Conference Theme Panels

“Looking Back, Thinking Ahead: Merging the past, present, future of ELT” Sponsored by FAAPI 2001

Panel 1 – Thursday 20th

, 14 hrs – San Agustín Auditorium

María Silvia Stagnaro, M.A. – “The Challenge of the Present: Responding to the

Requirement of Total Quality in our Classrooms” Our main concern as teachers has always been to be ‘good teachers’. What a challenge! How can we

define the elements that make for ‘quality’ in our classrooms? In the past, different teaching methods

came to our aid, giving us the cues we needed to come close to the ideal. Nowadays, however, it seems

that what is being called for is a professional who is capable of freeing himself from the straightjacket of

methods in order to respond empathically and creatively to the requirements of his/her ever more

demanding students. Are we ready to take face the music?

Dr. Pascual Masullo – “Can Generative Linguistics shed any light on foreign language

teaching?” It is a widely accepted assumption that foreign and second language teaching should draw largely on the

findings of linguistic theory, as well as theories of language acquisition. A summary will therefore be

presented of current research within the generative paradigm (including phonology, morphology, syntax,

semantics and the lexicon) which is strongly felt to contribute in a positive manner not only to

curriculum design, but also to error analysis and evaluation. A consideration of modern contrastive

analysis, as well as the four skills within a modular conception of the mind will also be included.

Lidia Soler, M.A. – “Some considerations on past, present and future practices in the

teaching of pronunciation” For the last hundred years the teaching of pronunciation has gone through different stages which reflect

the changing theories and methods of English language teaching and their attitude towards

pronunciation. This paper reviews some of the most relevant issues in the teaching of the pronunciation

component in EFL and considers some continuing needs for new approaches and lines of research in the

field.

Panel 2 – Thursday 20th

, 16 hrs – San Agustín Auditorium

Claudia Ferradas Moi, M.A. – “Literature revisited” Gone are the days when the prestigious role of literature in ELT was unquestioned. With the advent of

methods and approaches which focused on spoken language, literary texts were often disregarded. At

present, literature is being revisited, but what is meant by literature today and how should it be

approached? Besides, along with feminism and gender studies, postcolonialism and multiculturalism

have questioned the canon. Has ELT kept pace with these changes? And how is literature to meet the

challenge posed by new technologies?

Daniel Reznik, M.A. – “Business English” A couple of decades ago EFL teachers equipped with some basic knowledge of business terms and the

rudiments of commercial correspondence felt confident that they would meet the language learning

needs of business organisations. The realisation that " Business English " was no more than an umbrella

term for a range of disparate disciplines prompted practitioners to seek further training in content areas

for a better understanding of the environments in which they had to operate. But the pace of change in

the world of business now calls for a different kind of teacher, one who can become a professional

resource, course designer and evaluator. This presentation will examine the core competencies involved

in the transition from English teacher to communication skills trainer and explore the challenge ahead.

Dr. Cristina Elgue de Martini – “Cultural Studies: Its impact on cognition” The presentation traces the antecedents of Cultural Studies in Britain back to the courses organized by

the adult education movement for working class people since the beginning of the 20th Century,

especially those of the late 1940s in the field of visual arts, in radio, press, and advertising, in music and

literature. It then concentrates on the work published in the 1950s and early 1960s by Richard Hoggart

and Raymond Williams, and refers to the official beginning of this interdisciplinary field, with the

founding of the Birmingham Center for Contemporary Cultural Studies in 1964, and the role played by

Stuart Hall. After considering the significance of Cultural Studies in America, attention is focused on its

impact on education: not only on conventional school matters like curriculum (namely, the absorption of

Literature into Cultural Studies), but also on the broader context of cognition. In this sense, the essay

attempts to explain how as a consequence of the theories and practices developed by its practitioners,

Cultural Studies has fostered a new form of rationality based on locational thinking and has privileged a

narrative construal of reality, building new conceptions of race, space, place, home, identity and culture.

Ron White, M.A. – “Managing the Future” People entering ELT as a career typically spend a lot of time gaining technical/professional expertise

which they will update over the years by attending conferences and workshops. With changes in the

world of work, professionals are now finding that technical expertise is only part of what is needed in

order to survive and that career management skills are needed as they re-invent themselves as one

person enterprises. They also need to develop a range of other management skills as they assume

responsibility for supervising others and for working within an increasingly market driven sector.