ABOUT THE CONFERENCE
The existing economic and technological disruptions have been exacerbated by recent crises, resulting in further shifts in the way people live, study, work, and communicate. Managing these shifts relies heavily on the digital space and advanced technology that enable speedy information transfer and real-time interaction across vast distances, thus reducing the need to meet face to face. In response to these new norms, the focus, content knowledge, audience reach, and teaching space in English Language and Communication (ELC) education for both academic and industry purposes have also shifted. Existing assumptions are being revisited and innovations in teaching and research practices have emerged with the purpose of readying students for what has been described as a Turbulent-Uncertain-Novel-Ambiguous (TUNA) world. The ability to generate insights and create novel solutions is key to keeping curriculum development, teaching strategies, and assessments relevant amidst the rapid changes in further and higher education.
This conference provides a platform for English Language and Communication practitioners and researchers to share and discuss:
- Challenges relating to teaching under the new norms such as teaching in the digital space, engaging and assessing learners with advanced interactive technological tools, and managing increased student agency
- Innovations that have helped students and educators adapt to the new norms, and that have taken into account academic and industry relevance in language and communication pedagogy
- New ideas, undergirded by theoretical principles, that are proposed to help students and educators adapt to the new norms
OPENING ADDRESS BY GUEST-OF-HONOUR
Prof. Tulika MITRA
Vice Provost (Academic Affairs)
National University of Singapore
As an educator, Professor Tulika Mitra has been instrumental in establishing the multi-disciplinary Computer Engineering programme at NUS. She has introduced and taught a number of inter-disciplinary modules, and received the School of Computing Teaching Excellence Award. As a researcher, she has authored more than 175 articles in peer-reviewed conferences and journals, several of which have won paper awards. She has also given plenary keynotes and invited talks at the flagship conferences in her field.
SPEAKERS
KEYNOTE SPEAKERS
Prof. Mark WARSCHAUER
University of California, Irvine
The United States
New Digital Tools for Promoting Social Reading
Reading is often portrayed as an individual cognitive act, but learning to read is profoundly social. Children learn to read best when they do so through “dialogic reading” with a parent who asks questions to stimulate the child’s thinking. As for adults, the entire purpose of a university is to provide social scaffolding for reading and learning; otherwise, universities would be replaced by bookshelves. For both children and adults, social scaffolding is especially important for second language learners, who face additional linguistic challenges in comprehending texts. This presentation explores new digital tools for promoting social reading across the lifespan, through both natural language processing and facilitating human interaction. First, it discusses whether and how conversational agents, such as Siri or Google Assistant, can provide opportunities for social interaction that contribute to young children’s language and literacy development. The presentation then turns to digitally-supported human interaction among adult readers through the use of social annotation software. Annotation has long been known as a way to support reflective reading, but recently available social e-reading tools, such as Perusall and Hypthoses.is, now allow a whole class of students to collectively annotate the same document. Research on the impact of social annotation on learning processes and outcomes will be synthesized, including implications for use of these tools in English language teaching.
A/P Julia CHEN
The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Hong Kong
Curriculum Innovations for Interdisciplinary English Language Learning
The pandemic has accelerated the creation and adoption of curriculum innovations. This keynote address will present and discuss innovations in discipline-related English language training both within and outside the curriculum that were created for two purposes: to help students improve their English and to ensure they spend time outside of class on English language learning. Aspects such as curriculum design, development, implementation, and evaluation will be explored; the considerations that deserve attention will be highlighted. References will be made to some theoretical frameworks, such as the Community of Inquiry approach (Garrison, Anderson, & Archer, 2000), the three-phase process of change via initiation, implementation, and institutionalisation (Fullan, 1991), and the ADRI approach, as well as to empirical studies that employed big data learning analytics triangulated with qualitative methods.
FEATURED SPEAKERS
A/P WU Siew Mei
National University of Singapore
Singapore
The Changing ELT Landscape: What Has Changed? How Do We Respond to the Changes?
