ELT conference to take participants beyond classroom teaching

This year, Sultan Qaboos University's English Language Teaching (ELT) conference has expanded its programme to take participants beyond the usual confines of classroom teaching with its theme: "Stretching Pedagogical Boundaries."

The conference, to be held on March 24-25, will feature three plenary speakers from the UK, the US and Australia, and two other speakers from Morocco and the US, providing a unique opportunity for ELT professionals to share ideas about the integral relationship between language learning and the world around us, says a press release from the SQU.

At the inaugural plenary session, Dr Adrian Holliday of the Canterbury Christ Church University College, UK, will take a freshly optimistic approach to the issue of cultural influence on learning with his talk entitled Recognising What Our Students Bring With Them.

On the second day of the conference, Dr Madeline Ehrman of the Foreign Service Institute at the US Department of State will help us expand our conceptual boundaries of independent learning with her lecture Effective and Interpersonal Dimensions of Self-Regulation and Autonomous Learning.

Finally, Professor Ron Adams of Victoria University, Australia, will provide a view from the outside in his presentation entitled Stretching Pedagogical Boundaries – A Look at the Other Side of the Border.

More than 30 other presenters from Oman and abroad will provide a rich blend of the three focal points of the theme: independent learning, community connections and cultural context.
A variety of practical and theoretical sessions, including a series of technology-focused presentations, will explore the techniques and impact of autonomous learning.

A number of presentations will look at the connections between language learning and its place within the academic community as well as the wider community and the workplace.

A few of the sessions will consider the definitions of culture in the ELT context and its effect on the learning process and on the relationship between teachers and learners. Some presenters will be considering the cultural or societal implications of independent learning.