21st LAKMA INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE 2023 – Lietuvos anglų kalbos mokytojų asociacija

21st LAKMA INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE
DO WE GO FAST OR FAR?
20-21 October 2023
V. Putvinskio St. 23 / K. Donelaičio St. 52
Kaunas, LITHUANIA

The updated foreign language curriculum in Lithuania (2022) presents foreign language teachers with both opportunities for positive change and new challenges. This conference aims at bringing together local and international ELT professionals from all education levels, who use different methods, materials and tools, to share their best classroom practices and discuss the ways teachers and their students can most effectively prepare for changes which occur in language education. Sharing and learning together is the way to move forward, keep updated, work productively and stay strong. Let’s meet and talk!

IMPORTANT DATES

October 17^th – deadline for non-speaker registration and payment

FEES

Speaker and non-speaker fees are the same.
Teacher Fee: 35 EUR for LAKMA members / 70 EUR for non-members
Student Fee: 5 EUR for LAKMA members / 10 EUR for non-members

The fee includes conference talks and workshops, coffee breaks, participant certificates of the accredited programme.

BANK TRANSFER

Please transfer the fee before completing the online registration form.
LAKMA bank account: SEB Bank LT977044060004578304.
Bank address: Gedimino pr. 12, Vilnius, Lithuania / SWIFT code: CBVILT2X.
Advance payment invoice issued by e-mail upon request.

NON-SPEAKER REGISTRATION https://forms.gle/9hJrMTsRWPTqZSnK7

Stars	Hotel	On foot to the venue (min)
4	Radisson Hotel	5
4	Best Western Santakos Hotel	15
3	Moxy Kaunas Hotel	10
3	Kaunas City	10
3	Hotel Babilonas	15
3	Very Bad Hotel	20

IT’S KAUNASTIC

LITHUANIA TRAVEL

08:00–09:00	REGISTRATION / V. Putvinskio St. 23 / 1^st floor Vytautas Magnus University, Faculty of Humanities
09:00–09:15	OPENING / Room 106, 1^st floor / Moderator Kristina Urbonienė Kristina URBONIENĖ, LAKMA president Lina KAMINSKIENĖ, Chancellor of VMU Education Academy Gabija KIAUŠAITĖ, Ministry of Education, Science and Sport Asta RANONYTĖ, Deputy Director of the National Education Agency Ona VYŠNIAUSKAITĖ, Director of the British Council in Lithuania Jennifer UHLER, Regional English Language Officer, U.S. Embassy in Tallinn
09:15–11:00	PLENARY TALKS / Room 106, 1^st floor / Moderator Kristina Urbonienė
09:15–10:10	Marjorie ROSENBERG Getting unstuck – stretching out of our comfort zones
10:10–11:00	Grzegorz ŚPIEWAK Drill with a … thrill

NB: All plenary talks will be held at Vytautas Magnus University Faculty of Humanities, located at V. Putvinskio St. 23 and all parallel sessions will be held at Vytautas Magnus University Education Academy, located at K. Donelaičio St. 52. It is a 3 min walk between the two venues.

