TESOL Macedonia-Thrace Northern Greece E-Bulletin issue 45, featuring the article Malgorzata Kosior and I wrote on ELT and TED (pages 20-25) based on the "Teaching with TED Talks" workshop we did at the 2013 TESOL Macedonia-Thrace Convention.

1. BULLETINTesol Macedonia-Thrace
Northern Greece
e
Issue 45
Jun/Jul/Aug 2013
Tel: 6976845202
tesolmth@gmail.com
www.tesolmacthrace.org
In this issue:
A Report on the IATEFL
Conference in Liverpool
(p. 11)
TESOL Greece 34th Annual
Convention in Athens
(p. 13)
Report on the 11th ELTA
Serbia Conference
(p. 10)
SEETA News
(p. 9)
The Desirable and the Possible
(IATEFL article) ( p. 17)
an associate member
Alice and the Others
in Wonderland
(IATEFL article) (p. 19)
TED meets ELT
(p. 20)
Don’t miss!
Rich
post-convention
issue!
N.Sifakis: Αγγλική Γλώσσα
και Παγκοσμιοποίηση
(p. 26)

2. First of all, hats off to everyone who was involved in our 20th
Annual Convention.
Excellent organisation and dedicated hard work by all mem-
bers of the board along with invaluable support from our
sponsors and exhibitors ensured a thoroughly memorable
weekend. Pleasant weather, an excellent venue, edifying and
entertaining presentations, good facilities and a warm, friendly
atmosphere – all of this and more characterised the conven-
tion. What really lies at the heart of a convention such as this,
aside from the plenary presentations, is the rich variety of work-
shops and presentations that go on throughout the two days.
Those attending had the opportunity to listen to both their
own colleagues from the region and speakers from Italy, Bul-
garia, Serbia and Turkey talking on a range of topics of profes-
sional interest and relevance to their teaching circumstances.
A big thank you to all of you who took part. Here are just a few
comments we received by e-mail shortly after the convention:-
‘Thank you for giving practicing teachers like us this won-
derful opportunity to become presenters and share our
experience with other people.’
‘It was a huge pleasure to participate in such an inspiring
and fun convention!’
‘There was very positive feedback almost immediately
from participants and other presenters, and I have to ad-
mit that I have become an official fan. I look forward to
other events.’
You can read more about the convention elsewhere in this bul-
letin.
The American College of Thessaloniki kindly hosted the event
and allowed us full use of their excellent facilities. Special
thanks must also go to Burlington Books for their unwavering
support for our organisation and thanks also to Express Pub-
lishing, HAU and InputonEducation for their contributions. For
a non-profit Teachers’Association this kind of sponsorship is vi-
tally important and enables the organisation to offer its mem-
bers the kind of professional development they deserve.
I must also mention that the British Council sponsored our
former Vice-Chair, Rea Tsougari, and current Supervisory Com-
mittee member Anna Parisi to attend their weekend seminar
in Serbia on Fund Raising for Teachers’ Associations. The semi-
nar was attended by representatives of 18 different TAs from
around the Eastern and South Eastern European, and all the
participants received a wealth of information and shared ex-
perience on how to raise funds which, in these hard times,
will be vital to the continued well-being of our own organi-
sation. Anna and Rea will be organising a workshop on what
they learnt later in the year so that successive boards can reap
the full benefit of it. From now on co-operation should be the
name of the game.
Looking beyond the forthcoming summer holidays, there is our
annual Welcome Back Event on October 20th to note down in
your diaries. There will be at least two main presentations, but
of equal importance is the AGM and the fact that this year is an
election year for a new board. Your vote will be important, and I
would ask you all to consider what benefits you might gain from
becoming a board member.
With the exam period now over it only remains for me to wish
you all a relaxing summer break and leave you with Nat King Cole.
‘Roll out those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer.’
Roger House
Many thanks to our Convention Sponsors
(in strictly alphabetical order)
American College of Thessaloniki
Burlington Books
Express Publishing
Hellenic American Union
InputonEducation
And those that have supported us:
International Publishers
Study Space
Oxford University Press
Editorial Team
Bulletin Editors:
Phil Holland
Brigitte Mottet-Didaskalou
Dora Pontika
Writers:
Phil Holland
Roger House
Mike Hughes
Richard Kiely (IATEFL)
Errika Petrotou
Adrian Tennant (IATEFL)
George Topalis
Dimitris Tzouris & Margarita Kosior
Katie Quartano & Paul Shaw
Photography:
Nathan Pratt
Design & Layout:
Konstantina Kyratzidou
ΕΚΔΟΤΗΣ
ΙΔΙΟΚΤΗΤΗΣ-ΕΚΔΟΤΗΣ
Roger House
(ΠΡΟΕΔΡΟΣ ΤΗΣ ΕΝΩΣΗΣ ΓΙΑ ΤΗ ΔΙΔΑΣΚΑΛΙΑ ΤΗΣ ΑΓΓΛΙΚΗΣ ΓΛΩΣΣΑΣ
ΣΤΗΝ ΜΑΚΕΔΟΝΙΑ ΚΑΙ ΘΡΑΚΗ)
TESOL MACEDONIA-THRACE
NORTHERN GREECE
tel.: (0030)6976845202
e mail: tesolmth@gmail.com
A VIEW FROM
THE CHAIR

3. Sunday, 16th
June 2013
8:30 pm
Special prices:
2€ first wine/beer/soft drink
20% discount on other drinks
Finger food
Del Arte cafe Bar Lounge
White Tower Square - Vassiliko Theatre
★Stay entertained with us-
quizzes, drinks and chatting!
★No entrance fees!
★Open to non-members!
‘
Summer
fun event
Contact details: (0030) 6976845202, tesolmth@gmail.com, www.tesolmacthrace.org
invites
old
friends
and
welcomes
new
members
Thursday, June 13, 2013

4. 20th Annual
International
Convention
9th-10th March 2013
@
‘”ELT-
the What &
the How”
by
Roger House
3
Pleasant weather, an excellent venue, edifying and en-
tertaining presentations, and a warm, friendly atmo-
sphere – all of this and more characterised the TESOL
Macedonia-Thrace, Northern Greece 20th Annual Con-
vention at the American College of Thessaloniki.
Bright and early on Saturday morning the first plenary
presentation entitled‘New Literacies: Teachers & Learn-
ers.’was given by Gavin Dudeney, in which he examined
how the digital age has forced teachers to reassess their
approach to the traditional 'three rs' (reading, writing
and arithmetic), long considered the cornerstones of
basic literacy/numeracy. He gave some suggestions as
to what it means to be digitally literate and explored
the new types of literacy that have emerged with the
advent of Web 2.0. He followed this up later in the day
with a practical workshop demonstrating these kinds of
online tools. As a teacher, materials developer, IT man-
ager and web/user interface designer based in the UK,
Gavin is at the cutting edge of learning technologies.
Later on Saturday Tom Godfrey, the second plenary
speaker, talked about‘Whole Person Learning: The New
Way’ and explained what a whole person approach to
language learning is and that some traditional values
need to be re-examined. He focused on the practical
issues of developing skills in a monolingual classroom
environment by recognising the importance of satisfy-
ing our students' physical, psychological and linguistic
needs. Tom, who is based in Turkey, shared his experi-
ence as a teacher trainer in his Sunday morning work-
shop, which explored using drama techniques in Eng-
lish language teaching.
After a morning round of workshops, Nicos Sifakis, who
is an assistant professor in the School of Humanities of
the Hellenic Open University (HOU), gave the third ple-
nary presentation on ‘Differentiated Instruction: a way
forward for teachers.’ which is an approach to teach-
ing that takes into account learners' differences. He
reviewed the essential principles of differentiated in-
struction and considered the practical aspects in terms
of ways in which teachers can reflect on and evaluate
the impact of their own practice, which he developed
further in his follow-up workshop.

