Declan Baharini, Co-ordinator of Express Yourself: North East Festival of Languages and International Newcastle’s Chief Executive Officer attended the Language World 2025 conference last week.
Language World ran over two days, with 77 workshop sessions and a range of keynote speakers. It involved over 400 language teachers and a host of other language experts, exam boards and exhibitors providing new technologies and a wide range of resources for teaching and learning languages. Delivered by the Association of Language Learning, the Language World 2025 theme centred around cherishing the richness of our multilingual and multicultural world and the diverse, personal, lived experiences of languages educators and all learners.
Declan was there to share learning and experiences from the Festival and provide examples of activities and events that could be replicated in schools across towns and cities in the UK and beyond. Joined by Sarah Edgar (School Effectiveness at Newcastle City Council and a key member of the Festival team), they were able to make new language contacts and get ideas for future Festivals, as well as approaches, resources and activities that could support language learning and teaching in Newcastle.
Just a few of the inspirational people and approaches at Language World:
Dr Jennifer Eddy (Queen’s College, City University of New York – World Language Education Program Director) shared an inspiring task-based approach to creative interaction around real world business scenarios for all ages to inspire learning and highlight practical applications of language learning.
Sara Mallo Juarez and Manal Mahjoun (Liverpool Arabic Teachers’ Council) demonstrated how drama can engage non-home language speakers in a creative activity which had them speaking Arabic and acting out Cinderella within minutes and can be applied to any language.
René Koglbauer-Franklin (Dean of Lifelong Learning and Professional Practice at Newcastle University and ALL Trustee and Chair of ALL’s Management Board) was a constant presence on stage, keeping the plenary sessions moving and introducing a range of inspiring key note speakers.
What a privilege to attend Language World. There were so many inspiring and dedicated language teachers and a wealth of interesting workshops to attend, it was hard to choose between them. I realised just how special our Festival is and that there is nothing like it in the UK, with the range of free language and cultural activities and the biggest participation yet, with over 80,000 children and young people participating from 400+ schools to date and weeks left to run.
I also learned about many different ways to engage and inspire children to love and value languages – their own home languages and those they are learning – the resources and technologies available to help them advance and approaches new to us that could really benefit schools, teachers and children and young people in Newcastle and the North East.
Declan Baharini, CEO International Newcastle and Festival Co-ordinator
Further information – Association of Language Learning
- The Association for Language Learning (ALL) is an independent registered charity and the UK’s major subject association for those involved in the teaching of foreign languages at all levels.
- ALL supports Primary Hubs and Secondary Networks of language teachers across the UK, supports trainee teachers, hosts events and activities and shares research, experience and learning with and from the sector to influence policy and practice.
- ALL provides members with a languages focused news digest once a week in the form of an e-bulletin, ALLNet, which brings all the latest information, news, events, competitions occurring in the languages sector through ALL directly, or via our diverse range of corporate members and partner organisations.
- Visit ALL’s website here and follow ALL on social media: X | facebook | youtube
- Click here to find out about ALL’s annual membership which has different types Students and trainees/ECT (£27.50), individuals (£70 or £45 concessions), primary school (£50), school with up to 10 language staff (£135) and 11 or more (£150).
ALL supporting teachers in the North East and Newcastle
- The North East Branch of ALL is very active and benefits from the support of volunteer and ALL trustee, Steven Fawkes, who has a wealth of teaching and policy experience. The branch shares information and opportunities with members and promotes initiatives for both language learning and for supporting teachers.
- It was Steven’s idea to start a Festival of Languages in the pandemic, to counteract the drop-off in language learning and teaching. This became Express Yourself: North East Festival of Languages, now in its fifth year. He has also just become interim Co-President of the Association of Language Learning.
- There is a North East Network for Language Teachers, which is hosted by ALL North East in partnership with Newcastle City Council and International Newcastle, as well as a Primary Hub for those teaching languages in primary schools in Newcastle. Meetings are held termly online and enable teachers to share practices, learn about policy and developments in languages education and explore opportunities for CPD and enrichment activities. Contact sarah.edgar@newcastle.gov.uk to join the Network.