11:00–11:30	COFFEE / K. Donelaičio St. 52, Room 501, 5^th floor POSTER PRESENTATIONS / 5^th floor foyer BOOK FAIR / Room 401, 4^th floor LAKMA PHOTO WALL / 4^th floor foyer
11:30–13:00	PARALLEL PRESENTATIONS AND WORKSHOPS / K. Donelaičio St. 52, 4^th / 5^th floor Vytautas Magnus University Education Academy
ROOM 402, 4^th floor / Moderator Ligita Erminaitė
11:30–12:00	PRESENTATION: Asta ANTULIENĖ Universal Design for Learning (UDL). A tool to go far
12:00–13:00	WORKSHOP: Robin GINGERICH Connect the dots: Mediation activities for your language classroom
ROOM 418, 4^th floor / Moderator Neringa Šakinienė
11:30–12:00	PRESENTATION: Alla JUREVICHENE How to bring real world into the classroom
12:00–13:00	WORKSHOP: Neringa ŠAKINIENĖ Unlocking minds: Making thinking visible in English language lessons
ROOM 502, 5^th floor / Moderator Saulius Skučas
11:30–12:00	PRESENTATION: Rūta GAJAUSKAITĖ Thinking the new English curriculum through the concept of rhisomes
12:00–13:00	WORKSHOP: Saulius SKUČAS Train your brain: Teaching Year 11 students
ROOM 505, 5^th floor / Moderator Dalia Krasauskienė
11:30–12:00	PRESENTATION: Sigita KAŽDAILYTĖ Collaborative Mind Mapping as a Pre-writing Strategy for EFL Learners in Lithuania
12:00–13:00	WORKSHOP: Lidiya SIMAK What makes a task communicative and why this matters
13:00–14:30	LUNCH. Please see the list of recommended restaurants in your welcome pack.

NB: After lunch, we continue the conference with plenary talks at V. Putvinskio St. 23.

14:30–16:30	PLENARY TALKS / V. Putvinskio St. 23, R 106 / Moderator Eglė Petronienė
14:30–14:35	Greetings from Aleksandra POPOVSKI-GOLUBOVIKJ, president of IATEFL (V)
14:35–15:30	Jennifer UHLER From Deep Fake to Deep Learning: Media Literacy in ELT
15:30–16:30	Andrzej RACZKOWSKI Pushing the boundaries between exam preparation and real-world language

16:30–17:00	COFFEE / K. Donelaičio St. 52, Room 501, 5^th floor POSTER PRESENTATIONS / 5^th floor BOOK FAIR / 4^th floor LAKMA PHOTO WALL / 4^th floor foyer
17:00–18:55	PARALLEL WORKSHOPS / K. Donelaičio St. 52, 4^th / 5^th floor Vytautas Magnus University Education Academy
ROOM 402, 4^th floor / Moderator Diana Galatiltienė
17:00–18:00	WORKSHOP: Marjorie ROSENBERG Imbrace the Differences
18:00–18:55	WORKSHOP: Diana GALATILTIENĖ and Kristina URBONIENĖ Listen with your eyes as well as your ears
ROOM 418, 4^th floor / Moderator Beata Valungevičienė
17:00–18:00	WORKSHOP: Flo FEAST Exploiting Curiosity and Imagination in the YL Classroom
18:00–18:55	WORKSHOP: Viltė GRIDASOVA-RUSEVIČIENĖ Learning Styles Remastered: Fun, Simple, Efficient
ROOM 502, 5^th floor / Moderator Gintarė Baltrūnienė
17:00–18:00	WORKSHOP: Grzegorz ŚPIEWAK How to make sense of global skills behind YOUR teenage classroom doors
18:00–18:55	WORKSHOP: Karen VANHERCKE Visual Literacy and Language Learning
ROOM 505, 5^th floor / Moderator Inesa Rusecka
17:00–18:00	WORKSHOP: Heather GODFREY GADDIS Integrating Digital Citizenship Into the English Classroom
18:00–18:55	WORKSHOP: Gretchen KETNER Trauma-Informed Pedagogy: Practicing the Principles in the Language Classroom
19:00–20:00	RECEPTION / Tickets available at the Registration desk. K. Donelaičio St. 52 Room 503, 5^th floor *Let’s meet for a friendly talk over a glass of wine and delicious snacks to round up the first conference day.* A mild reminder: LAKMA PHOTO WALL / 4^th floor foyer

