Sir Robert Taylor Society 2011

Sir Robert Taylor Society

Enriching Modern Languages Teaching

President: Dr Helen Swift,  University Lecturer in Medieval French 

 The 53rd Annual Conference of the Sir Robert Taylor Society

St Hilda’s College, Oxford

 

 

Friday 23rd and Saturday 24th September 2011

Dear Colleague,

I am writing to invite you to this year’s Sir Robert Taylor Society conference, to be held at St Hilda’s College on Friday, 23rd and Saturday 24th September 2011. You can find details of the meeting and a booking form on the right-hand side menu.

The Society’s annual conference provides a unique forum for interaction and exchange between the University of Oxford’s Medieval and Modern Languages Faculty and teachers of MFL in secondary schools and colleges.

Conference objectives

▪ A range of subject-specific academic talks enables teachers to develop knowledge of new research in their field, enriching and refreshing advanced study of modern languages as a form of continuing professional development;

▪ Academic talks, together with a Q&A session with tutors including the Modern Languages Faculty Schools Liaison Officer, offer the latest updates on admissions procedures and insights into pedagogical approaches to the teaching of language and literature at Oxford;

▪ Through Q&A and the opportunity for more sustained, informal interaction, teachers can share with university tutors changes in the style, content and methodology of language teaching in schools, and in examination specifications.

The Society’s global aims are set out in the Constitution, to be found on this website, where there are also archives of previous year’s talks.

During the AGM on Friday we shall discuss the future structure of the Society and its projects. We are thus particularly keen that your school or college is represented. Only by hearing your views will we understand how we can ensure that the Society fulfils a useful and welcome addition to the range of activities available to Modern Language teachers.

Finally, Dr Swift has arranged a guided tour of the Western Art galleries of the Ashmolean Museum, including a brief history of the recently transformed buildings. Britain’s oldest public museum, the Ashmolean is now very much a 21^st-century vision for the curation and display of world-class art and archaeology. Numbers may be limited; please let us know in advance if you wish to join us.

Booking and communications

If you are unable to attend yourself, we should be delighted for you to propose another member of your department who may wish to benefit from this opportunity.

Please return the completed form to the conference secretary by Friday 8^th July:

Sheila Templier
Office Cottage
Uttoxeter Rd.,
Abbots Bromley,
Rugeley, Staffs., WS15 3EG                                  Please do not reply to St Hilda’s!
01283 840688

 If you have any questions, please reply to my home email or email me at corrall_j@habsboys.org.uk. We look forward to seeing you in September. 

Yours sincerely,

 Jon Corrall  
(Secretary)

The Society and its aims

The Society

The Sir Robert Taylor Society provides an opportunity for modern language teachers, both current and retired, to spend two days in Oxford. At the last meeting in October we decided to look again at the purpose and aims of the society so that it might attract modern language teachers from a broad range of schools to the annual meeting. The meetings need to be stimulating, appropriate in content and informative.

The President of the society is Professor Tom Earle, and he has elicited the support of Dr Helen Swift of St Hilda’s College and Dr Jonathan Thacker of Merton College.

On the schools side Sheila Templier and Stephen Edwards have been joined by Geoffrey Plow and Jon Corrall.

We are keen to build up a database of interested colleagues, ideally using email, from both the independent and maintained sectors, and we shall keep members informed of our progress. For further information please contact Jon Corrall at corrall_j@habsboys.org.uk

Aims

Aims of the Sir Robert Taylor Society

- To offer language teachers, from a wide variety of backgrounds, access to the Oxford Modern Languages Faculty and its teachers and, by so doing, to de-mystify the university so that it seems an attractive university with appropriate courses for their pupils.

- To provide information to language teachers, from a wide variety of backgrounds, on admissions procedures as they apply to Medieval and Modern Languages at Oxford.

- To inform the Faculty of changes in style, content and methodology of language teaching in schools.

- To allow member teachers to enjoy a brief period of refreshment and intellectual stimulus through lectures, discussions and contact with university teachers.

- To allow member teachers to enjoy the experience of being in Oxford, based in a college.

- To allow member teachers to meet colleagues, past and present, and to share ideas in a congenial and enjoyable social context.

Sir Robert Taylor Society 2010

Sir Robert Taylor Society

Enriching Modern Languages Teaching

President: Dr Helen Swift,

St Hilda’s College, University Lecturer in French and Schools Liaison Officer for the Modern Languages Faculty

 

 

 

The 52nd conference of the Sir Robert Taylor Society

St Hilda’s College – 17th and 18th September 2010

During the course of the two-day conference 40 members of the society met at St Hilda’s College to hear a variety of talks on literary topics and to gain an insight into the life of the modern languages faculty in Oxford. The hospitality offered by the college was excellent, and the mixture of stimulating academic discussion and the opportunity to meet colleagues from other schools and from the university informally provided a refreshing and informative break from school routine.

 This year saw the end of Professor Tom Earle’s 3 year term as President, and we are most grateful to him for his enthusiastic and positive response to the challenge of re-building the society. The encouraging attendance and the quality of the programme are a testimony to his good judgement and hard work on behalf of the society. His successor, Dr Helen Swift, who as a member of St Hilda’s, was instrumental in ensuring we were warmly welcomed by the college. Dr Swift has already made a significant impact, and, in her role as schools liaison officer for the modern languages faculty, will be able to make a very special contribution to the future of the society.

The conference opened with an enlightening talk on Montaigne’s thoughts on education by Dr Richard Scholar. Having the text and translation in advance allowed us to focus on the ‘explication’ rather than struggle with the basic meaning of the text. The very lucid analysis revealed how important and ‘modern’ Montaigne’s writing is.

 Dr Julie Curtis gave a most engaging presentation on the ab initio Russian course at Oxford. With the self-consciousness common to all teachers we were keen to avoid public humiliation, but the lesson, like those of all good teachers, gave us confidence and involved us without embarrassment. Dr Curtis made clear both the demands of such an initially intensive course, but also the rewards and the opportunities both academically and professionally to which it can lead.

 Dr Emanuela Tandello gave a fascinating and stimulating talk on Svevo  and the representation in his works of Trieste in its heyday. It is one of the most important aims of the Society to introduce teachers to new things and to awaken new interests, and it was a joy to discover something about an author and a city about which most of us knew very little. There will be a number of us reaching for a copy of Svevo’s works - and visiting Trieste if we can find a train (Apparently one sign of the decline of this once great city is its omission from main-line rail routes).

As well as talks on less familiar authors, we always hope that there will be a stimulating lecture and discussion on a well-known writer. We were delighted that  Dr Olivia Vázquez-Medina (‘History and Writing in the Novels of Gabriel García Márquez’) gave us such an acute and enthusiastic insight into the writing of García Márquez. As the President remarked in his vote of thanks, the applause reflected our enjoyment, and it was a great note on which to conclude the conference.

 The talks were well balanced by the excellent hospitality, and in particular the splendid dinner on the Friday evening. On Saturday afternoon a number of us were given a superb guided tour of the Bodleian Library including the medieval splendour of the Duke Humfrey section which we feared closed for renovation. Having enjoyed the hospitality of one of Oxford’s ‘newer’ colleges, it was a fitting end to experience something of the historic past of this great university.

 We are most grateful to the modern languages faculty for providing us with this opportunity to visit Oxford, but also to colleagues who are keen to understand how the quality of the Oxford experience and its teaching in modern languages meet the needs of their students. It was a great pleasure to meet both old friends and those attending for the first time.  I hope we shall meet again next year.

 Jon Corrall

Secretary