5. 4
convention
report! David A. Hill is a freelance consultant and teacher
trainer based in Budapest with a lot of experience in
writing educational materials for both language and
literature work. All of which he put to good effect
in the final plenary presentation, which was on the
topic of ‘Language Play & Creative Language Learn-
ing’. According to David, playing with language is one
of the fundamental ways in which humans learn to
speak their mother tongue and it has been seriously
neglected in the EFL/ESL classroom. In both this ple-
nary and his workshop he worked his way through
a series of examples and showed how these might
be used in class to develop learners’language aware-
ness.
What really lies at the heart of a convention such as
this is the rich variety of workshops and presenta-
tions that go on throughout the two days. Those at-
tending had the opportunity to listen to both their
own colleagues from the region and speakers from
Italy, Bulgaria, Serbia andTurkey talking on a range of
topics of professional interest and relevance to their
teaching circumstances. Rock & Roll in the classroom,
Dickens and the price and value of education, car-
toons, on-line courses, TED talks, story telling, dicta-
tion, the feelgood factor in teaching and fairy tales
were just some of the themes touched on. The op-
portunity to learn and share is what made the con-
vention such a success, and this is all down to the
people who participated.
The Pecha Kucha evening has now become a regu-
lar feature of the convention. In a highly entertaining
sequence of consecutive six-minute-forty-second
presentations the audience enjoyed a poem about
moths, the history of pecha kucha itself, a celebra-
tion of 20 years of TESOL Macedonia-Thrace, North-
ern Greece, bizarre book titles, a humorous look at
the classroom and even a song and dance routine.
David A Hill, Malgorzata Kosior, Maria Sachpazian,
Gavin Dudney, Nikos Sifakis and Tom Godfrey pro-
vided the entertainment ably compered by Phil
Holland. The fun was followed by a buffet kindly
sponsored by Burlington Books. TESOL Macedonia-
Thrace, Northern Greece would also like to thank
the Hellenic American Union, Express Publishing, the
British Council and InputonEducation, as well as our
host, ACT, for all their help and support in making it a
weekend to remember.

6. Gavin
Dudeney
20th Annual
International
Convention
‘New Literacies: Teachers
and Learners’
by Roger House
5
Whether you consider yourself to be a digital native or a
digital immigrant, there is no escaping the fact that the
new learning technologies are here to stay and we might
as well face up to it. Considering my own status to be that
of an immigrant, I found Gavin Dudeney’s Saturday morn-
ing plenary presentation gave me something of a refresh-
ing perspective on the whole issue.
Gavin began with a personal history of his own involve-
ment with computers and ICT and surprisingly, given his
current involvement with on-line learning, he confessed
to having started his teaching career as an unrepentant
immigrant. He soon, however, discovered the error of his
ways.Then he moved on to a definition of what he meant
by‘digital literacy’by giving the following quotation –“the
ability to understand and use information in multiple for-
mats from a whole range of sources” and unpacked, as it
were, the four main areas in which this literacy operates.
Print code, he explained, was the ability to manipulate
the digital environment and involved competency with
convention
report!
text messaging. He also mentioned‘hyperlink heroin’and
the ability, or inability, to stay focused on a task without
wandering off into cyberspace. The key element, though,
was the search skill, which takes in tagging, bookmarking
and the process of selecting and organising information.
All this, he suggested, constituted what he termed DSL or
Digital as a Second Language.
After showing how we all create a‘digital footprint’– Face-
book being the most conspicuous example of this type of
‘identity management’ – he posed the question of how
far your online image defines you and what the possible
drawbacks to this type of exposure can be. I needn’t, I
think, go any further into this as we are all aware of ex-
actly what they might be. At this point he decided to test
us all with an ‘Are you digitally literate?’quiz. I didn’t note
down all the questions, but they ranged from‘Is opening
your e-mail inbox the first thing you do in the morning?
to‘Do you have your own blog?’My own score was quite
low, thus confirming my immigrant status.
‘Is any of this really important?’he asked. Well, yes it is, be-
cause, as he said, shift happens. The major shift that has
occurred in recent years is the speed at which information
is gathered, resulting in a new kind of mobility. For this
reason technology should play an integrated role in the
curriculum and, as teachers, we all need to become‘tech
savvy’in order to feel comfortable with the new learning
technologies. This involves not only adopting a positive
attitude but also undertaking specific training to improve
our skills. I just wish I’d known all this ten years ago.
You can catch the plenaries as well
as interviews with the speakers by
Joanna Chletsi on YouTube. The
Pecha Kucha Evening is there too.
Fresh Video did the shooting and
editing.

7. David A.
Hill
20th Annual
International
Convention
David A. Hill – Playing with
Language
by Mike Hughes
6
convention
report!
David started his talk joking about the many impostors
bearing the same name and how he had been forced to
add a middle initial to avoid confusion – he also alluded
to how he had been given the ‘graveyard slot’ – the last
session in the convention when many people may have
left. But in fact he was talking to a full hall, a tribute both
to the power of the 20th Annual Convention and to wide
interest in the speaker and his topic!
His subtle sense of humour pervaded his talk and, not sur-
prisingly, perhaps, the title was “Playing with Language”.
David looked at some of the fun things that can be done
with language and how to include entertaining elements
in lessons based on language itself, a kind of double bo-
nus. He mentioned how ‘play’ is something that charac-
terizes animals of a higher order. His knowledge of nature
and particularly the animal kingdom was something we
had already admired during his very successful Pecha Ku-
cha talk on the world of moths. He went on to talk about
the wonderful world of horses and explained some as-
pects of“the Horse Whisperer”.
David gave us some personal examples of playing with
language from his own family situation in Hungary before
turning to Fairy Tales and how chants and familiar stories,
through their repetitive elements, patterns and rhymes,
can be useful in the language classroom. Examples given
here included the well-known “Little Red Riding Hood”.
These things are used by native speakers with their own
children and he asked why we ignore them in EFL.
As an EFL writer, David gave an interesting insight into
some of the constraints that are placed on him and col-
leagues. The commercial reality of EFL coursebooks
means that any elements which could potentially offend
any of the myriad markets tend to be left out, and some-
times this makes for bland subject material. Most jokes,
he reflected, are based on subjects which are taboo and
this means that humour, unfortunately, has to be exclud-
ed from coursebooks.
David went on to give many examples of things which
can be used in the language classroom including the fa-
mous knock-knock jokes, wordplay and the ever-popular
and creative subject of graffiti. He showed us some fun
postcards based on “Lost Consonants” by Graham Rawle,
which I know have been used by teachers to add interest
and fun to their language classrooms.
All in all, it was a very interesting and enriching talk from
a person with a very individual, stimulating point of view.
It made for an excellent end to an excellent conference.

8. Tom
Godfrey
20th Annual
International
Convention
Whole Person Learning, The
New Way
And the Oscar goes to…
by Errika Petrotou
7
convention
report!
True to his plenary title and teaching principles,Tom God-
frey’s presentation involved the participants and shook
them from head to toe! To begin with, for the purpose of
warming up our vocal cords (one of the main tools of our
trade) and increasing our concentration, we were trans-
formed into owls, emitting vowel sounds and moving our
heads in an owlish manner.
He then moved on to clarify what Whole Person Learn-
ing is about. Tom Godfrey advocates a new holistic ap-
proach to learning, away from the old main principles of
materialism, reductionism and determinism. The old way
revolved around materialism, i.e. the principle that only
matter matters. What Tom Godfrey put forward is that it’s
not a question of matter but a question of that invisible
energy that shapes and connects matter.What really mat-
ters is to shape and channel that energy into a meaning-
ful learning experience for our students.
The second old dominant way under question is that of
reductionism. This principle reduces the whole to its
parts, segregates, compartmentalizes. But learning goals
would be impossible to achieve without the synergy of all
our dimensions, that is, the body (learning through do-
ing) the mind (learning cognitively) and the spirit (learn-
ing by relating to things emotionally). Extending this new
view, teachers should also bear in mind that what works
one day in one class in all probability will not work the
same way in other classes.
Finally, contrary to the old principle of determinism,
knowledge cannot be standardized (what Tom calls “The
McDonald’s Syndrome”). It’s not a commodity that is
passed on from teachers to learners. Learners are called
to actively make sense of what they are being taught, to
make knowledge their own by interpreting it in their own
unique, individual way, and that’s what makes learning
possible.
To demonstrate and consolidate this new holistic ap-
proach, Tom embarked on the dramatization of a story
that takes place in the Wild West, taking his eager audi-
ence along for the ride. After some necessary preliminary
steps such as setting the scene, putting pictures in order
(engaging the mind), eliciting the story through mime
(engaging the body), then came the casting. Every ani-
mate and inanimate role was duly cast; the sheriff, the vil-
lains, the unsuspecting bystander, the horse, the cactus,
everyone and everything came to life (engaging the spir-
it). The outcome was pure, unadulterated fun and learn-
ing, the new, whole-person way. My unreserved advice
to fellow teachers is to try it wholeheartedly. It will surely
make your students feel like they are accomplished Oscar
winners!

