THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EFL (English as a Foreign Language)

Or: ENGLISH FOR TIRED TEACHERS

Facudade de Ciências Humanas – Universidade Católica Portuguesa

9 de junho de 2018

Anfiteatro 1

The aim of The Importance of Being EFL/English for Tired Teachers is to create a space of discussion and awareness as to the current difficulties, practices, tools and ideologies employed in the realm of EFL in Portugal and most importantly how a background in Linguistics might help.

It is abundantly clear that English is all around us – it is spoken by millions around the world (in an ever expanding circle of speakers), it is a lingua franca, it is omnipresent on the internet and other forms of cultural expression such as books, films and series and it seems to generate an unfaltering interest in both L1 and L2 speakers alike. In addition, there is an ongoing debate on which variety of English is the most desirable and prestigious; whether there is a standard variety of English and an idealised concept of “native speaker”; and whether there is “ownership” of the English language, especially whether it is the UK or the US the true “proprietor” of English.

These questions are of acute importance for those who teach English to the aforementioned millions of L2 speakers – EFL teachers who face a myriad of options to apply to the classroom, from language varieties to textbooks, ICT resources and the particular needs of different bodies of students. The aim of “The Importance of Being EFL/English for Tired Teachers” is to provide some answers to these questions and to generate much needed discussion amongst EFL teachers and researchers of EFL. Please see document attached for the full program of the event.

If you wish to register, please do so using this link: https://goo.gl/forms/Z0PbsGk9YqdGqpF62 Registration Fee is 30€ (includes coffee break and conference materials).

For any further enquiries, please send an email to: rita.faria@fch.lisboa.ucp.pt (Rita Faria) Payment By bank transfer: Universidade Católica Portuguesa IBAN: PT50 0033 0000 0017 0134 1210 5 SWIFT: BCOMPTPL Bank: Millennium BCP Address: Rua Áurea, 130, piso 3, 1100-062 Lisboa Please mention ‘EFL’ in the transfer description and send us a copy of the bank transfer document to the e-mail cecc@fch.lisboa.ucp.pt .