Plenary Speaker

Sponsored by:

“Mobility through English”

Mobility – including geographic, career, social, knowledge and/or communication mobility – is an inherent characteristic of the current global community.  Whether such mobility is aspiration or reality depends to a significant extent on opportunity and with the present focus on English as an “opportunity” tool or skill, proficiency and competency in English is seen as a means to multiple ends in the motivation to achieve one or more of these mobilities.  English language proficiency and competency can be a key life skill to enrich and expand an individual’s ability to access opportunity and to move and adapt to new circumstances for populations in both developing and developed countries.

The Plenary will aim to provide bases for conversations and reflections on the ways in which practices in the teaching and learning of English can respond to the enhancement of opportunity access by global, national and local community mobility.

Christine M. Bundesen is Director of the Institute of Continuing & TESOL Education at the University of Queensland (ICTE-UQ) in Brisbane, Australia. She is an international education professional with extensive background and experience as an educator, executive manager, marketer and industry leader over the past 25+ years. She has gained a well-recognised profile in the Australian and global English language training and international education sectors through her conference/seminar/public forum presentations and her portfolio and membership positions on government and industry boards, councils, and working groups related to international education in general and the ELT/TESOL sector in particular at state, national and international levels. These positions have included:

Chairperson/Member University Cambridge ESOL Teaching Advisory Council 1996-2006 and International Working Group 2004-2006; Inaugural Chairperson/Council Member English Australia/ELICOS Association 1988-2000/2000-present; Board Member IELTS Australia P/L 1990-2008; Member Australian government AESOC Transnational Quality Strategy (TQS) Reference and Working Groups and DEST TQS Expert Group on Quality Assessment 2005-2009; Board Member IDP Education Australia Ltd 1987-2007; Member Executive Committee University of Danang/University of Queensland English Language Institute (UD-UQ ELI) 2004-present.

Plenary Speaker

Sponsored by:

“What does it mean to teach and learn English in a 'glonacal' world?”

This talk examines the demands on learning, teaching, and learning to teach English in today's world that is continually redefined by global, national, and local -- or 'glo-na-cal' -- influences. The talk has four sections:
first, defining the challenges of this 'glonacal' world for students, teachers, and schools; and then examining how these challenges play out on practical and general levels of English language learning, classroom teaching, and teacher preparation and in-service development. The intent is to provide a framework for thinking about how the work of being a teacher of English is changing under these circumstances.

Donald Freeman is a professor at the School of Education, University of Michigan, where he has directed teacher preparation in all subjects, grades K-12. For 25 years, he was on the graduate faculty at the School of International Training, where he chaired the Department of Language Teacher Education and founded and directed the Center for Teacher Education, Training, and Research, a research and development unit that designed and implemented teacher education projects around the world.  His writing includes Teacher learning in language teaching (with Jack C. Richards; Cambridge), Doing teacher-research(Heinle-Cengage), as well as professional development series, TeacherSource (Heinle-Cengage), and English language materials, ICON (with Kathleen Graves and Linda Lee, McGraw-Hill). He works regularly with teachers in various settings around the world, and consults with governments, multilateral agencies, and independent groups to interrelate teacher development, school change and student learning. Dr Freeman is a past president of TESOL, immediate past chair of the Board of the International Research Foundation for English Language Teaching (TIRF), and a past member the International Advisory Council for the University of Cambridge ESOL Examinations (formerly UCLES). His research and design interests focus on creating new, atypical professional environments to support individual learning and institutional transformation.

Featured Speaker

“Preparing international students to join the global community”

In increasing numbers, international students have the ability to study in varying contexts: locally, regionally, and internationally. Many complete pre-departure, pre-sessional, or concurrent English for Academic Purposes (EAP)-type preparation programs focusing on ‘academic’ and ‘study’ skills. While these are useful and necessary, are they enough for today’s international student to fully and successfully engage with the global community? At a Japanese university, two additional skill areas were identified: Integrated Language Skills, where students focus not on four-skills exercises, but are required to use multiple skills to access, utilise and express information to complete tasks; and, Critical Thinking Skills, where students’ pre-conceptions of global citizenship, other cultures, and their own world views are challenged. In this presentation, the rationale for, challenges faced during, and sample materials and methodologies used in the program will be discussed.

