MELTA

38TH ANNUAL IATEFL BESIG CONFERENCE
2025-11-07 - 2025-11-09
38TH ANNUAL IATEFL BESIG CONFERENCE
Location: President Hotel, Kifisias 43, Athens, Greece
Date: November 7-9, 2025
Theme: Business Unusual – Rethinking Business English for a Changing World
Registration at: https://www.iatefl.org/event-details/#/?id=674
(Early bird registration until September 15, 2025)
Hotel reservations: Delegates can book rooms at the President Hotel at a discounted rate by using the code IATEFL25 on the hotel’s website
Further information is available at: www.iateflbesig.org

Online Workshop: Teacher Well-Being with Christine Muir Sat 15th Nov 10am-12pm
2025-11-15 10:00 - 12:00 (Europe/Berlin)
How do you define good teacher well-being?
What does good teacher/professional well-being mean or look like to you?
This two-hour workshop will support you to articulate your own answers to these questions – and going a step further, it will also help you to develop tangible and immediately actionable steps to increase your professional well-being.
We will begin by exploring key conceptualisations and definitions of well-being, building on this to support an initial well-being health check up. Developing understandings about exactly what we mean when we talk about ‘well-being’ is key to maximising positive change.
The workshop will support you in developing a personalised job demands ‘resource-model‘ by considering both the costs of your role and the physical, social, organizational and psychological resources available.
We will finish by exploring possibilities of ‘job crafting’ – how you can craft task, relational and cognitive aspects of your role to better align with your personal strengths, needs and interests.
As experts in your professional context, this highly participatory workshop will facilitate opportunities to both share your experiences and to learn from others.

Bio
Christine Muir is an Assistant Professor in Second Language Acquisition at the University of Nottingham. Drawing on her broad background as an English language teacher, her research interests remain highly applied. They are rooted in the broad field of language learning psychology and focus particularly on language learner motivation and language teacher well-being.
Christine has published widely, in handbooks, edited volumes and journals. She is also an active member of the international teaching and research community. She currently sits on the Executive Board of the International Association for the Psychology of Language Learning.

How to join:
ELTABB members: free. Please RSVP on the Ning.
Other ELTA members: free. Email events@eltabb.com to get the link.
Non-members: €10. Email events@eltabb.com to book your place.

Webinar: Working humanistically – Seven practical activities
2025-11-22 10:00 - 13:30
To register, please send an e-mail to info@melta.de
Working humanistically – Seven practical activities
We live in an increasingly technological world with all its wonderous gadgetry. Kahoots, Quizlets, Mentimeters, Padlets etc are everywhere, and, of course, they offer teachers many exciting options. However, over-reliance on such tools can lead to gimmickry and “edutainment” at the expense of real person-to-person engagement. In this workshop you will participate in seven creative activities which ensure that you are at the very epicentre of the learning process.
Simon Marshall has worked as an ELT teacher, trainer, and academic manager for more than 40 years for various organisations, including York St. John University, Pilgrims, International House and the British Council. He is particularly interested in the principled application of Humanistic Approaches to language teaching and teacher development. He is also a keen etymologist and reader of philosophy and psychology.

Canva ELT branding: create smarter, reach further
2025-11-29 14:00 - 16:00
Click here to register

Annual Christmas Party - This year with show’an’tell
2025-12-06 19:00 - 22:00
Where: VHS Rosenkavalierplatz.16
Underground: Arabella Park
Start: December 6, at 7 p.m.
We’re hoping you’ll flex your muscles and bring along some great Christmas ideas to charm and entertain your colleagues, classes and family in the Festive Season!
If you plan to come and (we hope!!!) present an activity,
please drop a line to info@melta.de
Have a wonderful Golden Autumn and TALK SOON!
Your MELTA committee

HELTA SWAP SHOP: BESIG HIGHLIGHTS
2026-01-31 10:00 - 12:00

Using AI in the humanistic language classroom
2026-02-21 15:00 - 17:00
The true power of AI in ELT lies in hyper personalisation, which allows us to stop teaching ‘classes’ and start teaching individuals by creating unique, real-time learning pathways for every single student. AI has the ‘potential’ to be an enormous force for good within education. It also has the ‘potential’ to do enormous harm. How that potential is realised depends on our ability to help our students understand and negotiate how to use it wisely. As educators this isn’t a process we should abstain from but a responsibility we should engage with. Or should we be concerned that our profession is sleep walking towards an AI induced crash in human values? How can we ensure we use AI to promote our humanistic approaches in English language teaching and training?
To join please send an email to info@pilgrims.co.uk and they will send you the zoom link to join the panel discussion.

