Programme Nationaal Congres Engels 2022
Monday 3 October 2022, de Reehorst, Ede
‘ENGLISH IN A CHANGED WORLD’
Key language teacher competences in the 2020s
Thom Kiddle
This presentation will look at the professional competences teachers will need in the face-to-face, virtual (and hybrid?) language classroom over the next decade of the 21st century, and the implications for initial teacher education and in-service teacher development. We will consider the role of language change and language choices, content and language integration, digital technologies and remote learning, teachers’ assessment principles and practices, and awareness of the learning environment, all as variables in effective teacher development, and how these may empower teachers to deal with the challenges of this exceptional year and the ones which will follow.
The invitation is to consider these competences in the light of the upheaval in teaching and learning which we have all experienced over the last eighteen months, alongside the undercurrent of developments in Artificial Intelligence applied to language education, and to examine how teachers may need to reframe and refocus their role.

PROGRAMME
08.30-09.30 | Arrival at the conference centre / coffee / exhibition |
09.30-09.35 | Introduction |
09.35-10.35 | Plenary session: Thom Kiddle |
10.35-11.00 | Herman Wekker prize for Best Reporter |
11.00-11.30 | Coffee break / exhibition |
11.30-12.30 | Workshop session 1 (1-14) |
12.30-13.45 | Lunch / exhibition |
13.45-14.40 | Subplenaries: A) Sarah Maria Griffin B) Berna Hendriks & Frank van Meurs C) Kirsten Waechter |
14.45-15.45 | Workshop session 2 (15-28) |
15.45-17.30 | Exhibition / Meet & Greet with our speakers / Drinks & Nibbles (free!) |
Subplenaries |
Sarah Maria Griffin – The Power of the Speculative & The Strange
A. Sarah Maria Griffin – The Power of the Speculative & The Strange
In this presentation, I will discuss the power science fiction and speculative literature have to challenge societal norms, and how inviting readers to escape from reality can serve them outside of the pages of a book. Sarah Maria Griffin is an award-winning writer from Ireland. Her most recent novel is Other Words For Smoke. She tweets @griffski. See more here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_Maria_Griffin
Berna Hendriks & Frank van Meurs
B. How do students evaluate Dutch lecturers’ non-native pronunciation in EMI?
In our presentation we will discuss ideas about the changing role of the native (pronunciation) norm in communication in English as a lingua franca. With the growing number of non-native speakers, should learners still aim at sounding like native speakers of English? We will also present the findings of our own experimental research about students’ evaluations of lecturers with varying degrees of Dutch accentedness in English Medium Instruction (EMI). We will also invite you to think about ways to prevent such negative reactions to accented speech and share our own ideas about this. Berna Hendriks and Frank van Meurs are assistant professors in the department of Language and Communication at Radboud University. Their research interests include the persuasive effects of non-nativeness (e.g. pronunciation, politeness) in communication in English.
Kirsten Waechter
C. What English do we teach? Global voices in a global world
When we teach English, we bring in our own (first) language and cultural experience and we teach learners who will bring in theirs. Most of the interaction in English is done between non-native speakers of English. However, when looking at textbooks and tests, we see that conventions of communication, expressions and politeness rooted in Anglo-American culture still dominate. We need to explore how pluricultural today’s teaching of English is, drawing upon the new CEFR descriptors: how to develop learners’ competence of creating a shared space and how to deal with cultural differences. We will look at key strategies our learners need to acquire to master this. How we can implement such strategies in our classroom will be one key takeaway from this sub-plenary. Kirsten Waechter focuses on teaching business communication, English for special and academic purposes and intercultural courses. She designs her own materials (print and online) and provides teacher training, too.
WORKSHOPS
1 Debate as an effective teaching pedagogical tool
Abid el Majidi (Montfort Rotterdam)
Debate holds promise as an effective teaching method that can create a genuine environment for a meaningful and functional use of the target language. I will discuss how to implement in-class debate and present findings about the impact of debate pedagogy on speaking and writing skills.
2 Het wezen van lezen
Marcel Lemmens (freelance)
In deze workshop bespreken we het doel van leesvaardigheid in de Engelse les en de manier waarop we dat doel vormgeven. We bespreken enkele teksten en oefenvormen, maar uiteindelijk proberen we te komen tot kritische standpunten over lezen en leesvaardigheid in het algemeen. Verwacht veel vragen.
