I took my project that I developed and executed for the Webskills course, and attended the 22nd Malaysian English Language
Teaching Association (MELTA) International
Conference from 28th to 30th May 2013 at Persada Johor Convention
Centre, Johor Bahru. The
theme of the conference was “Innovations in English Language Education: Evolving Policy, Envisioning
Curriculum, Empowering Practitioners.”
Some snaps of my presentation
People I met during the conference
I presented my paper titled
“Language Learning through Literature via WebQuest” in the afternoon session on
the first day of the conference. My paper exemplified how combining a classic literary text and a web-based
tool – WebQuest in teaching can make learners become more confident users of
English by critically thinking and creatively producing. I implemented the
project with my tertiary level literature students and found them taking
interest in the task as it offered them a chance - of getting out of the
typical way of passively studying a literary text, of using the language
creatively and of videocasting. The WebQuest example showed how learners became
autonomous and produced content for the web through the process of
self-evaluation. At the end of my presentation I showed a video clip of my
students’ performance.
The
conference had Prof.
David Wray from University of Warwick,
UK as the plenary speaker who spoke on “Changing Times: Changing Literacies.”
This speech drew on the technology tools used by students and the concerns
regarding this. It also showed four models that educational institutions can
adopt to accommodate new literacies.
Nithya
Sidhhu, a columnist from STAR
conducted a workshop on “Teachers’ Writing – The Power of the Shared
Experience” which was motivational. She offered simple tips for writing and
introduced SLURP to remember the simple guideline. 1. Keep it simple 2. Look
outside, look inside 3. Unite all links 4. Respect your reader 5. What’s your
point? She quotes Nancy Kelton, “Send your inner critic on holiday. Just do it,
man. Just do it.”
Dr. Willy
A. Renandya from NIE, Singapore
gave a talk on “Is there a place for extensive listening in the L2 classroom?”
as the plenary speaker. He firmly says that though language teachers focus more
on extensive reading and writing, extensive listening is an inseparable idea in
language classroom to ensure better language learning.
I attended a presentation on “ESL Undergraduates’
Attitudes toward Using Wiki and Skype in Completing Project-based Tasks” by
Yolanda Hiew & Tan Bee Hoon which attracted my attention much as this was
similar to my presentation being linked to PBL. The presenter proved by her
survey that students preferred Skype as it offered them freedom but Wiki had
more substantial amount of learning in the two projects that she conducted with
her university level ESP learners,
Another
presentation which caught my attention is by Faizah binti Jaafar. She spoke on
“Reader’s Theater: A Step in Learning Literature.” I attended two Bangladeshi
presentations. One was by Md. Imran Khan on “Understanding and Sharing between
Two Generations of Teachers: The Bangladesh Context.” The paper detailed how
psychological aspects impact the sharing of two generations of teachers and how
team teaching can improve the overall scenario of English teaching-learning in
Bangladesh.
Md.
Ziaul Karim and Md. Jamal Hossain talked about the controversy in the grading
system prevailing in the private university education system and professed for
a uniformity for the benefit of the students in their paper on “Grading
Controversies in the Assessment of University Graduates in Bangladesh: An
Insight into Uniformity.”
The
gala dinner was fabulous with all colors. The theme was ‘Colors of Malaysia,
Colors of Unity.’ It was royal in style as Raja Zarith Sofia binti Sultan Idris
Shah sponsored the dinner and attended it. She came to the stage with the
President of MELTA, Prof. Dr. Ganakumaran Subramaniam to distribute awards.
There was a cultural show starting with Malaysian songs and dances and having
Indian Vangra, Frank Sinatra song.
It was an enriching
experience as I visited a new country and made new friends along with learning
new ideas.
