Teaching a language, educating a person

• Morning Plenary

As ELT professionals, we are tasked with teaching our students a new language.  In this talk I will be looking at how language is so much more than just a school topic; so much more than just a collection of words stuck together with the glue of grammar. I will be examining how our language tells us about our culture and our society and how it enables our students to describe and examine their own lives, realities and culture. I will explore how, as teachers, we can fulfil the increasing demands made on us, by creating a global classroom for our English lessons; a classroom in which all students are welcome, all students feel motivated to participate and all students can progress. Finally, I will argue that, in this global classroom, we can provide a truly supportive, flexible, 21st century education for our students.