Change as the only constant in life is a familiar experience to many of us, as we manage ideological shifts in English Language Teaching (ELT) that necessitate practical professional reworkings in various situations. Changes resulting from the process grobalisation (Tsui, 2020) have seen Asian countries adapting in these critical areas: English language policies being reformed, the notion of standard English being reconceptualised, postmethod ELT being re-evaluated, and professionalism of ELT being reconsidered, amongst other areas. This paper reviews two areas of change that have emerged as critical issues (Schleppegrell, 2020; Tsui, 2020; Troudi, 2020) in the local ELT context: postmethod ELT including critical pedagogy and ELT 4.0 technologies (Kamilia, Affendi, Noah, & Yunus, 2020) and ELT professionalism. It examines the extent and nature of change as a basis for assessing impact on some areas of our professional practice and student learning. It highlights the challenges that have surfaced in the process of managing change and suggests some possibly innovative ways in professional adaptation to change. Some possible waves of future change that will impact the mission of the centre will be discussed, in the light of their pertinence to the general ELT community.
Dr Ruanni TUPAS
University College London
The United Kingdom
Decolonising Language Beliefs and Practices in ELT
The English Language Teaching classroom is not an isolated social vacuum but an institutional global(ised) space. Therefore, my talk centres on the coloniality of our beliefs and practices in ELT. While many argue that colonialism is a thing of the past, the discourses and practices associated with it continue to shape most, if not all, facets of the ELT profession. We refer to this condition as the coloniality of ELT where the practice of ELT is by itself deeply embedded within the structures and logics of (global) coloniality. Although I also problematise the many ways this lens is mobilised in teaching and research, I argue that attempts at transforming the ELT classroom must contend with its embeddedness within conditions of coloniality.
PROGRAMME AT A GLANCE
Day 1 - 30 May 2022, Monday
| Time | Event |
|---|---|
| 09:00 - 09:15 | Logging in |
| 09:15 - 09:30 | Welcome and Housekeeping |
| 09:30 - 10:00 | Opening and Guest of Honour Address |
| 10:00 - 11:00 | Keynote Speech by Mark WARSCHAUER |
| 11:00 - 11:10 | Tea Break |
| 11:10 - 11:40 | Concurrent Sessions |
| 11:40 - 12:10 | Concurrent Sessions |
| 12:10 - 12:40 | Concurrent Sessions |
| 12:40 - 13:40 | Lunch |
| 13:40 - 14:00 | Technology Demonstration: Supporting Formative Learning for Learners in English Language and Communication with Turnitin |
| 14:00 - 14:30 | Featured Talk by WU Siew Mei |
| 14:30 - 15:00 | Concurrent Sessions |
| 15:00 - 15:30 | Concurrent Sessions |
| 15:30 - 16:00 | Technology Demonstration: Moodie.AI – AI Communication Coach |
| 16:00 - 16:30 | Networking |
Day 2 - 31 May 2022, Tuesday
| Time | Event |
|---|---|
| 09:00 - 09:30 | Logging in and Housekeeping |
| 09:30 - 10:30 | Keynote Speech by Julia CHEN |
| 10:30 - 11:00 | Concurrent Sessions |
| 11:00 - 11:10 | Tea Break |
| 11:10 - 11:40 | Concurrent Sessions |
| 11:40 - 12:10 | Concurrent Sessions |
| 12:10 - 12:40 | Concurrent Sessions |
| 12:40 - 13:30 | Lunch |
| 13:30 - 14:00 | Technology Demonstration: Using Qualtrics and Miro |
| 14:00 - 14:30 | Featured Talk by Ruanni TUPAS |
| 14:30 - 15:30 | Panel Discussion |
| 15:30 - 15:45 | Closing Word |
| 15:45 - 16:30 | Networking |
PAPER SCHEDULE & ABSTRACTS
CALL FOR PAPERS
Selected Symposium papers will be published either as research papers or blogposts. All Symposium presenters are invited to submit their papers by 1st July 2022 for consideration.
Those recommended by peer reviewers will be published in the proceedings for the 6th CELC Symposium in CELC’s inhouse journal.
Please refer to the submission guidelines below and send your submission to celcsymposium@nus.edu.sg with the name(s) of author(s), title and paper type.
Submit a Research Article
Note the following when preparing a research paper:
- Papers are normally compiled in this way but variations are welcome: Title, Abstract, Keywords, Introduction, Method(s), Results, Discussion, References, Appendices (as appropriate). Table(s) and figure (s) can be left in the running text where they should appear, and all should be with caption(s) below them. If you wish to provide acknowledgments, you may, at the end, before the reference list.
- Refer to symposium themes.
- Ensure student consent is obtained if student data is used: evidence may be requested before publication.
- Use APA 7th edition referencing style.
- Full length of around 4000 words.
