International events calendar

Webinar language: French.

The webinar presents a sharing of experience of reading practice in the FLE classroom at university. Mastering and extending the lexicon and developing complex sentences is often a challenge for future linguists and all learners wishing to sit the DALF exams. There is often a tendency to keep things short, to say only what is necessary, to be content with what they already know without daring to progress any further.

The activities on offer encourage autonomy and an active role for students by putting them at the heart of the learning process. The choice of books, the different ways of working on lexical, grammatical and cultural content - everything counts if you really want to make progress.

In interaction with the teacher, observable or autonomous active reading can be adapted to the needs of each learner and become a self-taught way of developing language skills outside the classroom.

Webinar language: Spanish.

The webinar will focus on how MOODLE has been adapted and organised in the Modern Languages Programme at Özyeğin University during the post-pandemic period.

The role of platforms has evolved especially during the pandemic from a platform where additional materials are stored, to a platform where they have to be the main hub, where students get input, practice skills, assess and grade each other, collaborate and interact. Going back to face-to-face education, certain adaptations had to be made to support effective learning, maintain interaction and motivation. In the webinar, the design of MOODLE and the applications used (Genially) will be shared to show how students progress through the course, how course content is provided to maintain student interest, interactivity and motivation.

In this session, participants will be presented with the application of various matrix types to foster the development of 21st century skills in tertiary classrooms with English as a Foreign Language (EFL) students at the level of B1 and above. The integration of different types of matrices into English Language Teaching (ELT) classrooms to cultivate and apply essential skills, including critical thinking, collaboration, communication, creativity, and problem-solving will be explored in the context of environmental protection.

Check out the website to see the session points.

Webinar language: Italian.

As teachers, we can decide to see it as the enemy of language learning or to use it as a support tool for our lessons, making them easier for us and more interesting for the students.

In this webinar, some artificial intelligence tools will be presented, such as the popular ChatGPT, which can be used during our lessons or as homework to practise writing and vocabulary. We will also focus on how teachers can use it to create teaching materials.

Using artificial intelligence tools in the classroom can also be a way of monitoring their use and trying to ensure that this controversial tool is used ethically and correctly.

The FLLT 2024 conference offers important professional development and networking opportunities for language educators. The conference’s focus on global voices and multicultural perspectives allows educators and learners to gain insights, strategies, and resources for incorporating diversity into their teaching and learning practices, ultimately enriching their pedagogical approaches and enhancing voices and experiences in language education.

This online webinar aims to explore the dynamic nature of mixed-ability ELT classrooms, emphasizing the application of differentiation strategies to cater to diverse student needs and its potential to optimize English language learning.

The webinar will start with a brief presentation on the underlying theories and principles of differentiated instruction.

Then, it will offer a practical toolkit of differentiation strategies tailored for ELT, enabling teachers to adapt their instructional approaches smoothly.

Participants will focus on several differentiation strategies, such as tiered assignments, flexible grouping, and learning stations that accommodate individual learning styles.

By the end of the webinar, participants will be equipped with a clear understanding of differentiation principles and a repertoire of strategies to address the unique challenges of mixed-ability English language classrooms.

Webinar language: Spanish.

Artificial Intelligence is a complex topic that is becoming increasingly popular and infiltrating many industries and areas of our lives. The real power that AI brings to education is in intelligently connecting our learning to be more prepared to understand the world and the way we teach and learn. AI, used well, brings great benefits to teaching. So it is no longer a matter of lamenting or banning the launch of new technologies, but of putting them to our advantage and making the most of them.

The CercleS conference is an excellent opportunity for those involved in languages education to come together every two years and to share ongoing activities, and to discuss ongoing challenges and opportunities, at an international level.

The conference theme is “Action Research for Citizen Health, Social Sustainbility and Education."
Further information will be coming soon. Please stay tuned to the website.

The genie is well out of the bottle at this stage! Artificial Intelligence in its many forms and types is here and we have to ‘surf the wave’ as cleverly and proactively as we can, to enable learners to use GenAI responsibly to improve and enhance their learning including the evidence of this having taken place, rather than to circumnavigate and falsify the evidence of that learning.