3 Differentiation in further education (mbo): pilot & evaluation
Alice Middelkoop (Driestar Educatief)
While the gap is widening between higher and lower levels of English in further education, differentiating is becoming more difficult. Our team developed a plan to differentiate interlocking digital and offline materials. Results show the manageable workload for teachers and satisfaction of students
4 How do you become a culturally responsive teacher?
Barbara Roosken (Fontys Hogeschool Tilburg)
In this workshop I will argue that the theme of “the other” can act as a tool to promote intercultural competence. Not only will I discuss a cross-cultural analysis of some poems and short stories but will invite the audience to share their personal responses to these texts.
5 Boats & Storms: How Music Can Inform/Uplift the Human Spirit
Chris Walklett (University of Essex)
Jimi Hendrix once famously said ‘if there is something to be changed in this world, then it can only happen through music’. This session will explore how we can use songs/music to not only inform and challenge politically/culturally, but also to uplift and calm our spirits in these trying times.
6 Change – changier – changiest’: From positive to superlative degrees of comparison
Cornée van der Wind-Ferreira (Driestar Educatief)
A recent study among fifty-eight havo1 learners explored these learners’ English language development during their first year in Dutch secondary education. The findings seem to support claims by Edward, who argues that English no longer is a foreign language, but is changing into a second language.
7 Learning to think, Thinking to learn
Dave Spencer (Macmillan Education)
This talk will look at practical ways to develop Thinking Skills with teenagers, examining a number of routines that can encourage our students to get into the habit of thinking critically, creatively and collaboratively, skills that are becoming ever more useful both inside and outside classrooms.
8 Tell me more: from anecdote to engagement
Elona Manders (HAN Nijmegen)
From authentic teacher input to authentic student output: an interactive storytelling workshop in which you develop an exciting story(line) to take home to activate and engage your learners during your next lesson. Practise (digital) storytelling by using personal experience and pictures.
9 Framing
Frederike Westera & Indira Wakelkamp (University of Amsterdam)
Framing is just one word. Had this workshop’s title been: Fact or fiction, framing in photographs, film and text or The power of words: naming, framing and shaming, would it have appealed to you more, or less? This workshop is all about awareness of frames and media literacy, to use another word.
10 Een taaloverstijgende weg naar taalbewustzijn? Let’s CLAP!
Gijs Leenders (Universiteit Utrecht)
Weet jij eigenlijk wat jouw collega’s doen bij de andere talen? Of (hoe) kennis van de ene taal van pas kan komen bij een andere taal? We bekijken de mogelijkheden aan de hand van grammaticadidactiek voor het vo: Cross-Linguistic Awareness Programme. We kijken naar taaloverstijgend werken.
11 How the new CEFR helps assess speaking performance
Kirsten Waechter (Tailored Trainings)
This interactive workshop introduces the new categories and descriptors for speaking competence of the new CEFR to help teachers assessing students’ performance. Teachers will better understand what to look for in speaking assessments beyond grammar and vocabulary.
12 Doeltaal-leertaal; waarom ‘doeltaal voertaal’ onzin is
Sebastiaan Dönszelmann (Noordhoff / VU)
Van doeltaalgebruik leren leerlingen veel taal..., toch? Nou, veel doeltaalonderzoek laat zien dat het zo simpel niet werkt. Is doeltaalgebruik dan zinloos? Absoluut niet. Sebastiaan Dönszelmann promoveerde op effectieve doeltaaldidactiek en kan concrete didactische handreikingen geven.
13 Wanted! New perspectives on English as a global lingua franca
Warda Nejjari (Radboud University Nijmegen)
Even though English is most commonly used by non-native speakers, traditional language norms still dictate that near-native language skills are the best guarantee for effective communication. Zooming in on (non-)native English pronunciation research, we learn more about the impact of non-nativeness.
14 Hoe kan je, in een klaslokaal, omgaan met een oorlog (zoals in Oekraïne)
Franca Duym & Madelief Debeij (Pabo Avans Breda)
Hoe ga je om met leerlingen die zich betrokken voelen of zijn, bij de oorlog, binnen je eigen lespraktijk? Ervaringsdeskundigen uit het basisonderwijs delen behoeftes en ervaringen. Hoe pas je taalonderwijs toe in deze situatie. We gaan in gesprek, delen ervaringen en kijken naar de toekomst.
15 Lezen: waarom, wat, wanneer, …
Chris Meijer (Practicum Educatief)
In deze workshop gaat het om het belang van het lezen. Kinderen lezen steeds minder met als gevolg dat hun leesvaardigheid achteruit gaat. Waarom lezen kinderen minder? Heeft dat te maken met motivatie en, als dat zo is, wat doe je aan die motivatie?
