We would like to kindly inform you that the 8th International Research Conference on Education, Language and Literature (IRCEELT 2018) will be held on 20-21 April 2018 in Tbilisi, Georgia.

The scope of the conference embraces interesting disciplines topics dealing with education.

The aim of the conference is to bring together researchers, practitioners and policy makers to discuss issues, tackle real challenges, develop professionally, share opinions, find solutions and explore opportunities in the areas of education. The conference serves the purpose of promoting a tight link between theory and practice and explores different perspectives on the application of research findings into practice. The working language for the conference is English.

Topics Covered

Deadlines Submission of Abstracts *  Submission open Abstract Submission Deadline March 26, 2018            April 1, 2018 Conference Fee Payment April 1, 2018            April 19, 2018 Conference Late Registration Fee Payment April 1, 2018 Full text Submission April 20, 2018 Conference Date April 20-21, 2018

RUSSEL STANNARD / UNIVERSITY OF WARWICK, UK

Title of the Speech: “Key technologies that are impacting on teaching and learning”

ABSTRACT

In this talk Russell will highlight some of the key technologies that teachers around the world are using in their teaching and learning. Based on a survey given to the 25,000 subscribers of his newsletter, Russell will focus on the technologies that teachers are working with and draw on examples of the types of things they are doing. It will cover areas such as feedback, assessment, flipped and blended learning.  A presentation full of ideas which will also draw on some of the recent research too.

PROF. DR. PETER GYORGI MEDGYES / PROFESSOR EMERITUS AT EÖTVÖS LORÁND UNIVERSITY OF BUDAPEST, HUNGARY

Title of the Speech: “Elfies at large – Beware!”

ABSTRACT

It is common knowledge that English has become the Lingua Franca the world over. Today the overwhelming majority of communication takes place between nonnative users of English, often in the absence of native speakers. Given this, proponents of the ELF movement, whom I call elfies in my lecture, claim that native English standards need not be followed any longer. After I have subjected this assumption to critical analysis, I conclude that teachers had better follow their own agenda and satisfy their learners’ genuine needs, instead of listening to elfies – or any other researchers, for that matter.

PROF. DR. NATELA DOGHONADZE / INTERNATIONAL BLACK SEA UNIVERSITY

Title of the Speech: “What can be done to make our schools safer places?”

 ABSTRACT

Children are our (individuals’ and country’s) future, the most precious thing that we have.” Lack of safety in schools entails school drop-outs, parents’ desire not to send the child to school, children’s depressions, lack of academic achievement, unhealthy atmosphere in the community where the cases of violence occur. So safety in school, where children spend a considerable part of their time, should be an issue of state policy and not just the challenge of particular schools, parents or city governance. The situation in the USA, where things are not too good, but where, at the same time, significant measures are taken to improve the situation, and in Georgia, where no such systemic approach exists, will be compared.

ASSOC. PROF. DR. WILLAM J. CRAWFORD / NORTHERN ARIZONA UNIVERSITY, USA

KEVIN HIRSCHI, US EMBASSY ENGLISH LANGUAGE FELLOW

Title of the Speech: “Teaching English Pronunciation: Research, Techniques, and Fun”

ABSTRACT

Learners are often intimidated to speak inside or outside of class because they are unsure of their pronunciation and believe they have an accent. They may have received little practice or purely rule-based instruction in pronunciation in their past. To address this, the presenter will demonstrate three activities that teachers can use to build confidence, train fluency, and improve accuracy of the most important sounds in English for intelligibility. Attendees can expect to learn about the needs of learners in different contexts, techniques for increasing learning, and approaches for empowering learners to assess their pronunciation and make relevant pronunciation-related priorities. A brief discussion of research in English as a Lingua Franca (ELF, Jenkins, 2002), and ESL prosody (Derwing & Munrow, 2005; Gilbert, 2000) will frame a discussion of relevance of the native-speaker model in the 21^st century and its impact on pronunciation instruction in the South Caucuses region.