9. Dr. Nicos
Sifakis
20th Annual
International
Convention
Sifakis Speaks on D.I. as the
new M.O.
by Phil Holland
8
Dr. Nicos Sifakis of Hellenic Open University spoke on “Dif-
ferentiated instruction: a way forward for teachers”. He was
also a plenary speaker in 2005, when he spoke on Eng-
lish as an international language, a subject that lies at the
center of his recently published book, Αγγλική γλώσσα και
παγκοσμιοποίηση (Herodotos 2012, reviewed below on p.
26). He is both a researcher into ELT methodology and a
teacher trainer with wide experience with the teaching of
English in Greek public schools.
He began is talk by saying that, despite its technical-sound-
ing name, differentiated instruction offers a simple proposi-
tion: “catering to all your learners’ individual learning needs”.
He also quoted Earl (2003):
“Differentiation is making sure that the right students get the
right learning tasks at the right time. Once you have a sense
of what each student holds as‘given’or‘known’and what he
or she needs in order to learn, differentiation is no longer an
option. It is an obvious response.”
That may be easier said than done, but Nicos showed practi-
cal ways to accomplish it.
The brief video he showed of an American math classroom
was eye-opening. Students were working independently
and in small groups to solve problems. Some were at the
board, some seated at clusters of desks or at tables around
the room. There was movement and, it appeared, a sense of
purpose. It took a while for a viewer to pick out the teacher.
And yet it was apparent that the teacher had set in motion
an environment that allowed learners to work at their own
pace, getting help from their peers or the teacher himself if
necessary. Many lessons were going on at once; no learner
was left behind, and no one appeared to be disengaged.
There were no obvious boundaries, but there was no disor-
der. The class simply went about its business in a way that
appeared to have become habitual. No one was looking out
the window.
Nicos characterized differentiated instruction as a way of
thinking. Its cardinal points are learner (and learning) cen-
teredness, teacher autonomy, and ICT enhancement. “The
coursebook is dead,”he pronounced. In its place the teacher
orchestrates activities that will enable her students – with
their diversity of levels, motives, backgrounds, and learning
styles – to move ahead in their acquisition of English (or of
any subject) as the individuals they are. “One size does not
fit all,”he stated, proposing instead the following principles:
• Every student is worthy of dignity and respect (Freire).
• Diversity is both inevitable and positive.
• The classroom should mirror the kind of society in which
we want our students to live.
• Most students can learn most things that are essential to a
given area of study.
The presentation had a lively visual component, as Nicos
showed some paintings of the classrooms of the historical
past, in many of which it was clear that differentiated in-
struction was going on, though in those days it was simply
known as“school”.
Teachers can differentiate content, process, and product,
Nicos maintained, according to learners’affect, readiness, in-
terests, and ways of learning. He proposed a number of strat-
egies to manage this, including stations, journals, tiered ac-
tivities, learning contracts, compacting, independent study,
and the use of portfolios.
He also sketched a larger context for these methods, namely
that the world is increasingly demanding professionals who
can solve problems, innovate, create, and both think for
themselves and collaborate with others. The learning skills
that we should be developing in students we should be ex-
emplifying as teachers, Nicos noted, and suggested ways for
teachers to apply the principles of DI in their own profes-
sional lives. In short, it was a talk with both a conceptual and
practical dimension that offered plenty of material for reflec-
tion and a blueprint for change.
A video of the talk is available on YouTube, along with an in-
terview of Nicos by Joanna Chletsi, and the slides he showed
are available on request from Nicos at sifakis@eap.gr
convention
report!

10. 9
and much more at http://www.seeta.eu
SEETANEWSJUNE2013
byAnnaParisi
SouthEasternEuropeTeachers’Association
Young Learners: Tips and Tricks!
Anastasia Loukeris, Nora Touparlaki, Ljubica Ruzinska & Sandra Vida
On-going
Teacher’s Lounge
Ongoing community Forum
Do you want to share your teaching ideas or find new ones? Or do you feel
like chatting about this and that? Do you have a problem you’d like to discuss?
Welcome to the Teacher’s lounge
SEETA Webchat
A monthly chat on a wide selection of ELT topics. Feel free to share your
comments and why not? your camera and microphone? Join and share your
ideas, tips and experience LIVE! See you in the conference room!
On-going forum !
Steliyana Dulkova
Magic tricks and fun for young learners .
Join us and share the fun . And lots of activities and games for young learners!
On-line SEETA course
June 2013
Sirin Soyoz
e-portfolios
An e-portfolio is a creative means of organizing, summarizing, and sharing artifacts,
information, and ideas about teaching and/or learning, along with personal and
professional growth. Creating e-portfolios supports the updating of skills and personal
development planning.
During this SEETA course we construct our own e-portfolios and share issues in 2
webinars with Sirin !
Webchat and Teachers’Lounge

11. Report on the
11th ELTA Serbia Conference
by Phil Holland
I attended the ELTA Serbia IATEFL Annual Convention in
Belgrade on May 10-11 as the TESOL Mac-Thrace repre-
sentative. Each organization hosts a delegate from the
other at our annual conventions, in return for a presenta-
tion by the delegate.
Getting to Belgrade was easy, as was reaching the des-
ignated hotel in the center of town. The conference
was held at the Faculty of Education of the University
of Belgrade, an old building but with all mod cons. I was
struck at the Opening Ceremony by the presence on the
dais of representatives from the British Council and the
British and U.S. embassies in addition to the leaders of
ELTA Serbia. It was clear from the brief speeches given
by those officials that the promotion of the English lan-
guage in Serbia has official Anglo-American sup-
port. There are “American Corners” in many
Serbian towns, and the British Council
spreads its influence in similar ways.
“Makes a change,” as they say in Brit-
ain. You will recall (I recall! – and I
spoke to those who recalled) the
NATO bombing of Slobodan Milos-
evic’s Belgrade in 1999. In order to
encourage a more democratic and
Western-friendly Serbia (the diplomats
didn’t actually use those words at the
conference), the Anglo-American powers
(I consider myself a foot soldier) are promot-
ing the study of English in this former member of the
Communist bloc that has aspirations of joining the EU.
They want to open Serbia up to the English-speaking
world. From the look of the stores, restaurants, and cin-
emas in downtown Belgrade, the West (in the form of
the usual suspects) has already arrived, but I noticed that
there were no English-language newspapers or maga-
zines at the kiosks yet.
The acquisition of English is happening fast, however,
if the energy of ELTA Serbia as an organization and the
professional ambitions of those attending the confer-
ence are any indication. The English-language skits by
school children at the Friday banquet were also proof
that the coming generation will be proficient in English;
idiomatic language rolled off the tongues of 12 year-old
mock pirates. ELTA Serbia was celebrating 10 years of op-
eration, and its sense of mission was palpable. The con-
ference was well attended (about 250 participants) and
efficiently run by hosts who were hospitable and helpful.
Publishers too have taken notice and sponsored many
of the plenary talks, which largely featured speakers from
abroad. Thessaloniki’s own Jeanne Perrett was the first of
them, speaking on“Context, content, and emotion in lan-
guage learning”, complete with a mass-participation Bol-
lywood dancing routine. The conference theme was “He
who dares to teach must never cease to learn”, and many
talks highlighted new trends in ELT, from textbook design
and technology to approaching students with special
needs. The curious can find the full line-up of talks on
the ELTA Serbia website. My own presentation, on “Word
Choice (50 Shades of Meaning)”, was well attended, de-
spite being one of the last on the program (I would
have stayed anyway…).
The highlight (for me) was the dinner
provided on a boat (or was it a barge?)
on the Danube. Serbian raki, wine, and
slivovitz accompanied Serbian sau-
sages and lively talk. After the student
skits there was a raffle, and when a
school owner won a week-long sum-
mer teacher development workshop
in Devon, she promptly donated it to a
teacher at my table who had managed to
learn excellent English without ever having
been abroad. Yes, that called for another round.
I should also mention that ELTA Serbia puts out an im-
pressive newsletter, or rather magazine, as the “m” in its
name (“melt”) signifies. That’s also available on-line.
Thinking of some ELT tourism next year? There’s a direct
flight fromThessaloniki, and food and lodging in Belgrade
are about half of what you’d have to pay here.
Once again, warm thanks to my hosts.