08:30–9:00	REGISTRATION / V. Putvinskio St. 23 / 1^st floor
09:00–11:30	PLENARY TALKS / Room 310-311, 3^rd floor / Moderator Robin Gingerich
09:00–9:45	Flo FEAST Making exams (and life) manageable
09:45–10:30	Nik PEACHEY Artificial Intelligence in the English Classroom (V)
10:30–10:40	Short comfort break
10:40–12:00	PRESENTATION AND WORKSHOP / V. Putvinskio St. 23, Room 310-311, 3^rd floor / Moderator Vilda Kiaunytė
10:40–11:00	PRESENTATION: Vilda KIAUNYTĖ, Eglė PETRONIENĖ National Curriculum and Professional Associations: what fosters such a link
11:00–11:45	WORKSHOP: Vic RICHARDSON Mediation – the new kid on the block
11:45–12:15	COFFEE / V. Putvinskio St. 23, next to Room 310-311, 3^rd floor
12:15-14:15	PRESENTATIONS / V. Putvinskio St. 23, Room 310-311, 3^rd floor / Moderator Eglė Petronienė
13:45–14:15	PRESENTATION: Heather GODFREY GADDIS Going Farther Together: Supporting Early Career Teachers
12:45–13:15	PRESENTATION: Yulia CHORNA A Journey to ELT Excellence
13:15–13:45	PRESENTATION: Olena LYSYTSIA Learning through reflection
13:45–14:15	PRESENTATION: Sviatlana KARPAVA Development of Language Teacher Professional Identity
14:15–15:00 ___	CLOSING. RAFFLE / Raffle tickets available at the Registration desk. / V. Putvinskio St. 23, Room 310-311, 3^rd floor / Moderator Kristina Urbonienė Farewell snacks and drinks 🙂

PLENARY SPEAKERS

Flo Feast has been working in ELT since 2010 and is CELTA and Delta-qualified. She has worked as a teacher, CELTA and Delta trainer, content developer and examiner in the UK, Italy, Vietnam, China, and Malta. She has run workshops and delivered seminars and webinars on a range of ELT topics both in Europe and Asia.
Flo has worked for a number of ELT school groups including seven years at International House in a range of roles and is currently the National Geographic Learning ELT Sales Executive for Central and Eastern Europe.
In her free time, she enjoys travelling, kayaking, reading psychological thrillers, and sampling wines from
around the world.

We all know that exams can be tough. Our learners likely feel stressed and perhaps overwhelmed. They may sometimes feel that it’s all just a bit too much. In this plenary session, we will discuss how we can support our learners, not only with exams, but also with life, as life can be tough and stressful at times too.
We will consider how we can bring Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) into our classrooms to help our learners realise they are not alone at times of stress or worry. We will look at activities we can do to help them recentre, reevaluate and grow. We will also utilise tasks from New Close-up, but SEL is something that we can (and should) introduce into our classrooms with or without a coursebook.

You may have noticed that young children ask ‘Why?’ a lot: ‘Why is the sky blue?’, ‘Why is it dark at night?’, ‘Why can’t I eat ice cream for breakfast?’. Sometimes, you may feel like tearing your hair out, but it actually shows us something brilliant – that they are naturally and passionately curious. In my experience, they also tell the most wonderfully wild stories, highlighting their powerful imaginations. As teachers, it is important that we do not dismiss these natural talents, but instead exploit them in the language classroom. In this seminar, we will discuss practical activities which allow learners to be their curious and imaginative selves.

Nik Peachey is an accomplished educator, author, and learning technology consultant well known for his expertise in integrating technology into education. With over 30 years experience in the field, Nik has become a prominent figure in the realm of digital learning and teacher professional development.

Having taught in various educational settings across the globe, Nik possesses a deep understanding of the challenges and opportunities faced by teachers and learners in the digital age. His passion for exploring innovative approaches to enhance teaching and learning has driven him to share his knowledge through numerous publications, workshops, and presentations.

Nik is a prolific writer, having authored several books on topics such as creativity, educational technology, online teaching and learning, blended learning and Artificial intelligence. He has also contributed extensively to educational journals and online platforms, providing valuable insights and practical strategies for educators worldwide.

