For the first time in its 55-year history, the annual IATEFL International Conference will be heading to Belfast in May this year.
It will also mark the return to a face-to-face IATEFL conference, the first since the Liverpool conference in 2019 and is perhaps the first large- scale ELT in-person event post- Covid. Last year saw IATEFL run its conference virtually, as one of the over 160 online events it ran in 2021. While most of its future events will continue to be offered online, the conference itself will be an in-person format.
“We’re excited to celebrate the English language teaching sector on the island of Ireland this year and are sure our delegates from around the world will enjoy the friendly welcome they will receive in Belfast,” says Jon Burton, IATEFL Chief Executive.
The city has undergone huge changes in the past couple of decades and offers a vibrant city centre, amazing food, the amazing Titanic Belfast experience and the fame of being the filming location for various scenes in Game of Thrones. With two international airports and a ferry port, it’s easily accessible and a reasonably priced city to stay in.
“Of course, safety will be a key element of the week-long event, as well as ensuring we continue our progress in making the conference as sustainable as possible, but our delegates are keen to see one another again, to network, to share and to enjoy being part of a global community of practice,” Jon Burton says.
The conference includes over 500 academic sessions over four days, providing delegates from over 100 countries with the opportunity to find out all that’s new in the world of publishing, training, testing, online platforms and career routes. Busy days are followed by enjoyable evenings of social events, something which makes an IATEFL conference a truly round-the-clock experience.
Each day starts with a main plenary session, with this year’s topics being: (Re)imagining and (re)inventing early English language learning and teaching, Do good readers make good writers?, EMI: A language teacher’s leap into the unknown and Education, English and the question of future in conflict areas. The conference closes with a plenary debate on environmental sustainability and ELT.
The conference is being held at the ICC Belfast, nominated a Covid-secure venue, from 17 to 20 May with pre-conference events on 16 May. For further information on attending the conference visit the IATEFL website: iatefl.org
