UST int'l conference to tackle issues on language education in Asia

MANILA, Philippines — With the language shifts happening in many Asian countries because of the integration of Southeast Asian nations, there is a need to review general language policies, research, curriculums, assessment practices, teacher preparation and teaching and learning strategies.

The demand for English as an effective medium of communication and instruction is also expected to increase correspondingly within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations because its 2008 charter affirms it as the bloc's working language.

Different countries in the region are also searching for ways to address issues pertaining not only to education but also to matters involving cultural heritage and yawning gaps between those from urban and rural areas, the rich and the poor, those with diverse languages and individuals from English and non-English speaking communities.

It is because of these reasons that the Philippine Association for Language Teaching, Inc. is hosting an international conference at the University of Santo Tomas, Manila from Dec. 7 to 9, 2017.

This international gathering, with the theme, "Language Education in Asia in the Context of ASEAN," aims to engage a wide spectrum of critical perspectives and conduct interdisciplinary dialog through plenary sessions and parallel presentations.

To achieve this aim, this year's language confab, organized under the leadership of UST's Dr. Marilu Madrunio, PALT's president, has invited speakers from local and international universities and institutions to talk about topics that will interest participants from diverse and varied backgrounds.

This three-day international gathering will showcase three plenary session talks and three featured presentations from six internationally recognized authorities in the field of language teaching, research and policy.

Dr. Maria Cynthia Rose Bautista, the vice president for academic affairs of the University of the Philippines-Diliman, will be the gathering's first plenary speaker while Matt Keener, the cultural affairs officer of the US Embassy in Manila, will be its first featured speaker.

The second day will also be full of learned discussions about language education in Asia as it will have Dr. Anne Pakir, associate professor and director of the National University of Singapore's International Relations Office, as its plenary speaker. Leonie Overbeek of Korea TESOL will join the participants in the afternoon as the day's featured speaker.

The final day will see Dr. Ahmar Mahboob, an associate professor of the University of Sydney, as the gathering's third plenary speaker and Shirley Ando of The Japan Association for Language Teaching as its last featured speaker.

Aside from these plenary and featured presentations, the affair will also showcase 11 parallel presentations of original research of individuals from different universities in the country and the region.

This PALT international conference has a memorandum from the Commission on Higher Education. For registration, please visit https://paltphilippines.wixsite.com/palt/2017internationalregistration. You can also email [email protected] or contact (632) 682-0591, 0919-4535428 or 0919-4190503.