ELTAF Webinar: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle: Time-Saving Tips for Busy Teachers with Laura Edwards
2026-02-28 10:00 - 13:00
Achieving both efficiency and effectiveness is a challenge for many teachers, especially freelancers who are often not compensated for planning time. Technology can help, but managing resources can quickly become overwhelming. In this interactive online session, we’ll explore strategies to streamline your teaching and make better use of the time and materials you already have.
Click here for more details

From disruption to direction: our future skill set
2026-03-07 10:00 - 13:30
Now that the first feeding frenzy of AI is over, we need to think about how to manage disruptions and develop skill sets that will help us thrive in our profession. Therefore, this webinar aims to enable English trainers and teachers to assess future risks, identify emerging skill sets and develop strategies for long-term professional resilience.
In this webinar, participants will collaborate in small groups to explore a number of questions in a risk assessment of the disruptions we’re facing in our profession. In the second round, the groups will do a needs analysis and explore what skills can help us navigate the evolving demands of our roles over the next few years.
After the group work, we’ll reflect together on the direction we need to take and the tools that will support us in staying relevant, effective and empowered in a rapidly changing professional environment.
An online whiteboard will help to visualise ideas and provide additional information that the groups can use in their discussions.
Send us an email to register
Bio
Kirsten Waechter has been a business English trainer since 1998. She focuses on teaching business communication, ESP and EAP and intercultural and leadership courses. She designs her own materials in these fields and provides teacher training, too.

Write It. Notice It. Say It. Learner Diaries in Business English
2026-03-11 19:30 - 21:00
An interactive workshop on using short diary tasks to connect writing, noticing and speaking in business English.
Business English teachers often work with time-poor learners in a range of contexts, including offices, online lessons, one-to-one and small groups.
In this interactive online workshop, Lucy Tilney explores how a learner diary approach can be adapted to support noticing, grammar, pronunciation and spoken fluency, even within real-world constraints. Participants will leave with practical ideas they can apply immediately in their own teaching.
click here to register

ELTAF Webinar: Building Bridges – Engaging Activities for Enhancing Cultural Agility with Ridha Mejri
2026-03-14 10:00 - 12:00
The world of business English is intrinsically linked to effective communication across diverse national cultures. Mastering this skill is vital for anyone involved in international business. In this dynamic workshop, participants will delve into the realm of intercultural training through engaging and practical activities that they can later implement with their clients/students.
Click here to find out more

SNAPSHOTS OF LEARNING – Refective tools to notice and nurture emergent language with Lewis Jaquest
2026-03-21 14:00 - 17:15
Click here to watch the podcast episode ‘The Power of Emergent Language in the ELT Classroom | Lewis Jaquest’
Working responsively with emergent language can feel challenging or even overwhelming when teachers want to be both credible and confident in the moment. Snapshots of Learning presents teachers with a set of practical, sustainable reflective tools designed to help them notice and nurture emergent language more effectively. Drawing on insights from the first beta run of the Emergent Language Toolkit course, this workshop introduces simple but powerful strategies and tools that support real-time decision-making and foster sustainable learning. Participants will explore a range of interactive, easy-to-adapt activities including reflective warmers, micro-review cycles and tracking tools that make learner language visible and give teachers clear next steps for developing it. By the end of the workshop, teachers will leave with a suite of ready-to-use reflective tools that boost confidence, support reactive teaching and help learners take charge of their own progress.

Saturday 21 March 14:00 – 17:15 on Zoom
Free for members of ELTAU or other German ELTA
30€ for external guests
Register here by 10 March 2026

About the speaker

Lewis Jaquest has worked in ELT since 2007 and now runs wordsmithery.elt, where he helps teachers become more credible, confident and sustainable in the way they work with emergent language. His approach blends practical tips, creative tools and reflective strategies that support real-time noticing and responsive teaching.
Following his IATEFL 2025 presentation on the Emergent Language Toolkit, Lewis has just completed the first beta run of the accompanying teacher course, guiding a cohort of experienced teachers through frameworks and hands-on practices for working creatively with learner language.
He also writes The Creative Business, a monthly newsletter for teachers exploring reflective tools for noticing and nurturing emergent language and ways to build sustainable, confidence-rich teaching habits.

It’s the Melta AGM and Melta needs you!
2026-03-21 16:00 - 19:00
March 21, 2026
It’s the Melta AGM and Melta needs you!
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Where: Rosenkavalierplatz 16 / U-Bahn 4, Arabella Park
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When: 4:00 p.m.
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Doors open at 3:20 p.m. for coffee, cake, meeting, greeting and catching up!
AGM begins at 4:00 p.m. – there are many important things to be discussed!
Let us know if you’re coming by sending an e-mail to info@melta.de
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P.S. Melta won’t be marching in the St. Patrick’s day parade this year, we’re taking a break!
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But, no worries, we’ll be back next year!
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See you all there – at the AGM!
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Your Melta committee
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Site-seeing: sharing our go-to digital tools
2026-04-29 19:00 - 20:30
Informal online event with Paula Rodrigues to look around and try out some educational sites for activity planning. Itinerary:
• Guided tour: Paula will show us around two sites, and demo example activities that she’s created using them. https://eltcation.com/ and https://learningapps.org/
• Independent exploring: all of us can try them out for ourselves
• Travellers’ tips: ideas share of any similar sites which we can recommend to each other
Tuesday April 28th 19:00 – 20:30 (you’re welcome to come even if you need to leave earlier)
Register HERE. Then you will receive the link to the Zoom call by email Free for members of any German ELTA. Guests welcome by agreement.
