The LATE conference has always given a positive start to the beginning of the new academic year: interesting presentations, new ideas, forgotten ideas revived and of course, catching up with old friends and meeting new ones. Not to mention the opportunity to get a lot of practical information and advice from the publishers and bookstores! This year was no exception.
You can see photos and read the conference abstracts below, as well as visit the pages for previous conferences.
Sally Farley, OUP
Working with dyslexic students in the English language classroom.
Dyslexia is thought to affect about 10% of the population. This talk explores the issues affecting dyslexic students, especially in relation to language learning. We will look at the warning signs that often indicate that a child is dyslexic and examine the processing difficulties that lie behind them, including the role of the working memory.
Steve Lever, Express Publishing
Making The Right Noise
In this session we will be discussing control issues. The easiest way to keep students behaving well is to keep them busy, involved and focused and that it is easier to channel our students’ energy than fight it. We will look at what help is available in terms of methodology and what this means in practical terms.
Adrian Chrostowski, Pearson
MEASURING PROFICIENCY (B1+, B2 or maybe C1): Why The Devil Is In The Detail
During this presentation we will look into the CEFR scale, its usefulness
and we will find a remedy to its shortcomings by using the Global Scale of
English and solutions for measuring students’ progress – Progress Test.
Dace Miška, OUP
Bring Words Off the Page
Everyone knows that we learn a language easier if we are exposed to it regularly. However, most language learners avoid using a monolingual dictionary. This session will explore the tools that a monolingual learner’s dictionary offers to learners for building vocabulary, understanding and using grammar appropriately, improving pronunciation and developing productive skills.
Steve Lever, Express Publishing
Pathways To Literature
In literature, we are not only asked to observe the lives, worlds and values of others, but to reflect on our own. Therefore, the study of literature is arguably also the study of ourselves and the world we inhabit. We will look at how an organised approach to literature can teach students new skills in both language and thought.
Anna Radzihovska and Iveta Vitola, Pearson
In the World of Fun with English
Imagine a powerful combination of the Disney stories and characters that young learners know and love with practical activities rooted in solid educational principles – join the workshop to get an insight how listening to stories, playing classroom games, singing songs and learning from the much-loved animated films of Disney/Pixar motivates children and help them to communicate in English.
Matthew Thompson, US Embassy
Adventures in Teaching English
I will share my successes and failures teaching English in a rural town in Bulgaria for two years. In addition I will talk about how to make English language learning relevant to students and how the U.S. Embassy can help teachers.
Tatiana Ginzburg, Express Publishing
Using literature & drama in the Primary classroom
Today many a teacher bemoans the lack of interest in reading among students. At the same time, reading skills need to be taught even though doing it in an enjoyable way present a certain challenge. At the workshop, we’ll be looking at the principles of teaching reading at an early stage and ways of introducing drama to bring text to life and engage learners. We will also do some drama activities to demonstrate that fun is very much part of language learning.
Rasma Mozere, Pearson
Use and Choose the Right Word – Helping learners to help themselves
Some say that the best way to help learners to be independent in their acquisition of vocabulary is to teach them to deduce meaning from context. But is this enough? Does this tell them everything they need to know about a word in order to use it effectively? In this talk we will look at the role of dictionaries in vocabulary acquisition, and show that by becoming familiar with the features of a good learners’ dictionary, students will gain the necessary tools to develop their vocabulary effectively and independently, as well as to enjoy success in exams
Laura Katkeviča
Roberts Rožkalns
Jānis Zeimanis
Liepājas Raiņa 6.Vidusskola
Hands-On English For Real Life Skills
The world perception of adolescents has changed, as well as their way for receiving and treating new information, so language teaching goes hand in hand with developing a general set of competences applicable in all walks of life. The presentation will show how to use such apps as Google Hangout, Typorama, Wordeo, Interlude etc. to help your students building new competences through hands-on, real life learning experience.
Inga Saulīte-Bēniņa, Baltic Council for International Education
IELTS and Cambridge Exams: the best choice for all from 5-99.
The latest news about IELTS and Cambridge exams in Latvia and world.
Adrian Chrostowski, Pearson
Blended Learning
This workshop will familiarize you with the tried and trusted solution, MyEnglishLab, allowing you to stay with your students after they leave their English classroom. We will discuss how to motivate students and focus on the learning outcomes. Effectively!
TEA Teachers Panel Discussion
The Teaching Excellence and Achievement programme is a 6 week US university-based programme for practicing teachers and is sponsored by US State Department. It gives a great opportunity to gain new experience in the US and meet collegues from all over the world. During this panel discussion teachers who have participated in the programme will share their experience in the US and ideas taken back home.
Gaida Haritone
Zvejniekciema Secondary School and Iveta Vītola Pearson
Reading Pleasure for Young Learners
Language learned and practised in a story is memorable and provides a natural opportunity to copy language in context. Let’s explore together the known as well as the new in this reading for pleasure workshop!
Irina Grinevska
Riga Secendary School No. 34
Designing CLIL Programme for English and Science Integrated Learning for Grade 1 Students
The research was made to explore how to design English and science integrated learning programme. The Programme 1 for integrated English and science learning was designed and explored by means of lesson observation, field notes and expert interview. The disadvantages of the programme were defined and it was transferred into Programme 2.
