The 11th METU International ELT Convention is going to be held at the Culture and Convention Center, METU, Ankara on the dates 31 May – 02 June 2012.

The theme of the Convention is Embracing Challenges as we acknowledge the social transformation the world is going through.

Advancements in social sciences as well as the advent of technological tools have changed the way we learn, use and teach languages. Learners are ever more exposed to other cultures and are in contact with people from diverse backgrounds through the wonder-gadgets of the 21st century. Therefore, there is a need to familiarize learners with concepts outside their cultural contexts, engage them with higher level mental skills related to language use, and foster critical perception, in general.

Throughout the Convention we will try to identify and address challenges that emerge from the changing needs and growing demands of learners as members of academic, social or business communities in a globalised world. We hope that the Convention will become a platform conducive to enhancing the teaching and learning experience of all the participants involved.

The English Language Programs department of BİLGİ University İstanbul is proud to present the Bilgi ELT Conference 2012 with the title “Using Resources Efficiently in ELT.”

The event will feature esteemed colleagues and well known guest speakers from Turkey and around the world.

You are invited to attend this gathering and share your insights, experience and ideas on the theme of “Using Resources Efficiently in ELT” from the point of view of:

Teaching, assessing, curriculum designing, teacher education, professional development and other relevant areas which relate to efficient use of resources in ELT.

Registration to: eltreg@bilgi.edu.tr
Speaker proposals to: eltpro@bilgi.edu.tr

Good classroom drama activities animate classes. Passively-learnt words and phrases spill out from the students if the activities are focused, well formulated and managed.

Teachers who use them love them. Teachers who don’t use them often cite the time factor as the reason why they don’t. There is just so much to get through in a lesson; there just isn’t time for ‘fun’ stuff like drama.

This workshop attempts to show that drama activities are (a) fundamental to successful language learning and (b) not as time-consuming as you might think. Plus some ideas about how to use drama activities give you a chance to observe what’s happening and make notes.

About Ken Wilson

Ken Wilson is a teacher trainer, author of ELT materials and until 2002, artistic director of the English Teaching Theatre. In the 1970′s he wrote and recorded Mister Monday, the first-ever collection of ELT songs. Since then he’s written and recorded about 150 language teaching songs. He has also written 100 radio and TV programmes for BBC English. Ken now writes mainly course material including Smart Choice; Just Right Advanced and Quick Smart English. In 2008, OUP also published Drama and Improvisation, a compilation of about 75 of his drama activities.

Where:
Taksim Hill
Siraselviler Caddesi
No:5 Taksim
Istanbul

When:
Friday April 13, 2012 at 18:00

Dr. Herbert Puchta, former President of IATEFL, will be giving a plenary presentation at TED Istanbul College at 11.40 on Sunday March 25th as part of the 5th International TED ELT Conference.

The conference,entitled “Empowering the Learner: Linking Assessment to Learning” is a two day event taking place on March 24th and 25th. Please go to http://elt.ted.org.tr for details of the programme and registration.

Herbert Puchta is a regular plenary speaker at international conferences and has given workshops and seminars all over the world. For more than two decades, he has carried out research into the practical application of findings from cognitive psychology to the teaching of English as a Foreign Language. Herbert has co-authored numerous course books and resource books including the new Cambridge series for primary schools, Super Minds.

For more details of Dr Puchta’s publications and other Cambridge University Press titles please contact your local Dünya Aktüel representative or the Cambridge office in Istanbul;

e-mail:istanbul@cambridge.org

3rd International Visible Conference on New Trends in Education will take place on 14th of April, 2012 at Ishik University in Erbil, Iraq.

With this conference this year they’d like to build up on the successes of the 1st International Visible Conference on Personal Approaches to English Language Teaching on 17th of April, 2010 accessible here at elt.ishik.ac and of the 2nd International Visible Conference on Educational Management on 16th and 17th of April, 2011 accessible here at emcf.ishik.ac.