Submit a Blog Post
Note the following when preparing a blog post:
- Attach title to the post
- Include context, issue, and actions taken/future directions (these need to be underpinned by literature)
- Refer to symposium themes
- Ensure student consent is obtained if student data is used
- Use APA 7th edition referencing style
- Post submission should be no less than 1200 words
PANEL DISCUSSION
Title: Workplace Communication: Harmonious or Disjoint Transition from University to Workplace?
Abstract
In the past few years, we have experienced a significant shift in the way we communicate in the workplace, which has been exacerbated by the recent pandemic. First, the increasing use of Social Network Sites (SNS) has blurred boundaries between social and professional spheres, altering the nature of workplace communication. One visible impact is that the use of abbreviated texts, emojis, images, audio, and video clips has become a norm. Second, the fast and upward trajectory of new technologies such as AI (artificial intelligence) has the potential to fundamentally alter workplace dynamics and shape the way we communicate professionally. Third, the call for interdisciplinary collaborations has given impetus to a move in higher education towards an interdisciplinary approach, requiring colleagues from widely different fields to find common grounds on how they communicate their expertise. All these suggest a rethink in the way language and communication are taught to help learners adapt to a quickly evolving workplace landscape.
This panel discussion brings together academics, practitioners, and industry leaders for a dialogue to address four key questions: (a) Do the fundamentals of communication still apply and if so, what are they? What has changed then? (b) What are the effects of the said changes on our behaviour and attitude towards how we communicate, and the language we use? (c) How do we communicate effectively to reconcile the potentially contentious relationship between online “Friends” and offline “friends” which may cause the blurring of professional and social boundaries? (d) How does the egocentric nature of communication as seen in Instagram, Facebook, YouTube and other such platforms influence visibility, self-representation and perhaps a (false) sense of power? The aim of the discussion is to throw light on where language and communication teaching in higher education has succeeded in aligning its teaching with the demands in the working world, and where there are still mismatches.
CHAIR
A/P LEE Kooi Cheng
National University of Singapore
Singapore
PANELLISTS
A/P Julia CHEN
The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Hong Kong
Mr SOH Yida
United Overseas Bank Limited
Singapore
Professor Shameem RAFIK-GALEA
SEGi University
Malaysia
Mr SOON Eng Sing
Sustainability), Singtel
Singapore
TECHNOLOGY DEMONSTRATION
Supporting Formative Learning for Learners in English Language and Communication with Turnitin
As the landscape of education and assessment continues to evolve with technology and the movement towards more hybrid and online learning delivery, there is a need to revisit learning and teaching practices to meet emerging requirements in the educational sector. Fundamentally, assessments ought to promote and provide insight into student learning. Assessment statistics should be harnessed to cover gaps in student learning, inform curriculum and improve general assessment design for better, more accurate student learning outcomes and learner support.
This session showcases how education technology can support best practices in assessment design and alignment of assessments to learning outcomes, identify gaps in student learning, and provide opportunities for educators to improve their content, assessment and learning experiences to meet the learning outcomes for which they were designed. The following products within Turnitin Feedback Studio will be covered:
- Assessment and Feedback solution
- Academic Integrity solutions
- Peer Mark solutions
Using Qualtrics and Miro
Qualtrics is a popular survey tool that has been used by many universities for qualitative and quantitative research. One powerful text analysis tool under Qualtrics is “Text IQ”, which helps to uncover the insights that are hidden deep in open text responses. This session will demonstrate how this tool can be used in relevant fields of communication and language teaching.
Miro is an online collaborative whiteboarding platform that enables distributed teams to work effectively together, from brainstorming with digital sticky notes to planning and managing agile workflows. In this session, how Miro can help teachers and learners in collaborative learning will be demonstrated.
Moodie.AI – AI Communication Coach
In this session, Datality Lab presents Moodie.ai, a patented SaaS communication and presentation training platform that augments human coaches by harnessing AI observations, cognitive interpretations and decision modeling to provide students with self-directed and scaffolded learning in the quest for effective communication. With wide applications such as public speaking, non-native English proficiency, project presentation, college/job interviews, sales pitch, customer service etc., Moodie.ai provides learners with an immersive learning experience to practice communication skill at their own pace and place. Its unique decision science model enables learners to systematically monitor their progress on repeated practices and to improve their performance based on behavioral feedback.
EVENT SLIDESHOW
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