed. The participants engaged in a few laughter and breathing exercises, which teachers can use to teach students grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation.
Weaving your Web
Lea Sobočan
Target audience: All Type: Workshop
Summary: The main objective of this presentation was to present and familiarize the audience with a number of technological, web-based tools teachers can use for different activities or homework, and which are very simple to use, and most importantly save time for the teacher. Technology nowadays sparks very different responses, some of them being quite emotional. Many teachers say that technology is either a gimmick which has no place in the class or they say they have no time to keep up with the latest tools. The workshop tried to address the latter aspect in particular by striving to provide an array of tools which can be used to practice different aspects of language - from the four skills, to vocabulary and grammar. The presenter wished to stress that the most important aspect of technology was the ease of sharing knowledge and finished products, not only by students but as a powerful tool for teacher development as well. To illustrate the free nature of the Internet, the presenter shared the link to the whole presentation and invited the participants to share and adapt it to their individual needs.
From reading into writing
Tanja Stare Pušavec
Target audience: Primary Type: Workshop
Summary: Getting students to read English texts is an important part of each and every teacher's profession; getting them to put their ideas to paper even more so. Writing tasks present a nightmare for the majority of our students. They constantly complain they do not have the slightest idea or opinion on the topic we want them to write about. Why don't we exploit good reading texts to introduce interesting and challenging topics and stimulate discussion that can later on lead into writing activity? The workshop started with an overview of different reading skills and some basic principles behind the teaching of reading. It's important to keep in mind that reading is not a passive skill. If our students understand it as such they will always float on the surface which is not what we teachers want. We want them to be immersed in the text and benefit from reading it. They need to be given a chance to respond to the message of the text and express their feelings. We need to give them a reason to read - an interesting and challenging task. And this is also the point where writing begins. Reading means showing our students models of what we are encouraging them to do in writing.
Getting to know the world Mojca Šterk
Target audience: Young learners, Primary, Secondary Type: Talk
Summary: The first part of the presentation covered ETWINNING (the community for schools in Europe) www.etwinning.net: How does it work? What are your options? Twinspace was shortly explained. The presenter mentioned the projects she has participated in: Happy European's Day of Languages, A mascot travels' diary, An International Cookbook, Singing Europe, etc.
The second part was about iEARN (International Educational Association and Research Network) www.iearn.org, which covers the whole world. Past projects were presented, the most popular being Holiday Card Exchange, Teddy Bear Project, My Hero. Learning Circles were explained - the organizer puts 7 countries in a group where they work together for the period of 6 months.
There are many advantages to bringing this virtual world into the classroom, among them being getting to know the world, broadening the horizons, mutual understanding, meeting new friends, learned things put into practice, and above all it's very motivating and memorable. Plus it makes a difference in the world. There is only one disadvantage, it can get time consuming so you have to be well organized.
Digital storytelling projects
Shelly Terrell
Target audience: All Type: Plenary
Summary: The presenter stressed that students enjoy listening to stories and creating them. She even related our need to share to our ancestors' stories and rituals, no matter which culture we belong to. She has a belief that what connects all people in the world are stories. Storytelling encourages learners to use the language they have acquired and apply it to a context and setting. In the session, participants learnt about various tools that allow learners to create and share their stories digitally with the help of Voicethread, Storybird, Animoto, SoAnimate, StoryKit and many others. The response from the students is very positive, but she stresses the importance of parents, that the teacher must ask permission from them to use their children's voices, images. By warning the students that their parents will see their work, she prevents them to act foolish and making them to leave out the silliness from their work.
Teaching with Youtube
Shelly Terrell
Target audience: All Type: Workshop
Summary: YouTube is one ofthe largest social networks with billions of users worldwide daily. Many of the videos and features offer language learners the opportunity to enhance their English skills through short multimedia videos. The main advantage of YouTube is the illustration of the real language and providing a context. Young people like to post about themselves so YouTube engages them and appeals to their interests. In this session, participants will learn tips for teaching with YouTube. The participants walked away with various ready to use lesson plans and videos.
Wings and Webs: Education transformation through social media
Shelly Terrell
Target audience: All Type: Plenary
Summary: Nearly 1 million educators are using social networks to collaborate and share their resources with learners and educators worldwide. These resources and this support transform our instructional practice. The metaphor used throughout the workshop was "the butterfly effect". The presenter pointed out that social media can be very powerful. One of the questions that she posed during the lecture was how do we break cycles and perpetuate new cycles. The presenter talked about tools English language teachers are using to connect and walk through the beginning steps of building an online support network of ELT authors, trainers, learners, and educators. Some of the websites that she talked about are Facebook, Twitter, MOOCs and SEETA.