Richmond Stroupe has worked with university and professional language learners from Asia since 1989. He is currently the Chair of the Master’s Program in International Language Education: TESOL at Soka University, Japan. He is professionally active both in Japan, with the Japan Association for Language Teaching as the Chair of the association’s International Affairs Committee, and internationally, with TESOL Organization in the United States as the Chair of the Standing Committee on Standards, and with CamTESOL as the Assistant Editor-in-Chief of the CamTESOL Selected Papers publication.

Richmond received his Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Wake Forest University (USA). He has a Master’s of Science in Counseling and Human Systems from Florida State University (USA) and a PhD in International Education (Administrative Policy and Planning) from the University of Southern California (USA).

He actively publishes and presents on professional activities and research projects, which currently include the use of international standards as internal evaluative tools, and the investigation of student expectations, motivation and perceptions of language learning in varying national contexts in Asia. His research interests also include curriculum and professional development, developing critical thinking skills, and international comparative education.

Featured Speaker

“The Cambodian practice of undertaking concurrent undergraduate degrees at two different institutions: factors and implications”

The aim of this presentation is to explore the phenomenon of Cambodian university students doing dual degrees simultaneously, one of which is a BA in English. One hundred third-year students majoring in English at the Institute of Foreign Languages in Phnom Penh were invited to participate in this study because most of them were also undertaking a second degree elsewhere. They were asked to write a 250-word essay on ‘why they were doing dual Bachelor’s degrees concurrently’. The essays were collected, analysed, graded and returned to students. The results show that the respondents are concerned that a ‘skill major’ on its own, such as Banking and Finance or Management, will not enable them to find a good job. A concurrent degree in English acts as a complement to a ‘skill degree’, bringing them ‘mobility’ in the job market. This study showcases a critically important role played by English in contemporary Cambodia, and how upwardly mobile citizens value it.

Sophal Chan has been a lecturer of English language at the Institute of Foreign Languages (IFL), Royal University of Phnom Penh since 1998. During the last several years, he has developed an intense interest in research skills, focusing on learner motivation, reading habits, and learning strategies. He has been a regular presenter at CamTESOL. He has a Bachelor of Education in TEFL from the Foreign Languages Institute of the Royal University of Phnom Penh and a Masters in Educational Psychology from University of Hawaii, USA. He has also been involved in lecturing on the MA in TESOL Program at IFL.

Featured Speaker

 Regional Consultant/Trainer
 Macmillan Education, East Asia

“Life skills: enhancing our learners’ mobility”

How can we increase our learners’ mobility and give them greater opportunities in life? Teaching language alone may not be enough. Increasingly we hear the need for life-long learning and the development of transferable skills for individuals to be successful in modern society, but what does this mean for language teaching and learning? How can we help equip our students to survive, and adapt to unforeseen changes, in the big wide world? Perhaps we need to look at ways to broaden our view of ‘skills’ in the language classroom to include transferable ‘life skills’. This session will look at what we might include as ‘life skills’, and why they are important, as well as suggesting ways in which we can integrate them into our language teaching. Thus enriching the language learning experience and helping empower our learners to become more mobile and face the challenges they will encounter outside the classroom in their life and future careers.

Clyde Fowle is Regional Consultant / Trainer for Macmillan Education, East Asia. He has over 20 years’ experience of teaching English, managing language programs and teacher training in Asia. He has taught and run language programs in Thailand and spoken at conferences and carried out teacher training around Asia. He holds an MA in TESOL from Sheffield Hallam University and has published several articles in the field of ELT and has been involved as a co-author in a couple of ELT series' designed specifically for learners in Asia.

including:

• Closing Plenary Speaker (Ms Christine Bundesen),
  ELT Research Forum
• Research Partner (Research grants to Cambodia and Vietnam)
• Outreach Partner (Assistance to Presenters from Turkey, Indonesia, Vietnam, and Iran)
• Platinum Teacher Sponsor (25 Cambodian Teacher Registrations)

Presenters' Warm-up
Reception

Closing Plenary Speaker:
Prof. Donald Freeman

Regional ELT Leadership Forum

Vietnam and Laos: Travel Grants

Social Functions Partner

Conference Venue (National Institute of Education)

50 Provincial Teachers