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As I write this, the last time I was on a train was in March 2020 to go to Language World, the Association for Language Learning‘s annual conference, in Manchester. This year, the event was held online, so I attended form the comfort of my own home, between uni webinars and Petite Ecole teaching. For the 1st time in years I did not put a proposal in to present, as I knew I had a lot on already.

The conference was a huge success, though I did really miss the social side of things, catching up with friends and meeting new people. Below are my main takeaways, the things I want to remember and do something about.

  • Michael Wardle and Ofsted: look out for a blog for primary curriculum inspections to be published soon
  • Clare Seccombe from Lightbulb Languages and Ideas Education: check out the ASCL transition toolkit here
  • Professor Li Wei: remember that learning a language is a social experience and has social cognition as well as cognitive benefits; best if used actively
  • Prof Nicola McLelland, Dr Simon Coffey & Dr Lina Fisher: explore Language learning – learning from the past
  • Olly Richards: do pre-reading (eg predictions), while-reading (eg check predictions) and post-reading activities (eg create personal connections)
  • Richard Tallaron, Sioned Harold and Stephanie Ellis-Williams: do more CLIL! Donaldson Review & ELAPSE resources
  • Jérôme Nogues: Microsoft accessibility tools through Word Online (use more!), Edge; immersive reader available
  • Ellie Chettle Cully: click here for her presentation on how to cater for SEND pupils; note to self: use knowledge organisers more
  • Dr Marie Petersen: with CLIL, start small! And have a class translator
  • Lisa Panford and Melina Irvine: diversity is not enough! Voices and narratives are needed, anti-racist
  • Do Doyle: multi-literacies; it is about progress, not perfection

I sincerely hope that next year we can all be together again – in the future, I am going to limit the time that I spend away from home, but for Language World I will make an exception! Theme: “Language Learning for social justice”.

See you there!

Nathalie