The English as a Foreign Language Monitoring Board organised the second edition of the annual ELT Malta Conference between 6 and 7 September.

Around 330 ELT professionals, working in both private language schools and the mainstream educational sector, attended the conference.

The audience was provided with the opportunity of attending talks by world-renowned ELT experts like Jeremy Harmer, Adrian Underhill and Ken Wilson. The conference had a total of six plenary talks and 21 workshops. A number of these workshops were led by local ELT practitioners.

In his welcoming speech, Education Minister Evarist Bartolo praised the EFL Monitoring Board’s initiative to organise an annual conference for teachers working in the local ELT sector.

He emphasised the importance of high English standards in Malta as a means of retaining a competitive edge internationally. For this reason the country’s bilingual status needs to be safeguarded at all costs.

Daniel Xerri, EFL Monitoring Board Chairperson, pointed out that “the quality of teaching in Malta is what has built the ELT industry’s international reputation”. The conference was geared to further develop teachers’ knowledge, skills and attitudes.

Mr Xerri said that this year’s conference theme, ‘Inspiring Teachers’, was meant to “to encourage teachers to position themselves differently. They can be inspiring for their own peers if they start valuing their potential to be more than consumers of knowledge.”

At the end of the conference the EFL Monitoring Board launched the Inspiring ELT Professional Award, which as from 2014 will recognize the achievement of those ELT professionals who inspire their peers.

According to Mr Xerri, “We know teachers in this sector inspire their students and that’s why ELT in Malta is a healthy sector. However, we would like to see more of them adopting the stance of inspiring teachers of teachers, both in Malta and beyond these shores”.

The next edition of the ELT Malta Conference will take place between 24 and 26 October 2014.