BUSEL 9th International ELT Conference BUSEL held its 9th International Conference at the Bilkent Hotel between March 4-6. This year's theme was " Challenge in Learning: helping learners realise their full potential ". The school hosted over 60 speakers from 12 different countries, including Britain, and the USA, as well as nearly 300 participants from 4 different continents, giving presentations and workshops on diverse topics linked to the theme of teaching speaking in today's world.
The conference addressed some of the key issues involved in challenging learners and helping them to realize their full potential, and drew upon the experiences of teachers, learners, trainers, materials writers, and researchers, focusing primarily on adults and teenagers. This year, plenary speakers for the conference included, Rod Bolitho, College of St Mark and St John, UK, Sheelagh Deller, Pilgrims School, UK, Pauline Foster, St Mary's College, University of Surrey, UK, David Singleton, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland, and Brian Tomlinson, Leeds Metropolitan University, who are all renowned researchers in the area, as well as Bilkent's own Paul Nelson, from the Graduate School of Education, David Butcher FAE, and Simon Phipps, from BUSEL.
The annual BUSEL ELT Conference is now an established event in the ELT world, attracting prominent names from Britain and the USA. The conferences have provided a rich forum for teachers, lecturers, teacher trainers, researchers, curriculum and testing experts, materials writers and educational managers from a variety of institutional contexts to explore issues and share their views, perceptions and experiences.