As the conference topic relates to education in general we’d like to invite abstracts that relate to the new trends and innovations in education in general with the major focus on the following topics:

* Language acquisition and learning, Language education
* Intercultural Education, Applied linguistics
* Language teacher education
* TESOL / TESL / TEFL
* Language curriculum development
* Language teaching methodology
* Language testing and assessment
* Language program evaluation
* English for specific purposes
* Independent / Autonomous Learning
* Innovation in language teaching and learning
* Arts Education
* College and Higher Education
* Curriculum and Instruction
* Democracy Education
* Developmental Psychology
* Distance Education
* Educational Planning
* Educational Technology
* Environmental Education
* Foundations of Education
* Geography Education
* Guidance and Counseling
* Health Education
* History Education
* Human Resources in Education
* Human Rights Education
* Innovation and Changing in Education
* Instructional Design
* Learner Needs in 21st Century
* Learning Psychology
* Life Long Learning
* Mathematics Education
* Measurement and Evaluation in Education
* Mobile Learning, Multi-cultural Education
* Music Education, New Learning Environments
* Nursery Education, Pre-school Education
* Primary School Education
* Professional Development
* Science Education
* Secondary School Education
* Social Sciences Teaching
* Special Education
* Sports and Physical Education
* Teacher Training
* Technology-Based Learning
* The Role of Education in the Globalization World
* Vocational Education
* Other New Trends in Education Related Topics.

The 5th International Conference of English as a Lingua Franca is being hosted by Boğaziçi University, Faculty of Education, Department of Foreign Language Education, Istanbul, Turkey from May 24 to 26, 2012.

The conference theme is: ‘PEDAGOGICAL IMPLICATIONS OF ELF IN THE EXPANDING CIRCLE’.

However, the conference is open to all other ELF related topics such as:
› ELF and Language Policy
› ELF and Language Education
› Collecting ELF Corpora and Describing ELF
› The Sociolinguistics of ELF
› Contact Languages and ELF
› ELF and Multilingualism

Plenary speakers:
› Cem Alptekin, Boğaziçi University, Turkey
› Martin Dewey, King’s College London, UK
› Enric Llurda, University of Lleida, Spain
› Tim McNamara, The University of Melbourne, Australia

Plenary panelists:
› Jennifer Jenkins, University of Southampton, UK
› Anna Mauranen, University of Helsinki, Finland
› Barbara Seidlhofer, University of Vienna, Austria
› Henry Widdowson, University of Vienna, Austria

Special symposia organizers:
› Robert Baird, University of Southampton, UK
› Kingsley Bolton and David Graddol, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
› Ahmar Mahboob, The University of Sydney, Australia
› Nicos Sifakis, Hellenic Open University, Greece and Andrew Blair, University of Sussex, UK
› François Tochon, University of Wisconsin, Madison, USA

Website: www.elf5.org

Please click on the links on the left for more information regarding the Call for Papers, Registration, Accommodation, Plenary Speakers, and so on.

William Gordon Stables wrote in excess of 130 books.

While the majority of this large output was boys’ adventure fiction, often with a nautical or historical setting, he also wrote books on health, fitness – of which this text is a prime example – and medical subjects, as well as the keeping of cats and dogs.

Stables’ classic text is presented here in its original form as part of TUP’s history series.

Small is the book, in size little more than a pamphlet; yet mayhap it contains hints that will not be thrown away on any reader, and may be invaluable to many who wish to secure health, long life and happiness.

ISBN-10: 114434977X
ISBN-13: 978-1144349774

Download your free copy of this classic text Turkish and Other Baths here.

Dogus University 1st Annual ELT Conference aims to bring together the ELT community to identify the wide variety of challenges in foreign language education in an EFL context and provide an environment for reflection and ultimately encourage participants to turn their own challenges into opportunities.

The conference is selecting a British Council Roving Reporter for the Conference through a writing challenge. The winner from outside Istanbul will have their flights, hotel accommodation and subsistence paid for by the British Council.

The Roving Reporter will report on the major debates, news and ‘coffee bar gossip’ at ‘Dogus University ELT Conference’ as it happens. They will use a laptop to produce quick-fire reports, mini-interviews and personal impressions. These will be published to a wider audience online. The Reporter’s coverage will enable ELT professionals to keep up with the conference even if they can’t attend in person.