Nik’s work has been recognized internationally, and he has received several prestigious awards for his contributions to the field of education. He continues to inspire and support educators by sharing his expertise, exploring emerging trends in education technology, and advocating for the transformative power of technology in teaching and learning.

As a sought-after learning technology consultant, Nik has collaborated with educational institutions, organizations, and governments to develop effective strategies for implementing technology in the classroom. He has designed and delivered customized professional development programs, empowering teachers with the skills and knowledge needed to integrate digital tools seamlessly into their teaching practice.

His books include:
ChatGPT for the language Classroom
Team Building Activities for the Remote Classroom
Digital Tools for Teachers
Thinking Critically through Digital Media
Digital Video – A Manual for Language Teachers
Hacking Creativity
He also co-edited Creativity in the ELT Classroom and Creativity and the Sustainable Development Goals for the British Council

He is editor of the Edtech & ELT Newsletter: https://tinyletter.com/technogogy/

You can find out more about what he shares at:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/NikPeachey
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nikpeachey
Scoop.it: https://www.scoop.it/topic/nik-peachey
Telegram: https://t.me/Edetch
Co-Founder https://peacheypublications.com

In recent years, the fields of natural language processing and AI have witnessed ground-breaking advances, revolutionising the way humans interact with technology. One such milestone is the development of ChatGPT, a powerful language model trained to understand and generate human-like text. This webinar aims to delve into the remarkable potential of ChatGPT in fostering language development and evolution.

In this session Nik Peachey will begin with an introduction to ChatGPT, providing an overview of its capabilities and training methodology. Teachers will learn how to leverage this advanced language model to enhance their teaching practices. Attendees will explore practical examples that demonstrate the effective integration of ChatGPT in language instruction, including personalised tutoring experiences, interactive language practice, and overcoming linguistic barriers.

Marjorie Rosenberg has been in ELT in Graz, Austria since 1981 working with tertiary students, teachers and corporate clients. She is the author of “Spotlight on Learning Styles” (Delta) and “Creating Activities for Different Learner Types” (Wayzgoose Press). She is also a co-author of “Business Partner” and “Step Up” (Pearson) and recently published “50 Ways to Teach Business English” (Wayzgoose Press). Marjorie is a former Coordinator of IATEFL BESIG and a past President of IATEFL.

Her books include:

Rosenberg, Marjorie (2022) ‘Fifty Ways to Teach Business English’; Wayzgoose Press, OR, US, https://www.wayzgoosepress.com/authors/marjorie-rosenberg/

Rosenberg, Marjorie (2022) ‘Reflecting on Leadership in Language Education’; (2022) Andy Curtis (Ed) Equinox, Sheffield, UK (contributing author)

Dubicka, Iwonna; Rosenberg, Marjorie; O’Keeffe, Margaret; Dignen, Bob; Hogan, Mike (2020) Business Partner B2, B2 + and C1, Pearson, Harlow, UK

Rosenberg, Marjorie (2018) Communicative Business English Activities, Express Publishing, Newbury, UK.

Rosenberg, Marjorie (2016) Creating Activities for Different Learner Types, Wayzgoose Press, Eugene, US. https://www.wayzgoosepress.com/authors/marjorie-rosenberg/

ROSENBERG, Marjorie (2013) Spotlight on Learning Styles, Delta Publishing, Peaslake, UK.

The link to her website: http://marjorierosenberg.com/.

As our daily teaching schedule and all that involves takes up so much of our time and energy, we don’t often have the chance to think about ‘what else’ we could be doing. We tend to stick to certain routines and sometimes don’t take advantage of possibilities to stretch ourselves or take on challenges in other areas. This talk will explore the implications of this regarding our teaching styles, methods we are accustomed to using, the types of classes we usually teach, the technology we are comfortable with and a variety of choices available to us as ELT professionals outside the classroom. Some of the reasons we keep doing what we have always done will be discussed providing a basis for us to work together and come up with ways for us to ‘get unstuck’.