Translation in testing Lučka Tirič
Target audience: Secondary, Adults, ESP Type: Talk
Summary: Translation is invaluable in testing. It shows us where the real problem of the language is. The presenter argues that she has proved this by conducting the i nvestigation among the sample of 100 students of the secondary schools in Maribor.
In her research 11 morphosyntactical structures were tested twice. As measuring instruments two types of tests were chosen, the multiple choice test and the translation test.
The morphosyntactical structures were presented in the context and the results of both tests were afterwards compared and analysed. Why compare the results of two tests?
The multiple choice test is an objective test that tests only recognition knowledge whereas the translation test evaluates the performance in the target language. It tests production not only recognition. Good results achieved by the multiple-choice test might mislead the teacher to think that his students have mastered the structures but in fact they have not. Translation is a much better indicator of students' knowledge and can always be used as a reliable means of assessing their performance and awareness of functional elements in the target language.
Moreover, when carrying out the in-depth analysis of the results, the teacher can get practical information about the problems your students have when they have to use the language in real-life situations. Recently more and more attention has been paid to the conscious language learning because it raises the language awareness. The function of translation in language testing is to make the learners recognize the differences and similarities between the mother tongue and the target language.
Aligning Matura and Vocational Matura to the CEFR
Alenka Tratnik
Target audience: Secondary Type: Talk
Summary: Since the publication of the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) in 2001, it has become imperative for many language test developers to make the case that their exams are aligned to the CEFR. In this sense, then, in September 2008 The National Examination Centre initiated a 5-year project funded from the European Social Fund called Relating English Exams to the CEFR. In line with the recommendations of the so called "toolkit" Manual, a panel of twelve judges set out to align English examinations taking place in Slovenia. The results of the alignment of two external secondary school examinations, namely, the Matura and the Vocational Matura were presented.
CLIL - Content and language integrated learning Irena Varga Dervarič
Target audience: Young learners, primary school Type: Commercial presentation
Summary: Some basic issues were discussed at the beginning of the presentation. The presenter was quite sure a lot of teachers have already had some experience with CLIL and they would be motivated to talk about them. In the second part of the presentation two examples of CLIL were presented. While watching them the participants made notes for CLIL analysis. The hand-outs the participants received focused on curricular subject, language focus, lesson aims and comments/observations. In the last part of presentation ideas were compared and shared.
IB or not to Be and how to Be (become) an @IB Student
Polona Vehovar
Target audience: Secondary, Adults, ESP Type: Workshop
Summary: The International Baccalaureate Program is a well-known alternative program to Slovenian leaving examination (Matura) and it is acknowledged in all the main universities in Europe and abroad (e.g. Stanford, Harvard, Oxford, Cambridge). It has been present in Slovenia for 20 years now at Gimnazija Bežigrad, Gimnazija Kranj and II. gimnazija Maribor. In this presentation some advantages of the IB program, student profile as well as the IB student's point of view were presented. A practical example of how the IB matura differs from the national matura was presented through the communicative approach, the role of the teacher with some activities and a presentation of the cross-
curricular syllabus. The participants were presented with an example of the written part of the IB matura. The presentation was followed by an educational discussion about the general preparation of students for matura and about teaching in general.
Learn English Teens Sandra Vida
Target audience: Secondary Type: Workshop, Commercial
Summary: British Council has a long tradition of supporting English language teachers in Slovenia. The latest site Learn English Teens from British Council is bridging the gap between kids and adults with covering teenager topics and interests and helping teens learn in a way that they are familiar with and keeps them motivated. The presenter shared an idea on how to use this and similar websites, which is to take them to a computer room and tell them to explore the site, alone in pairs or even in groups of three and prepare a short report on what they did at the end of the lesson. The presenter feels that such a lesson confirms that teenagers do have interests and are willing to read, listen and work - as long as they think it is under their own terms. The feedback part of the lesson showed that they not only are able to find interesting things but that their recommendations to their peers are much more motivating than anything a teacher could ever select as reading. After that, it is not difficult to persuade them to do more as homework and the parts that were recommended the most, we did as the whole class activity in a "normal" classroom at a different time and discipline or whole-class participation was not an issue.
