Past Events

LitSIG Pre-Conference Event (PCE) 16 May 2022

Literature and the Arts in Northern Ireland

Our day was structured to privilege both input and interaction: four experts in their various fields gave talks, each followed by workshops – ideal moments for discussion among the participants – guided and commented on by our speakers. 

Let’s now introduce our four expert speakers: Frank Ferguson of Ulster University and John Gray of University College London will be our literary experts; Hania Bociek from the University of Zurich will explore the visual arts, and, Michelle Zirkel of the University of Bamberg will guide us through traditional and contemporary songs. 

• Frank Ferguson focused on three writers. After an evaluation of how much Seamus Heaney’s poetry is affected by his roots in the North, he will move on to Anna Burns’s novel Milkman (2018), which captures the experience of living through The Troubles. Frank then introduced us to Dara McAnulty’s Diary of A Young Naturalist (2020), a memoir of the author’s fascination with nature and the difficulties of growing up as a young autistic man, and show how it ‘speaks back to’ Heaney’s collection of poems Death of a Naturalist.
  
  

• John Gray explored the queer gaze of three contemporary Northern writers: Cherry Smyth on the events of The Famine in her collection of poems Famished (2019); Paul McVeigh in his novel The Good Son (2015), an account of growing up queer in a working-class republican area of Belfast in the early days of The Troubles; Jarlath Gregory in What Love Looks Like (2021), a happy-ending novel for young adults set in Dublin in the aftermath of the same-sex marriage referendum of 2015.
  
  

• Hania Bociek took us on an exploration of the work of several artists from Northern Ireland, both those working today and those from the past. Taking us from landscapes and nature to politics and protest, Hania showed us how pictures paint a thousand words about Northern Ireland.
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• Michelle Zirkel provided an overview of both contemporary and traditional songs about the history and culture of Northern Ireland as well as popular songs by Northern Irish singers, songwriters and bands such as Van Morrison, Two Door Cinema Club, Ash, Jun Tzu, and Phil Coulter, to name just a few. She gave several concrete examples of how to exploit Northern Irish songs in the EFL classroom.

This PCE introduced participants to a variety of ‘texts’ which – be they literary, visual or in the form of song – deal with the burning issues of place, identity and conflict, and which are relevant to us wherever we come from. 

LitSIG Webinar

Thomas N. Robb on

Graded Readers as Literature

In this 60 minute session we will discuss and evaluate ‘graded readers’, which are commonly used for Extensive Reading, from the standpoint of ‘literary value’. We will consider various definitions of ‘Literary Value (or Merit’) and take some graded readers as cases in point.  We will also consider the issue of whether a re-written classic might have greater or lesser value for the student. Finally, we will take a look at the Extensive Reading Foundation's ‘Language Learner Literature Awards’. We look forward to the active participation of those attending in the ensuing discussion.

Speaker

Thomas N. Robb, Ph.D. is the Chair of the Extensive Reading Foundation as well as a member of the Board of the IATEFL LitSIG.  He is a past President of JALT (Japan Association of Language Teachers) and a past member of the Board of International TESOL.

LitSIG Webinar ​

Dr Barbara Roosken on

Designing photo essays when reading short stories

Photo essays are a great way to practise students’ positioning and composition through different perspectives. This webinar explores how thematic photo essays may be used as an assessment instrument for literature. The presenter will share findings from her research on how photo essays may promote literature appreciation. Participants will leave with ideas to improve students’ creative abilities and critical thinking.

Speaker

Barbara Roosken studied English Language and Literature at Nijmegen University in the Netherlands and then moved to Sheffield University where she was lector of Dutch Language and Literature and taught courses in American Literature from 1985 to 1990. She has been working at the Department of English Language and Literature at Fontys Teacher Training College in Tilburg since 1990. She wrote two course books for secondary college on teaching English as a foreign language entitled  “Here's to you” (1998). At present she is the coordinator of the B.Ed. Course at Fontys and teaches English and American Literature in both the B.Ed. and M.Ed. courses. Having finished her Educational Doctorate in May 2017 at Roehampton University, she now supervises M.Ed. and B.Ed. students at Fontys University. One issue of particular interest to her is how trainee teachers achieve personal fulfilment from teaching.

LitSIG Webinar ​

Chris Walklett on

​Zen...and the art of using song & song lyrics in the classroom

Here is an outline of his talk, with translation in brackets for those who are not familiar with this particular language.

Deep breath...relax…say ‘om’

(chill…and, er, hum a bit)

Journey, with me as your guide, we will take mindful steps on the golden path to good karma towards our destination - song & song lyric nirvana.

