BELTA Day 2018 Call for Proposals Guidelines and Selection Criteria

17/11/2017 - 12:15

The annual BELTA Day is a major conference in Belgium as it brings together English language teachers from all over Belgium, Europe and the world. It is a unique opportunity to present new approaches, ideas and activities in an English as a Foreign Language context. It is important that you read this introduction, the criteria for selection and the guidelines on this page.

Important dates

The deadline for submitting a proposal is midnight on 28 January 2018.
We will notify you if your proposal has been accepted on 15 February 2018.
All speakers are required to register and pay a registration fee of €35 .The deadline for registration and payment is midnight on Wednesday, 28 March 2018. Any speaker who has not registered or paid runs the risk of having their session cancelled.
- You do not have to be a current member of BELTA to present, but you can choose to become a member when you pay your speaker’s fee. Becoming a member will entitle you to all advantages of becoming a member. This includes being able to submit for the JORIS DE ROY MEMORIAL TRAVEL GRANT to attend the IATEFL 2018 Conference in Liverpool. The total cost of membership and BELTA Day is €65.

Criteria for selection

All proposals are read blind by a committee comprised of Board members and individual members. Every year the quality and number of proposals submitted increase. Feedback from participants informs the current guidelines and the selection criteria. The focus of the selection committee is find talks/workshops that our previous delegates have indicated that they would like to see/hear. Based on past evaluations, we know that non-practical, highly theoretical talks/workshops do not go over well with our delegates. They prefer new, insightful ideas and activities that can be applied to a variety of classroom situations. Please take this into account when writing up your proposal.

Criteria

Focus

In your abstract and summary, you must clearly indicate whether the focus of your session is mainly theoretical or practical, or a combination of both.

Clarity

Your title should communicate what you are going to talk about to your potential audience in the programme without being gimmicky or using unnecessary technical jargon. In your abstract and summary, you must clearly state exactly what you are going to talk about.

Content

It must be clear from your abstract and summary that you have something new to say or that you play to shed some new light on a topic.

Relevance

In your abstract and summary, it must be clear how your audience can apply what you say to their own context. This is especially important if you are planning to describe a course, project or product, or if your presentation relies heavily on a description of a local situation.

Specificity

If your session is based on research, it must be clear in your abstract and summary that you are going to report on a completed study or on a significant phase that has been completed.

Audience

It must be clear from your abstract and summary that you have catered for the level of knowledge of your target audience which you have indicated in your choice of audience focus.

Structure

In your summary, you must clearly outline how you are going to structure and organize your session.

Coherence

Your session title, summary and abstract must clearly reflect each other.

Timing and Amount

For a talk, it must be clear in your summary that there is sufficient time for the audience to ask questions. For a workshop, it must be clear in your summary that there will be a substantial amount of time allocated for audience participation.

Guidelines

The Call for Proposals opens on Saturday, 18 November 2017 and closes on 28 January 2018 at midnight. You will receive an email on 15 February 2018 informing you of the Selection committee’s decision regarding your proposal. If your proposal is accepted, you must:

Indicate via email your acknowledgement of the acceptance or rejection. If your proposal is rejected, you can request feedback from the committee about their decision. Your acknowledgement email must be sent to beltaevents@gmail.com before 28 February 2018.
Register for the conference and pay the fee (35 euros for BELTA Day OR 65 euros for BELTA Day and full membership) by 28 March 2018.

Speakers may submit only ONE proposal.

Completing the online form:

The first time you access the form, you will be asked to set up an account; this account allows you to save and return to your form until the deadline at midnight on 28 January 2018.

NOTE: All required fields are highlighted in RED. You will not be allowed to submit your form if a required field is left blank. Also, a number of long text boxes are word limited fields. You will be not allowed to submit your form if you exceed the word count.

NOTE: Once the form is completed and submitted, it cannot be updated.

PAGE 1: GENERAL INFORMATION

Please review this information, which gives some information about the form and the important dates associated with BELTA Day 2018. You can find these dates here as well.

IMPORTANT DATES:

18 November 2017: Call for Proposals opens

28 January 2018: Call for Proposals closes

15 February 2018: Acceptance notifications / Publication of BELTA Day schedule / Registration opens

28 March 2018: Speakers' registration and payment must be completed

1 May 2018: Submission of presentations / handouts for the conference

04 May 2018: Pre-Conference Speaker's Dinner [at own cost]

05 May 2018: BELTA Day / Post-Conference Dinner [at own cost]

PAGE 2: SPEAKER(S) INFORMATION

NOTE: Up to two presenters can submit information via this form. If there are more than 2 speakers, then please add this information to the ‘Additional comments for the Selection Committee’ text box at the bottom of page three. Each speaker must register and pay the correct fees.

