More than 450 teachers from across Burma gathered in Yangon for the British Council 15th ELT Conference. The theme for this year’s conference, which is the largest of its kind in Burma, was Engage: Making Teaching and Learning More Engaging for All.
At the opening ceremony Kevin Mackenzie, Director of British Council Myanmar, observed that, “Classroom practice is only effective when the learner is motivated by the task and becomes fully involved with it. So I am delighted to see this year’s talks focusing on the theme of engaging learners, whether it’s through making classroom materials more engaging, motivating learners through activities and games, or involving them through teamwork and critical thinking.”
As well as English teachers ELT experts from language institutes, international schools, training providers and educational institutions gathered at the Sedona Hotel in Yangon on the 13th and 14th September.
The conference is proving to be an annual highlight for English professionals in Burma and has grown considerably since the first conference in 1999, which only had 16 workshops on day. This year’s conference was a full two day event with 56 workshops, 65 presenters and keynote speeches and panel discussions.
One teacher commented that "the best thing about the conference, which I've been attending for the past 5 years, is that the workshops are very practical, so you can easily transfer what you've learnt in them into your own classroom setting.”
