CONTACT The Newsletter for the ACT Modern Language Teachers’ Association The ACT MLTA Works 4U! December 2010 President’s Report July: AFMLTA Conference in New Zealand. Dear members of the ACT MLTA, The President attended an annual AFMLTA Executive Writing my last report for the year 2010 brings me Inside this issue: meeting in Melbourne and successfully bid to host a lot of joy for I can proudly say that the Executive the AFMLTA Conference in Canberra in 2013 to Committee delivered even more than what we coincide with the Centenary Celebrations. FIPLV Scholarship 2 promised in February this year in our Plan “MLTA Works 4U”. August: Event No.3 postponed until Term 4 Winners because of the two day conference ‘Intercultural Meet and Greet 2 Let me briefly remind you of some of the events: Language Teaching and Learning’ with Professor Tony Liddicoat. The ACT MLTA provided prizes and February: ‘Meet and Greet’ cocktail party at the cocktail drinks. Membership Info 2 beautiful Kurrajong Hotel attended by app. 50 teachers. Contact No 3 sent electronically to all members. Contact No 1 out in new format, sent electronically ACT MLTA Conference 3 September/October: FIPLV Scholarship opened. As to all members. nobody applied, we extended it, targeting a specific event – the Conference in Darwin. We have Photos of Conference 4 March: A new partnership started with the five successful applicants. University of Canberra. Members delivered four lectures to university language students. We opened a direct bank deposit option for Languages Success 5 payments to make payments easier for members. The ACT MLTA represented at the Stories ‘Keys to Canberra’ event for newly appointed November/December: Conference ‘De-stressing Contact Details 7 teachers at the CTL. Assessment’ was held at the Australian Catholic University. We had three presenters and 27 May: A dinner and the Annual General Meeting participants, four of whom were students from the (AGM) held at Mecca Bah with an agreed change University of Canberra. of Constitution so that we will now hold the AGM in March each year. This was for practical reasons such Contact No 4 to be sent electronically to all Happy Holidays from as teachers changing schools, membership lapses in members. the ACT MLTA! February and appointment of the Executive Committee etc. Behind the scene, the Executives were meeting The ACT MLTA would like to wish almost once a month and exchanged endless emails you all a very relaxing and safe May/June : A three day workshop on the in between these meetings to prepare all the events. holiday and we look forward to Professional Standards Project (PSP) Stream C – on Assessment. This was a nationally coordinated seeing you again next year at our On top of this, we are preparing the 2013 national professional learning program for language conference (which we did not plan for in February). Meet and Greet in February! teachers funded by the Australian Government We contacted Mr. Andrew Barr, who congratulated Department of Education, Employment and us and offered his Department’s support. We held Workplace Relations (DEEWR). It is based on the extensive conversations with the Canberra Bureau use of the Professional standards for accomplished and they have already prepared a promotional CD teaching of languages and cultures as a framework. for us to take to Darwin in 2011. We visited The workshop was attended by 11 ACT language possible venues for the conference and are teachers. Investigations were completed and a finalising the selection of a professional agency report sent for further research and inclusion in which will help us in preparing the conference. developing National Language Polices. Wishing you lots of quality time to reenergise for Contact No 2 sent electronically to all members. the new teaching year in 2011. Happy holidays! We created the ACT MLTA webpage which is Meri Dragicevic regularly updated, informative and well linked with all the events related to the MLTA and AFMLTA President of ACT MLTA activities: www.mltaact.asn.au December, 2010 Page 2 FIPLV Scholarship Winners Announced! Congratulations to the following people who were awarded a FIPLV scholarship to attend the 18th Biennial AFMLTA Conference in Darwin next July. * Kate Montgomery Canberra Girls’ Grammar School * Ludivine Le-Gal Telopea Park School * Patricia Blumstein Telopea Park School, * Myriam Davies Aranda Primary School. * Meri Dragicevic Yarralumla Primary School Diary Dates Membership for 2011 Your 2010 membership expires in GPO Box 989, for 2011 February, 2011. To be eligible to Canberra ACT 2601 vote at the AGM and be elected Payment by Direct Debit: to the next Executive Committee, 24 February, 2011 you will need to be a financial Acc. Name : Modern member of the ACT MLTA on or 4-4:45pm—Meet and Greet’ Cocktail Party Language Teachers before the AGM. 4:45-5:30pmAGM (Annual General Meeting) Association of ACT It is advisable to join