Eastern Mediterranean University (EMU) Education Faculty, Department of Foreign Language Education academic staff member Prof. Dr. Ülker Vancı Osam and Foreign Languages and English Preparatory School academic staff member Asst. Prof. Dr. İ. Erkan Arkın held a “Communicative Language Teaching and Modern Methods” in-service training seminar upon receiving an invitation from the İstanbul Provincial Directorate of National Education. The seminar which touched upon and discussed hot topics in English language teaching was attended by 200 secondary school English teachers from different regions of İstanbul. The seminar also provided examples of how technology can be used to improve the speaking skills of students.
The participants of the seminar which took place in a group format were actively engaged with their laptops and mobile phones. The participants gained experience on how students can be motivated to speak English with easily downloadable applications from the internet and how student participation can be increased. The seminar also touched upon other conveniences that this technology can afford for teachers. At the end of the seminar, all teachers were delivered certificates of participation.
Technology in the Classroom
After delivering the seminar, EMU Education Faculty, Department of Foreign Language Education academic staff member Prof. Dr. Ülker Vancı Osam and Foreign Languages and English Preparatory School academic staff member Asst. Prof. Dr. İ. Erkan Arkın stated that they were happy to contribute to the “Believe in Yourself: Just Speak” themed project of the İstanbul Provincial Directorate of National Education which was aimed towards state school English students. The academic staff members went onto highlight that it is inevitable that technology use in classrooms will become more widespread provided pedagogic and ethical sensibilities are accounted for. Indicating that the verbal and written feedback from participants indicates that the in-service training seminar had reached its objectives, the EMU academicians stated that they and İstanbul Provincial Directorate of National Education representatives were happy to receive this feedback from the English teachers who implemented the techniques they learned in the seminar, the next day in their classrooms.
