We’re delighted to announce that our 2024 Language Teachers’ Conference will be held on Friday 27 and Saturday 28 September at Somerville College. We very much look forward to once again welcoming teachers to Oxford!

2024 Programme

We are pleased to be holding the conference at Somerville College once again after a couple of wonderful years at St Anne’s. Somerville was established in 1879 as a hall for women, who were barred from the university at the time, and throughout its history it has remained committed to equality. Today, Somerville marries beautiful architecture with a proud emphasis on inclusivity and diversity.

Following a successful programme change in 2023, this year’s conference will once again kick-start with a focus on the ever-growing issues facing the teaching and learning of languages through our annual ‘Building Bridges’ session: a roundtable discussion with a panel of academics, students and teachers, as well as contributions from the floor. Discussions will be centred on topics of current interest and concern surrounding language learning from Key Stage 3 to degree level. We would be delighted to hear your views on this topic and look forward to bettering our understanding of collaborative approaches to improving language learning at all stages.

After a short tea break, a recent Oxford alumna will join us to talk about her experiences of studying Modern Languages at Oxford, and where life has taken her since graduation. We will also be treated to a taster lecture from an academic in the Faculty before we enjoy a drinks reception and sit down for dinner. This will all be followed by a chance to socialise and network with fellow MFL Teachers and colleagues from the Faculty in the College bar!

A particular highlight of this year’s programme is scheduled for Saturday morning when delegates will experience an example of the creative translation workshops offered to schools by The Queen’s College Translation Exchange. The workshops are designed to make translation accessible and creative for school pupils by using the Stephen Spender Trust’s ‘Decode – Translate – Create’ method.

After a coffee break, the Saturday morning will continue with a literary session on ‘The Language of the Text’, where scholars in French, German, and Spanish will discuss the ways in which an area of language teaching can be used as a starting point for textual analysis in a selection of texts on the A-Level syllabus. While not all A-Level texts can be represented in the talk, we hope that the material covered will be transferable to alternative texts, and will therefore be of use to colleagues teaching literature with different exam boards and qualifications.

Our annual admissions session will bring the main conference programme to a close. There will be an introduction to the Oxford application process followed by a mock interview with a current student. Finally, we will finish with a Q&A discussion with Oxford tutors about applying for and studying Modern Languages at Oxford, including picking up beginners’ languages, and studying languages in combination with other subjects.

To end on a high and offer delegates a chance to catch up before heading home, lunch will be provided in the Somerville dining hall.

The full provisional event programme can be found here. Further information about prices can be found here.

Please visit our online booking webpage to book your place. You will need to create an account (or log in if you’ve used our website before) and select the right rate for your school type and length of attendance. Bookings close on 13th September.

If you have any questions or concerns, don’t hesitate to contact Nicola at schools.liaison@mod-langs.ox.ac.uk.

We look forward to seeing you in September!