as early as Bank: Commonwealth Membership payment is required on or before this possible so you do not miss out on day to enable members voting privileges. any of the great events organised Bank of Australia by the ACT MLTA or any editions The AGM in February will be very important as BSB : 062 902 we will propose several changes to the ACT MLTA of Babel, the National LOTE Journal. Remember that you can Acc. No : 009 027 82 Constitution and the FIPLV scholarships. now pay your membership via Reference : MLTA direct debit using the following Remember: details. Membership + Name C h e q u e s p a y a b l e t o : Once transferred, please email our In line with the slogan ‘The ACT MLTA Works 4 U’, MLTA of ACT Inc. treasurer, Jennifer MacDonald : there will be four (4) events in 2011, one event Forward payment to: [email protected] per term. These events will be held in week 4 of each term. The Treasurer Remember to keep your receipt— it is tax deductable! MLTA of ACT Inc, December, 2010 Page 3 ACT MLTA Annual Conference Saturday, 6th November 2010 thanked Dr Carolyn Broadbent, the connected and gave us current terminology President of COACTEA, who helped greatly to describe the four types of performance with organising the venue and partially criteria (content, process, quality and result). helping with funds towards the cost of the conference. Meri invited all participants to Natalie Stewart presented teachers with actively engage in dialogue citing: several types of rubrics following the “Classroom teachers may benefit quality learning criteria emphasising that in professionally from their exposure to models her teaching practise she now spends more of good assessment practice…and from time creating rubrics with students than talking about the elements of tasks. This The Australian Catholic University - conversations with colleagues about their proves a very successful approach as Signadou Campus judgements of student work…there are probably few professional development students have much more control of their The ACT MLTA’s annual Conference titled activities more powerful than the peer learning and achievement and know exactly ‘De-stressing Assessment’ was held recently analysis and discussion of student work” (The what should they do in an effort to achieve at the Australian Catholic University. The Assessment We need, masters and Foster: the grade they aspire for. conference theme was welcomed by new as 2000). Teachers discussed rubrics appropriate to well as experienced teachers as assessment the sector in which they teach and worked in is such an important and timely issue in Meri introduced the key note speaker, Anita groups. Under Natalie’s guidance, they education. We are all aware how vital it is Patel, who presented her paper: ‘The forms developed good marking rubrics for tasks to be able to create a valuable assessment of things unknown: language and literature’. to facilitate marking and moderation task and marking rubrics to match which Anita demonstrated several activities to between teachers and enable students to allow us to mark students’ work confidently, show how language can be taught through take control of their learning. professionally and authentically. literature from very early stages in learning L2. We were all invigorated by her Meri concluded the Conference by inviting The Conference attracted language knowledge, wisdom and most certainly her teachers to register for the AFMLTA teachers from all over the ACT, including passion and enthusiasm for literature. Conference in Darwin 2011 and inviting four university students which was fantastic them to take an active role in preparing for to see. The second presenter was Margaret Bell who spoke about Assessment and Rubrics; a the AFMLTA Conference in Canberra 2013. This, in many ways, was an experimental necessary link in improving the quality of The feedback received was overwhelmingly Conference for the ACT MLTA, as we: teaching and learning in languages. positive and we look forward to planning Margaret talked about the principles of next year’s conference to cater to your organised it as a Saturday morning assessment and the Big 3s: Validity, • needs. session starting with breakfast; Reliability and Authenticity. She reinforced the notion that everything we do in class is Written by Meri Dragicevic • invited students from the University of Canberra to attend; and for the first time, used the beautiful Signadou Building and its serene gardens. ACT MLTA President Meri Dragicevic opened the Conference by thanking her Executive team for their effort in organising the invitations, certificates, evaluation forms, registrations, web page, professional DET calendar listing and catering. She also December 2010 Page 4 ACT MLTA Annual Conference Photos December 2010 Page 5 Excellence in Languages Education It is a pleasure to share the following success stories with you about languages education in the ACT.