Iatefl Young Learners and Teenagers SIG

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Iatefl Young Learners and Teenagers SIG

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IATEFL Young Learners and Teenagers Special Interest Group aims to link, support and develop Early Years, Primary and Secondary ELT professionals worldwide.

28/10/2026

⏰ Important time change reminder!

Dear speakers and attendees, as Europe returns to standard time, clocks go back by one hour in many parts of Europe.

Please remember that all event times are based on UK / London time. Be sure to double-check your local session times so you don’t miss any part of the IATEFL YLT SIG Webcon 2026, taking place 30 October – 1 November.

We look forward to seeing you online! 💙💜

SIG

28/09/2026

🌟 DAY 3: PREPARING FOR TOMORROW 🌟

What can we do today to prepare our young learners for the world of tomorrow? 🌍💜

The final day of IATEFL YLTSIG Webcon 2026 looks ahead — exploring how we can create meaningful learning experiences, develop learner agency, connect English with the wider world, and help young learners become confident, curious and independent.

Throughout the day, we’ll explore:

🔎 Learning through inquiry and narrative
Indeewari Mendis & Ahisha Haneef explore how inquiry-based narrative contexts can help prepare young learners for the future.

🎯 From activities to action
Katerina Balaganskaya looks at designing learning experiences that are both meaningful and motivating.

🌍 Taking young learners around the world
Siti Nurhayati brings global exploration into the classroom through a group poster project.

🎮 From players to game designers
Dagmara Pancerz explores what happens when students move from playing games to creating their own English lessons.

🌎 From “My Favourite…” to global citizenship
Maria Alejandra Mareco explores how everyday ELT topics can become opportunities for global citizenship learning.

🎤 Pitch perfect!
Gerard Lysaght focuses on helping language learners present their ideas with confidence and clarity.

👀 Look closely. Think deeply. Act purposefully.
Marcela Villan explores global issues through images and considers how visual materials can encourage deeper thinking and purposeful action.

🌐 When English meets the world
Jancileidi Hübner explores connecting, developing and transforming through English — bringing language learning into a wider global context.

🤖 Beyond the app
Mike Llerena looks at teaching young learners to become independent language learners in the AI era.

From inquiry and creativity to global citizenship, confident communication and learner independence, Day 3 is all about looking forward and thinking about the learners we are preparing for tomorrow’s world. 🚀

✨ And remember: the Webcon is FREE and OPEN TO EVERYONE!
You don’t need to be an IATEFL or YLTSIG member to join us.

📅 1 November 2026
💻 Online

👉 Enrol for free https://sites.google.com/iatefl.org/iateflyltsig/events/web-conference-2026?pli=1&authuser=0

Come and join us for the final day — and let’s imagine what language learning can look like tomorrow! 🌍💜

27/09/2026

🌟 DAY 2: TEACHING ENGLISH TODAY 🌟

What does it mean to teach English today? And how can we make our classrooms more inclusive, engaging and meaningful for all our learners? 💜

Day 2 of IATEFL YLTSIG Webcon 2026 brings together a fantastic range of practical and thought-provoking sessions exploring how we teach, the choices we make, and the different ways our learners can engage with English.

Throughout the day, we’ll explore:

🗣️ Translanguaging in the classroom
Adrien Szlapak asks whether translanguaging is a crutch or a superpower, and explores strategies for explicitly developing it in the classroom.

🎲 Play with purpose
Amir Esmaeili takes us through four games across the young learner spectrum, exploring how purposeful play can support learning.

📚 Academic language and active learners
Magdalena Blake looks at how front-loading academic language can help create more active and engaged learners.

🤖 AI and inclusive teaching
Nadia Cooke shares practical strategies for using AI to reduce barriers to learning and support more inclusive classrooms.

📖 Reading to connect
Susana Heisecke introduces the BOND routine, exploring how reading can become a space for meaningful language and emotional interaction.

✂️ Cut, fold, speak!
With Katharine Dorpman, simple paper crafts become a springboard for getting young learners talking.

