The trainers were:
Tanja Westfall-Greiter, MA
(Creative-Liaisons): Making sense of / with / in English
The focus of the workshops was on:
* helping learners to make sense of, with, and in English so that they can make it a part of themselves;
* methodology that is coherent with how the brain notices, stores, organizes and accesses language;
* meaningful vocabulary input and activation tasks;
* anchoring techniques for reducing common errors related to spatial/time/gender/plural sense;
* recent changes in the Austrian curriculum and the proposed educational standards for English.
Dr. Yvonne Pratt-Johnson (St. John’s University, NYC):
“You’re Putting Words in my Mouth!” Introducing Figurative Language in the EFL Classroom
The focus of the workshops was on:
* idioms, proverbs, metaphors, and similes;
* the challenges involved in teaching this special type of language in the EFL classroom;
* discovering ways in which figurative language can be practiced and reinforced through songs, games, art, and poetry;
* activities to foster growth in EFL students and draw them into the world of figurative language;
* empowering students to think and write creatively and to read, understand and appreciate all kinds of literature.