Working with 13-15 year old  teenagers, whom I call the first generation of global teens, I have constantly been  looking for new ways of teaching English, so today, on 16 May 2012,  it was my joy to participate in MACMILLAN CONFERENCE : ”Teaching students in "Global” ELT Environment”.

The presenters at the Conference were

Finn Kirkland, ELT Business Development Manager.

Lindsay Clandfield, the author of a New Intelligent Course "Global”

What impressed me most is the following:

 1)Finn Kirkland quoted:

"Art is no longer on canvas.

Music is no longer on vinyl.

Books are no longer on print”

2)Lindsay Clandfield worked out three directions in learning general English in "Global" ELT Environment:

 1.Learn English

- grammar +vocabulary,

- listening, reading, writing, speaking

2. Learn through English

 - high culture (knowledge about scientists, writers, literature, museums,etc.)

e.g. "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to heaven, we were all going direct the other way - in short, the period was so far like the present period..”( Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities. English novelist (1812 - 1870)

 Is it about us? Why?

- low culture (Reality Shows, celebrities’ lives, etc.)

 3. Learn about English

- How does International English sound? 

e.g. Only 2% use R.P (Standard English)

- functioning in English: functions globally 

e.g. Digital e-workbook, which is a multimedia environment, etc.

Some video moments of the Conference.

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3

The conference was held on board a ship on the Dnipro River in  Bakkara hotel in Kyiv.