Coverage of The 47th Annual International IATEFL Conference & Exhibition
April 9-12,2013
Day(4):Thanking Eric Baber & His Team for Their Efforts
On the last day of the IATEFL Conference,I would like to thank Mr.Eric Baber,IATEFL president, and his team for their undeniable efforts to make such success.
The Conference hosted prominent figures in the world of ELT who delivered useful lectures for teachers and students.The plenary session,Failure Fest, was a great fun ,as I enjoyed it so much.I found it a unprecedented novel idea that was introduced in an international conference.Most of the sessions are available online for anyone has missed the opportunity to attend them alive via British Council website.Here is the link to the sessions and interviews of the IATEFL speakers:
Moreover, one can view the blogs of Liverpool IATEFL Registered Bloggers.Here is the link:
After viewing or re-viewing the sessions,interviews and blogs,one can get involved into one of the forums that discusses the issues that have been tackled in the Conference.Here is the link:
Finally, I would say to Mr.Baber and his team'Congratulations!With my best wishes for more success !'
Plenary Session:Dr.Susan Barduhn
In 2003 , Dr.Barduhn has joined SIT Graduate Institute, where she has been directing the summer MA in TESOL program ,and now directs the low-residency MA in TESOL program, teaches in the MA in TESOL program, and supervises student teachers all over the world.
Today,in her plenary sessions,she tackled a very vital and critical issue.She related the cultural identity with ELT.In fact,many EFL teachers and EFL educational institutions do not pay much attention to this issue.The issue is that most of the teachers teach students the English essential skills:reading,speaking,writing and listening on the account of dipping them into the culture of the language they learn. Recognizing the culture of the language students learn help them be fluent in that language and be capable of expressing themselves in a perfect fashion on any occasion. But still, we find that some teachers in some regions of the world depend mainly on covering those previously-mentioned skills in their EFL classrooms.This does not mean that students should discard their cultures or uncloak their cultural identity,but means that students should absorb the foreign language they deal with.That is why I believe that Dr.Barduhn has targeted this issue in her lecture with the purpose of conveying a message for EFL experts related to taking into consideration the cultural identity issue.Plenary Session:Mr. Roger McGough
Mr.McGough won a Cholmondeley Award in 1998, and was awarded the OBE in June 2004. He holds an honorary MA from Nene College of Further Education.He was awarded an honorary degree from Roehampton University in 2006 as well as an honorary doctorate from the University of Liverpool on 3 July 2006. He was Fellow of Poetry at Loughborough University (1973-5) and Honorary Professor at Thames Valley University (1993).
It was great to end the conference with that plenary session for Mr. McGough. The poetic environment made me feel that I was yielding to relaxation before the weekend .The Session made me recover my memories two decades ago when I was an English literature undergraduate student.During the session, I started to melt into the sweetness of Mr. McGough's poetry recitation.That feeling was adorned with slight laughter and smiles from time to time due to the content of some of his poems.
That was a great choice on behalf of the IATEFL administration to end the conference in that way as it invited the attendees involuntarily to put their life burdens away and live those relaxing moments with Mr. McGough.
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