Call for Papers

Background

Language learning and teaching, like all other areas, innovates constantly, and collaboration at all levels contribute to the most desirable outcome: collaboration between theorists and practitioners, between teachers themselves, between teachers and students, and between students themselves. As interdisciplinary communication becomes the norm in academia, collaboration takes an even more significant role. It’s not unusual a language teacher sits with a content teacher to plan a lesson that integrates the important knowledge of a particular field into a language class so that learners are able to develop more solid and useful professional competence and skills through the medium of English.

Communication has been the focus of language learning. It goes hand in hand with collaboration. Theories and applications of communication are more relevant and useful if they can be integrated with those of collaboration in that satisfying collaboration is mostly achieved through effective communication. It is thus imperative to reexamine the theories of communication to come up with innovative approaches to teaching communication in the language classroom to facilitate English learning and communication to accomplish the learning objectives.

While the conference this year will focus on collaboration and communication in language learning and teaching, proposals on all aspects related to teaching and learning in the language classroom at all levels are welcome for submission, ranging from quantitative research to case studies, comparative work to methodology and pedagogy. The following areas will be of particular emphasis.

Primary School Teaching Issues

Our English language teaching in Taiwan and much of East Asia began at the primary school level over twenty years ago, yet classes may be limited to two hours per week. Is this enough for significant learning? What issues are of relevance to primary school teachers?

Secondary School Teaching Issues

One of the complaints of some teachers is that all students use the same materials and are expected to progress at the same rate, yet often students fall behind. Grouping classes by ability can be controversial. The secondary level is where most students get the bulk of their English training. How can we generate more efficient learning? What are the different issues that affect learning in junior high, senior high, and vocational schools?

Teacher Training

Considering various concerns at all levels of ELT, how can our pre-service and teacher training address these issues?

Technology

Digital technologies and distance learning have now been in use for a number of years. While many schools have spent a lot of money on the hardware, have there been any positive results?

Research

There is continuing need for research in traditional areas of English teaching and learning to suggest more effective ways to facilitate student learning. This included studies on methodology as well as research into related fields such as second language acquisition, psychology and the rapidly-developing neurolinguistics to better inform teachers of how learning actually takes place.

Testing and Evaluation

Nowadays most universities require the passing of an established English test (GEPT, TOEFL, TOEIC, or others) at a certain level before graduation. Though controversial, this trend is set to stand. While these tests meet established standards, other tests have not been so rigorously scrutinized, yet we use them to determine students’ grades and ultimately their futures. What has been done or what can be done to make our everyday tests better? How can these issues be addressed effectively?

Other Areas:

Bridging Theory and Praxis in ELT; Enhancing Professional Development of English Teachers; Classroom Practice; Teaching Strategy; Improving Students’ Motivation; English as Lingua Franca