PD Update

29 January 2015

Join English Australia Queensland branch members for their annual professional development festival, showcasing best practice in member colleges at The English Australia QLD Branch PD Fest.

When: Saturday, 21 March 2015, 9am – 4pm  

Where: Sir Llew Edwards Bldg, ICTE-UQ, The University of Queensland, St Lucia

Cost: Early Bird: English Australia members - $40; Non-members - $60 (by 27 Feb)           

          After 27 Feb: English Australia Members - $50; Non-members: $70 (by 13 March)                 

          Includes conference bag, morning tea & lunch, PD certificate

Registration: Register online at http://goo.gl/QPwFN

Call for papers: Please go to the abstract submission form at http://goo.gl/HLup8. The abstract deadline is 15 February. Abstracts will be considered at the time of their submission, so submit early before all the presentation spots run out.

The first #AusELT Twitter chat of 2015 is scheduled for Thurs 5th Feb at 8.30pm Sydney time. You can still make suggestions for the topic (anything to do with teaching/learning) on the #AusELT facebook page.

Melbourne University is hosting two interesting lectures on language testing. The first, Three problems in language testing for applied linguistics is on 30 Jan and the second, New Developments in Language Testing is on 4 February.  For details click here.

Do you struggle to get all students working equally when doing group work? This is a useful article from Faculty Focus with practical suggestions for scaffolding group work: http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/effective-teaching-strategies/students-riding-coattails-group-work-five-simple-ideas-try/

New research from the University of Kent shows increasing evidence that language learning restructures the brain making it more efficient. For a quick and interesting read, click on this link: http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2015/01/13/bilingualism-restructures-brain

Does your college run Cambridge exam courses? If so, your teachers may find this British Council webinar recording from David Petrie useful: it has practical ideas for teaching Cambridge exams writing tasks: https://britishcouncil.adobeconnect.com/_a917587435/p1yxvyle468/?launcher=false&fcsContent=true&pbMode=normal

I have recently converted more past editions of the English Australia journal to the English Australia website in their new format that can be read on mobile devices. Now you can catch up on reading those articles you were interested in anywhere you like: http://www.englishaustralia.com.au/journal-issues

An exciting opportunity for Australians has come up: Argentina’s Federation of English Teachers’ Associations (FAAPI) is looking for Australian presenters at its annual conference: ‘EFL Classroom in the New Millenium – Local Developments and Global Concerns’ to be held in on24-26 September 2015. For more information on how to submit a proposal, please contact Ms Mariana Agnolin, Business Development Manager Austrade, Buenos Aires, by 6 March 2015.

Innovate ELT has made a call for papers for its conference in Barcelona on 8-9 May 2015:‘Innovation in ELT, now and into the future.’

Conferences 2015

February

28-1 March CamTESOL Conference , ‘English: Building Skills for Regional Cooperation and Mobility’, Phnom Penh, Cambodia. (Remember you can sponsor a Cambodian teacher to attend this too.)
 
March

18-20 Language Testing Research Colloquium , ‘From Language Testing to Language Assessment: Connecting Teaching, Learning, and Assessment’, Toronto, Canada 

April

25-26 2015 International Conference on English Education, ‘English for Specific Purposes (ESP): Global Trends and Local Practices,’ Taipei, Taiwan

May 

7-8 NEAS Management Conference, Pyrmont, Sydney

8-9Innovate ELT, ‘Innovation in ELT, now and into the future,’ Barcelona, Spain, call for papers open 

June 

11-13 CAES (Centre for Applied English Studies) International Conference, ‘Faces of English: Theory, Practice and Pedagogy,’ Hong Kong

September

23-25 English Australia Conference , ‘Looking ahead: change, challenge and opportunity’, Brisbane Hilton, QLD

24-26Argentina’s Federation of English Teachers’ Associations (FAAPI) annual conference: ‘EFL Classroom in the New Millenium – Local Developments and Global Concerns,’ Argentina, call for papers now open: contact Ms Mariana Agnolin for details 

November

23-26 4th Language Education and Diversity Conference, Auckland, New Zealand, call for papers now open until 1 February 2015

19-21 The 14th Symposium on Second Language Writing, ‘Learning to Write for Academic   Purposes,’ AUT University, Auckland, New Zealand, call for papers now open until 27 February 2015

December

3-5  TESOL International Association Regional Conference, ‘Excellence in Language Instruction: Supporting Classroom Teaching and Learning, National Institute of Education, Singapore, call for proposals now open until 15 April 2015

Did someone else at your college forward this to you? If you have an English Australia member college email address you can sign up for PD Updates directly – just contact easec@englishaustralia.com.au . 

Please feel free to email me at sophieokeefe@englishaustralia.com.au or phone (02) 9264 4700 with any questions.

Kind regards,

Sophie O’Keefe
Professional Support & Development Officer