This year's convention is really shaping up to be an event that we will all remember. The Board chose the theme of ELT: The Greek Perspective to try and localize all the major changes that have been going on in language teaching over the past few years. Our aim is to provide members with the space to consider and discuss exactly how these changes affect the teaching environment here in Greece, in as much detail as they wish. Our plenary speakers for this year promise to bring a stimulating and exciting slant to a range of important topics. On Friday night we have Akis Darvanellos (8pm), on Saturday we have Luke Prodromou (10.30am), Roger House (1.00pm) and Sylvia Kar (4.45pm) and on Sunday we have Chrissie Taylor (11.45am) and Mario Rinvolucri (4.30pm) who is kindly sponsored by Pilgrims. You will find more detailed biographies on all our plenary speakers as well as information on the subject of their talks in this bulletin.

On Saturday we will also be hosting a panel discussion entitled "Exam Backwash in Greece" (3pm) in which we hope all our members will participate. Examinations are a subject that everyone has expressed an interest in discussing and particularly issues such as a) what choices are teachers faced with in relation to teaching exam syllabuses and teaching functional/communicative language that can be used beyond the classroom? b) are Greek student over-tested and what are the possible side-effects of this? and c) how do individual test designs help address some of these concerns that teachers are faced with? Backwash (or washback as some people call it) can be defined as the negative (or positive) effect that examinations have on classroom teaching. In other words, how does what students have to do in exams impact on what teachers teach and what students learn in the classroom? A more detailed article on this can be found in this bulletin (kindly written by Roger House) to put the discussion in context and to enable the widest amount of participation from the membership as possible. All major examination boards have been invited to attend this discussion (including Cambridge, Michigan, KPG, EdExcel) as well as several key teachers and teacher trainers. Further details of panel members will be provided once they are confirmed. Questions will be collected from convention participants on Saturday morning on before the panel begins in the early afternoon. If you prefer, you can send your questions in to us at tesolmth@hol.gr to make sure your voice is heard.

This year at the convention we are also planning to launch two new Special Interest Groups (SIG's) - Young Learners (Coordinator: Mina Zafiri) and Exam Classes (Coordinator: Julie Carter) and to consolidate our existing SIG - ESP/EAP (Coordinator: Sara Hannam). Meetings of all the SIG's will take place on Sunday (2.45pm) and will provide an opportunity for members to come along and find out what they are all about and how they can help you, the teacher, in your road to professional improvement. And apart from the academic/pedagogical support we are offering through the plenaries, panel discussion, SIG's, exhibition space for publishers, teacher training centers, consultants and examination boards, we have a really excellent line-up of cultural events to round off each day of the convention with some well-needed relaxation and enjoyment. After all, we are not just teachers - we deserve an opportunity to tune in to some cultural magic once in a while.

On Friday night we will be providing a Spanish Dancing Extravaganza along with Akis's opening plenary talk. On Saturday night we will be hosting a Poetry Reading Session with Liverpool-born Jamaican poet Levi Tafari (kindly sponsored by the British Council) whose exciting blend of different Englishes results in what he terms Dub-Poetry or poetry with a rhythm that really gets people moving and grooving! Levi's session (6pm) is participative and great fun, as well as touching on subjects that are important to us all such as love, relationships, the environment and peace in our time (very usable in the classroom too!). Following this, and while we are all still buzzing from the poetry reading, Levi will accompany us to our Taverna Night (9.00pm onwards) which gives members (and speakers) the opportunity to socialize and catch up with old friends, and make a few new ones! On Sunday, following the closing plenary with Mario Rinvolucri, a theatre group all the way from the UK called English Theatre Company will be performing a play entitled "The Story of Adam" (5.45pm) which tells the tale of a teenage boy who doesn't appear interested in learning (sound familiar?) but then suddenly discovers how exciting knowledge can be providing its presented in the right way, which in his case is through a book with the ability to travel through time. This will be followed by the Closing Buffet accompanied by a Classical Music Interlude which provides members with a final chance to eat, drink and be merry (and reflect on the convention of course!).

There is one very important (perhaps the most important) area missing from the above description - YOUR PARTICIPATION. We are hoping for a vibrant and varied range of professional workshops, poster presentations and commercial presentations in answer to our call for papers (deadline 10th September 2004). There is so much local and national talent out there and we are hoping to have the privilege of including some of it at our convention 2004. ELT: The Greek Perspective is really about ELT: Your Perspective - come along and join in to make this the best convention we have had to date. If you haven't already filled in your participation form, get cracking so you don't miss the deadline. We are looking forward to seeing you there!

THE TESOL Macedonia-Thrace, Northern Greece BOARD