What English is that? Practical Talks on Teaching for Critical Thinking and Social Justice
Mind Your Manners: Idioms and Usage for English Teachers
Speaker: Peter Sokolowski
This lecture explores grammar, word choice, and cultural assumptions essential to clear and correct English. What do we mean by usage? We mean the way English words and phrases are actually used: Is a word old-fashioned? technical? humorous? chiefly British? slangy? approving? objectionable? Is its meaning usually literal or figurative? Join us on a tour of a dictionary that goes way beyond definitions into the teaching of critical thinking, communication, and culture.
Raising Voices: Towards Curricular Justice in English Language Teaching
Speaker: Mariano Quinterno
With their illusion of neutrality, traditional hegemonic views of the school curriculum have silenced the voices of the oppressed. As Connell (1992) explains, the search for social justice “requires a counter-hegemonic curriculum […] designed to embody the interests and perspectives of the least advantaged” (p. 139). The ELT class can become an ideal arena to develop a praxis of what Connell termed ‘curricular justice’. This presentation is aimed at exploring how, through socially-committed projects, language educators can contribute to the construction of a more democratic, participatory and equitable society.