They invite you to apply for selection as one of our Roving Reporters by completing the Writing Challenge below. Applications will be judged by the British Council. The winner chosen will be notified by 22 November 2011.

Good luck and we look forward to reading your entries!

Click the here to complete the writing challenge, which is to reflect on the conference theme and image, possibly in relation to your own ELT related challenges and opportunities in no more than 40 words.

Don’t forget to put a tick if you would like your entry to be considered by the British Council.

Deadline for entries:
The deadline for receipt of entries is 5pm, Friday 18 November 2011. Entries received after this deadline will not be considered. We will not be able to return or comment on any of the entries.

Terms and conditions are only for teachers of English in Turkey.

If you have any questions, please contact us at:

tr-eltteamturkey@britishcouncil.org.tr

The British Council is recruiting 20 part-time trainers to promote English products, conduct training workshops and deliver presentations in their regions and support BC online activities and events on the Teaching English website.

We invite all interested teachers with relevant experience to complete the application form to take part in the trainer training workshop to be held in Istanbul from November 28 to December 2, 2011. Successful participants in the workshop will become British Council ELT trainers and will represent our activities in English across Turkey.

Trainers will be expected to:

* commit themselves to deliver teacher development workshops on behalf of the British Council from across Turkey from January 23 to January 27, 2011 and also from January 30 to February 3, 2012.

* deliver regular teacher development workshops and presentations promoting BC products in English (e.g. websites, training courses, etc.) at the events organised by themselves and at other ELT events held in their region. The events should be held at least once a month if not agreed otherwise and will be free
for teachers who attend.

* support the British Council Teaching English website by actively moderating the discussion on one of the assigned forums; writing blogs, identifying candidates for teacher feature and video lessons and other activities as agreed with the British Council.

* report every three months to the British Council on completed activities, feedback from the activities and suggestions on further improvements for face-to-face and online activities.

* support other relevant BC activities in English.

* suggest a replacement in advance in case of withdrawal or end of commitment period.

British Council undertakes to:

* provide training and promotion materials
* provide certificates confirming the status of the trainers
* organise yearly training and co-ordination meetings
* pay 25 GBP per hour for training. Meals, accommodation and travel expenses
* offer opportunities for professional development whenever possible
* take every other effort to support and promote the trainers

To apply for participation in the workshop, please contact Raymond Kerr at:
raymond.kerr@britishcouncil.org.tr for an application form and return it by November 4, 2011.

During the workshop you will learn about each British Council product for English, upgrade your trainer training skills, practice delivering workshops and agree your training plans for the year. If you are selected for the trainer training course, all expenses for the workshop will be covered by the British Council.

Criteria for selection:

* At least 6 years of English teaching experience
* High level of English (C1/C2)
* Previous teacher training experience (formal or informal)
* Motivation and enthusiasm to become a BC trainer
* Access to large numbers of teachers in your region
* Availability of time and resources to conduct the activities within the terms of reference.

Turkish University Press would like to announce the call for contributions to a volume concerned with Teaching EFL to Young Learners from a global perspective. The editors welcome articles on a wide range of topics – however they must focus on the English language education of learners
between the ages 5 – 15. Although articles are by no means limited to the following list, they should preferably focus on:

• Teaching EFL to young learners
• The development of aspects of young learners’ EFL skills and / or knowledge (reading,
  writing, speaking, listening, vocabulary, grammar)
• Language learning strategies of Young Learners
• The assessment of Young Learners
• The use of L1 / L2 in the Young Learners classroom
• Innovative research and / or pedagogical innovations
• Curriculum design (and educational reform) for young learners
• Evaluations of Young Learner materials and resources
• Training and / or professional development of English teachers for Young Learners
• Global educational policies and trends in teaching English to Young Learners
• Challenges in the teaching of English to Young Learners

Those interested may obtain further information by downloading the call for submissions guideline (Call for Book Chapters – YOUNG LEARNERS).