Presenter: John Breckenfeld
Date and Time: 11 September, 8:00 p.m.
Presentation: Beyond Small Talk – Classroom Interviews as Formative Tasks to Improve ELs’ Communication Fluency
Abstract: Classroom interview tasks offer students many benefits and opportunities, and have huge potential for speaking and listening fluency development. For example, students may select discussion topics, create interview-style questions, formulate follow-up questions on-the-spot, and analyze audio recordings of speaking tasks. Additionally, when conducted as formative practice tasks, classroom interviews let students freely engage in language production and reception simultaneously, without the pressure of a looming score based on their task performance.
This workshop will highlight the development of a 10-week in-class interview project, completed in spring, 2024, with 150 university students from five separate classes. The activities that will be discussed could also be done with primary and secondary students, and audience participation is highly encouraged.
Presenter Bio: John Breckenfeld has been working in ELT in South Korea for over 10 years. He teaches communicative English at a university in Seoul, with a focus on speaking and writing fluency. His research interests include student motivation, goal setting, course design, Krashen’s Comprehensible and Compelling Input, and Freire’s Problem-posing Education. On a personal level, John loves Korean food, music, running, cycling, hiking, and all things Gangneung City!
We've been looking forward to this one for some time! Register below, and keep an eye out for the podcast in the few short days leading up to the workshop.
As usual, the event is free for DCC members, but please make sure you register here first: https://forms.gle/HC4faRXa1tHaZHSo8
We look forward to seeing you on the 11th of September!
- DCC Executive
