March, 2016
Event Details
When: Tuesday, March 22, 9:00 – 13:30
Where: Deree Faculty Lounge
Organized by: the HELLENIC OPEN UNIVERSITY
Funded by: TALE (Teachers’ Assessment Literacy Enhancement) – ERASMUS+
Hosted by: Deree – The American College of Greece
Attendees will receive a certificate of attendance at the end of the workshop
Parking available on campus
For more information please contact Nicos Sifakis: [email protected] or Natasha Tsantila: [email protected]
Workshop Schedule
9:00 | Arrivals / Registration
9:30 | Introduction: Presentation of the TALE Program—presentation of the Greece-based research
10:00 – 11:00 | Main Talk
“Non-native teachers of English as a lingua franca: Taking a new approach to language teaching and classroom assessment literacy”
Dr Enric Llurda, University of Lleida, Spain
11:00 – 11:30 | Coffee break
11:30 – 13:00 | Workshop
“Knowing washback when you see it: Exploring its pitfalls and potential”
Dr Nicos Sifakis, Hellenic Open University
13:00 – 13:15 | Conclusions
Main talk
Within the current globalized context, with English being the most frequently used lingua franca in the world, there is a need to take a new approach to how English is used and how it is assessed. Such approach must look at the actual uses of English by speakers who mainly use it as a lingua franca rather than as a home language. In Expanding Circle contexts, like Greece for instance, the ultimate and most realistic goal of English learners is to become successful users of the language without attempting to substitute their L1 identifying language features in order to resemble native speakers of English. Given this situation, non-native teachers have a key role at targeting such goal, but they need to be aware of the requirements of the specific learning situation. In this talk, I will attempt to show how non-native teachers’ awareness of their strengths, as well as awareness of the increasing role of English as an international lingua franca, can result in more effective assessment practices and ultimately more successful learning.
Workshop
Washback is identified as the, often negative, impact of (usually high-stakes) standardised exams on courseware and, as a consequence, teaching and learning. In this workshop, we will explore different aspects of washback by looking at examples from textbook activities. The aim of this workshop is twofold: (a) to help participants develop criteria for identifying negative washback in their teaching practice and (b) to to engage teachers in adapting their course book activities to meet its curricular needs by focusing on learning rather than testing.
Enric Llurda
Enric Llurda is an associate professor and current Head of the Department of English and Linguistics at Universitat de Lleida (Catalonia, Spain). He teaches courses on applied linguistics, intercultural communication and research methods. He has done research on bilingualism, language attitudes, language awareness and language teaching, with a strong emphasis on non-native teachers in TESOL and ELF. He has edited the book Non-native language teachers: Perceptions,challenges and contributions to the profession (Springer, 2005) and has co-authored two books in Spanish: La conciencia lingüística en la enseñanza de lenguas (2007) on the promotion of language awareness in language education; and Plurilingüismo e interculturalidad en la escuela: Reflexiones y propuestas didácticas (2010) on the development of multilingual and intercultural competence in secondary education. He has also published several articles in edited volumes and specialised journals, and was one of the plenary speakers at ELF5 in Istanbul (2012). He is currently involved in a research project on the impact of university student mobility programmes on the development of English proficiency, intercultural competence and awareness of ‘European identity’
E-mail: [email protected]
Nicos Sifakis
Nicos Sifakis is an associate professor in the School of Humanities of the Hellenic Open University. He holds a B.A. in Computational Linguistics and a Ph.D. in language and linguistics from the University of Essex, UK. He directs the Master’s in Education in TESOL programme of the Hellenic Open University an d has been involved in it since its inception in 1998, also being involved in the production of educational materials as a distance education methodology advisor, and is the author and co-author of the study guides for the language skills and English for specific purposes modules used in that programme. He is editor-in-chief of Research Papers in Language Teaching and Learning. He has published more than 50 research papers, which appear in various international refereed journals, edited collections and conference proceedings. His research interests include intercultural communication and pedagogy, teaching and researching English as an international lingua franca, language teaching methodology, distance education, adult education and teacher education. His book The English Language and Globalisation: Facets of Present-day Reality in Greece, Europe and the Rest of the World. (Athens: Herodotus) was published, in Greek, in February 2012.
E-mail: [email protected]