Editorial
Dear HLT Readers,
Welcome to the December issue of HLT. No need to say that in this festive time for many, we have a bit of Christmas theme in Merry Christmas… and Visual Vocabulary: A Comprehensive Guide to Christmas-themed Video Lessons by Cris Mark Baroro.
The news that Pilgrims teacher training courses will now continue in Segovia is, I believe, a kind of a Christmas present. For more information read Pilgrims News: Teacher Development Courses in Segovia, summer 2024 or go directly to https://www.pilgrims.co.uk/teacher-training-courses/pilgrims-in-segovia. Give yourself a present to deserve and see you there.
Before I introduce the main theme of this issue, I would like to highlight articles related to various aspects of language and communication: The A. S. Hornby Dictionary Research Awards Scheme (ASHDRA) by Michael Rundell, Language Items in Current Use October 2023 - (principally Oct 1st-3d), by Andrew Wright, But, Of Course, You Couldn’t Do That in Japan! by Hugh Dellar and Andrew Walkley, Can People Understand You? by Andrew Wright, and Explaining English Gobbledygook to In Indonesian by Robin Usher.
There is also the theme of psychology in ELT in Coaching Reading to ESL Learners by Emmanuelle Betham, in A Playful Way to Mindfulness Practice: How to Introduce Mindfulness to (Teenage) Students by Špela Casagrande, and in the reviews in Short Book Reviews by Hanna Kryszewska.
But the main theme of this December issue is IP&SEN. IP&SEN stands for ‘Inclusive Practices and Special Educational Needs’ and the leading articles in this issue have been harvested among the members of IP&SEN SIG - a special interest group which is a part of IATEFL (the International Association of Teachers of English as a Foreign Language). It “promotes genuinely inclusive practices, that lead to a sense of belonging and full participation for all within the ELT community”. You can find more details from their mission statement here. We made plans for this IP&SEN issue at IATEFL Harrogate and here it comes. So without further ado let me hand over to Rachael Harris who along with Aysen Cem-Deger, put the issue together (meet the ladies here https://ipsen.iatefl.org/ipsen-committee-2023). Working with you has been great pleasure. Thank you 😊
Enjoy this December issue of HLT.
Hanna (Hania) Kryszewska
HLT Editor
Email: hania.kryszewska@pilgrimsteachertraining.eu
Dear Teachers and HLT Readers,
When I became involved in the IATEFL Inclusive Practice and SEN Special Interest Group, it was in order to help a student with dyslexia, and I had no idea how broad the umbrella of inclusive Teaching would become to support all our learners and teachers.
Today, we the SIG are proud to have contributed to this month’s edition with a variety of articles that reflect the myriad of issues present in Inclusive Teaching today.
Articles by Jamie Keddie (Stories from the Hands Up Project) and Sinem Darıdere (Volunteering with Ukrainian Refugees) reflect the sad reality of today’s world, indeed many volunteers of the Hands Up project described by Jamie are still missing, and others will never return. (NB Alan Maley’s poem War echoes this sad sentiment of bereavement and helplessness).
Other articles touch on groups of all ages, from kindergarten (Bilingual Education and Mathematics in Early Years and Inclusion by Athena Dermentzi, Picture Books About Emotions in Kindergarten Language Classrooms Agnieszka Dzięcioł-Pędich,) to older learners passing through higher education (Towards Inclusive Learning Environments in Higher Education: A Glance into Perspectives from Education and Language Studies by Yasemin Yelbay Yilmaz), as well as learners from LGBTQ+ communities (Interviewing Edoardo on LGBTQ Themes in Schools) or deal with subjects such as sustainability (Chain Experiment in Pre-school Dorota Kaniak-Szymkiewicz).
One of the areas that has developed most has been teacher training (Introducing Inclusive Practices and Special Educational Needs to Pre-service Teachers by Hanna Kryszewska)
and the continual professional development available today for teachers to keep up to date and learn how to make their classroom more Inclusive through pre-service training or by keeping abreast of the latest publications on the subject (Teaching Languages to Students with Specific Learning Differences 2nd edition by Judit Kormos and Anne Margaret Smith reviewed by Rachael Harris).
We are convinced that this edition of HLTmag, as with previous ones, will make for fascinating reading, and if you have questions, queries or would like to continue the discussion on how to make our classrooms, and later on the world, more Inclusive, then get in touch with us at ipsensig@iatefl.org , and please follow us on social media to stay informed about our future events, especially our Pre-conference event: AI in Inclusive Practices which will be held in Brighton on Monday 15th April. We’re still looking for speakers so if you’re interested in proposing a talk or workshop then fill in this form.
Racher Harris
Host Editor
