Eaquals Member Event Fund: Optima International Conference

Reading & Communication Competences

of the Digital Generation

Eaquals‘ Associate member, OPTIMA, was one of this year’s recipients of the Eaquals Member Event Fund. They organized yet another successful international conference titled ‘Reading & Communication Competences of the Digital Generation‘  hosted by the Technical University of Sofia. Eaquals’ Executive Director, Lou McLaughlin, extended a warm welcome to all participants during her opening speech.

More than 50 participants attended at different times of the day as the programme included topics on teaching reading  to young learners and adolescents. Among the topics included were:

• Mediation in the FL Classroom,
• Developing Initial Reading Skills through Suggestopedia,
• Creating a Culture of Effective Communication in the Language Classroom,
• Reading and AI

The conference aimed to promote quality assurance in foreign language teaching and learning in the region by including presentations from each of the National Associations in the area. This allowed for open discussion on how to:

• improve reading and communication skills,
• encourage international exams
• maintain quality standards in FLT which can be enhanced by sharing experiences among the National Associations in the region;
• give a strong renewed impetus for developing young people’s reading competence in the post-pandemic period in the region;
• promote the role of Eaquals in establishing high standards in language education in Europe and in the world
• foster life-long learning and enhancement of literacy

At the end of the conference was the much-anticipated final stage of the International “I Can Read in English” competition held on 21^st April earlier this year, where winners from participating schools from Bulgaria, Greece and Serbia, received their certificates. There were a total of 47 winners. Each winner received a book, a T-Shirt with the logo of OPTIMA and the motto: I CAN READ IN ENGLISH, as well as a memory stick. In addition, a school was awarded the OPTIMA accredited member logo, as they had successfully passed the external assessment procedure three months earlier this year.

The event organiser, Veselin Chantov, said that the goals of the event, partly sponsored through the Eaquals Member Event Fund, were definitely achieved with attendees leaving positive comments about the conference and OPTIMA receiving membership application requests from participating schools.