Our classrooms consist of individuals with a variety of learning preferences, so we need to plan our lessons to embrace the differences we face. This may seem challenging at first, but once we have tried it out, the effects on our learners become clear. Mixing methods and materials can be enriching for our learners and provide us with the motivation to look for new ways to present and teach material. By doing this we can also encourage learners to make use of the successful strategies they already use and to stretch out of their comfort zones to explore new ones.

An experienced teacher and educational consultant, Andrzej Raczkowski has taken
part in a number of diverse teacher training events and projects in Europe, Asia and
the Middle East. Having obtained an MA in Linguistics, a CELTA from the University
of Cambridge ESOL Examinations and a Professional Diploma in Management, he
currently manages his own training company and works as a freelance trainer with
Cambridge University Press & Assessment. His professional interests include
assessment in ELT, educational management, curriculum design, online and mobile
learning, effective study skills, and second language acquisition.

Giving learners a chance to develop both the English they need to pass an exam
and the life skills needed to communicate effectively is not an easy task. How can
we challenge learners to push themselves beyond the level of the exam they are
studying for without putting too much pressure on them? How do we connect exam
preparation materials to the interests and expectations of today’s learners? 
This plenary session explores how engaging topics, real-world communication,
validated exam content and gradual exposure to exam tips, facts and strategies can
help learners reach their goals, be it learning English for communication in the open
world or success in exams. The participants will also find out how research into
exam preparation and life competencies can be used as the starting point for
a fresher approach to exam preparation classes.

Grzegorz Śpiewak, Ph.D, is teacher, teacher trainer, project manager, adviser, materials reviewer and author. Former academic lecturer (English Dept, University of Warsaw, and subsequently The New School for Social Research, New York). Former IATEFL Poland president, currently on its Board of Advisers. Head ELT Consultant for Macmillan Education Poland, Central & Eastern Europe. President of DOS-ELTea, an independent teacher development centre. Nominated for British Council ELTON award 2016 (DOS-ELTea Teacher Trainer Academy). Winner of two European Language Label awards: 2016 (Youngster programme – Macmillan) and 2012 (deDOMO – English for Parents).

If your language learners are anything like mine, they are probably not much thrilled by revision and practice activities, even though deep down they may feel they are useful to them.

Revision exercises – despite their potential benefits – can easily become mechanical, monotonous, and, let’s be honest, plain boring. And yet virtually all current science of learning confirms that sensible, well planned revision & practice activities are essential to students’ long-term success. The question is how to truly motivate learners to engage in them, adding (quite a bit of) ‘thrill’ to the process?

That’s where this super practical plenary comes in. Come along to try out lots of tried-and-tested revision activity types which will surprise, amuse, and genuinely engage your learners big and small.

Global skills, also known as 21_^st century skills, have been all the rage in recent years, not least because of the widely quoted UN Sustainable Development Goals. Attractive as they sound, they may also feel rather far-fetched and difficult to make sense of in a typical teenage classroom.

In this workshop, I’ll demonstrate how to work with these on a local, classroom scale, using a range of tried-and-tested, engaging activities for your teens. In particular, we’ll explore the amazing potential of so-called thinking frames to engage teenagers in exploring attractive, modern topics and global issues – and to help them make sense of these in their speaking and writing. Some illustration and inspiration will come from Gateway to the World course series.

Jennifer Uhler is a Regional English Language Officer based at the U.S. Embassy in Tallinn. Her office supports programs promoting quality English teaching and learning in Russia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Belarus, Poland, and Greenland. Jennifer has taught in various U.S. and international settings as a teacher and teacher educator. Her professional interests include technology, content-based instruction, and language policy.

Moving our students from deep fakes to deep learning is urgent for success in learning and in life. Visual literacy, digital literacy, and media literacy are essentially critical thinking skills that can easily be woven into primary and secondary school English language teaching classrooms with little to no preparation. This presentation will provide an overview of a year-long Media Literacy for Educators Program for 100 English teachers from Poland and the Baltics and share outcomes of teacher learning, including easy-to-use tools for integrating technical and media literacies into primary and secondary school English lessons, free online resources for teachers, and insights from these regional and local Estonian communities of practice.

