In celebration of  8 years of Vietnam’s English Teacher and Trainer Network (VTTN), the British Council is pleased to announce that a fifth major conference and networking event will be held on Friday 16 and Saturday 17 January 2009 at the Horison Hotel, 40 Cat Linh Street, Hanoi.

Conference Theme

Over the last decade, Vietnam has undergone phenomenal economic growth and now faces the challenge of developing a skilled workforce, competent in English language, to be able to function in both the regional and global arena.

Over the same period, English language teaching methodologies have also been changing to meet these needs. In Vietnam, teaching is moving away from teacher-centred, formal approaches to more communicative, activity-based approaches. This has brought a number of challenges for both teacher educators and teachers in terms of adapting new approaches to the local context in Vietnam. What are the implications of communicative approaches? How appropriate are they for Vietnam? How have teachers been applying these approaches in the classroom?

The conference aims to:

- explore teaching methodologies and approaches
- raise awareness of the implications and appropriateness of communicative methodologies
- provide practical ideas for the classroom
- provide an opportunity for participants to learn and share from each other
- celebrate the work of VTTN

Strands

- Methodologies and approaches
- Practical classroom ideas– this can cover all areas of listening, speaking, reading writing
- Implications of communicative approaches for training and developing teachers
- Implications of communicative approaches for curriculum and testing

Keynote speaker

Our keynote speaker this year is Olha Madylus, who is currently an English language consultant and teacher trainer based in Athens, Greece. She has trained English teachers at primary and secondary levels in many countries including Malaysia, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Russia, Dubai, and Greece. Olha has herself been a secondary teacher in a state school in the UK and has a good understanding of the challenges teachers face in ELT.

She is the author of the Macmillan Onestop English young learner web pages and is currently writing an activities book for teenagers for CUP.  She is the author of many publications including: “Encouraging Teenagers to Speak”, CATS, IATEFL SIG 2005; “Teenagers – What’s their problem?” CATS, IATEFL SIG 2003; “Using L1 in the Junior English Classroom” – English Teaching Professional 2001.

Participants

The conference is directed at all those involved in the teaching of English, including teachers, trainers, supervisors, inspectors, those responsible for educational management, training and strategy, and academics in the field of education. It offers an exciting opportunity for all those working in ELT to share and discuss ideas.

The language of the conference will be English.