Elena's Blog

My name is Elena Ončevska and I have taught EFL and Academic Writing to English majors at the Department of English Language and Literature at Ss Cyril and Methodius University (Skopje, Republic of Macedonia) since 2004. Researching the use of drama techniques for English language learning at a tertiary level (MA thesis, University of Leeds, UK) helped me learn more about how group dynamics can enhance the quality of students’ learning. It is group dynamics that I am setting out to explore in my PhD research, both from a teacher and a teacher-trainer perspective. My research interests also include affect in ELT, motivation, learner autonomy. In my spare time I like to walk and hike, both of which allow me to explore my passion for photography. I am also a film and music enthusiast.

I am, of course, deeply honoured to be selected as a Roving Reporter for this year’s IATEFL conference. Writing about various aspects of the conference will not only be an interesting reporting experience for me, but it will also allow me to mediate between the participants at the conference and the audiences who will be keeping pace via the internet. I am a firm believer in the social constructivist theory of all learning, teacher learning included, and I hope that the dialogues sparked by my reports will lead to a new, socially co-constructed understanding of our own and each other’s teaching contexts. This, in turn, may well give birth to ideas for further research and mutually supported development into better-informed and more reflective English language teaching professionals.