12. 11
A Report on the
IATEFL Conference
Liverpool
April 8-12, 2013
By Katie Quartano
The Disabled Access
Friendly campaign
had the honour
to win the first
Julia Tanner
Memorial Scholarship
co-sponsored by TESOL
Macedonia-Thrace, N.
Greece and Burlington
books.
The scholarship gave
us the opportunity to
make a presentation
at one of the major
events on the
international ELT
calendar, the annual
IATEFL conference,
which this year was
held in Liverpool,
U.K.

13. 12
This event attracts approximately 3,000 delegates
from all over the world, and if you visit IATEFL’s website
www.iatefl.org you can find a copy of the conference
programme. We were given this as a hard copy, and
it was the fattest, fullest and heaviest programme we
have ever seen!
TESOL Macedonia-Thrace, N. Greece, is an affiliate
member of IATEFL, and I had the pleasure of represent-
ing the organization at the dinner on Sunday evening
which was organized for affiliates, staff and volunteers,
at which David Crystal, the patron of IATEFL, Eric Baber,
the outgoing president, and others gave speeches. It
was a great delight to find myself sitting at the same
table as people whose names I recognized as the au-
thors of most of the coursebooks I used when studying
for the CELTA qualification, and I tried hard not to make
any grammatical mistakes in conversation.
On Monday, Paul gave a presentation at the Global In-
terests Special Interest Group (GISIG) pre-conference
event entitled “Stepping into unknown shoes”, focus-
ing on how firstly teachers need to feel and under-
stand, not assume, what it means to have a mobility
disability, before they can raise awareness in their class-
rooms about such issues. The talk also highlighted the
fact that when students are exposed to an interesting
idea their thoughts are stimulated, and this creates a
real desire to express themselves, and subsequently a
need for grammar and language.
While Paul was at the GISIG event, I attended the Af-
filiates Day event, where I represented TESOL Mace-
donia-Thrace, N. Greece. This was an opportunity for
networking and to hear examples of best practices
and innovative ideas from teaching associations from
all over the world. The overwhelming message I got
was that virtual conferences, joint events and collabo-
rations are the way to go. There were representatives
from associations with more than 3000 members, rep-
resentatives from newly established associations in
Africa, and experts who offer support to teaching as-
sociations such as the British Council.
The British Council also works together with IATEFL
to provide an Online Conference so that people not
able to attend the event in person can still benefit.
http://iatefl.britishcouncil.org/2013/. Paul and I were
interviewed on the very first day of the main confer-
ence about our work with the Disabled Access Friendly
campaign, and you can watch this online at http://iat-
efl.britishcouncil.org/2013/sessions/2013-04-09/inter-
view-katie-quartano-paul-shaw. That same afternoon,
we gave our presentation “Lessons in Life that Matter”
and this was also filmed, although unfortunately there
were some dreaded technical problems so there is a
chunk missing, but you can still watch it here http://
iatefl.britishcouncil.org/2013/sessions/2013-04-09/
lessons-life-matter. The talk was very practical, and
showed how teachers can use our free teaching mate-
rial with students at all levels, and whilst still teaching
English, at the same time open their eyes to issues of
mobility disability.
The room we were allocated was quite small, and be-
cause of Britain’s all-invading “health and safety” regu-
lations, people were not allowed to stand at the back,
and whereas on the one hand it was very pleasing to
find that our room was completely full, on the other it
was a pity to have to turn people away at the door. The
feedback we got after our talk was very encouraging,
and we are proud that our work is so well received by
the ELT community and that it is having such a wide
impact. We now get visitors to our site from over 120
countries worldwide, and average 10,000 page hits a
month.
Disabled Access Friendly also had a huge poster on
display in the exhibition hall, and this attracted a lot of
attention.
The fact that people were so interested in the work of
the Disabled Access Friendly campaign and sought us
out to talk to us meant that we were also easily able to
network with colleagues on behalf of TESOL Macedo-
nia-Thrace, N. Greece. We spoke to many experienced
and well-known presenters, who not only expressed an
interest in speaking at next year’s conference, but also
in visiting Thessaloniki.
As a Londoner going by the anything north of Watford
rule, I was really surprised to find that Liverpool is a
beautiful city, and it was a great pity that we were so
busy at the conference that we did not really have any
time to explore it. However, we did manage to go to
the Albert Docks, which were right by our hotel. This
is where the Beatles museum is located, and the Tate
Gallery. No gyros or souvlaki, but some truly excellent
fish and chips.
Thank you once again to TESOL Macedonia-Thrace,
N. Greece and Burlington Books for this wonder-
ful opportunity. As friends of Julia’s it was an honour
for us to win the scholarship, an honour to represent
TESOL Macedonia-Thrace, N. Greece, and wonderful
to have the opportunity to promote the Disabled Ac-
cess Friendly campaign in its efforts to use EFL to put
something good back into the world. Just in case you
haven’t already visited our site with free teaching ma-
terial, please have a look here www.disabled-access-
friendly.com.

14. 13
TESOL Greece’s
34th Annual Convention -
‘Innovation, Motivation,
Education’
Athens, March 30 – 31, 2013
By GeorgeTopalis
Upon arrival at the HAU building, a convenient down-
town venue, I was immediately welcomed by the friendly,
smiling faces of the board’s treasurer Sevi Iosifidou and
the eager-to-help volunteers. I felt quite pampered from
the first minute. My luggage was quickly tucked away in
a specially designated room for speakers’ luggage and
equipment, and after being given my visitor’s badge and
convention bag, I dashed to the plenary room.
Unfortunately, I arrived on Saturday evening and was
only able to attend the Interactive Plenary Panel discus-
sion. The plenary speakers answered a range of thought-
provoking questions which ranged from exam backwash
to the best moment in their teaching careers.
This was followed by the Convention party on the roof
garden. I was able to catch up with old friends like Ansa
Laskioti, Michael Robbs, Eftichis Kantarakis, Daria Breus-
Samolada and Michael Onushco and make new ones like
Dimitris Primalis and more while enjoying a glass of wine
and the magnificent view of the Acropolis, accompanied
by the sounds of a live band playing traditional Greek mu-
sic. A lot of sheer joy and lively dancing took place till the
early hours.
On Sunday, I attended an intriguing plenary talk entitled
‘English as an International lingua franca: A threat to mul-
ticultural communication?’ by the current director of the
PhD course in Applied Linguistics offered by Hellenic
American University, Dr Juliane House. She raised the
issue of whether English as a means of global commu-
nication and intercultural understanding poses a threat
to multilingualism and the profession of translating and
interpreting. She drew some quite thought-provoking
conclusions for all.
Workshops
There were a number of professional presentations with
very arresting titles throughout the day that made me
wish I could be in several places at the same time.
I have attended quite a few talks that have tried to ad-
dress the issue of working with dyslexic students but
I had not attended one of such a practical nature until
now. After briefly presenting the nature of dyslexia, Anna
Prifti presented an impressive collection of homemade
board games, not only very useful and practical when
dealing with students that have specific learning difficul-
ties but also so when trying to achieve automaticity with
those reluctant to speak or when trying to tap into the
kinesthetic nature of all young learners.
Anna Petala and George Stefanidis took us step by step
through the process of creating a school newspaper and
uploading it to the web. They readily answered any que-
ries and simplified all the steps so as even the most tech-
nophobic practitioner could muster the courage to take
on this absolute learner-engaging class endeavor.
Mark Osborne, in his lively hands-on presentation, pre-
sented the audience with an array of applications for
iPad’s and tablets such as Boogle, Moonbot books, and
more that can be downloaded and used in class. These
tablet apps via a connection to a laptop and projector
can be viewed by the whole class and the tablet passed
around, thus engaging even the most bored teen.
I found these workshops very engaging and I sincerely
hope we might have the pleasure of enjoying some of
them in Thessaloniki in the near future.
Closing plenary
The current TESOL International president Christine
Coombe delivered a talk that was highly inspiring for all
EFL professionals in these financially difficult and demor-
alizing times.
Through her account of her own experiences, she took
the audience down the road of self-reflection and regain-
ing hope, self-confidence and motivation by implement-
ing some widely accepted general business manage-
ment goal setting techniques on a personal level, thus
facilitating setting a personal and professional strategic
plan. She also gave her view of the 10 characteristics that
make for an effective EF/SL teacher.
Even though I could not attend the whole convention,
and I received only a taste of what was available, I am
sure that the rest of the presenters were of equal interest.
I hope that I will be able to attend next year’s convention
and once again enjoy the whole-hearted hospitality of
our southern counterpart.

