Prof. Emeritus Tony Wright

KEYNOTE

The Language Classroom in the Information Age

We live in the 'Information Age', an era which presents challenges for every aspect of human life, personal and individual, collective and professional. Information technologies (IT) are variously viewed as liberating, controlling, emancipating, damaging; perhaps over-simplistically as 'opportunities' and 'threats'. Formal education is in the front line of society's response to IT, with teachers facing a particularly complex array of issues, at the heart of which is the teacher-student relationship. I shall argue that by reasserting our agency as teachers we can manage the roles of new technologies in language education. This would entail a reconsideration of the roles of the classroom and of teachers and learners, and simultaneously imagining how to both absorb and adapt to the possibilities presented by IT.

WORKSHOP

Teachers and Change

This is an awareness-raising workshop which aims to explore how we respond to change in our professional lives. Participants will have ample opportunities to discuss the issues raised.