TALKS – 30 min (to be updated)

Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is an excellent way to start going far. I would like to share a success story of one project-based research that was carried out by a group of educators from Vytautas Magnus University and Vilnius Balsiai School, thinking about ways to help all students become experts in their own learning. This approach encourages educators to design lessons that give students options on how to engage in course activities, provide students with choices to interact with content and choose from multiple ways to demonstrate what they have learned. Bits of theory and practical down-to-earth examples will give listeners some insights on how to design their lessons to ensure students’ success with scarce resources.

Most teachers understand that professional development is essential for unlocking new opportunities, increasing confidence, and introducing new ideas into their classrooms. Teacher training programs allow educators to share best practices and engage in critical discussions about navigating shifts in language education. They combine effective teaching methods with proactive adaptation strategies to improve educational experiences and cultivate resilient, forward-thinking students. But let us face it: the cost of teacher training programs varies greatly, and with so many options, it can be difficult to know where to begin. In this presentation, we will go on a journey to teaching excellence, decide where to begin, chart timelines, strategize each step, and illuminate the way forward.

With the aim of discussing teaching and learning English differently, the speaker proposes to explore the concept of rhizome. The concept itself was used philosophically by Deleuze and Guattari in the 1970’s, and is now revived in post humanist philosophy. The author argues that thinking curriculum rhizomatically could have important implications on the way learning and teaching is thought in the context of the new curriculum in Lithuania.

This presentation will focus on a professional development event held in April 2023 that was designed to support early career teachers in the Baltics. The event had two primary strands, multicultural and multilingual teaching practices and creating relationships with mentors and students, which were present in a series of workshops and sessions led by local mentor teachers working in the K-12 classroom and the event organizers, teacher trainers working with pre-service teachers at the university level. Finally, the presentation will include reflections on the importance of professional development events designed to support early career language teachers as well as ways experienced teachers can support their early career teacher colleagues.

This study investigated the development of professional identities of future EFL teachers in Cyprus. The participants of the study were 120 undergraduate students at a public university in Cyprus, future EFL teachers in Cyprus, who were asked to keep a reflective journal and make blog entries regarding various issues related to their past and present learning experiences, continuous professional development, language teacher identities, teaching and learning, teaching practicum and peer observations. The analysis of the data showed that student teachers’ professional identities are shaped by their experiences at academic, pedagogical, and personal levels. Their practical and theoretical courses at university together with teaching practicum enhanced their critical-reflective engagement, research-oriented practices allowing them to become reflective and critical practitioners in the future.

The conducted research explored the use of a mind-map as a pre-writing activity for EFL students in a Lithuanian secondary school. Over three writing sessions, 50 students were asked to write essays using a) no planning, b) individual mind-map planning, and c) collaborative mind-map planning. The study further examined students’ perspectives on the three approaches and the mind-maps they produced. The survey results showed that collaborative mind-mapping pre-planning activity increased Content and Organisation scores, and significantly affected Language Use across all classes. Analysis of the student post-writing questionnaire and the mind-maps suggests that this activity is beneficial for students with lower proficiency levels, low motivation, and lack of focus. For higher proficiency students, the benefits of mind-maps are not as prominent. Students may need more time and training to fully benefit from this pre-writing task.

The updated foreign language curriculum does not seem to bring about a complete transformation in educational content or in the ways of teaching and learning languages. Nevertheless, the adopted approach to modes of communication, viewed from the language user’s perspective and emphasizing real-life language use, introduces skills such as creating audiovisual texts, online interaction, and mediation. These aspects bring both inspiration and anxiety to teachers. As a teachers’ community, we learn continually together and are able to remove worries by sharing our strengths and good ideas. The Partnered Remote Language Improvement project (PRELIM) which is initiated by the British Council to support teachers’ associations in the entire world offers even more educational opportunities for professionals. In this talk, we will look at some novelties of the curriculum and consider a couple of ways how to make them into welcome learning practices.

