Idea Factory 2014 Speakers

Daniela Alves Meyer has an MA in Applied Linguistics from Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, (UFRJ). She has been an EFL teacher and teacher trainer for the past 30 years, has taught extensively in Brazil and abroad, and is currently an Academic Consultant for Cambridge University Press.

Lecture/presentation: Teaching English in 2014: something old, something new...

It’s 2014. Learners nowadays are connected! They have the world at their fingers… are they therefore intercultural? Does being connected mean learners understand other cultures? Presenter will discuss this issue, and will also propose ways to deal with interculturality in the classroom.

Luciano Amaral Oliveira holds a BA in Economics from the Federal University of Bahia, an MA and a PhD in Language, Arts and Linguistics both from the same institution, at which he currently teaches Portuguese. He was an English teacher for 25 years. He has published several articles and some books. His latest book is Métodos de Ensino de Inglês: Teorias, Práticas, Ideologias (Parábola Editorial).

Lecture/presentation: Ideological and theoretical perspectives on intercultural communicative competence

This talk aims at discussing the concept of intercultural communicative competence from ideological and theoretical standpoints. Intercultural communicative competence can present theoretical traps which the EFL teacher needs to avoid. Moreover, the relationship between intercultural communication and capitalism cannot be overlooked if the EFL teacher wants to be aware of important ideological principles underlying the intercultural communicative approach.

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The image below is the cover of professor Oliveira's most recent book - Métodos de ensino de inglês: teorias, práticas, ideologias, which will be available for pruchase and signing by the author during the event:

Flavio Rodrigues is an Educational Consultant for Oxford University Press

Lecture/presentation: English Teaching Series English File Third Edition. Oxford University Press.

This series will be used in the classes of our UESC English Courses at Universidade Estadual de Santa Cruz (Ilhéus, Bahia)

Click on the image to watch a Youtube video about the book

Itana de Almeida Lins holds a BA in Letras Vernáculas com Inglês from Universidade Católica do Salvador and is a specialist in Psycopedagogy – from Faculdade Bahiana de Medicina – in Salvador – Bahia – Brazil. She is a very motivated and passionate EIL teacher. Intercultural Communicative Competence and English as an International Language Acquisition are two areas of study in which she is deeply interested. Currently, she is the General Academic Coordinator of the English Department at Grupo Educacional Anchieta – in Salvador – Bahia – Brazil.

Itana has been working in the EFL, ESL and IEL field for more than 25 years as a teacher and teacher trainer and since then, she has shared and gained important hands-on experience, as well as a broader world perspective by developing human and environmental relationships with several teachers and students from different nationalities.

She has also worked as an academic coordinator in a Binational Center - ACBEU (Associação Cultural Brazil Esatados Unidos) - in Salvador – Bahia – Brazil for 17 years, and has been involved in international institutions, such as CISV (Children International Summer Villages), AFS (American Field Services), and Partners of the Americas, which are non-profit organizations that aim at improving human beings’ life quality through education for world peace, breaking barriers and prejudice, and respecting different countries and cultures.

Lecture/presentation: Intercultural Learning: how alike am I to you?

Today, in our globalized world, learning English means to learn a language that is spoken by more non-native speakers than by native speakers – 1 native out of 5 non-native. Thus, learning Intercultural Communicative Competence – ICC - is necessary.

This session aims at providing all participants with the opportunity to reflect upon how much they know about themselves. Then, to discover and learn the ICC principles: how to become aware of their intercultural attitudes, their ability to interact with different cultures using their knowledge about those cultures, and to foster critical thinking on how to belong to their own culture, as well as to different ones. After reflecting upon themselves, all participants will be provided with hands on experiences and activities to use in their classrooms. Moreover, it aims at inspiring all participants to become active and contributing individuals for a peaceful society – active global citizens who are able to stimulate the life-long development of amicable relationships, effective communication, cooperation and cultural critical thinking.

Décio Torres Cruz conducted post-doctoral studies at Leeds Metropolitan University, UK. A former Fulbright scholar, he obtained his Ph.D. degree in Comparative Literature at the State University of New York at Buffalo. He holds an M.A. in Literary Theory, a specialization degree in Translation, and a B.A. in English from UFBA. Besides poems and short stories, he has published several essays on different topics in the areas of Linguistics, Language, Translation, Cultural Studies, Cinema, Literature, Methodology, and English Teaching. His major works are: Postmodern Metanarratives: Blade Runner and literature in the age of image (Macmillan UK, 2014), English Online: Inglês Instrumental para Informática (Disal, 2014), Idea Factory: 100 Games and Fun Activities for your English classes (Edufba, 2013); Inglês para Administração e Economia, Inglês para Turismo e Hotelaria, and Inglês.com.textos para informática (Disal), and O pop: literatura, mídia e outras artes (2013, Quarteto/UNEB). He teaches at both the undergraduate and graduate Program in Modern Languages at the Federal University of Bahia (UFBA) and at the State University of Bahia (UNEB).

