Centre for Foreign Language Teaching,
University of Warsaw
is pleased to announce
1st International MiLLaT Conference
Mediation in Language Learning and Teaching
9th September 2021, Warsaw, Poland (online)
The conference will be held under the honorary patronage of the Polish Association of Modern Languages (PTN) and the European Language Council.
The conference aims to create a forum for discussions and broaden the current perspectives on mediation, language learning, teaching, and developing modern materials and tools.
We invite language teachers, teacher trainers, educators, who are interested in mediation, mediation activities and strategies, multilingualism, innovative tasks in language education, technology-mediated teaching tools, and good practices in language learning.
Relevant themes include, but are not limited to, the following topics:
- Mediation in language learning and teaching;
- Key competencies in life-long learning;
- Multilingualism and plurilingualism;
- Synchronous and asynchronous technology-mediated language learning;
- Task-based language teaching (TBLT);
- Action-oriented approach (AoA);
- Language for Specific Purposes (LSP);
- Teaching materials and tools development;
- Good practices in language learning.
The language of the conference is English and Polish, but we warmly encourage contributions from language professionals working with other languages.
The conference will be online and free for all participants.
Keynote speakers – in alphabetical order
Prof. Radosław Kucharczyk graduated from the Institute of French Studies at the University of Warsaw, where he is currently an Assistant Professor at the Department of Methodology of French Teaching. He conducts specialised courses in Foreign Language Teaching Methodology and Practical French courses. He also works as a French teacher at Narcyza Żmichowska High School (with Bilingual classes) in Warsaw. In his research, he focuses on the implementation of the European Language Policy (e.g. multilingual competence, mediation, etc.) in various educational contexts. Since 2020, he has been Chairman of the Warsaw University Council for the Certification of Language Proficiency. He is a member of the group of experts responsible for the state review and approval of French Language school textbooks at the Polish Ministry of National Education. Prof. Radosław Kucharczyk is also an expert of the Polish Central Examination Board (CKE).
Dr Piotr Romanowski is an Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Applied Linguistics of the University of Warsaw, Poland. His academic interests are at the intersection of bi-/multilingual education and sociolinguistics. His latest monograph Family Language Policy in the Polish Diaspora: A Focus on Australia will be published by Routledge in April 2021. He is Chief Editor of Journal of Multilingual Theories and Practices. He is the founding member of MultiLingNet – a network for scholars investigating multilingualism and multilingual education. He has lectured at Florida International University, Carleton University, Victoria University of Wellington, University of Sao Paulo, University of Johannesburg, National Chengchi University and many others.
Dr Maria Stathopoulou is an Adjunct Lecturer at the Hellenic Open University and at the National Technical University of Athens. Since 2007, she has been a Research Fellow at the RCeL, University of Athens and a member of the English team preparing the national exams for the Greek State Certificate of Foreign Language Competence (known as KPG exams). From 2014-2017, she was a member of the authoring group of experts of the Council of Europe concerning the update of the CEFR. Recently (2020-2021), her project “Mediation in Τeaching, Learning and Αssessment” (ME.T.L.A.) is being funded by the European Centre of Modern Languages (ECML) of the Council of Europe (2020-2023). Dr Stathopoulou’s book “Cross-Language Mediation in Foreign Language Teaching and Testing” (2015) has been published by Multilingual Matters. Her second book concerns the teaching of ESP in academic contexts.
Andrew Walkley has 25 years of experience as a teacher, trainer and materials writer. He is the co-author of several coursebook series – Outcomes, Innovations and Perspectives (National Geographic Learning) and the methodology book Teaching Lexically (Delta/ Klett). He is also the co-director of Lexical Lab (lexicallab.com), an educational services provider specialising in course design and consultancy, materials writing and teacher training. Lexical Lab runs a summer school in London for teachers and other people in English Language education.
Submission guidelines
Abstract Submissions for paper presentations, digital posters, and workshops are cordially invited from language teachers, teacher trainers, and educators.
Paper presentations
A 30-minute session that includes a 20-minute presentation and an additional 10 minutes for Q&A and discussion. Submissions should contain the title (max. 15 words), the abstract of the paper (max. 300 words excluding references) and a brief speaker biography for the conference programme (max. 100 words).
Poster presentations
A 30-minute online poster session that includes discussion and Q&A. The poster presentations are intended for the discussion of good practices. Poster presenters must be on hand during the scheduled 30-minute session to discuss their poster content and answer the questions of attendees. Posters will be available before the online presentation session. Submissions should contain the title (max. 15 words), the abstract (max. 300 words excluding references) and a brief speaker biography for the conference programme (max. 100 words).
Workshops
A 45-minute session that includes 40-minute interactive activities engaging the audience and setting the stage for learning, growth, motivation and a 5-minute Q&A. Submissions should have the title (max. 15 words), the abstract (max. 300 words) with an explicit description of the activities the audience will be engaged in, and a brief speaker biography for the conference programme (max. 100 words).
Please complete the ABSTRACT SUBMISSION FORM here.
- Deadline for submitting abstracts: 29 March to 30 June 2021
- Notification of acceptance: 15 July 2021
- Conference Registration: 9 April 2021 to 31 August 2021
If you would like to participate in the conference as an audience member/ attendee, please complete the REGISTRATION FORM here.
If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us at millat.conference@uw.edu.pl
Kind regards,
Scientific Committee
- Prof. Radosław Kucharczyk, UW
- Dr Piotr Romanowski, UW
- Dr Andrzej Dąbrowski, UW
- Dr Sylwia Kossakowska-Pisarek, UW
- Dr Małgorzata Świerk, UW
Organizing Committee
- Dr Małgorzata Świerk, UW
- Dr Ekaterina Bunina-Breś, UW
- Urszula Wilk, MA, UW
- Marzena Zykubek, MA, UW
The conference is part of Mediation in Language Learning and Teaching (MiLLaT) Erasmus+ Project, 2019-1-PL01-KA203-065746, which has been initiated as a response to the most recent innovative developments in the field of language teaching, learning and assessment refined in CEFR/CV (2018). The project aims to reinforce the main methodological message of the CEFR, which implies that the learner is to be viewed as a social, plurilingual and pluricultural language user, whose learning process has to be driven by action and task, and whose assessment is to be guided by their communicative ability in real-life situations. For further information, please follow the link: www.millat.uw.edu.pl