Details of the 1st speaker

NAME: please enter your first name last name (John Smith). Please use proper writing conventions.

POSITION: please indicate your present position

TELEPHONE NUMBER: please enter your country code (no 00 or + is required) and your complete telephone number. This information is only used to contact you if there is a problem on the day of the event.

CONTACT EMAIL ADDRESS: please enter your email at which we send all the pertinent information; please use an email address that you will see daily.

ENTER YOUR EMAIL AGAIN: this is simply for verification purposes

INSTITUTIONAL AFFILIATION: enter the name of the institution for which your work; if you are associated with an institution, you can enter PRIVATE or FREELANCE

COUNTRY: please enter the country in which you presently reside

SPEAKER ONE’S BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION FOR INCLUSION IN THE PROGRAMME: Please enter a short bio that will be featured on our website and in the programme. This is a limited field; your bio must be between 50 and 60 words. Please note that any longer text fields may be edited when including it in the programme.

SPEAKER ONE’S HEAD SHOT FOR INCLUSION IN THE PROGRAMME: Please upload a recent head shot that is both digital and print ready. All files are limited to 20 MB.

Will you attend the Pre-Conference dinner on 04 May 2018 (location in Brussels to be determined)? Please indicate your choice; as we get closer to the event you can adjust your choice.

Will you attend the POST-Conference dinner on 05 May 2018 (location in Brussels to be determined)? Please indicate your choice; as we get closer to the event you can adjust your choice.

Details of the 2nd speaker
NOTE: If there is only one speaker associated with this proposal, this section can be skipped. None of these fields are required.

NAME: please enter your first name last name (John Smith). Please use proper writing conventions.

POSITION: please indicate your present position

CONTACT EMAIL ADDRESS: please enter your email at which we send all the pertinent information; please use an email address that you will see daily.

ENTER YOUR EMAIL AGAIN: this is simply for verification purposes

INSTITUTIONAL AFFILIATION: enter the name of the institution for which your work; if you are associated with an institution, you can enter PRIVATE or FREELANCE

COUNTRY: please enter the country in which you presently reside

SPEAKER ONE’S BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION FOR INCLUSION IN THE PROGRAMME: Please enter a short bio that will be featured on our website and in the programme. This is a limited field; your bio must be between 50 and 60 words. Please note that longer text may be edited when including it in the programme.

SPEAKER ONE’S HEAD SHOT FOR INCLUSION IN THE PROGRAMME: Please upload a recent head shot that is both digital and print ready. All files are limited to 20 MB.

Will you attend the Pre-Conference dinner on 04 May 2018 (location in Brussels to be determined)? Please indicate your choice; as we get closer to the event you can adjust your choice.

Will you attend the Post-Conference dinner on 05 May 2018 (location in Brussels to be determined)? Please indicate your choice; as we get closer to the event you can adjust your choice.

PAGE 3: PRESENTATION INFORMATION

NOTE: This section is used by the Selection Committee to decide on the presentations for BELTA Day 2018. Make sure that you have read the criteria above.

Title of Presentation: a maximum of 10 words

Presentation abstract (to appear in the BELTA Day programme) a maximum of 60 words. Please note that any longer text fields may be edited when including it in the programme.

Audience Focus Which audience is this talk/workshop geared to? (You can choose more than one.) This information is included in the BELTA Day programme.

Presentation focus (you can choose more than one) This information is included in the BELTA Day programme

Why have you chosen this topic for your presentation? This information is included on the BELTA Day website. A maximum of 35 words.

What do you want participants to take away from your presentation? This information is included on the BELTA Day website. A maximum of 35 words.

Are you submitting a 40-minute talk (presentation of information; research or theory), a 40-minute workshop (hands-on/audience participation based on research/theory) or an 85-minute hands-on workshop or an 85-minute hands-on workshop where participants are required to bring a WiFi-enabled device? Choose only one.

Please note: 85-minute hands-on and technology workshops have a limited number of space opportunities.

All rooms come with a projector and a whiteboard. All locations include WiFi access. You will need to bring your own laptop or tablet if you wish to project any information. BELTA does not supply computer equipment for any of the sessions. You are responsible for your own devices, including any connection devices required by Mac Books.

Do you need any additional equipment for your presentation? Please choose only one.

Are you representing a publisher, a sponsor, an institutional member, or some other organisation? Choose only one.

Presentation Summary and focus on publications/projects/products

(Maximum of 200 words)

This information will not appear in the programme, but it will appear on the conference website and it will be used to by Selection Committee to make a final determination about the proposals.

Additional information for the selection committee

Is there any additional information the selection committee should know before making their final decision? This field is not required.

GOOD LUCK WITH YOUR PROPOSAL SUBMISSION!

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