🏷️ Beyond the label
Valeria Miño challenges us to think about scaffolding the learner, not the diagnosis.

📚🎭 Inside the story
Ingrid O. Landrein explores how feeling, playing and learning through literature can create rich learning experiences.

🔥 And we’ll finish the day with a debate:

“Active or Traditional? Which Methodologies Best Serve All Our Learners?”

A day full of practical ideas, different perspectives and plenty of opportunities to rethink what teaching English today can look like.

✨ And remember: the Webcon is FREE and OPEN TO EVERYONE!
You don’t need to be an IATEFL or YLTSIG member to join us.

📅 31 October 2026
💻 Online
🎟️ Enrol for free!

Follow YLTSIG here 👉 https://www.instagram.com/iatefl.yltsig.official/
Link to enroll 👉
https://sites.google.com/iatefl.org/iateflyltsig/events/web-conference-2026?pli=1&authuser=0

Come along, get inspired, share your ideas and join the conversation! 🌍💜

27/09/2026

🌟 DAY 2: TEACHING ENGLISH TODAY 🌟

What does it mean to teach English today? And how can we make our classrooms more inclusive, engaging and meaningful for all our learners? 💜

Day 2 of IATEFL YLTSIG Webcon 2026 brings together a fantastic range of practical and thought-provoking sessions exploring how we teach, the choices we make, and the different ways our learners can engage with English.

Throughout the day, we’ll explore:

🗣️ Translanguaging in the classroom
Adrien Szlapak asks whether translanguaging is a crutch or a superpower, and explores strategies for explicitly developing it in the classroom.

🎲 Play with purpose
Amir Esmaeili takes us through four games across the young learner spectrum, exploring how purposeful play can support learning.

📚 Academic language and active learners
Magdalena Blake looks at how front-loading academic language can help create more active and engaged learners.

🤖 AI and inclusive teaching
Nadia Cooke shares practical strategies for using AI to reduce barriers to learning and support more inclusive classrooms.

📖 Reading to connect
Susana Heisecke introduces the BOND routine, exploring how reading can become a space for meaningful language and emotional interaction.

✂️ Cut, fold, speak!
With Katharine Dorpman, simple paper crafts become a springboard for getting young learners talking.

🏷️ Beyond the label
Valeria Miño challenges us to think about scaffolding the learner, not the diagnosis.

📚🎭 Inside the story
Ingrid O. Landrein explores how feeling, playing and learning through literature can create rich learning experiences.

🔥 And we’ll finish the day with a debate:

“Active or Traditional? Which Methodologies Best Serve All Our Learners?”

A day full of practical ideas, different perspectives and plenty of opportunities to rethink what teaching English today can look like.

✨ And remember: the Webcon is FREE and OPEN TO EVERYONE!
You don’t need to be an IATEFL or YLTSIG member to join us.

📅 31 October 2026
💻 Online
🎟️ Enrol for free!

👉 Link to enroll https://sites.google.com/iatefl.org/iateflyltsig/events/web-conference-2026?authuser=0

Come along, get inspired, share your ideas and join the conversation! 🌍💜

26/09/2026

🌟 DAY 1: UNDERSTANDING TODAY’S LEARNERS 🌟

What does it really mean to understand today’s learners? 💭

Our first day at IATEFL YLTSIG Webcon 2026 brings together a fantastic range of voices exploring the learners we teach, the challenges they face, and the ways we can respond with greater curiosity, compassion and creativity. 💜

Throughout the day, we’ll explore:

👀 Who are our learners, what do they want, and what can we do?
The YLTSIG Committee + Harry Waters will get us thinking about our learners and how we can better understand their perspectives.

💬 Listening beyond behaviour
Sinem Daridere asks: What are our learners trying to tell us? — inviting us to approach behaviour with curiosity and compassion.

❤️ Emotional regulation in the YL classroom
Michelle Morgan explores how we can support emotional regulation and create more supportive classroom experiences.

