Keynote: Taking video apart
Digital video is fast becoming the world’s favourite medium for communication. In the ten years since YouTube was born, we have seen online video change the world in diverse and unpredictable ways. In this practical talk, we are going to examine video in its online variety and look at some of the ways in which it has been changing our profession as language teachers.
Working with video means looking for ways of maximising student interaction with it. Throughout the talk, I would like to demonstrate a number of diverse classroom activities and teaching techniques which aim to do exactly that.
We will look at some guiding principles that will be useful for any teacher who wishes to use video in the classroom. Finally, we will consider a number of ways in which video and video production can allow us to develop professionally.
Workshop: The teacher as a storyteller
A good story can be an effective way of encouraging learners to think, speak, write, argue, discover and learn. When contextulised within the framework of a narrative, the language that we teach and the tasks that we set can become more meaningful and memorable.
The English teacher’s voice is the most important source of language in the classroom. And for any teacher who wishes to develop his or her communicative skills, teacher-led storytelling can be the perfect way of doing so. When our storytelling skills improve, so do our abilities to explain grammar, define words, give instructions and present ideas.
In this workshop –which will be suitable for English teachers of all types –we will consider ways in which a short narrative can be used to generate a whole-class discussion with language learning opportunities along the way. We will also look at a number of original stories and storytelling activities.