BIG SIG Day: Big Success

The BIG SIG Day took place on November 6th 2011 at IST College/University of Hertfordshire in Athens. This year’s event has proudly and successfully continued what has by now become a long standing tradition; the variety and complexity of the SIGS (MM/Call, Drama/Literature, Young Learners and EAP/ESP) coupled with a plenary talk given by Mr. James Keddie whose captivating talk refl ected and highlighted the spirit and rationale of the event. It was a case of a perfect combination of professional development and fun encompassing TESOL’s vision and goals.There were 2 speakers per SIG covering a variety of different topics and a plenary talk by James Keddie whose talk was received with enthusiasm by a full auditorium. The treasurehunt only added to the success and innovation of the event while the video broadcasting of James Keddie’s interview in which he expressed his views was a new and innovative feature that has never been tried before and it is living proof not only of the creativity and professionalism of the TESOL Board members but also of their commitment and dedication to bringing education and professional developments to English Language Teachers all over Greece. You can find the interview that Jamie Keddie gave to Yorgos Tahtzidis, on our website. 

Suzanne Antonaros talk focused on the importance of getting our students exposed to the artistic use of language. She expanded on the two ‘new’ language skills, the development of critical thinking skills through observation and the visual representation through the use of multi-media. The fi ve multimodal meanings – linguistic, visual, gestural, audio and spatial – were discussed along with the implications of multi-literacies for foreign language educators. Finally, there was a variety of text and image project formats which were suggested and the assessment criteria for these multi-media projects were introduced. 

Ioannis Ntouros introduced the use of modern technology and especially the use of Web 2.0 tools in the foreign language classroom. He referred to the endless possibilities that are given to students in the language learning process through these tools which, although they may require time, effort, patience and resources, allow the web to function as a platform, turning from software to infoware. This way, learners are transformed from passive readers into creators by doing something enjoyable and by enhancing both their receptive and productive skills. Specifi c examples were projected based on the platform that Ioannis has been using as well as evaluations from other colleagues who use it with their students.  

The first talk of the EAP/ESP Group was given by Dr Jane Mandalios. The title of the talk was ‘Developing Information Literate EAP students: Materials and Methods for teaching Academic Research. She talked about the importance of information literacy. Dr Mandalios supported that most English for Academic Purposes programmes focus on the linguistic competence that university students need to be equipped with. What is often ignored is that these same students seem to lack basic research skills. Both non-native and native students seem to face the same challenge. During the presentation Dr Mandalios analysed the long research procedure, from the very basic fi rst steps of understanding how information is organized and accessed in print and electronic forms (internet and information databases) through the vital critical- thinking skills of reading, evaluating and using sources, to organizing ideas, to the fi nal steps of note-taking, synthesizing and producing a paper or a presentation with appropriate citations. She shared with the audience her experience in designing courses covering the areas mentioned above and talked about her feelings of reward when her own students develop good research skills and are able to produce a piece of work that is academically acceptable. Her talk was within the interests of not only English language tertiary education, but also teachers of the English language at private and state schools that are interested in teaching students the necessary skills of research and evaluation of information, which are so valuable in our days when there are so many resources available that often selecting what is appropriate is a very challenging task.

 The second EAP/ESP talk was that of Michael Robbs and had the title ‘You don’t need to have an MBA to teach Business English. In his presentation Mr Robbs supported that the fi eld of Business English teaching seems to be growing in these times of crisis and cuts, as a lot of executives are interested in learning or developing their English language skills in order to be competitive. This means that an English language teacher can turn to this currently-growing area in search of more students. Mr Robbs introduced his audience to this new fi eld, focusing on the differences and similarities between teaching children and professionals. Some of the aspects that were examined were the characteristics of each group, reasons for studying English, the teaching materials used and methods of assessment. At the end of the presentation Mr Robbs provided some practical advice on how to enter the market of teaching Business English and approach potential customers, use a needs analysis to see the areas they need to work on, fi nd appropriate teaching materials, create a syllabus and design a course that will meet student needs.

Dr. Demetris Bogiatzis talked about the famous play of Arthur Miller, The Death of a Salesman. He gave a thorough description and analysis of the plot and the characters, emphasizing on the protagonist, Willy Loman, a mediocrity obsessed with money and professional success, who failed to build healthy family relationships and who committed suicide to compensate for it by offering his family the money from his life insurance. We discussed the similarities between the way Willy perceived success and the recession the whole globe is facing, and concluded that the vain accumulation of material possessions doesn’t lead to happiness. On the contrary, true happiness can only be felt if you feel happier when you give rather than when you take. 

Linda Manney explained how we can incorporate literature in our lessons to serve various purposes. Using literature, not only will we offer our students an opportunity to readMasterpieces in English, but we will also give them the chance to create, use their imagination and language in a meaningful and captivating way. In particular, Linda Manney shared with us the benefi ts of the use of literature as a means of teaching; creativity, imagination, innovation, motivation and vision. She analyzed that there are certain criteria that determine which story is good for each different group, read a story for us and we explored it a little more by working on it using not only language but, also, our body!

Paul Bouniol’s amazing workshop made us all have fun and THINK at the same time!!! It was truly inspiring and exciting! He started off by explaining why Young Learners are so different, moved on to how they learn and then shared with us all his magic tricks which spice up his lessons and hopefully ours too! It was unbelievable! Paul was teaching Grammar using his magic tricks and we were keeping notes like ‘crazy’. He ended up by giving out brilliant Internet sites with examples of magic tricks and how to use them in the classroom which will defi nitely change teachers’ perception on how to teach Grammar in a fun way! Thanks Paul! 

Voula Mystakidou also gave a great presentation on how to animate our young learners’  classroom, using simple drama activities. We had the chance to share their concerns and ideas while Voula provided us with evidence from tried and tested ideas to use. We left the room feeling richer for the experience.