[EDLING:1953] Thailand TESOL

[Francis M. Hult]

http://conf2007.thaitesol.org/

Thailand TESOL/Pan-Asian Consortium

International Conference: 2007

January 26 - 28, 2007

“Beyond Boundaries: Teaching English for Global Communication in Asia”

Background

In 2007, the Pan-Asian Consortium of English Language Teaching Organisations 
(PAC) will hold its 6th international conference. The conference will be hosted 
by Thailand TESOL in Bangkok where, ten years earlier, PAC was inaugurated. 
Since 1997, the consortium has continued to grow, and it is on the verge of 
becoming an even more significant group of ELT organisations with the addition 
of more new partners.

 

Conference Theme

“Beyond Boundaries: Teaching English for Global Communication in Asia”

With the increasing pressures on Asian countries to participate in global 
economic, social, educational and recreational activities, English has become a 
truly international tool of communication. In most, if not all countries across 
the Asian region, the importance of English has grown considerably, and the 
traditional view of English as a foreign Language (EFL) is being replaced with 
a more functional and often critical view of English as an international 
language.

This view of English as a global language for citizens from a myriad of 
cultures, continents, countries and communities carries with it some core 
assumptions and questions about just what it is that English language teachers 
are teaching in Asia, and for what purposes, and what it is their learners need 
to learn to do in English on a more global level. These assumptions and 
questions centre on core issues such as:

the relationship between culture and English as a global language, and  
therefore the role of culture in ELT 
the uses of English within a country and among countries, and therefore the 
kinds of curriculum and syllabus designs appropriate for developing language 
proficiency
the accepted varieties and standards of English in particular contexts, and 
therefore the models of language brought to the learning contexts
 

Conference Objective

The overall objective of the conference is to provide forums in which the three 
core issues outlined above can be teased apart and subjected to scrutiny and 
discussion from the viewpoints of teaching, learning, researching, policy 
planning, program designing, teacher training, and materials designing.

 

Participants

As this is a pan-Asian styled conference, it is expected that there will be a 
broad representation of ELT professionals from the many Asian countries in 
which English as a global language is significant, including Thailand, Japan, 
the Republic of China, Korea, Far-Eastern Russia, Singapore, Malaysia and the 
Philippines. Additionally, ELT professionals from many other parts of the globe 
are expected to participate in order to make this a truly global forum to 
discuss Asian issues in English language teaching.