The 36th International Association of Teachers of English as a Foreign Language Annual Conference (IATEFL) was held at the University of York, York, England from March 23 to 27, 2002. More than 1,200 people attended from over 80 countries, including Algeria, Brazil, Croatia, France, Greece, Hungary, Japan, Latvia, Mozambique, Norway, Peru, Sri Lanka, Tunisia, and Uruguay.
The opening plenary session on Sunday was given by B. Kumaravadivelu, professor at San Jose State University. Entitled "Method, Antimethod and Postmethod," Kumaravadivelu argued that current pedagogical frameworks cannot accommodate differences within educational settings. He proposed a postmethod perspective "based on the parameters of particularity, practicality and possibility" which offers a more flexible way of viewing curriculum planning by considering the learner, teachers, and context from social and political perspectives.
Also on Sunday, Ronald Carter argued for language awareness as the fifth skill in his talk "Language Awareness Revisited," and emphasized the benefits of reflecting on both language systems and language use as well as the value of applying methodologies that explicitly seek to raise learner sensitivity to language. In his talk, Carter focused on spoken versus written discourse, and based on a range of written genres, such as chat logs, email correspondence, poems, textbook dialogues and print advertisements, Carter illustrated how written texts differ in varying degrees from spoken discourse. After briefly analyzing each example, he suggested pedagogical techniques that can be used to enhance the learner's awareness of such differences between written and spoken English.
Diane Larsen-Freeman, now at the University of Michigan, delivered her first IATEFL plenary, "Understanding Language" on Monday. She began with an overview of language theory and method, showing how teaching practices reflect different views of language, and then offered an alternative conception of language that is "more dynamic in nature," using chaos theory to frame language. Comparing the flow of language to the flow of an eddy in a river, she explained that if you stop the river, the eddy disappears, and likewise, language that is decontextualized loses meaning. Larsen-Freeman advocated a discourse-based syllabus allowing learners to discern patterns in the "flow of language" which might otherwise disappear when language is "chunked out."
Concurrent plenary sessions were held on Tuesday. Martha C. Pennington, professor at the University of Luton discussed the tensions between structure versus creativity and standardization versus individualization in "Bridging Gaps: A Dialectic Perspective on Teacher Development." Leni Diam from the Danish University of Education offered her perspectives in "Developing Learner Autonomy: Preparing Learners for Life-Long Learning." She stressed that classroom activities should reflect authentic language, activate learners' existing knowledge, and have the potential for various outcomes to accommodate different learners' input.
More than 250 presentation topics were held throughout the conference about a variety of topics connected to CALL, learner autonomy, testing and evaluation, business English, language and culture, materials development, and teacher training among others. Some highlights included Mario Rinvolucri's workshop, "Multiple Intelligences in EFL" which presented some innovative ways to exploit learners' various abilities, and Jill Hadfield's "Grammar, Games, and Goldfish: Learning Styles and Grammar Practice Activities" which showed effective activities that reflect learners' attitudes about grammar. Michael Breen discussed the dynamic relationship between language learning and social practices in his talk, "Language Learning is a Social Process: So What?" recommending we treat language as a mediator of learning, rather than an end in itself. He also suggested we encourage students to be like ethnographers, building on their classroom experience for cross-cultural learning. Jane Willis' workshop "Lexical Chunks and Patterns: Exploiting Spoken and Written Texts" provided guidelines for identifying appropriate chunks of language and how to create task-based activities using them. In another illuminating talk, Diane Larsen-Freeman tackled the problem of why learners seem to know a grammar rule, but fail to apply it. Instead of interspersing fluency activities with accuracy focused work, Larsen-Freeman suggested we combine them, and teach "grammaring" as a fifth skill. The expression "Focus on Form," often used to introduce grammar in textbooks, is not enough, she said; instead grammar should be presented in terms of form, meaning, and use.
Presenters from Japan made a significant contribution, with teachers from Doshisha University, International Christian University, Kwansei Gakuin University (Uegehara and Sanda campuses), Seitoku University, Takachiho Univeristy, Tokai Univeristy, and Tsuda College sharing ideas on a wide range of issues and techniques. ICU's Watanabe Atsuko and Rebecca Reagan's "Issues of Native vs. Non-Native Teachers of English" talk laid out their results of surveys investigating students' perceptions of non-native and native speaking teachers. Stephen Ryan from Seitoku University showed two short videos created by students to illustrate how less motivated students can experience success when given a video camera in his talk "Digital Video: The Easy Way." In his talk "Helping FL Learners to Make Sense of Metaphor in Literature," Jonathan Picken of Tsuda College shared his research and demonstrated one technique to help students understand metaphor. These presentations drew professionals from Japan and from other countries.
With the catchphrase "swords into ploughshares" and a glossy brochure, The British Council described the English language training they are providing for "security forces" in Europe and Central Asia. The presentation illustrated the extent to which the English language is a force for change, whether positive or negative. Empowerment was emphasised as a key benefit by the speakers, but a significant proportion of the audience appeared to question just who was being empowered to do what.
The conference venue brought people together and allowed attendees to participate actively. Most people could join almost any plenary or presentation because the rooms could accommodate everyone who wanted to listen to a particular speaker. In addition, it was easy for participants to get to know one another since many people ate meals together, shared beers at the campus bar, or attended one of the evening events such as a play, quiz game, or poetry reading. Professionals looking for an alternative to the annual TESOL convention may want to consider attending IATEFL. The smaller size and EFL focus make the conference a great opportunity to meet new people, network, or give a presentation while gaining new perspectives. See www.iatefl.org for more information.