Lecture/presentation: Teaching Culture: Challenges we face in EFL classes

This talk aims at discussing some of the problems English teachers face when dealing with culture in EFL classes. We will discuss different definitions of culture and the notions surrounding the concept, which elements may be considered part of a culture, and how some of these elements may contribute to create and dissiminate stereotypes and prejudices. We will approach issues related to culture, ideology, and the teaching of foreign language and literature in Brazil. The presentation will also focus on the teaching of foreign languages as a means to promote cultural awareness through a discursive analysis of the possibilities of interpretation of cultural aspects. The term “culture” will be analyzed in its different semantic and pragmatic nuances, associated with professional, national, behavioral, and identity issues which underlie the processes of learning and teaching a foreign language. “How can I be an Other, being myself?” is a question that every foreign language teacher asks him/herself, which sometimes may generate schizophrenic behavior. This process will be illustrated with examples drawn from Hispanic literature produced in English in the United States, from the Caribbean post-colonial discourse, and from the authors’ own experience. We will also discuss how teachers and professors of foreign languages contribute to the dissemination of foreign cultural models and myths to the detriment of national culture. In addition, the hegemony of certain cultures in the teaching of foreign languages and the role of language teachers as disseminators of idealized lifestyles will also be dealt with.

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The images below are the covers of professor Décio Cruz's most recent books - Idea Factory (With Adelaide Oliveira), which gave the name to our event - and Postmodern Metanarratives: Blade Runner and Literature in the Age of Image (Palgrave Macmillan, 2014).

Patrícia Argôlo Rosa hods a master's degree in TESOL (Teaching English To Speakers of Other Languages from New Mexico State University NMSU/USA (2001). She is currently a Doctorate Student in Language and Culture at Universidade Federal da Bahia - UFBA, and an English Language Professor at Universidade Estadual de Santa Cruz - UESC (Ilhéus, Bahia).

Lecture/presentation: English Classroom and Cultural Diversity: Developing Intercultural Communication

When educators have little knowledge, sensitivity, and appreciation of diversity in classroom communication, they may perceive differences as problems. In this context, conflicts can easily arise between teachers and students who are obeying different culturally-based communication rules. The purpose of this presentation is to discuss the problems that occur in the English classroom when cultural diversity is not taken into consideration. In this sense, this study sets out to explore three main questions: (1) What are the most common students’ linguistic behavior that may be conflicteous? (2) What kinds of conflicts does this linguistic behavior generate? (3) How can teacher and students benefit from such conflicts? Answering these questions can reveal some of the problems as a result of culture and communication conflicts in the classroom, and develop intercultural communication in order to bring awareness to teachers and students’ own cultural identity and background.

Presenter:

David Martin Palmer II (David Martin Palmer II English Services)

Presentation: English of the Oppressed

This oral presentation promotes an approach connecting Freirian pedagogy with English learning/teaching. English has become more important than ever; not just because more people than ever use it as a means of communication but because the world has so many cultural divisions. One of the results of these social divisions is backlash and disdain against the language instead of the powers that manipulate it. Perhaps one of the keys to getting beyond these psychological barriers is exposing English as an instrument that anyone can use/participate in and not the property of any one nation or nations. English learning/teaching needs to represent learners and once they feel appreciated and see their relevance in this linguistic mirror, will be motivated to reap the benefits this language has to offer.

Click on the images to read reviews of the books

Presenter:

Joelma Santos

(Universidade Estadual da Bahia / Instituto Federal de Educação, Ciência e Tecnologia da Bahia)

Presentation: Race, ethnicity and English teaching: an intercultural experience

This presentation aims to illustrate how issues as race and ethnicity can be addressed in English classes as means of raising intercultural awareness. Since undergraduate students believed that English learning reinforced ideas of the White culture, as well as it could disturb learners’ identity formation, an ESP program was proposed to teach English by utilizing African History, Culture and figures as main content of the classes. The program is in accordance with Ortiz (2004) who states the potentiality of English to translate cultures, opposing the idea which that language was emptied or neutralized by the globalization. As such principle, a culturally sensitive framework including specific songs, tales, fables, articles, biographies and movies on black people around the world not only taught English reading abilities but also developed an understanding and respect of their own/other’s cultures. By the end of the program, students understood that English might spread messages from different cultures, communicating human experience and reducing cultural dominance.

Idea Factory: UESC English Language Teaching Convention 2014

Inscrições gratuitas - pelo e-mail: elt.convention.uesc@gmail.com (ver prazos e instruções aqui)

Click on the image above to access the detailed program

Idea Factory 2014