Written by: Andrea Vogt-Nas
Like many other events, the BESIG 2020 conference had to face challenge and change. Unfortunately, it could only take place online.
But was it really so unfortunate? I don’t think so!
It has been a challenging year for the BE teaching community with many changes in our teaching lives – amongst them the annual BESIG meeting in November 2020.
The geographic range this gathering had was far wider spread than the usual turnouts in face-to-face sessions. Normally, BESIG attracts mainly European members as this is where we are based.
With the online format this year, BESIG had people attending on a global spectrum:
Participants from Egypt, Argentina, Peru, India to name but a few…
I, myself, could only join on the second day of the conference, on Saturday.
What a start for me, having the great pleasure of listening to the breath-taking talk of
Y.L. Teresa Ting on neurolinguistics: Communicating with the brain in mind.
It simply amazed me how a former biologist and now researcher/trainer could so easily explain and share her expert insights on neurology and linguistics!
Once more, I was hit by the buzz I always get when meeting and exchanging with colleagues at BESIG.
There were so many interesting sessions on offer that it was hard to choose as four sessions ran parallel in each time slot.
Three busy afternoons fantastically organized by the BESIG coordinators and their Bot team.
It was very noticeable that most of us have become familiar with online platforms and were happily wandering from one session to the next.
The conference spirit wrapped me up so strongly, that I ended up participating in every time slot on Saturday and Sunday and regretted even more having missed out on the onset on Friday.
My personal highlights were
Tim Phillips – What comes after coaching: as always, a highly interesting presentation with plenty food for thought.
John Hughes & Paul Dummett – Business English Creative Thinking activities: a hands – on workshop with many ideas to follow up in the classroom (face-to-face or virtual)
Isabella Keilani – Creating engaging activities for online classes: a very appealing workshop with plenty of background information
Chia Suan Chong – Making infographics come alive: as always, a very energetic workshop, with multiple ideas to make language work more attractive to the student
We are hoping to welcome some of the speakers mentioned above in Stuttgart (again) before too long – or online.
But what is conferencing without networking?
Thanks to the offer of breakout rooms at the end of each day, we also managed to meet up with long lost friends and colleagues in smaller circles. Catching up, chitchatting whilst peeling potatoes on the side…, what a relaxed atmosphere!
It has left me in utter amazement, how the BESIG Board, outgoing and incoming, and everyone behind the scenes has managed to bring the sparkle to this virtual meeting and to keep it shining.
I am looking forward to the next meeting in November 2021 – face-to-face or virtually – and to all the many sessions offered online until then. Thank you BESIG!
Andy Vogt-Nas has been an active member of ELTAS since 2014 and currently serves as Deputy Chair. She has a background in psycholinguistics (MPI for Psycholinguistics in Nijmegen (NL)). Andy spent several years in the northwest of England during and after her studies and has experience in teaching a very wide age range, from toddler to OAP. Her main focus though has been on adult education, teaching Efl and Business English, as well as DaF and Business German.
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