Our key speakers are…

We are thrilled to announce that we will be joined by three spectacular speakers at TOSCON14!

Opening plenary speaker
Deconstructing Video

On Friday, May 23, we will look at the medium of video as if were a car engine. We will take it apart and consider each individual component in isolation. In doing so, we will see possibilities for language production and language study on the way. We will also look at a number of guiding principles that will be of use to any teacher who wishes to make the most of the medium in the classroom!

Jamie Keddie is a teacher, storyteller and international conference presenter based in Barcelona. He is the creator of Lessonstream, a resource site for teachers and a British Council ELTon award winner. Jamie has written two language teaching resource books through Oxford University Press, Images and the upcoming Bringing Online Video into the Classroom (just in time for TOSCON14!).

Special guest speaker
Guided Discovery for Language Instruction

An implementation framework

On Saturday, May 24 during Session A: New language can be introduced in different ways, and there has been a long standing debate on how to do it best. Most approaches fall within the deductive / inductive classification. Guided Discovery takes the best from both in a way that makes it work for a variety of settings and contexts, and as a tool to introduce different aspects of language at all levels. The purpose of this presentation is to provide theoretical background and a practical 4-step framework for implementation of Guided Discovery, accompanied by examples to see it in use.

Vicky Saumell holds a Diploma in the Theory and Methodology of TESOL. She has written and tutors New Learning Environments for the Master’s in ELT at Universidad de La Sabana, Colombia. She is also a freelance author for Cambridge University Press and most recently, Pearson ELT’s English in Common series. 

Closing plenary speaker
Can Teachers Teach?

An Introduction to Demand High

On Saturday, May 24: Contemporary teachers have become mainly classroom managers and operators of materials. This is perhaps a natural outcome of Communicative Approaches – and of much current training – but is it really what we want? We may desire more “learning-centred approaches” but in class much teaching has become ritualised, with organisational tools such as “group discussion” expected to achieve learning goals without any teacher intervention.  When I observe lessons nowadays I often see a teacher who does little more than a series of announcements to start up and close down exercises and activities. There is typically a lack of “up-close” teaching skills, no “hands-on” work with language and little or no engagement with the process or experience of learning.  Much of traditional “teaching” is devolved to the coursebook.  This talk is a meditation on whether current ELT may have painted itself into a corner.

Jim Scrivener is currently Head of Teacher Development for Bell International. Previously he was Head of Teacher Training for International House, Hastings and Director of Education for IH Budapest. His books include Learning Teaching (Macmillan ELT), and most recently,Teaching English Grammar (Macmillan ELT), both award-winning and widely used among teachers and trainees.