15. Welcome
back
event!
October 20, 2013
Drop in and say hello at the TESOL Macedonia-Thrace
Northern Greece stand:
August 27, 2013: The 3rd Foreign Languages Forum & Book and Re-
source Exhibition organized by ELT News, at the Grand Hotel Palace,
Thessaloniki.
The Forum will feature professional and commercial presentations
as well as a Panel Discussion on the theme of Common Mistakes That
English Teachers Make.
31 August / 01 September 2013: the International Publishers Exhi-
bition, at the MET HOTEL, Thessaloniki. Book exhibits, professional
and commercial presentations.
August 29 - 30, 2013 : PALSO NORTHERN GREECE, Macedonia Palace,
Thessaloniki 26η Διημερίδα Ξενόγλωσσης Εκπαίδευσης
“Should I stay or should I go? Language learning, a crucial factor
towards a final decision»
And don’t miss the annual
Save that date!

16. Pecha
Kucha
Evening
20th Annual
International
Convention
P3K
by Phil Holland
15
convention
report!
The 3rd annual Pecha Kucha Evening brought Saturday’s
presentations to an entertaining conclusion. The upper
floor of the Bissell Library at ACT provided an intimate
setting, and every seat was occupied. Host Phil Holland
opened the event by asking that members of the audi-
ence have sympathy for the speakers, who he said were
subjecting themselves to considerable pressure. In fact,
he claimed to have seen on the Internet that “Pecha Ku-
cha” was a Japanese rendering of “pressure cooker” – be-
fore disclosing that the Internet source for this dubious
assertion was his own TESOL Mac-Thrace Pecha Kucha of
last year.
He knew he could take liberties, because he had been
tipped off that the subject of the first presenter’s talk
was the form of the Pecha Kucha itself. Malgorzata Ko-
sior stepped up and started to roll her 20 slides at 20
seconds apiece. Her talk highlighted the critique that the
compressed form of the PK makes of the all-too-frequent
“Death by PowerPoint” style of presentation. Her own
snappy and fluent PK presentation was a case in point.
Holland called it a tough act to follow, but follow it Gavin
Dudeney did, and in style. He claimed to have a range of
hobbies, chief among them reading. He then led us on
a hilarious tour of his Amazon wish list, which included
titles that, while perhaps not best-sellers, apparently do
exist. For example: “Towel Origami”; “Knitting with Dog
Hair”;“Nuclear War: What’s in it for you?”;“Tattooed Moun-
tain Women and Spoon Boxes of Daghestan”– no, he was
not making it all up, I have checked. “Do-it-Yourself Cof-
fins” and the perhaps related “How to Teach Your Wife to
be a Widow”, and many more – all peppered with Gavin’s
amusing commentary – kept the merriment flowing
while enlarging our conception of the universe, at least
that of books.
I should say here and now that if you want to see any and
all of these PK’s in their complete form, they are on You-
Tube in one continuous video, at http://www.youtube.
com/watch?v=k24RT6nKWIE.
Next up was Tom Godfrey, or rather Tom Godfrey and a
woman who identified herself only as “the wife”, as this
was a team effort. The subject was serious – “The New
Way”of global awareness, imagination, collaboration, and
creativity – and it was treated in a correspondingly theat-
rical way which included song and dance as well as slides
and speech that bounced back and forth between the
speakers, concluding with an uninhibited “Do the Pecha
Kucha with me”that had the audience clapping in rhythm
as the speakers locomoted off the stage. It was undeni-
ably a new way for PKs at our convention.
It was time for a change of pace, and David A. Hill pro-
vided one, inviting us into the world of a poem he had
written called “Mothworld”, which he illustrated with his
own photographs. “Perhaps you do not know the world
of moths,” he began, to an audience uncertain as to how
to respond. Was it a something out of Gavin’s reading
list? Not at all. It was an invitation to contemplate an-
other world, the world of the night and the silent flight
of moths with their wings in unexpected colors and pat-
terns,“a heraldry of bars, lines, patches, spots, geometrical
and perfect, book-matched on scales across frail, folded
wings…now and then weaving their fragile, secret lives
inside ours.” It cast a spell. For 6 minutes and 40 seconds
we werein another world.
Maria Sachpazian, longtime TESOL Mac-Thrace member
and former General Secretary and Vice-Chair of the Board,
was up next. The 20 x 20 PK formula invited the theme

17. 20th Annual
International
Convention
16
of her talk, which was the 20 years of our organization. It
was a trip down memory lane as well as an assertion of
the sources of strength of TESOL Macedonia-Thrace, not
least the efforts of its volunteer leaders through the years
and our TA’s versatility and ability to grow and respond
to changes in our field. “TESOL has given us not only the
chance and space to express ourselves, but most of all,
choice.”Her parting message:“Engage.”
That was the perfect segue to the opening message
of Nicos Sikakis’ PK, which focused on the dynamics of
teacher-student interaction, beginning with the need to
motivate students. He reminded teachers that students
want to be challenged, but that does not mean that
they want to be tested! He stressed the value of keeping
classrooms in motion and advocated breaking down the
barriers that all too often separate students and teachers.
In short, he provided a check-list of the fundamentals of
good teaching in today’s connected and evolving world.
It was the perfect way to conclude as spirited, creative,
and thought-provoking a set of PK presentations as you’ll
find anywhere. A special thank you to our six brave pre-
senters.

18. Feature articles
10 IATEFL Voices 232
the sharing of ideas is one of the teacher’s responsibili-
ties.
11 Learning activities should have three features: com-
municative purpose, choice and feedback (including
self-assessment).
Student
12 students are communicators and are actively engaged in
negotiating meaning.
13 students should focus on figuring out the speaker’s or
writer’s intentions and meanings.
14 When communicating, a speaker/writer has a choice
about what to say and how to say it.
15 students should be given opportunities to develop
strategies for interpreting language in authentic use
contexts.
16 students should reflect on the kind of learner they are,
and the implications of this for strategy development
and planning.
The possible
The possible is the other entity. This is not so fixed, and
certainly not so transmissible. What is possible in a given
classroom context or eLT environment can be explored
through three questions: What is possible for the teacher?
What is possible for the students? And what is possible in
the context?
What is possible for the teacher?
This is a self-assessment question for each teacher. It relates
to students and context of course, but most importantly,
it is a personal, private question, to be engaged with in a
safe reflective space, and answered as a tentative set of
new activity-types for the classroom. In relation to activities
which correspond to the desirable, the key question is ‘Can
I make this happen?’. Thus, when considering innovative
practice such as a focus on fluency, telling stories, student
self-assessment, or using internet resources, each teacher
has to look inwards and imagine themselves using and
performing this kind of activity to transform their classroom
into an engaging, fun, fizzing learning space.
The factors which shape the answer to this question
include teaching identity and language competence and
confidence. Teaching identity refers to the sense of self in
the professional environment. The teacher has to consider
how the innovative practice can align with their typical style
of teaching:
• how does the focus on input determine my teaching
style?
• how does the focus on control determine my teaching
style?
• how much time is available for planning innovative
activities?
The desirable and the possible
Richard Kiely looks at managing change in ELT.
Managing change in eLT is about
making the desirable possible. The
desirable is a constant, but the canvas
of the possible is infinitely variable. so
the challenge of managing change is
one of fitting a square peg, not into a
round hole, but into a hole the shape
of which is unclear, undetermined,
and in all likelihood changing all the
time. This article sets out an approach
to this task.
The desirable
The desirable in eLT can be understood as a set of principles
which, although varying according to culture and context,
tends to cluster around those core values in eLT which have
become universal in our sector: teaching english using a
curriculum referenced to the four skills (listening, speaking,
reading and writing) in an interactive way, and emphasising
the development of a strong individual learning identity.
Much of the success of labels such as ‘student-centred
learning’, and ‘communicative language teaching’ (CLT)
arises from their usefulness in identifying such values. Thus
they provide a handy characterisation of the desirable in eLT.
The principles are set out below in terms of implications for
language teachers and students. They reflect what I mean by
‘desirable’: the principles which have guided management
of change initiatives in english language teaching in class-
rooms and in online learning contexts over recent decades.
Language
1 Language as it is used in real-world contexts should be
an overarching principle of the teacher.
2 Language is a puzzle as well as a set of rules: one
function may have many different linguistic forms, and
different forms have different meanings.
3 errors are seen as the natural outcome of the develop-
ment of communication skills.
4 fluency is as important as accuracy.
5 The social context of the communicative events is essen-
tial in giving meaning to the samples of language.
6 The target language is used a great deal, though not
necessarily exclusively, in communicative activities.
Teacher
7 Opportunities should be given to students to express
their stories, ideas and opinions.
8 The teacher acts as an advisor during communicative
activities, a facilitator of students’ learning, a manager
of classroom activity, or a co-communicator.
9 The target language is the preferred vehicle for class-
room and online communication.
10 Creating situations in classrooms and online to promote
Richard Kiely
is professor
of Applied
Linguistics
and Language
education in
the Centre
for
International language Teacher
education (CILTe) at university
College plymouth st Mark &
st John.
17 Article taken from IATEFL Voices 232