This webinar is designed to look forward, examining what we as educators can do to create a compass of choice for learners and to promote and support ethical use and learner agency in engaging with GenAI. Building learner and educator understanding and resilience to the onslaught of the malevolent actors online is crucial in tandem with this – the threat to online learning cannot be eradicated but it can be mitigated, and possibly also peripheralised.

Webinar language: French.

Please check out the website to find out more about this webinar.

This CEL/ELC event welcomes not only contributions about current perspectives linked to the aspects mentioned above, but also emergent issues about languages and language policies in Higher Education that accommodate new approaches to language diversity and equity.

Proposals for 15-20-minute presentations, delivered in English or French, may include, but are not limited to, the following topics: language policies and the strategic development of higher education institutions; comprehensive internationalisation of HE - linguistic implications; the working language(s) of Internationalisation at Home (IaH); language(s) in the internal and external communication of domestic HE learning environments; the role of language(s) in cross-border mobility and exchange programmes; the role of language(s) in cross-border partnerships, networks and mutual capacity building; linguistic, cultural and institutional diversity as vehicles for internationalisation; inclusiveness and diversity in language-equitable policies in HE institutions; multilingualism in the negotiation of meaning and co-creation of knowledge; (re)considering multilingualism in the global competition among HE institutions and / or in global ranking system; democratisation of knowledge access, research publication practices, multilingualism and science communication.

Abstracts (max. 350 words) should be sent to celelc@unicatt.it by 30th May 2024.

Notification of acceptance/rejection: 30th June 2024.

This session will showcase a cross-cultural communication project that connects students in an English class with those in an Introduction to Cultural Geography class through the collaboration of two universities, one in Türkiye and one in the US. The presentation will cover the project’s two-week timeline, insights from me regarding the design and implementation processes, student feedback, and recommendations for crafting similar projects that cater to the specific needs of participants’ contexts.

This project not only fosters cross-cultural understanding but also promotes the development of 21st-century skills. It encourages students to enhance their communication, critical thinking, and problem-solving abilities in a global context, preparing them for the challenges and opportunities of our interconnected world. Through this session, I aim to highlight how such initiatives contribute to equipping students with the skills necessary for success in the 21st century.

Inaugurated in 2004, the biennial CLaSIC has been gathering academics and education professionals from Asia and beyond to showcase research and practices in foreign language education and related fields.
For this tenth iteration of CLaSIC, we are pleased to announce an exceptional lineup of keynote speakers:

Andy KIRKPATRICK (Grifflth University, Australia)
Dorothy M CHUN (UC, Santa Barbara, USA)
Sarah MERCER (University of Graz, Austria)
Xiaoshi LI (Michigan State U, USA)

The conference sub-themes include, but are not limited to:
1. Technological Paradigms, The Digital Shift, and Mobile Technologies impact of AI, VR, mobile devices, and other emerging technologies on learning and teaching techniques
2. Innovative instructional Approaches, Curriculum and Material Development lmpact of 21st-century skills, community-based, situated, and project-based learning, material design
3. Cultural and Language Diversity, and Literacies
Teaching and mastering languages in diverse cultural and linguistic landscapes 4. Language Assessment, Evaluation, and Feedback Assessment methodologies, their validity and reliability, and broader implications
5. Learner Diversity and Challenges in Language Education lnclusivity strategies, diversity issues in language instruction
6. Teacher Education and Professional Development
Contemporary practices, evolving roles. and responsibilities of language educators
7. Research Methodologies and Approaches
Methodologies shaping academic research in language education
8. Other Emergent Themes in Language Education
Other topics shaped by past experiences, current disruptions, and future expectations in pedagogy

Presentations proposed for CLaSIC 2024 may share insights, experiences, and perspectives on current and forthcoming developments in language pedagogy and related topics, challenge the boundaries of traditional language teaching, or explore new horizons in methodologies and pedagogy, v.,ith the aim of achieving a more innovative, effective, or inclusive language education.

To be successful at school and in the global workforce, students must acquire 21st skills, but as teachers, we are not always able to provide sufficient opportunities. By connecting classrooms across the world for project-based inquiry on STEM and STEAM topics, Level Up Village’s global, virtual exchanges foster the 21st century skills of creativity, communication, collaboration, critical-thinking, and problem-solving. Students aged 4-18 work cooperatively to explore essential content including art, literature, music, science, and social studies, while gaining core 21st century skills along with intercultural communication and digital literacy.