MOCA was initiated by Ege University School of Foreign Languages in January 2017 for the students and teachers of the English Prep Class. Since then, it has evolved into a national programme with a different institution hosting the event each year in conjunction with Ege University YDY. In 2004 MOCA was hosted by IMU Foreign Languages Coordinatorship. The organizing committee consisted of Elizabeth Coleman, Hatice Granados Fuquene, and Sinem Tabakçı (Ege Univ. YDY). From IMU two instructors acted as facilitators for the sessions: Almina Esen and Merve Kamacı Nalkıran. Building upon the belief that the learner’s voice has the potential to create change and provide improvement on a wide scale, MOCA moves away from conversations that often exclude learners and instead offers a platform where learners and teachers can:
- Collaborate to discuss any issue regarding learning and teaching, including curriculum, testing and assessment, technology use, autonomy, and so on
- Share experiences, practices and views on teaching and learning
- Learn from and with each other as partners
- Sevelop mutual trust and a better understanding of each other
- Build shared responsibility and a community of learning and practice.
This year, the theme for MOCA 2024 was factors that can make learning a new language difficult or even challenging. Learning a language is a fascinating adventure, but it’s not always easy. When we try to learn a new language, there are many things that can get in our way and make it harder for us. These might be in our minds or come from the environment around us. From lack of practice to fear of making mistakes, these obstacles can slow down our progress and stifle our enthusiasm. There are of course wider social factors at play, too. Economic conditions, unstable and unsuitable learning environments, and even health impact our ability to engage in the language learning process. The sessions explored what challenges might exist and how we can cope with them. We’ll have discussions and share our own experiences. The goal was to help everyone understand the things that hinder language learning, find solutions and discover strategies to make it easier and smoother.
Attendees were organized into small discussion groups. In the first session, students and instructors from the same university were together. Participants shared the challenges they have faced and the solutions they have developed to tackle them. After lunch, participants were grouped as instructors and students and asked to share the solutions they had discussed in the morning. For the closing session, all participants came together again. In this session representatives from the groups were asked to share the ideas they had discussed. From the students’ group Eylül Tezgel (Ege University) shared their reflections, and Merve Kamacı Nalkıran (IMU) and Sinem Tabakçı (Ege University) presented the conclusions on behalf of the teachers’ group.