Alistair Fortune and Siret Rutiku, Curriculum Development & Assessment

In the near future many East and Central European countries will become part of the larger European family when they join the EU and NATO. Many language teaching institutions in these countries face similar problems: replacing an approach which focuses on linguistic knowledge only, with one involving language for use (communicative competence or communicative language ability). Syllabuses are often outmoded or non-existent, with more recently published textbooks acting as syllabuses by default.

This workshop will examine why and how one institution decided to adopt the Common European Framework in the development, from scratch, of new syllabuses, how teachers can use the Framework as a tool to interpret interoperability standards of proficiency, and how the Framework is being used in the development of national proficiency tests.

Alistair Fortune has been the British Council's Peacekeeping English Project Manager since 1999. Before that he worked as a lecturer in English and Methodology at the Universities of Sofia and Novi Sad. He has an MSc in Teaching ESP, an MA in Mass Communications, and is currently studying for an MA in Language Testing at Lancaster.

Dr Siret Rutiku has been the Head of the Language Centre at the Estonian National Defence College since 2002. A Graduate of Tartu University, she also received her Doctorate in Literary Studies and went on to become a Lecturer in German at the same University between 1992 and 2002.

Annabelle O'Toole, Curriculum Development, also related to other sub-themes

'Working with Young Learners (8-17 years) and the CEF'
A workshop demonstrating how to get from the syllabus to the scheme of work to the Portfolio with CAN DO statements based on the Common European Framework. The session looks at ways of achieving this on short (2-3 week) multinational courses in the UK with discussion of how the principles can be employed in a monolingual context.

Annabelle O'Toole is currently programme manager at Bell Young Learners (8-17 year olds). She is a teacher and teacher trainer with extensive experience in Portugal, Spain, Bahrain, Turkey and UK.

Dave Allan, Assessment and Curriculum Development

Keynote:
This 60-minute plenary will focus on the key issues associated with the testing, assessing and examining of spoken language ability. The session will consider both the ways in which appropriate samples of spoken language can be generated, and the ways in which spoken language ability can be reliably graded. We will explore the use of verbal descriptors at different levels of delicacy, so that learners’ performance can be calibrated in relation both to broad scales such as the Common European Framework and to the demands of criterion-referenced assessment in institutional contexts. The session will not be limited to lecture input, but will involve the audience interactively, relating their own perceptions and suggestions regarding key criteria to those deriving form a range of other national and institutional contexts.

Session:
Ten key principles for effective ELT - and how to put them into practice in the classroom
This 90-minute workshop will briefly report on follow-up work done in the classroom over the last 8 years to put into practice the key conclusions of a mid-90s project carried out in both Germany and the UK to identify best practice in ELT. The session will explore what became affectionately known as the 'Zehn Gebote' and how materials and methods were developed to reflect these principles.

The workshop will be descriptive, reflective and experiential, with participants able to play the learners' roles in a range of activities designed to put some of the key principles into practice.

Dave Allan is Director of NILE, a specialist teacher development institute in Norwich, UK, which has trained some 5,000 teachers from over 50 countries in the last 5 years. A 'Fellow' of the University of East Anglia, Chair of MATSDA, Deputy Co-ordinator of the IATEFL TEASIG and an author for OUP, he has worked regularly in Germany for over 20 years.

Dennis Newson, Curriculum Development

In the advance publicity for the 2003 Pichelsee conference reference was made to a special interest in the teaching of EFL in the Neuen Bundesländern. A baseline study covering the whole area is beyond my resources but, in collaboration with colleagues from the University of Halle, I propose to visit a number of Gymnasien in Halle and on
the basis of discussions, observations and a questionnaire report on the teaching of EFL in sample schools paying particular attention to the extent to which textbooks' syllabuses, curricula and day-to-day practice conform or conflict with appropriate aims as set out in The Common European Framework.

Dennis Newson was a Lektor for 25 years at Osnabrück University (Retired 2000). TEFL since 1961 at various levels in Ghana, Sierre Leone, Qatar, Norway, Germany. Intermittent member of IATEFL since the 60s. Founder member of NELLE. Delivered teacher training in 2000 & 2002 in Sarajevo and Kosovo. Owner/(co)moderator of 12 TEFL e-lists including IATEFL’s TTEdSIG (committee member), Keith Kelly’s Factworld list (CLIL), and Yahoo Group Germany-English.

Livia Farago, Curriculum Development

English in the early primary years: English through the Arts
Many schools in EU countries face new challenges these days: providing English language learning experiences for learners in their early primary years. How can we ensure that primary English language learning plays a valuable and quality part in children's general primary education?

This session is to introduce recent achievements in curriculum development and materials writing for the primary context in Hungary. During the session an integrated art and language teaching programme (LARK) will be described in detail focussing on its achievements of the last 9 years.

Special focus will be given to the broad aims, components and structure of the course as well as its characteristic features that aim to contribute to the learners' cognitive, language and social development, their visual and verbal communication skills and creativity.
The presentation will be supported by slides and video recordings.

Lívia Faragó, MEd (Leeds), is a teacher and teacher trainer, has been involved in materials writing and curriculum development projects for primary ELT context, has developed an integrated art and language teaching programme for children 6-12, teaches methodology and children's literature in a post-graduate teacher training context, tutors international courses and seminars (Hornby Schools, British Council) in the field of 'TEFL to Young Learners' and 'Trainer Training', and recently finished her studies in Educational Leadership and Management at Budapest University of Technology and Engineering'.