Music and Technology with Argentina TESOL

TESOL affiliate Argentina TESOL held its annual convention in May, and TESOL Board Member Misty Adoniou was invited to deliver a keynote. In this post, she discusses her visit with ARTESOL.

TESOL Board Member Misty Adoniou

It was my absolute pleasure and privilege to represent TESOL International Association at the Argentina TESOL Convention held 12–13 May at Paraná, Argentina. The theme of the convention was “Democratising English Language Teaching,” and, perhaps inevitably, many of the speakers noted the role of technology in this enterprise.

Micah Risher, director of the Regional English Language Office in Peru, opened the conference and challenged participants to consider whether they understand the world in which their students live. Who are Generations X, Y, Z, and Alpha?

Many of the concurrent sessions tackled the use of technology in the classroom. Gonzalo Fortun presented the flipped classroom, and Alejandro Manniello discussed using your students’ mobile phones in the classroom. Featured speaker Mercedes Kamijo picked up this theme in a very interactive session that had the audience participating in online quizzes and using QR codes.

Trish Goslin’s interactive keynote

Interactive keynotes were a feature of the convention, never easy when speaking to a large audience. Trina Goslin managed superbly. She had the crowd engaged and involved working oral language activities in small groups.

As much as I love attending academic sessions when I attend conferences, I really love the social programs! They can really help you connect to your fellow participants.

Argentina TESOL featured a groovy saxophone player, who had the crowd dancing and singing along and a fun raffle evening where everyone seemed to be a winner.

A saxophonist entertains the attendees

Music was a feature of other keynotes as well, including my own. I spoke about the professional career trajectory of teachers, and how we can maintain our passion—and I set it all to music. The final song was disco favourite, “I Will Survive.”

My second keynote was focused on the teaching of grammar in context, a theme that Monica Gandolfo expanded on in her session titled “Experiencing Genre-Based Teaching in a Foreign Language.”

Graciela Martin, President ARTESOL

I attended the Argentina TESOL conference as part of TESOL’s affiliate speaker program, which gives TESOL affiliates the opportunity to have a member of the board of directors speak at their event. And it was such an honor to be in Argentina for their annual conference.

I made so many new friends, and ate a lot of lovely Argentinian steak! I would particularly like to thank Argentina TESOL’s President Graciela Martin, and her hard-working conference committee, for their wonderful hosting.

In 2018 the conference will be in Mendosa, which is Argentina’s wine country. It promises to be a great event—put it in your diary.

Misty Adoniou is an associate professor in language, literacy, and TESOL at the University of Canberra, Australia. She has received numerous teaching awards, including a National Citation for Outstanding Contribution to Student Learning and the 2014 Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Teaching Excellence.

She was a lead writer for the national English as an Additional Language Teachers Resource which accompanies the Australian Curriculum and has served on several national advisory boards in Australia the Federal government’s Equity and Diversity Advisory Group and the Orientation Consultative Committee advising the Federal government on the settlement needs of refugees. For more information, please visit the Argentina TESOL website.