Are you ready to break down a classroom’s walls and open students up to the world? Then mystery location calls are what you need. In this talk, I will share my four years’ experience of organising Mystery Skype Game, connecting with global classrooms, guest speakers and conducting virtual field trips. We will also be able to go through a step-by-step procedure and play a game to see how it works in practice. This tool enables students to apply knowledge in real-life situations, accelerate the process of deep learning, understand the importance of cultural diversity and acceptance, and grow as a responsible citizen. It is worth noting that this is what an updated foreign languages curriculum aims at.

Reflecting on all we do is standard human behaviour in a range of contexts, including teaching ones. In this session, we will discuss the theory and rationale behind reflective teaching and learning. We will analyse effective reflective strategies that you can use with your learners in order to help them choose strategies that work for them, lead to desirable results, and develop learner autonomy. We will look at how applying these models of critical reflection not only facilitates your students’ learning, but also helps you become a better teacher, as well as assist beginning teachers in finding their own teaching identity.

WORKSHOPS – 45/60 min (to be updated)

As students access and engage with digital media both in and out of the school environment, it is important for English teachers to be able to guide students to be digital citizens who can navigate digital environments in a safe and responsible manner and engage in these spaces in a respectful way that has a positive impact. In this workshop, participants will learn about the primary areas of digital citizenship, such as media balance and wellbeing, digital footprints, privacy and security, cyberbullying and hate speech, and news and media literacy, and engage in activities designed for the primary and secondary classroom that integrate digital citizenship with English language learning and teaching.

In our workshop we will be presenting two online tools TubeQuizard and Voscreen to help develop students’ listening skills. Apps for mobile phones or tablets can also be powerful, convenient, and truly enjoyable language-learning tools. TubeQuizard is beneficial as it helps to find videos on Youtube which contain examples of particular grammar structures and provide real life pronunciation of the structure. The participants will open the quiz collection, choose one quiz, try different levels, types and categories and see how this tool works practically. Voscreen is a highly innovative way to help learners improve their English language skills on their own, without the express need for outside instruction. The participants will try this app and will create their own playlist that would be suitable for their students.

Our pupils are entering a world where multilingual mediation is vital for success. Mediation activities in the language classrooms are powerful tools for helping our students work across modalities, connecting people and ideas. This workshop will offer three mediation activities for teachers to adapt for their learners. The mediation activities in this workshop include moving from articles to email, from film to radio, and from graphic novel to news report.

Task Rotation tool (Richard et al., 2011), primarily designed for secondary schools, can be easily transferred to any age group, any class format and any learning subject. Fun, yet supported by long-term research, this workshop revisits and revives four learner styles. Learner styles, again? Yes! See how any language teacher – primary, college, university, or a corporate trainer – can easily and even spontaneously design tasks to boost a whole variety of skills and ways of thinking. Be prepared to play with Slinkys and Teddy-bears and leave with a simple and clear scheme to apply in your classroom starting tomorrow.

A global pandemic and a war in our region have brought the reality of trauma to the forefront of many teachers’ thinking; in addition to large-scale events, some of our students have been affected by trauma on a more personal level. Many of us have questions about how we can help our students who have been affected by trauma. This workshop will help to define trauma, explore its effects on individuals and specifically on learning and examine how teachers can incorporate principles of trauma-informed pedagogy (TIP) into their own classes. Teachers will have the opportunity to consider an activity or practice in their own classroom and how it can be adjusted to align with the principles of TIP.

If we are not already teaching mediation, we soon will be, so … what is it? where does it come from? and how does it fit into the language skills approach that we, and our course books, are all so used to?

This workshop, for the new and not so new to mediation, addresses these questions and looks at practical ways to adapt course book materials to teach mediation for immediate classroom use.

