Catherine Prewett-Schrempf and Linda Slattery attended the 32nd IATEFL BESIG Annual “Back to Basics” Conference in Berlin from 11 – 13 October, mingling and networking with an international body of Business English Language Teaching (ELT) authors, academics and practitioners. During a 45-minute talk entitled “EPortfolios for Grammar Learning”, Catherine and Linda presented the design and implementation methods of CCBE’s innovative self-directed grammar learning model (the Personal Language File), which was designed to enable learners to focus on grammar use and forms specific to their individual needs.
They also shared insights gained from the post-course student evaluations, which highlighted several challenges of autonomous learning and confirmed the importance of a strong teacher presence in blended learning settings. Linda and Catherine’s talk was well attended, and the lively post-presentation discussion confirmed strong agreement that ePortfolio-mediated language learning is a highly effective student-centred teaching approach.
Catherine and Linda also attended diverse parallel sessions, gaining valuable insight into contemporary trends on digital language learning, and to what extent technology and teaching methods can enhance traditional face-to-face language teaching.