19. Feature articlesMay–June 2013 Issue 232
IATEFL Voices 232 11
… each
teacher has to
look inwards
and imagine
themselves using
and performing
this kind of
activity to
transform their
classroom into
an engaging, fun,
fizzing learning
space
Language competence and confidence refers to the
teacher’s sense of self as a language user and language
authority. Therefore, in the context of each innovative activ-
ity, the teacher has to consider:
• how does this practice align with my language level?
• Can I use this activity to enhance my own language
skills?
• What are the risks for my authority as an english expert
with this activity?
What is possible for the students?
students can be the participants in the eLT context who
are most oriented to the traditional practice. The successful
students may wish to adhere closely to the requirements of
tests and examinations. They may want to focus narrowly
on the grammar rules and vocabulary lists which they are
good at. Other students may not have thought much about
their role as ‘learner of english’ and may be confused about
any innovative activities. Their confusion and insecurity may
lead them to resist, make fun of, or undermine initiatives
introduced by the teacher. The questions for teachers to
consider here are:
• What kinds of activities seem to work well in my
lessons?
• how can features of the desirable be integrated into
such activities?
• how can students be nudged to participate in an
innovative way?
What is possible in the context?
The context in which english teachers work is often charac-
terised by the coursebook and the examination format. It is
natural that these should represent the shared sense of pur-
pose of the curriculum for stakeholders, such as teachers,
students, parents, and managers. The questions for teachers
to consider here are:
• how closely does teaching follow the coursebook and
examination formats?
• how closely does teaching have to follow the
coursebook and examination formats?
• What are the opportunities to introduce new features of
the desirable?
• how can these be justified in terms of achieving the
learning goals of the coursebook and examination
format?
This is an outline framework for managing change in eLT,
through a focus on teacher development. This development
is not so much based on transmission of new knowledge
and techniques (though these may play a part), but on
teachers’ own individual reflection on, and analysis of what
is possible. This may be largely a private activity, but can be
supported and guided by a workshop and planning process.
The workshop process could have three elements:
1 The desirable, which can be set out in terms of the
innovative practices and the policy framework. This can
be an input aspect to start the workshop, and focus the
description and reflection stages.
2 The description of current practices, which is both col-
lective—what typically happens—and individual – what
happens in each teacher’s own classroom. The goal here
is to establish for each teacher, a realistic base line for
the innovative practices.
3 The reflection by each teacher, on how they can engage
with the implementation of the desirable, is the transla-
tion of glimpses of the desirable into a practical plan by
each teacher. Thus, the input may provide explanation
and demonstration, the workshop may explore issues of
implementation and pedagogic strategies which bridge
the desirable and the possible in a general way. But the
essential characterising of the possible is a task for each
individual teacher. This possible has no ‘ifs’: there are no
additional conditions which need to be met first. This
involves a plan of implementation, based on an analysis
of what is possible in terms of self, students and context.
essentially the plan has to have:
a an innovative activity, representing something from
the desirable, but which is implementable;
b a time-framing, such as 20 minutes of the weekly
scheme of work, and which can become a strand
of the teacher’s planning, alongside grammar input,
reading comprehension, etc.
c a framework for evaluation which allows initial
disasters to be understood as part of the development
process, and embeds perseverance which ensures
both teachers and students can make the strand
work.
Two further points are worth bear-
ing in mind in understanding this
framework for managing change in
eLT. The desirable has to be understood
by teachers as an idea, rather than as
a fixed technique or body of practice.
Thus, it can be changed, fragmented,
reconstructed and re-moulded in ways
required for teacher ownership and
classroom implantation. The explana-
tion and demonstration in the input
stage need to be workshopped so that
teachers see the innovative practice
as their own practice, not someone
else’s.
second, the input and demonstra-
tion need to be engaging as effective
practice. sometimes this happens with
the trainer or presenter playing a teacher role and the
teachers playing the student roles. The workshop and
reflection stages need to ensure that this is understood, and
the practice is effectively transformed into what is possible
for the teachers. If the teachers see the demonstration as a
superbly engaging performance, which they can admire as
they might the performance of a prima ballerina or Olympic
gymnast, they might not be on the road to seeing it as pos-
sible for them, in their own classroom.
rkiely@marjon.ac.uk
18

20. Feature articles
12 IATEFL Voices 232
she disappears. however, she is fond of pronunciation par-
ticularly the distinction between ‘p’ and ‘f’ as in pig and fig.
In the staff room (with the Mad Hatter,
March Hare and Dormouse)
As in most staff rooms there are characters aplenty—the
dozy one who has spent all night burning the candle at both
ends, the loud, brash one who is full of themselves and the
slightly demented one who may have been teaching young
learners for too long! Of course, these three teachers frus-
trate the Alice teacher no end. As she says ‘I think you might
do something better with the time than asking riddles that
have no answers’.0 Welcome to the tea party!
The Queen of Hearts
There’s always one in every school, isn’t there? full of
herself, even more so than the Mad hatter! A disciplinarian
who doesn’t really think about the effect they have on their
students or colleagues and who isn’t used to being chal-
lenged. The Queen of hearts can often be heard declaring,
‘It wasn’t like that in my day’ or ‘young people today!’.
demanding and exacting, the Queen of hearts teacher
expects nothing less than perfection and has some of the
best exam results in her school—which she uses to vindicate
her methods.
do you recognise any of them?
adrian.tennant@ntlworld.com
Alice and others in Wonderland
Adrian Tennant takes a light-hearted look at teaching styles.
here are a number of the charac-
ters from Lewis Carroll’s most famous
novel to describe teachers and teaching
styles that I’ve seen in my twenty-plus
years of teacher training...
Alice
‘What is the use of a book’, thought
Alice, ‘without pictures or conversa-
tion?’ Alice as a teacher would use
visuals to stimulate her students and
lots of pair and group speaking prac-
tice. however, she is rather impetuous.
After all, who would jump down a
rabbit hole, or drink out of odd bottles without thinking?
she also likes to show off her knowledge and use big
words—even when she isn’t quite sure what they mean.
The White Rabbit
‘Oh dear! Oh dear! I shall be late!’ how long will activities
take? What happens if I run out of time? The White rabbit
teacher also often calls people by the wrong name, mixing
up Alice with Mary Ann, though it can be hard remembering
students’ names!
The Dodo
All-action and far from extinct, the dodo teacher thinks that
the best way to explain something is to do it and he certainly
is fond of games. The only problem is that there is often a lot
of confusion involved—after all, unless
the rules of a game are explained before
you start playing the result is generally
controlled chaos!
The Caterpillar
What a teacher! supremely confident
and constantly probing his students
with ‘explain yourself!’ and ‘Who are
you?’ keeping teacher talking time to a
minimum by never saying more than is
necessary, the instructions are concise
and he tries to include critical thinking in his lessons. Believes
in using traditional methods such as drilling, memorising
and reciting long texts such as ‘you are old, father William’.
The Cheshire Cat
Grinning ear-to-ear, you’d think the Cheshire Cat would
make an excellent teacher, but how wrong you’d be! When
asked a question she gives the kind of evasive answer you’d
expect from a politician. ‘What should I do?’ asks a student.
‘That depends on what you want to achieve’, replies the
Cheshire Cat teacher. And, just when you need her most,
Adrian
Tennant is
a freelance
trainer, writer
and consultant
and is particu-
larly interested
in linking
methodology to teaching. he
runs in-service training courses
including trainer training,
materials development and
educational change courses.
he’s currently studying archae-
ology and has signed on for a
course in forensics!
Grinning ear-to-
ear, you’d think
the Cheshire Cat
would make an
excellent teacher,
but how wrong
you’d be!
The Mock Turtle
With the word ‘mock’ in the name of this teacher
you’d almost expect a stooge, a teacher who prepares
the students for the exam so that the Queen of hearts
can take credit – well, you couldn’t be further from the
truth, the Mock Turtle teacher is his own man! fond
of history and telling stories, although rather slow to
warm to anything (other than soup) the Mock Turtle
teacher’s lessons can be quite boring and laborious.
his teacher was a turtle called tortoise, because, as the
Mock Turtle says. ‘he taught us.’ Of course, the Mock
Turtle teacher likes laughing at his own jokes while
everyone else around groans. he’s also rather lazy as
his lessons get shorter each day as they lessen from
day to day!
so, which of the teachers are you? do you know
anyone who’s the Queen of hearts or the dodo? Is your
staff room like the tea party?
Reference
Carroll, L. 1865. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Bookbyte
digital edition.
Article taken from IATEFL Voices 23219

