Siftables are micro computers in the shape of little blocks. These are aware of eachother and can be manipulated. For example, they could be sequenced to do math calculations or could be used to create words. David Merrill refers to their use for language games; the blocks check possible letter combinations against a dictionary (a bit like Scrabble). This is very nifty – and imagine how this could be used for L2 learning. In addition to single letters, each block could also display words so that learners can see if certain words collocate – kind of like a hands-on corpus exercise! Great stuff.
David also gives the example of a young learner putting images together to create a story – again, something that could work rather well for L2 learning too.
At the ELT conference in Pakistan last year I gave a plenary presentation on autonomy. This and 10 other chapters have now been published in an interesting collection titled ‘Teaching English in Multilingual Contexts: Current Challenges, Future Directions’.
You can read a summary below and find out more here.
Teaching English in Multilingual Contexts: Current Challenges, Future Directions
Editors: Azra Ahmed, Graeme Cane and Mehnaz Hanzala
Date Of Publication: Feb 2011
This collection of innovative, thought-provoking papers discusses contemporary issues, practices and research related to the role and teaching of English in multilingual countries. The papers, written by experienced practitioners in the field from a number of different countries, examine how the English language can be more effectively taught to students in Asia who speak English as their second, third or fourth language. The book will be of interest not only to linguists, language teachers and educators but also to social science researchers involved in exploring the effects language policy can have on education and society at large.
The eleven chapters in this book are divided into three sections: multilingual aspects in the teaching and learning of English, code-switching and code-mixing, and assessment. Their authors came to Karachi from different academic, cultural and geographic backgrounds and with diverse experiences of the world of English Language Teaching in order to participate in the Fifth International Seminar hosted by the Aga Khan University Centre of English Language.
The contributors are all multi-linguals for whom the question of how best to teach languages is a challenge they face on a daily basis. This small collection of papers is likely to become a powerful resource for English teachers, scholars, and researchers interested in the problems facing language educators in today’s multilingual, multi-cultural world.
Jane Hart has just launced a new Social Learning Community. She writes: ‘The Social Learning Community is a new Community of Practice intended for those interested in the use of social media to work and learn smarter. Here you can join discussions, ask questions, share links, experiences and events with others. Jay Cross calls it “the living room for social learning conversations”. Members welcome from education, training, workplace learning, consultancies and even vendors.
EDUCATION FREE FOR ALL!
Throughout April 2011, FREE ACCESS will be available to all our Education Research journals! This will include content from the entire archive of each journal, as well as the most recent articles.
Do you want to be one of the first to know when access becomes available? To receive the latest news and offers updates, visit www.educationarena.com and register for the Education Arena Bulletin alerting service: www.educationarena.com/alertingServices/edArenaBulletin/
Access will be available from 1st April 2011 until 30th April 2011 inclusive.
Don’t forget to follow us on Facebook www.facebook.com/EducationArena and Twitter http://twitter.com/educationarena for more updates.
5th International Independent Learning Association Conference 2012
When: Thursday 30 August – Sunday 2 September 2012
Where: Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand
The Organising Committee is pleased to invite you to support and participate in the 5th Independent Learning Association Conference (ILAC 2012), hosted by Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand.
ILAC is an international conference for passionate teachers, learners, and researchers in the field of independent learning and the theme for 2012 is “Autonomy in a Networked World, Te Tū Motuhake i te Ao Kōtuitui”. The conference sub-themes are intended to capture dimensions of the relationship between: the personal, social and cultural identity of the learner, the self and the ‘other’ as agents of learning, the learning environment, and the role of assessment for the autonomous learner.
The conference website www.ila.net.nz has just been launched, providing full details about the conference.
Call for Papers Now Open
The Conference Committee welcome proposals for workshops, papers, colloquia, language fair, swap shop and poster sessions.
Abstracts should address at least one of the key themes of the conference:
1. Framing learner autonomy in today’s world – where we are now and where we are going…
2. Autonomy and identity
3. Autonomy and agency (motivation and strategies)
4. Autonomy and learning environment (classroom, distance, technology-supported, language learning centres, etc.)
5. Autonomy and assessment
For full details and to begin the submission process, visit the conference website.
The deadline for submissions is 4 November 2011.
Key dates
Call for Papers opens March 2011
Sponsorship opens March 2011
Call for Papers closes 4 November 2011
Early Bird Registration opens February 2012
Early Bird Registration closes July 2012
Conference Convenors
Averil Coxhead
Senior Lecturer
School of Linguistics and Applied Language Studies
Victoria University of Wellington
Edith Paillat
Language Technology Specialist
Language Learning Centre
Victoria University of Wellington
8th ALDinHE Conference: Queen’s University Belfast
“Engaging Students – Engaging Learning”
18-20 April 2011
We are pleased to announce the call for papers for the 2011 ALDinHE Annual Conference.
Whilst this is our 8th learning development conference for professionals engaged in the development of learning within the higher education sector, it is the first to be held under the name of our association. This signifies a change from the previous title of LDHEN Symposium, but whilst the name may have changed, the opportunity for practitioners to share their ideas, perspectives and experiences remains the same.
Our theme for 2011 is “Engaging Students – Engaging Learning”
The Centre for Applied Second Language Studies makes LinguaFolio available for free. This is an interesting e-portfolio system that helps teachers:
* Assess and document performance in a variety of ways
* Empower students to set goals and monitor their progress
* Promote reflective learning
* Emphasize communicative proficiency
* Encourage multicultural understanding
* Develop language programs based on students’ strengths and needs
* Obtain information about students’ previous experiences with languages
* Facilitate articulation among language programs based on a clear and commonly accepted description of language proficiency
Kanda University of International Studies and the IATEFL Learner Autonomy Special Interest Group (LASIG) are delighted to announce that they will be holding a conference in Japan on November 12th, 2011. This event has also been organized in collaboration with the Japan Association for Self-access Learning (JASAL), Kanda Institute of Foreign Languages (KIFL) and the JALT Learner Development SIG.
The theme of the one day conference will be “Advising for language learner autonomy” and will be of particular interest to language educators working as learning advisors, or teachers who are concerned with promoting language learner autonomy. The event theme also covers peer advising with a particular focus on the way in which peer advising fosters learner autonomy. The event will include presentations on the following themes related to advising in language learning:
1. Training and professional development
2. Research and practice
3. Peer advising
4. Advising tools
5. Dialogue and discourse
6. Context-related issues
Invited speaker: Dr. Marina Mozzon-McPherson, University of Hull, UK.
Deadline for proposals: June 30 2011 (Click here to submit a proposal)
Registration details Click here
Self-access centre tours will be available on Friday 11th November. Details to follow.
The conference proceedings will take the form of a special issue of SiSAL Journal in March 2012. The deadline for submissions is December 30th 2011.