🧠 Rethinking assessment for neurodiverse learners
In “Different Minds, Fairer Measures,” Marcela Celia Danowski looks at assessment through the lens of neurodiversity.

📚 Picture books and migration
Paola Dell’Acqua explores how picture books can help learners deal with issues connected to migration.

🌿 Designing calm, sensory-safe ELT
Greta Grigaitýte brings nature into the classroom to explore sensory-safe approaches to ELT.

🌍 Language, identity and multilingual poetry
Annie Altamirano explores how multilingual poetry can open up conversations around language and identity.

🎤 And we’ll bring the day together with our panel discussion:

“The human connection: What do today’s learners really need?”

A full day of ideas, questions and conversations about seeing the learner behind the lesson — and thinking together about how we can respond to the realities of learners today.

✨ And remember: the Webcon is FREE and OPEN TO EVERYONE!
You do not need to be an IATEFL or YLTSIG member to join us.

📅 30 October 2026
💻 Online
🎟️ Enrol for free!

👉 Link in bio — and the enrolment link is also shared here.

Come and join us! We’d love to have you there. 💜🌍

26/09/2026

🌍IATEFL YLTSIG WEBCON 2026 IS COMING!🌍

Teaching today’s learners for tomorrow’s world
Get ready for three days of ideas, inspiration, discussion and connection with teachers and educators from around the world!

📅 30 October – 1 November 2026
💻 100% online
🎟️ FREE for everyone!
🙌 Open to all — you do NOT need to be an IATEFL or YLTSIG member.

Across the three days, we’ll bring you:

🎤 27 talks featuring a fantastic range of speakers and perspectives
💬 Panel discussions exploring the questions that matter in our classrooms
🔥 Debates to get us thinking, questioning and exchanging ideas
🌟 One key subtopic each day, all connected by our overarching theme:

Teaching today’s learners for tomorrow’s world.

👀 Day 1 — Understanding today’s learners
📚 Day 2 — Teaching English today
🚀 Day 3 — Preparing for tomorrow

Whether you teach young learners, teenagers, or simply care about the future of language education, come and be part of the conversation!

And did we mention… IT’S FREE?! 🎉

🔗 Enrol here: https://sites.google.com/iatefl.org/iateflyltsig/events/web-conference-2026?pli=1&authuser=0

Save the date, tell a colleague, and get ready to learn, share and connect with us! 🌍💜

See you online!

HELP US SPREAD THE WORD!

25/09/2026

Young learner teachers, we need your help!

As part of our upcoming Web Conference, we want to hear from your students. Whether you teach pre-primary, primary or secondary, we've prepared a series of questions for your students to answer.

Collect your students’ anonymous responses then send them our way by October 15, 2026.

We'll share selected responses at the IATEFL YLTSIG Web Conference, October 30–November 1, 2026.

Let’s share authentic voices from classrooms around the world!

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScaG9nXY9bVMBKvqUG0Y8nhN6FLHRPmzIvnD0M3ipXwsUEMEw/viewform?usp=dialog

24/08/2026

🌍 Got an inspiring classroom idea to share?

How are you helping young learners explore the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through English?

We're looking for practical, creative examples of how language learning and sustainability come together in your classroom. Whether it's through stories, projects, games, discussions or creative tasks, we'd love to hear from you!

📝 We're looking for submissions that:
✨ are 100–150 words long
✨ describe a classroom activity or strategy
✨ specify the learners' age group
✨ explain what learners gained from the experience

Please write in clear UK English, follow our submission guidelines (including APA 7th edition where appropriate), and include a short professional biodata. All contributions must be non-commercial and comply with copyright and child safeguarding requirements.

📅 Deadline: 18 September 2026
📧 Send your Word document to [email protected]

Help inspire teachers around the world and show how English language teaching can empower learners to build a more sustainable future.
We can't wait to read your ideas! 🌱📚

Address

2-3 Seager Road
Faversham

Website

https://yltsig.iatefl.org/

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