Baiba Svenča
Aizkraukle Regional Gymnasium
Educational Technology: Classroom Response Systems Kahoot And Quizizz
A quick look at two easy and free edtech tools for gathering student responses at the lesson. The most popular format of tasks is a multiple choice quiz prepared by the teacher. Students may use any device, including smartphones, tablets or laptops to give their answers.
Workshop participants are invited to bring their own devices (optional).
Inta Augustāne and Jūlija Očeretnaja, Rīgas Valsts 3. ģimnāzija
Let’s raise entrepreneurs. Ideas for Business English classroom.
This workshop gives an insight into simple but effective ideas how to make Business English lessons diverse, exciting and useful. Based on the teachers’ experience gained during participation in the international project ‘Learning to do business in Europe through participating in innovation camps’ the colleagues will be offered a variety of tasks aimed at the development of entrepreneurial skills.
Tatjana Kunda and Rita Kursīte, National Centre for Education (VISC)
The Year 12 Examination in English
The plenary talk will be dedicated to the discussion of the results of Year 12 Examination in English. The presentation will provide an insight into the current trends in students’ performance and outlines directions for improving students’ achievement. During the talk, we will also discuss the possibility of taking English language proficiency tests administered by international testing institutions as part of school-leaving examinations.
Elina Banzina, Stockholm School of Economics in Riga
Help Your Students Sound Persuasive in English: Phonetic Tricks
English teachers can help their students sound more persuasive and charismatic not only to win public speaking contests, but, more importantly, to excel in their future careers. Phonetically, persuasiveness is expressed differently in Latvian and English; this workshop will walk participants through the main phonetic differences and let everyone practice and test their persuasiveness with the help of hands-on exercises.
Ingūna Melne, Riga State gymnasium No. 1
Professional Development Abroad
What about those 36 hours of professional development? Have you got yours? This is a presentation about professional development possibilities abroad but still at home. You might find some reasons why to try online courses provided by universities around the globe.
Agnese Gromova-Ķūrena
Salacgrīvas vidusskola and the University of Latvia
Multisensory Strategies to Facilitate Students’ with Special Needs Involvement
Inclusion is a current issue nowadays. Students with special needs (SEN) learn together with mainstream students which makes teachers’ work rather challenging. The author has carried out research during her teaching practice to find out which multisensory strategies facilitate SEN students’ involvement in English lessons. The presentation is the dissemination of different visual, auditory, tactile and kinaesthetic activities.
Benjamin Mitrofan-Norris
International School of Language Excellence
The Freudian English Class
Psychology and ELT have long overlapped, and we’ve all used several ‘pop-psychology’ approaches to lessons. In this workshop, we’ll explore how many of the real psychoanalytical techniques pioneered by Freud can not only be utilised in ESL classrooms to encourage fluency, but can also add fascinating, fun components to any lesson.
Mara Dirba
European Educational Circle
Experiential Learning In The Classroom
Practical implementation of experiential learning in the classroom will be demonstrated. Short insight in the theoretical basis of experiential learning will be presented. The class will be constructed around the topic of developing entrepreneurial competences. This topic is one of the priorities of the EU programme ERASMUS+.
Sandra Kalniņa, University of Latvia
Literacy Practices For Promoting Higher Level Thinking
To develop and use high-level thinking skills, including critical thinking in new and increasingly complex situations benefits students’ school experience and academic achievement. The session will provide the participants hands-on experience on using some strategies that help develop students’ critical thinking skills. It will also introduce the Question-Answer relationships as a language for higher level thinking.
Inese Prūse
Riga School of Arts and Crafts
Alternative possibilities of using ICT in the Classroom
Being an active participant of Project CLICK – Technologies for Youngsters, I’d like to share some innovative and supportive ideas for vocational school teachers and learners who can take – up initiatives and solutions in education and youth work.
”Promoting the professional development of staff and youth workers (in ICT, education & pedagogic methodologies and tools) namely through the development and production of didactic contents to be spread under open educational resources” [CLICK operational guidelines].
The use of ICT not only promotes young people’s social inclusion and well-being through the stimulation of empowerment, initiative, participation and leadership but also fosters the assessment of important soft skills.
David Barry
Access Development
Uber Teacher
A discussion on the Uber Teacher project to enable smart phone booking and payment of English teachers.
Vera Lapkovska
Grammar School of Nordic Languages
An Interactive Game to Develop Reading Skills
All children deserve a chance to learn to love reading. The main aim of NORDPLUS JUNIOR project Joyful Reading (2013-2015) was to create a habit for young people aged 12 – 14 of reading books by using innovative technologies such as tablet computers, games and interactivity. Four schools from Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Sweden and RIAP Association from Lithuania set the objectives: to create a strong partnership and develop cooperation between schools; to promote reading; – to promote foreign language learning; – to develop an educational game according created scenarios; – to test educational game with direct target group – students from partners schools; – to integrate tested educational game into learning process; – to disseminate educational game to other schools in Nordic and Baltic countries
During the Project a real computer game based on a book Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne was designed and disseminated to schools in the Nordic and Baltic countries. The coordinator of the Project will share the ideas how the educational game might be integrated into modern learning process.