On 19.03.2024 and 09.04.2024, a two-day seminar for teachers "Modern methods of language teaching – primary schools" was organized as part of the project entitled: "LOW AND HIGHER – INCREASING THE ECONOMIC POTENTIAL OF THE CITY AND THE COMPETITIVENESS OF LIFE IN THE CITY", co-financed by the Norwegian Financial Mechanism 2014-2021. According to the assumptions of the project, the seminar was attended by foreign language teachers teaching in schools located in the Nisko commune. A total of 24 teachers took part in it.
The first part of the seminar was held in a classroom mode and included a discussion of innovative strategies and tools supporting effective foreign language learning, as well as motivational techniques and the latest educational technologies used for language learning.
Seminarium The seminar began with the presentation of the available programs supporting language education, including m.in the possibility of organizing additional English lessons for students, as well as methodological training for teachers. Another proposed form of support are the programmes of the Ministry of National Education, which enable the Ministry of National Education to receive funding for equipping school laboratories with multimedia boards and other devices that not only support and facilitate, but also make learning a foreign language more attractive.
The next panel of the seminar concerned the methods of language teaching used in Polish public schools, as well as language curricula and the use of textbooks. In this part of the presentation, language teaching methods were discussed in detail, such as the grammar and translation method, the communicative method, the adiolingual method (drill), the CLIL method (Content and Language Integrated Learning) and the audiovisual method. The moderator of the panel, Ilona Łepska, MA, who is a lecturer at the Foreign Language Centre of the Rzeszów University of Technology, presented to the teachers and presented in practice her own teaching method, which is a combination of the previously discussed methods and which she uses in her daily professional work.
Another aspect discussed during the seminar was the discussion of research on the efficiency and effectiveness of foreign language teaching in Polish schools. In her part of the speech, Dr. Izabela Orszak from the Catholic University of Lublin presented the latest data and results of scientific research, which focused on the effectiveness of various teaching methods, as well as their impact on the effectiveness of foreign language learning.
The next presentation focused on the review of the most interesting applications and other forms of supporting language education, such as e-learning platforms, mobile applications or educational games, the use of which can significantly encourage and increase students' motivation to learn.
The first day of the seminar ended with a discussion in which the teachers had the opportunity to share their own experiences and methods used in their work.
The second day of the seminar included practical classes in the language laboratories of the Foreign Language Center of the Rzeszów University of Technology. The whole meeting was conducted by Dr. Piotr Czerwiński, who is his employee. Teachers participating in the seminar had the opportunity to get acquainted with modern foreign language teaching systems located in specialized lecture halls and language laboratories. In addition, as part of the meeting, a training on creating language tests in the Moodle environment was conducted.
The training was of a practical nature, thanks to which the participants could get acquainted with and try their hand at working with the use of this popular learning management system, which is also widely used in foreign language learning. At the end of the meeting, teachers had the opportunity to start a discussion with the coordinators of foreign language curricula. The seminar was organized by the Ignacy Łukasiewicz Rzeszów University of Technology in Rzeszów.