21. TED
meets
ELT
Malgorzata Kosior (mkosior@otenet.gr)
Dimitris Tzouris (tzouris@act.edu)
The following article is
based on a talk given by
the authors at the
TESOL Macedonia
-Thrace 2013 Convention
How do great ideas spread in
a connected world?
How can educators use such
ideas to inspire their students
and help them learn?

22. TED
You do knowTED, don’t you?Then I don’t have to mention
the many astonishing ideas presented by brilliant people
at the TED conferences each year. But did you know that
TED stands for Technology Entertainment Design? At
first, most of us relate the second letter with education
instead. In fact, TED has been a lot about education, since
it’s much more than a conference. TED is a platform for
sharing ideas, which educators around the world have
been tapping into in order to inspire their students. Not
surprisingly, the most popular TED talk, counting more
than 20 million total views to date, is Sir Ken Robinson’s
talk about schools killing creativity.
A Platform for Spreading Ideas
In 2009, TED launched the TEDx program, allowing any-
one to register and curate an independentTED-like event.
Four years later, the TEDx programme has allowed people
all over the world to share their ideas and inspire local
communities. Today, more than 6,000 TEDx events have
taken place in 1,200 cities (including Thessaloniki and
Athens), by 2,000 registered organizers in 133 countries.
There are even events focused solely on education or
teen speakers, as well as events organized at univer-
sities or entirely by students. Since all talks have to be
recorded and made available online for free, some get
picked up and amplified by TED by getting posted on the
TED website. Really inspiring TEDx speakers might also be
invited to give a talk at a main TED conference.
Going Mainstream
Although TED started appealing to a constantly increas-
ing audience via the Internet, offering all the talks for free
on the TED website, as well as on YouTube, iTunes and
via iOS and Android mobile apps, it has also started
spreading via mainstream media in order to reach a wider
audience and create conversations around those ideas.
TED Books offers longer narratives based on TED talks
and NPR’s TED Radio Hour focuses on specific themes by
grouping talks and interviewing speakers. TED’s latest ini-
tiative was a TV special focused on education. TED Talks
Education featured 8 speakers, including Sir Ken Robin-
son and Bill Gates. All talks are available online.
ELT loves TED
We are rapidly moving away from a world of information
scarcity to a highly networked world, where information
is in great abundance. The Internet has enabled all of us
to become active learners and to connect with the grow-
ing community of educators who share ideas on teaching
and learning.
TED is where English language instruction and social me-
dia meet and thrive.
Educators have been encouraged to use TED talks in the
classroom for two reasons: To provide students with the
context within which the English language can be used,
and to help them gain a different perspective on a vari-
ety of issues, change their attitudes and spark their minds
through contact with dynamic users of English.
Talk Selection
TED talks are a brilliant resource for listening and speak-
ing classes at (upper-) intermediate and advanced levels
for young adults and adult learners. They are presented
in a casual manner, but introduce advanced vocabulary
and colloquialisms at the same time without, however,
overwhelming the students with sophisticated lexis and
syntax.
Several criteria should be considered in the selection of
the talk appropriate for your class.
In terms of content, the selected talk should be of gen-
eral interest to the target audience. Young adult learners
who are about to start their careers need positive mes-
sages which will make them believe that one day they
can make a difference in the world.
Another important criterion is the level of difficulty. Al-
though there is an option of watching each TED talk with
English subtitles, talks delivered by native speakers or
ones with near-native but clear accents, and with a chal-
lenging but not intimidating level of difficulty will help
your students engage in the process, maximize language
learning benefits and capture their attention. An interac-
tive transcript provided for each TED talk enables you to
go directly to the part you want to watch and focus on.
However, it is worth emphasizing that talks delivered by
non-native speakers, or speakers of languages other than
English, can be equally engaging, inspiring, and enter-
taining. The goal is accomplished if your students leave
the classroom with upgraded language competence
and cultural awareness, and walk away with a message,
a memorable line…
Finally, learning English is not only about expanding vo-
cabulary and learning new structures. It is about connect-
ing with the world. TED talks make students global citi-
zens who are willing to experiment, explore and discover,
and embrace diversity.
A language is not just a body of vocabulary or a set of
grammatical rules. A language is a flash of the human
spirit. It’s a vehicle through which the soul of each par-
ticular culture comes into the material world. Every lan-
guage is an old-growth forest of the mind, a watershed,
a thought, an ecosystem of spiritual possibilities (Wade
Davis: Dreams from Endangered Cultures)
Once watching TED talks becomes a new everyday habit
for your students, English gets integrated into their lives
in a natural way, and from a mere tool for passing stan-
dardized exams it becomes the key to meaningful com-
munication.
21

23. 22

24. Steps, Tasks, and Activities
Use the following practical hints to prepare your own
tasks:
1. Prediction - introduce the speaker, ask the students to
deduce the content of the talk from the speaker's profile
2. Vocabulary work - while watching, ask the students
to select 5-10 vocabulary items (words and expressions)
which convey the message of the talk
3. (Classic) open-ended questions to be answered while
watching the talk
4. Debate - follow-up on a controversial talk
5. Essay assignment - ask the students to respond to a
quotation from the talk they have watched
6. Presentation style critique and evaluation - ask the stu-
dents to consider the following questions:
a. How would you describe the tone of the talk?
b. What does the presenter do or say to convey his or her
confidence?
c. What overall impact does the speaker’s body language
and eye contact have on the quality of the talk? (watching
parts of the talk muted helps focus on the body language)
d. In what way does the speaker use the slides?
e. What elements can you identify in the structure of the
talk (how does the speaker begin, develop an argument,
conclude)?
7. Encourage your students to prepare their own TED-
style talk
a. Tell a unique story
b. Speak from experience
c. Convey a strong idea
d. Be authentic and passionate
e. Sound confident
f. Rehearse, but do not“over rehearse”- make sure you do
not sound like a presentation robot
g. Leave the notes behind and be yourself
Technology provides a great advantage for teachers: It
can free up class time by providing tools for educators in
order to create educational content that can be accessed
from anywhere, thus enabling personalized learning and
turning class time into an opportunity for practice, col-
laboration and discussion. This is known as the “flipped
classroom”model.
TED Begets TED-Ed
In April 2012, TED launched TED-Ed, a website aimed
at teachers and learners that features talks and original
animated lessons based on TED talks. TED-Ed is an edu-
cational platform that allows anyone to create an online
lesson, not only based on any TED or TEDx talk, but also
on any YouTube video. Using TED-Ed, any video can eas-
ily become inspiring teaching content, supporting the
“flipped classroom” model. This means that students be-
come independent learners and in charge of their own
learning process. They learn about new ideas by means
of a foreign language, and vice versa, they learn the lan-
guage while discovering those new ideas.
Flip it! The advantages of using the
TED-Ed platform to create flipped
lessons
It is a given that our students are digital natives. They of-
ten take the use of technology in class for granted, and
they enjoy online tasks more than the ones printed on
paper, even if they are exactly the same tasks.
Another advantage is that TED-Ed gives students access
to the lesson at any time, at their convenience. Their an-
swers are tabulated and the instructor can provide online
feedback and use student responses to generate further
dialogue.
And finally, lessons uploaded by any teacher can be avail-
able to any user and shared, just like the ideas promoted
by the talk you chose to flip.
Teaching with TED Workshop
The TESOL Macedonia-Thrace Northern Greece com-
mittee was kind enough to offer us the opportunity to
present a workshop titled “Teaching with TED Talks” at
the 20th Annual Convention and also invited us to host a
SEETA webchat shortly after that.
Here are the links:
Workshop material: http://tz.rs/ted-ed
Webchat recording: http://tz.rs/tedwebchat
Pre-webchat online interviews: http://tz.rs/seetakosiortz-
ouris
23

