ELTWeekly Volume 7

The Why Linguistics Conference, May 7-9, 2015 – Tartu, Estonia

Post author:Tarun Patel
Post published:April 7, 2015
Post category:ELT Conferences ELT Newsletter ELTWeekly ELTWeekly Volume 7 Volume 7 Issue 8
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[ELTWeekly Volume 7, Issue 9 | April 6, 2015 | ISSN 0975-3036]

After decades of seemingly scattered research, the question of how linguistics fits into the bigger picture of the sciences and the world of knowledge in general has surfaced in connection with new methods and technological advances which deal with natural language and communication, attempt to simulate them, or use linguistic knowledge to interpret human behavior.

This conference proposes a constructive take on the question “Why?”, as in, why are we doing what we are doing as linguists, and what is our contribution to knowledge? Or, equally well, what is the contribution of a particular domain of linguistics to other disciplines, and in turn, their contribution to linguistics? To what end do linguistics and any such neighboring fields of research or industry converge in their methods, results and problem setting? This is intended to be the binding theme of this otherwise highly interdisciplinary event.

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5th International Conference on Foreign Language and Applied Linguistics, May 7-10, 2015 – Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Post author:Tarun Patel
Post published:April 7, 2015
Post category:ELT Conferences ELT Newsletter ELTWeekly ELTWeekly Volume 7 Volume 7 Issue 8
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[ELTWeekly Volume 7, Issue 9 | April 6, 2015 | ISSN 0975-3036]

To provide an access among many to rich ideas on educational excellence, International Burch University starts holding its annual conference on Foreign Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics (FLTAL). The FLTAL Conference aims to bring together researchers, practitioners, and educators with interests in language teaching and linguistics at all levels from around the world. The theme of the FLTAL 2015 conference, “Language Assessment for Multilingualism: Promoting Linguistic Diversity and Intercultural Communication” is designed to attract the research communities to promote connections between theory and practice and explore different perspectives on the application of research findings into practice.

We are kindly welcoming scholars coming from the international and local regions as well as language teachers and prospective teachers to Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. The overarching theme of this annual conference reflects important trends and issues on language teaching and linguistics. The current conference will bring together numerous famed applied linguists and scholars to give speeches, conduct panel discussions, and present research findings and directions. With inclusive support and recognition from both its attendees and the university itself, this conference will take effort in keeping its quality and hence making contribution to the field of language education. (more…)

‘The Three T’s of Continuous Professional Development’ by Alex Quigley

Post author:Tarun Patel
Post published:April 6, 2015
Post category:ELT Newsletter ELTWeekly ELTWeekly Volume 7 Volume 7 Issue 8
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[ELTWeekly Volume 7, Issue 9 | April 6, 2015 | ISSN 0975-3036]

Alex says, ”

All the evidence indicates that teachers develop intensively in their first couple of years of teaching and that they then plateau in their development, regardless of the intricate plans for continuous professional development (CPD) that schools construct.

This was my personal experience. You conquer the struggles of simply managing your class and then you simply get on. You have subject content to learn; exams to grapple with; students to chase up, reports to write, plans to hastily cobble together and much more. There are so many pressures, and so little time, that genuine self-improvement is a struggle. In these conditions CPD can’t hope to make much difference.

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