16 Poetry United – using poetry as a tool for language learning
Bruno Leys (Hogeschool VIVES Brugge)
Persuading teenagers to turn to poetry may seem a tough sell. If we think of our learners’ short attention spans, however, poetry could be a quite suitable medium. Join in for some ideas on how you can use poetry in different areas to spice up your English lessons.
17 Visible Thinking Routines in the English Language Classroom
Alex Warren (Cengage, UK)
In this hands-on session I’ll start by defining what we mean by visible thinking routines before showcasing how we can incorporate them into our lessons to not only develop our students’ cognitive skills –both critical and creative– but also to stimulate meaningful discussion involving all students.
18 The contingency Plan, an engaging English project for Business students
Ariane Niemeijer (Windesheim Zwolle)
Are you struggling to motivate your business students to actively listen to each other’s English presentations? Do they even like English? This project-based course has students take on their roles of company saviours as if they themselves are the owners. Aware of ethics and sustainability.
19 Dare to be Differentiating
Jan Bernd ten Berg & Diana Slavenburg (Yuverta Houten)
Diana and Jan Bernd will show how to have students simultaneously work with up to four different levels of course material in a single classroom. Over the past three years they have been experimenting with this approach and have seen positive effects on both student participation and exam results.
20 Correctness or communicative effectiveness in the language classroom
Leslie Piggott (NHL Stenden)
We verkennen hoe docenten in hun lespraktijk meer aandacht kunnen besteden aan communicatieve effectiviteit en minder aan accuraat taalgebruik. We zullen eerst het huidige curriculum van het vo analyseren om daarna te kijken hoe we die effectiviteit zichtbaar kunnen maken in toetsing en voortgang.
21 The plot thickens! Making stories out of stories
Robert Hill (freelance, Verona Italy)
Taking the most fascinating of the stories about King Arthur's knights, 'Sir Gawain and the Green Knight', we will show how to explore what the story leaves unsaid and mysterious, and suggest how learners can creatively imagine different kinds of prequels ('backstories') and sequels ('spin-offs').
22 OMG! This is what it’s like being a teacher!!!
Roland Allen (Big Wheel Theatre Co., UK)
I’m Roland, an actor in Big Wheel Theatre Co. touring schools in NL since 1985. March 2020 got VERY TRICKY INDEED for the arts. The end result was that I became a one-man-show for the last two years. Working on my own was a challenge. I started to really appreciate what teachers do. Day in day out..
23 That’s not English!
Rosemary Carlton-Willis (Uitgeverij Deviant)
How does today’s global, digital context impact creative decision-making when creating AV materials for the (virtual) classroom? This research presentation and interactive workshop explores the roles native speakers, authenticity versus correctness, global English accents and new technologies play.
24 Encouraging cultural and diversity sensitivity via cultural Chambers text talks
Simone Groeneveld (Windesheim)
Join this workshop if you’d like to boost your learner’s (intercultural) empathy while practicing their reading and speaking skills. We will engage in an adapted Aiden Chambers text talk you can use the day after the NCE with your learners of all levels.
25 Calamity in the Classroom: Literature and Teaching about Crisis
Anna Zweers (Het Rhedens Rozendaal) & Chris Cusack (Radboud University)
How do we get students to think about critical issues such as race, gender and sexuality, as well as large crises that the world faces? We'll discuss the pedagogical uses of literature in this question and exchange ideas about inspiring learning activities and useful texts for teaching about crisis.
26 Picture that! Listening comprehension by drawing
Trui Veen (HAN)
Listening comprehension is often practiced by using pre-recorded texts and multiple choice questions. There are other ways to do this. In this workshop we will explore a number of listening activities in which all pupils are involved and comprehension is practiced in a non-linguistic way. Join in!
27 Formatief evalueren: kleine stappen, een groot verschil
Cindy Stienstra (Noordhoff)
In deze workshop gaan we in op wat formatief evalueren inhoudt, het gebruik van taal gericht op leren, het belang van leerdoelen, evaluerende werkvormen of het stellen van de juiste vragen. Bovenal gaan we na hoe jij het in jouw onderwijs kan inzetten. Kleine stappen maken hierin een groot verschil.
28 Bridging the gap between research and practice: the teacher-researcher
Tessa Mearns & Janine Berns (Meesterschapsteam MVT)
De DUDOC-ALFA promotieplaatsen bieden de mogelijkheid om onderzoek te doen naar vragen die er voor docenten echt toe doen. We blikken terug op projecten die in vorige rondes zijn gefinancierd en we kijken vooruit door deelnemers te begeleiden bij de eerste stappen van hun eigen onderzoeksproject.