27th Appi Conference- Day 2

April 26 

9.am- Brian Tomlinson – Looking out for English

Brian Tomlinson demonstrated that no classroom course can provide English to lead to sufficient acquisition. He started his presentation by telling a joke of an Irishman and an American as he always does to expose students to English.

 He also used stories and bloopers to activate the mind. 

EDU: Experience     Discovery     Use
Brian is the president of MATSDA (The Materials Development Association), which was founded in 1993 by him to bring together researchers, publishers, writers and teachers to work together towards the development of materials for the learning of English.

http://www.matsda.org.uk

In Portugal students can use the newspaper Portugal News. http://theportugalnews.com/



10.15-Hitomi Masuhara – Want is the mother of invention
The presentation started with the image of a coin. It has two sides just like the word WANT, which can mean both Wish and Lack. Desire is the strongest motivation for students. Dr. Hitomi showed the EEE approach : Experience, Engage Empower giving examples of the three stages. She showed a resignation letter published recently by Time Magazine as an example of innovation (a resignation that is also an advertisement)

I

To The Management,


Border Force, Stansted:
Today is my 31st birthday, and having recently become a father I now realise have precious life is and how important it is to spend my time doing something that makes me, and other people, happy.
For that reason I hereby give notice of my resignation, in order that I may devote my time and energy to my family, and to my cake business which has grown steadily over the past few years.
I wish the organisation and my colleagues the best for the future and I remind you that, if you enjoy this cake, you can order more at www.mrcake.co.uk
Sincerely,
Chris Holmes
(Mr Cake)

She also read a poem:



THE BULLY ASLEEP

By John Walsh

One afternoon, when grassy
scents through the classroom crept,
Bill Craddock laid his head
down on his desk, and slept.

The children came round him;
Jimmy, Roger, and Jane;
they lifted his head timidly
and let it sink again.

'Look, he's gone sound asleep, Miss,'
said Jimmy Adair;
'He stays up all the night, you see;
his mother doesn't care.'

'Stand away from him, children.'
Miss Andrews stooped to see.
'Yes, he's asleep; go on
with your writing, and let him be.'

'Now's a good chance!' whispered Jimmy;
and he snatched Bill's pen and hid it.
'Kick him under the desk, hard;
he won't know who did it.

Fill all his pockets with rubbish --
paper, apple-cores, chalk.'
So they plotted, while Jane
sat wide-eyed at their talk.

Not caring, not hearing
Bill Craddock he slept on;
lips parted, eyes closed --
their cruelty gone.

'Stick him with pins!' muttered Roger.
'Ink down his neck!' said Jim.
But Jane, tearful and foolish,
wanted to comfort him.



11.45 – Chris Roland – A Discipline Festival 2013

I like his definition of discipline: “ Discipline is when the teacher can dedicate an equal amount of time and attention to each student and no student steals anybody else´s teacher-time. 

http://www.chrisroland.net/

2.15- Rebecca l. Oxford- English teachers helping students become strategic and successful

Professor Rebecca Oxford talked about the importance of learning strategies (plans of action) to help students overcome barriers: cognitive, affective and socio-cultural strategies. 

3.15- Penny Ur- Making languages interesting
Penny Ur has written many books on English language teaching. She is an English teacher in Israel.

She presented several exercises that were interesting and fun.

5pm- Julie Dawes and Lucy Bravo- Box it! Browse- Collect- Organize- Share

The Cambridge tool box, a tailor-made training for teachers was presented. We only have to register. It is free!

http://www.cambridgeenglishteacher.org/