Slang in English and Slovene teen magazines
Polonca Volavšek
Target audience: Primary, Secondary Type: Talk
Summary: The talk focused on recent slang in English and Slovene teen magazines, especially its vocabulary and grammar. The majority of new teenage slang items refer to vocabulary because the vocabulary is the most variable aspect of a language. In defence of these claims, the most popular word-formation mechanisms in English and Slovene slang were shown, among them compounding, suffixation, affixation, back clipping and conversion. Furthermore, a set of features which are characteristic of texts were presented, including initialisms, logograms, words with omitted letters and emoticons. The impact of foreign loanwords on English and Slovene slang was pointed out. The presenter also demonstrated that slang influences changes in grammar, although they are not as transparent as vocabulary changes, focusing on five most frequently used slang grammatical features: the qualitative marker be like, the
reporting verb go, the use of innit, stative verbs in the progressive aspect, and non-standard tense in the conditional sentences.
Dyslexia and learning English - helpful tips for teachers
Karen White
Target audience: Secondary Type: Talk
Summary: Many teachers of English have students in their classes who are dyslexic. In the talk a short description was given of what dyslexia is and the various factors which influence it, followed by a look at some ofthe problems facing students with dyslexia in the classroom and especially when learning English as a foreign language. These include low self-esteem, poor motivation, organizational problems, inconsistent performance, sensitivity to light, problems with copying from the board, poor motor skills, and difficulties in reading out loud, hearing problems and poor short-term memory. What is important to remember is that each student is an individual and will not have all of these problems.
The main part ofthe talk concentrated on sharing practical tips and ideas which the presenter has used successfully over the last eight years with students with dyslexia. These were be subdivided under the following headings:
>	ways of increasing motivation,
>	helping students to organize their work in the classroom,
>	learning vocabulary and spelling,
>	grammar,
>	writing,
>	reading,
>	studying for exams,
>	tests and exams themselves,
>	homework.
Some ofthe suggestions the presenter stressed were:
>	Do not print black text on white paper, but blue. It is easier to read.
>	Do not wear new clothes at the examination because dyslectic students will think about that instead ofthe test.
>	Use different posters and fliers to learn new vocabulary.
>	Prepare different vocabulary boxes for the fliers with words to order them according to the knowledge.
>	Do not speak to the board but directly to the students. Some of them have to see the lips.
>	Learn the words in sentences.
To finish on a positive note, examples of people with dyslexia who have been successful in life were presented.
English language teaching resources from the U.S. Embassy in Slovenia
Christopher Wurst
Target audience: Secondary Type: Talk
Summary: The presenter gave a talk on tools and opportunities offered by the American Embassy in Slovenia. Some of the English language teaching tools available from the Embassy were described, including podcasts, social media, and music. Participants were also informed about exchange programs for Slovene high school students that enable them to improve their English, learn about the United States and its people, and develop their leadership potential. Finally, the Embassy's School Outreach Program was presented. The program sends American diplomats to high schools all over Slovenia. Every high school in Slovenia is eligible to receive an American diplomat to speak at their school and answer questions from students.
The hidden potential of classroom English Mojca Žefran and Silva Bratož
Target audience: All
Type: PowerPoint free workshop
Summary: The workshop aimed to explore the intrinsic potential offered by classroom interaction in the foreign language teaching practice. The presenters argued in favour of employing a systematic approach to using English for classroom interaction at all levels of foreign language teaching, including young learners.
The first part examined several theoretical aspects of classroom communication and discussed the main characteristics of this type of interaction, while the second part presented the results of a preliminary research based on a survey carried out among primary school English teachers in order to identify the extent to which they use English in routine classroom interaction. The results suggest that while the respondents are well aware ofthe benefits of using English in classroom communication, they generally use it in an arbitrary and unsystematic fashion. The presenters feel that the teacher can contribute to the effectiveness ofthe teaching process by employing deliberate tactics in the choice of language used. The results ofthe survey suggest that aside from teacher-pupil interaction, there is a considerable potential in encouraging peer communication in English. The workshop focused on developing various activities aimed at enhancing both teacher-pupil and pupil-pupil interaction in English, the participants also took part in an exercise called T-time (talking time), in which the students spend the first five minutes of each lesson discussing a topic chosen by the teacher, whilst not being monitored or corrected. The participants had to think of topics they could use with the young learners, primary school students and high schoolers.