Activities: conventions, congresses, conferences

The General Convention of PTN was held in Poznan in 1973. It was accompanied by an international congress of foreign language teachers. This form of activity has become a tradition: PTN organizes an annual conference, attended by language teaching specialists from Poland and/or abroad, and selections of papers presented during such conferences is published in peer-reviewed monographs. Examples of such publications include: 2005 Komunikacja językowa w społeczeństwie informacyjnym - nowe wyzwania dla dydaktyki języków obcych [Linguistic Communication and Information Technologies – New Challenges for Foreign Language Teaching], Wydawnictwo Naukowe KUL, 2006: Dydaktyka języków obcych na początku XXI wieku [Foreign Language Teaching at the Beginning of the 21st Century], Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego, 2007: Nowe Spojrzenie na Motywację [A New Look at Motivation], Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Wrocławskiego; 2008: Nauczyciel języków obcych dziś i jutro [A Foreign Language Teacher  Today and Tomorrow], Wydział Pedagogiczno-Artystyczny/Uniwersytet im. Adama Mickiewicza; 2009.

In September 2009 the conference devoted to “Conceptions and implementations in language learning and teaching” was held at the University of Silesia. The subsequent conferences were held in: Lublin, 2010 „A Unique Learner – Individual Educational Needs in Foreign Language Teaching”, Kalisz, 2011 „Educational Discourse in the Language Classroom”, Bydgoszcz, 2012 „Foreign Language Teaching and General Competences”, Wroclaw, 2013 “The Role of Reflection in Learning and Teaching Foreign Languages”, Gdansk, 2014 “Education and the Development of Foreign Language Teachers”, Warsaw, 2015 “Multilingualism and Multiculturalism  in Foreign Language Teaching”, and Słupsk, 2016 "The Role of Individual Differences in Learning and Teaching Foreign Languages". In 2017 the annual PTN conference is planned to be held in Olsztyn and will be devoted to innovations in language learning and teaching.

A General Convention of PTN takes place every three years. The last General Convention was held in Słupsk and the new committee members were appointed. The current chair of the Association is Katarzyna Karpińska-Szaj.

PTN affiliate organizations conduct regular meetings for language teachers, students and researchers. In 2002 the Lublin affiliate organization was reactivated and two new affiliate organizations were established in Wroclaw and in Gdansk.

About PTN

Polish Association of Modern Languages (PTN) is the only multilingual organization in the Republic of Poland for those who are concerned with language teaching: teachers of all educational levels and types of schools, translators, interpreters, and researchers who specialize in language learning and teaching.

PTN is a member – founder of Fédération Internationale des Professeurs de Langues Vivantes – FIPLV, a world federation which is comprised of the organizations of modern language teachers. The federation was acknowledged by UNESCO as an important non-governmental organization and obtained the type B status.

PTN was founded in 1929 in Warsaw during the convention of modern language teachers. It was the first association spontaneously established from the need to share experiences and expertise with colleagues on topics related to foreign language teaching. The pre-war PTN was active in 5 regions (i.e., Warsaw, Poznan, Krakow, Lvov, Vilnus) and 6 subregions (Lodz, Lublin, Silesia, Kalisz, Tarnopol, Lida). The representatives of PTN were engaged in different activities in Poland and took part in international congresses abroad.

After the war, there was no foreign language teacher association until 1969. Polish Association of Modern Languages was reactivated thanks to Professor Ludwik Zabrocki’s endeavours at Poznan University. At that time Poznań was established as the seat of PTN and has remained that status until now. International cooperation  was resumed as well, as evident in PTN’s membership in FIPLV and the inclusion of the association’s members in FIPLV’s structures and projects.

Established in 2006, a  new structure - FIPLV-EUROPE - includes all European regions of FIPLV. The decision to create WCER: FIPLV Western/Central European Region under the auspices of FIPLV-Europe was made on the 28th March at the University of Leipzig. The region embraces the founder countries: Great Britain, France, Germany and Poland. The transformation of western and central regions into one region is a good example of consolidation and cooperation within FIPLV. Each member has the right to delegate one representative to the authorities of WCER.