Teaching Mediation is part of the British Council’s PRELIM 3 project and LAKMA has undertaken a materials design project to help us integrate it into our new syllabus. We will report on how you can access these materials and get involved in this exciting project.

BIODATA

Vic Richardson has been teaching and training teachers for over 40 years. He is a trainer and educational consultant for Bell Cambridge, where he pursues his interest in mediation and especially in how looking through the lens of mediation refreshes and renews our teaching. He has been involved in teaching and assessing mediation since the CEFR CV came out in 2018 and has run a number of teacher development courses for the Bell Teacher Campus, in Cambridge University.

The workshop will focus on a cycle of lessons for students of Year 11 based on the renewed curriculum. The participants of the workshop will be involved in taking part in several short episodes from the lessons and will be able to see how to try out a variety of different approaches to teaching and learning. Every participant will get a handout that they will be able to use themselves with their students. Examples of tasks focusing on interaction, production, reception and mediation will be provided and discussed. The participants will also be involved in discussing their own ideas in relation to providing students with an opportunity to develop their skills in one of the seven competencies through English.

Explore the power of Making Thinking Visible in English Language Teaching with this workshop led by Neringa Šakinienė. Developed by Harvard University, this approach equips educators with practical strategies to foster critical thinking, language proficiency, and metacognition in their students. Join the workshop to find ways how to strike the balance between speed and depth in education, ensuring that learners not only progress quickly but also go far in their language proficiency journey. During the workshop the participants will have the opportunity to experience and practice some of the routines, gaining practical insights into how they can be seamlessly integrated into their own teaching methods.

Art Based Dialogue (ABD) is founded on the theory of Visual Thinking. I gather with my students in front of an artwork to view and discuss it intently for 15 minutes. I prompt their comments with open-ended questions and welcome different points of view. The exchange happens in English, but language fluency is not a requirement, nor is prior experience with art. As a facilitator, I support students’ self-expression, while also modelling correct grammar and introducing new vocabulary. The primary goal of Art-Based Dialogue is dialogue, and the method has proven to boost student’s language skills. I have taught ABD at MO Museum, the Kintai Arts Residency, the National Art Gallery (Vilnius), Europos Parkas and the Vilnius Waldorf Green School.

What makes an English language lesson effective? What helps students practice and remember the new grammar and vocabulary they learn? What helps students practice and improve speaking and writing skills? The answer is a communicative practice task. Using the language in real-life situations helps students to develop confidence and fluency with the language. It also helps take the language items from short-term memory and store them in long-term memory. We will explore what makes a communicative task work, how to fix tasks you are not happy with, and how to create them from scratch.

POSTER PRESENTATIONS

Even though EFL classrooms in primary and secondary schools in Lithuania are not as linguistically and culturally diverse as they are in some other (European) countries yet, return migration and immigration may force English teachers to search for effective teaching methods and/or approaches in order to deal with the challenges brought by these processes. Translanguaging is a teaching approach worth considering. Based on an extensive literature review done on the topic, it seems it has both advantages and disadvantages that will be discussed in this presentation. Some of the advantages include students’ languages as a resource in the classroom, deeper learning, student creativity, increased student motivation and established rapport, while some of the drawbacks are related to a lack of teacher training and materials, a potential feeling of being excluded and cultural misunderstandings.

In this poster presentation, I would like to emphasize my belief in the importance of participation in international projects for both students and teachers and illustrate how the idea of sustainable inclusion in this domain is applied and how this works in our school. International projects offer students the opportunity to not only develop their languages competences and core competences given so much emphasis in the updated foreign language curriculum, but also through sustainable inclusion enable them to go really far.

PTE Academic is the only 100% computer-based high stakes English test, but like any test your students may take, it requires adequate preparation. The poster gives the overview of the exam format and gives tips for teachers how to prepare the candidates for the exam to help them overcome the challenges of Academic English and gain more confidence before the exam day.

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