             (come on, let‘s see what we can do with this corker of a resource)

We will begin by contemplating this resource’s less than enlightened past before meditating on some golden thoughts for inspired usage

(First we’ll look at the crud that’s out there and then we’ll talk quality)

It is my vision that you will emerge refreshed and re-awoken to the zen-like possibilities that this resource offers

(Don’t stress, I promise ya’ it’ll all be kushti)          

Namasté

(Cheers…or something like that!)

LitSIG Webinar ​

Andreia Zakime on Videos

​We are delighted to announce our next LitSIG webinar, this time on Videos. In November we had Sue Leather talking on stories and graded readers. Andreia Zakime will go on from there and show video tools and techniques for students to retell stories from graded readers and will be a nice follow-up.

Webinar

Videos are everywhere and we are very much used to the idea of watching them as a means of entertainment, to learn new skills and to connect with people. In this webinar, I will share some tools and techniques to help students use videos to recreate and retell stories. Participants will come away with practical ideas on how to encourage students to use videos creatively in class.

Speaker

Andreia Zakime has been working in the field of ELT for 15 years. She is currently an Academic Coordinator at Cultura Inglesa São Paulo, in Brazil, where she is responsible for the pre-service teacher training programme and other professional development initiatives. Andreia has an MA in Visual Communication and Publishing and is a frequent presenter in international conferences. She is a CELTA tutor and the co-founder of What is ELT? (www.whatiselt.com)

LitSIG Webinar 

Tim Parks

​Just a week after Andreia Zakime we have the great privilege of hosting a question and answer session with internationally acclaimed novelist, translator and essayist Tim Parks.

In this webinar you will be able to ask Tim Parks questions, and Tim will try to answer as many as possible! For how to ask questions, watch this space! We’ll give you details within a couple of weeks.

​About Tim Parks

Born in Manchester, England, in 1954, Tim Parks moved to Italy in 1981. Author of four bestselling books on Italy, and fifteen acclaimed novels, including the Booker short-listed Europa, he is also a prize-winning translator who has translated works by Moravia, Calvino, Calasso, Machiavelli and Leopardi. While running a post-graduate degree course in translation at IULM University, Milan, he writes regularly for the London Review of Books and the New York Review of Books. His non-fiction works include Translating Style, a literary approach to translation problems, and most recently Where I’m Reading From, a collection of short essays on literature in an era of globalization.

More information about Tim Parks: www.timparks.com

Most recent publications: www.facebook.com/Tim.Parks.Author

Full bibliography: http://tim-parks.com/bibliography/

Questions and Answers

In this webinar you will be able to ask Tim Parks questions, and Tim will try to answer as many of them as possible!

To start the ball rolling, the LitSIG committee has already asked Tim three questions (see below). He’ll begin by answering these… and then it’s up to you.

• “Tim, you’ve taught English literature in Italy for twenty years and more. What special considerations does a teacher have to bear in mind when teaching the literature of a foreign country?”

• “What about the question of whether we should start with contemporary (or near contemporary) literature, or whether we should insist on beginning with the classics?”

• “Do you have any tips to suggest for getting young people to read in a foreign language?”

But if you already have questions (perhaps you know Tim’s work or perhaps you are intrigued by his website and FB page), you can send them before the webinar begins through our Facebook page; there’s a special message about Tim Parks’s webinar where you can write your questions. The link to our FB page is: https://www.facebook.com/LitSIG/

LitSIG Webinar

Sue Leather on Extensive Reading: 'The Story's the Thing'

​Characterisation, narrative style, description and plot...

​With 'story-led' readers, where these features are the important driving force, students at all levels can study ‘literature’.

How can original readers help you and your students to explore these features of narrative? During this session, you will be involved in some multi-skill activities which you can take away and try out with your students at all levels.

Speaker: Sue Leather

​Sue Leather has been in the ELT field for thirty years. Originally from the north west of England, she worked as a teacher, teacher trainer and educational manager in Spain, UK and the Netherlands. She has an MA in Education from the Institute of Education, University of London. She has written a number of articles for ELT journals and magazines, and is a frequent presenter at international conferences.

Sue has been writing original learner fiction since 1990 and has written almost 30 readers. She won the Extensive Reading Foundation Award with her CUP reader Dead Cold.  She has worked on series with OUP, CUP, Mary Glasgow and Heinemann. She is Joint Series Editor of the National Geographic/Cengage series Page Turners. Sue runs a consultancy group, Sue Leather Associates, which delivers training and consultancy internationally.

Website: www.sueleatherassociates.com