25. Here are some of the TED talks we
have flipped:
Matt Cutts:“Try Something New for 30 Days”
An entertaining talk in which Matt Cutts encourages us to develop and
maintain new habits and/or subtract old ones in order to improve the
quality of our lives.
http://ed.ted.com/on/8q8OAF7e
Benjamin Zander: The transformative power of classical music
A moving and entertaining talk about classical music, leadership and the
role of a leader, and the power of positive thinking.
http://ed.ted.com/on/UaFFRT6Y
Richard St. John: "Success is a continuous journey"
A self-described average guy who found success doing what he loved,
Richard St. John spent more than a decade researching the lessons of
success -- and distilling them into 8 words, 3 minutes and one successful
book
http://ed.ted.com/on/nNfuooMc
Edith Widder: How we found the giant squid
Edith Widder combines her expertise in research and technological in-
novation with a commitment to stopping and reversing the degradation
of our marine environment.
http://ed.ted.com/on/YL0hf8aw
24

26. TED talks recommended for an ELT
classroom
1. Sir Ken Robinson:“Do Schools Kill Creativity?”
A funny and engaging talk arguing that we need to change the education system so it fo-
cuses on the natural creative abilities of children.
http://on.ted.com/gbZr
2. Rita Pierson:“Every Kid Needs a Champion”
A call to educators to reach out to their students, connect with them, and make a difference
in their lives.
http://on.ted.com/caKo
3. Aimee Mullins:“The Opportunity of Adversity”
Born without both shin bones and, as a result, a bilateral amputee, Aimee explains that ad-
versity is not a limitation, but a challenge that can be overcome, or even an opportunity
opening door to human potential.
http://on.ted.com/baMU
4. Jamie Oliver:“Teach Every Child about Food”
A talk supporting Jamie’s campaign in favor of a healthy diet and food revolution.
http://on.ted.com/fbKs
5. Susan Cain:“The Power of Introverts”
A compelling talk dispelling common myths regarding introversion and extroversion.
http://on.ted.com/eaPD
6. Jonathan Harris: the Web's secret stories
Artist and computer scientist Jonathan Harris makes online art that captures the world's
expression -- and gives us a glimpse of the soul of the Internet.
http://on.ted.com/gba7
7. Cameron Russell: Looks aren't everything. Believe me, I'm a model.
Cameron Russell has stomped the runways for Victoria's Secret and Chanel, and has ap-
peared in many magazines. But she is much more than just a pretty face.
http://on.ted.com/qERy
8. Jill Bolte Taylor's stroke of insight
Brain researcher Jill Bolte Taylor studied her own stroke as it happened -- and has become a
powerful voice for brain recovery.
http://on.ted.com/baNA
9. Wade Davis: Dreams from endangered cultures
A National Geographic explorer celebrates the variety and diversity of the world’s indige-
nous peoples and cultures and tries to convince us that a language is more than just words
and structures, and that storytelling can change the world.
http://on.ted.com/sFVs
10. Amanda Palmer: The art of asking
Alt-rock icon Amanda Fucking Palmer believes we shouldn't fight the fact that digital con-
tent is freely shareable -- and suggests that artists can and should be directly supported by
fans.
http://on.ted.com/gcfZ
25

27. Αγγλική γλώσσα
και παγκοσμιοποίηση Nicos Sifakis
If you’ve ever wondered how you come to be doing what you’re
doing as an English teacher in Greece, this book probably has
the answer. Addressed not only to teachers but to policy makers
and members of the general public, it’s a comprehensive look
at the worldwide spread of English and in particular at the role
of English and ELT in Greece. It is almost 500 pages long and
supported by scholarly references, but it’s written in a lively and
accessible style aimed at the Greek general reader, befitting a
work that its author once characterized as“a labor of love – love
of English (and of Greek and all languages), love of users of the
language, and of those who teach it”. It is, in fact, the only book
of its kind written in Greek (with a five page summary in English
at the end).
The author, Nicos Sifakis, is a university professor of ELT method-
ology with both a theoretical and practical feel for his subject,
the latter acquired in the course of research and training activi-
ties involving, among others, English teachers in Greek public
schools. Given the rapid advance of the twin forces of globaliza-
tion and English (closely related, says Sifakis) over the past de-
cade, the book is timely and aims to suggest a way forward for
the use and teaching of English in this country.
The pervasive presence of English in Greece, says Sifakis, makes
it less a foreign language than the country’s unofficial second
language. Its predominance in fields related to science and
technology, entertainment and communication, is well known.
Sifakis argues convincingly, however, that English functions in
Greece as a lingua franca, not as an extension of the influence
of anglophone countries like the US and Great Britain. That is,
Greeks look upon and use English as an international language.
Sifakis sees a paradox. Countries such as Greece where there is a
relatively high degree of competence in foreign languages may
be seen, on one hand, as progressively cosmopolitan, and on
the other, as subject to the invasion of foreign cultural elements.
At what point does openness to the culture and language of
globalization begin to threaten national cultural identity and
the mother tongue itself? English is a famously assimilative lan-
guage whose spread in the 20th century was powered by a na-
tion which sees itself as a cultural melting pot. Sifakis says that
the stronger a country’s national identity is, the more it can ab-
sorb English on its own terms.
Given that Greeks still use their mother tongue almost exclusive-
ly in speaking to one another, he sees English as no particular
threat to Greek identity. He does note, however, that it can lead
to inequities, especially in the workplace. Older workers may
have acquired English certificates in years past that may not give
them the skills needed to function in the language in the pres-
ent. Those who, for whatever reason, fail to have a command
English in Greece, may operate at a disadvantage in a world
where competence in the language is assumed.
Sifakis distinguishes two approaches to English that differ in
theory. The first (and the dominant one in Greece, according
to Sifakis) sets the standards and culture of native speakers as
the target and views the study of English (or of other foreign
languages) as part of the general study of human culture. The
second aims to give students communicative abilities in English
as an international lingua franca, that is, to enable them to com-
municate with others whose native language is not necessar-
ily English. In practice, Sifakis argues, these approaches can be
combined. He is concerned not to foreclose the open-ended-
ness of a classroom where English is a medium of cross-cultural
exchange in the name of a narrower standard of correctness
which can undermine learners’self-confidence. He envisions an
interactive English classroom where students see themselves as
achieving functional goals, not falling short of native-speaker
norms as embodied in standardized tests. What matters, he says,
is less how and how well someone learns a foreign language as
how they are able to use it to get to know our globalized world.
Sifakis outlines the skills needed for teachers to be effective in
this new environment. The good news is that he campaigns
hard for increased teacher autonomy. At the same time, he ex-
pects teachers to have increased cross-cultural awareness and
be able to tailor their lessons to the needs of their students as
individuals, which takes extra preparation and awareness.
And then there is the matter of “πιστοποιιτικοκρατία”, a coinage
of his own which he glosses as “the dominance of certificates
for their own sake”. He has some recommendations on how
examination bodies, especially the Greek State through its ΚΠΓ
exams, can reform their exams to lay greater emphasis on can-
didates’ abilities in lingua franca English, but he concedes that
the standard exams now narrow the scope of what should be a
broadening experience. He has strangely little to say about the
frontisteria, which are the real backbone of English teaching in
this country, but what he does says applies equally to them.
In summarizing the lessons of his book Sifakis begins by saying
that students should be no less aware of the value of English as
a means for communicating with other native and non-native
speakers of English than of the fact that every time they use the
language they make it their own. In this he echoes the view put
forward by Chinua Achebe in 1975 in“The African Writer and the
English Language,” that English must become a creative tool in
the hands of its users, reflecting their own cultural identities.
You don’t have to take my word for it. The book is available for
sale and at the Bissell Library at the American College of Thessa-
loniki. Sifakis also discussed the work in a presentation last year
that is available on YouTube.
by Phil Holland
26

28. Convention
Moments!
20th Annual
International
Convention
27
Many thanks to board member
Nathan Pratt for Convention
photography!

29. David A.
Hill
20th Annual
International
Convention
28

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