Dr. Stephen Krashen
- Professor Emeritus of Education, University of Southern California
Bio
A highly influential and prolific author, linguist, and researcher, Stephen Krashen has written over nearly 500 books and articles in the fields of literacy, language acquisition, neurolinguistics, and bilingual education. A global advocate of reading and the importance of the role of reading in language acquisition, his publications have received numerous awards, including the Mildenberger Award (Modern Language Association) and the Pimsleur Award (American Council of Foreign Language Teaching). In 2005, Dr. Krashen was added to the International Reading Association’s Reading Hall of Fame.
Dr. Dorothy Chun
Bio
Dorothy M. Chun was a Professor in the Department of Education from 2009-2020. She received her Ph.D. from UC Berkeley in historical Germanic linguistics but transitioned to the fields of second language acquisition and applied linguistics shortly thereafter. Her passion has been researching and exploring how second languages are learned and how technology can be leveraged to enhance the learning of language and culture. Her research areas include L2 phonology and intonation, L2 reading and vocabulary acquisition, computer-assisted language learning (CALL) and telecollaboration for intercultural learning. She has conducted studies on cognitive processes in learning with multimedia and has authored courseware for language and culture acquisition. Her research has investigated how computer applications can help speakers of non-tonal languages learn tonal languages by visualizing the pitch curves they produce and comparing them with the pitch curves of native speakers. Other research projects involve using online communication tools to help second language learners interact with native speakers of the L2, thereby being exposed to authentic language use and having the opportunity to co-construct knowledge with their peers about another culture. She is currently on a team developing Immersive Virtual Reality games for literacy development and on another team that received Meta Quest headsets to be used with the Immerse app for language learning. Since 2000, she has been the Editor in Chief of the online journal Language Learning and Technology and in 2004 became the founding director of the Ph.D. Emphasis in Applied Linguistics at UCSB.
Dr. Yu-Ju Lan
- Professor Department of Chinese as Second Language, National Taiwan Normal University
- Editor-in-Chief: Educational Technology & Society.
Bio
Dr. Yu-Ju Lan is a Research Chair Professor in the Department of Chinese as a Second Language at National Taiwan Normal University. She is currently the Editor-in-Chief of Educational Technology & Society, Associate Editor of Language Learning & Technology, and on the editorial board of Ampersand. She is the founding president of the Taiwan Pedagogy and Practice in TELL Association. Her research interests include technology-enhanced foreign language learning, virtual reality, AI Chatbot, and online synchronous teacher training. Dr. Lan has proposed the principles of designing tasks and VR contexts based on empirical evidence. As the need for using VR in learning grows, her pioneering works could provide essential implications for academia, education, and industries. For her outstanding research performance, she was awarded the Outstanding Research Award by the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST), Taiwan, in 2022.
Dr. Kathryn Murphy-Judy
- Professor of French in the VCU School of World Studies
Bio
Dr. Murphy-Judy is currently Professor of French in the VCU School of World Studies, where she instructs all levels of French and teaches Francophone media and, occasionally, the graduate level Methods of Teaching Foreign Languages for the VCU School of Education. She led the team that created the degree program, Liberal Studies for Early and Elementary Education; she was its first Director and resumed the directorship in 2014 until its closure in 2021. She has received numerous awards for her teaching, service, and scholarship, notably the CHS Awards for service and mentoring and the FLAVA Distinguished Service Award.
Dr. Liudmila Klimanova
- Assistant Professor of Second Language Acquisition and Technology, University of Arizona
Bio
Dr. Klimanova is Assistant Professor of Second Language Acquisition and Technology at the University of Arizona and a faculty member at the doctoral program in Second Language Acquisition and Teaching (SLAT). Her doctoral dissertation was devoted to the issues of identity enactment in language exchange chatrooms and social networking platforms. She is a recipient of 2015 ACTFL/MLJ Emma Marie Birkmeier Award for Best Doctoral Dissertation Research in Foreign Language Education. Her current research focuses on social and psychological aspects of multimodal identity representation in multilingual online chat, telecollaboration, and the digital humanistic frameworks of learning. Dr. Klimanova’s recent projects examine the role of digital experience in cultural learning within the framework of digital humanistic pedagogy. She currently serves as associate chair of CALICO CMC SIG, and executive committee officer and sector head at AAUSC (American Association of University Supervisors, Coordinators, and Directors of Language Programs).
Dr. Pamela Humphreys
- Director at Macquarie University College, Sydney, Australia
- Director of the Macquarie University EMI Centre
Title:
EMI and the Sustainable Use of Translanguaging
Abstract
The global use of English as the medium of instruction (EMI) is growing in non-anglophone contexts with the assumption that it brings about ‘a double positive’ of content as well as language development for our students. One challenge in such settings is the place of the first language (L1), the second language (L2 i.e. English) and the opportunity to use both to facilitate learning through translanguaging. This presentation will overview EMI and its increasing adoption in ASEAN, with a focus on translanguaging as a sustainable pedagogical stance that can enhance both content and English language teaching.
Bio
Dr. Pamela Humphreys has worked in international education for over 30 years in Europe, Asia, and Australia in various teacher, teacher educator and academic management roles. Currently the Director at Macquarie University College, Sydney, Australia, she is also the Director of the Macquarie University EMI Centre, the first in the region to focus on English Medium Instruction. Pamela was awarded the English Australia John Gallagher Bursary for her contribution to the English language sector. She is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy; Senior Fellow of IEAA; a TEQSA Expert and a Board Director of NEAS.
Dr. Thi Ngoc Yen Dang
Title:
Exploring the lexical challenges of academic spoken English: Implications for EMI programs
Abstract
To succeed in English-medium university programs, students need to understand not only their reading materials but also various kinds of academic spoken English (e.g., lectures, seminars, lab sessions, tutorials, conference presentations). Despite this need, many learners expressed difficulty with comprehending academic spoken English and the lack of vocabulary knowledge is frequently mentioned as one of the biggest reasons for this difficulty. To help students overcome this problem, it is essential to explore the lexical challenges of academic spoken English from multiple perspectives (corpora, learners, and teachers). In this talk, I will review the findings of a small but growing number of studies investigating academic spoken vocabulary and their implications for EMI courses. In particular, I will organize the talk around five key questions: (a) how many words are needed for comprehension of academic spoken English, (b) how well learners know these words before studying in English-medium university courses, (c) how well lists of academic written words cover the vocabulary in academic spoken English, (d) what the core words in academic spoken English is, and (e) what could be done to help students learn these words. Directions for future research will be also covered in the talk.
Bio
Dr. Yen Dang is a Lecturer in Language Education at the University of Leeds, UK. Before joining Leeds, she worked at Vietnam National University, Hanoi where she taught English for Academic Purposes, English for Specific Purposes, and General English courses. Her research interests include vocabulary studies, corpus linguistics, English for Academic Purposes, and EMI. Her articles have been published in various journals (e.g., Applied Linguistics, Language Learning, TESOL Quarterly, Language Teaching Research, Studies in Second Language Acquisition, and Journal of English for Academic Purposes).
Dr. Christy Lao
- Associate Professor of Education, San Francisco State University
Title:
Comprehensible/Compelling Multimedia and Second Language Development
Abstract
In the summer of 2022, a group of college students from all over California went on an adventure of exploring a nontraditional way of learning Chinese in San Francisco. The majority are non-heritage Chinese learners and are from diverse ethnic and social-economic statuses, and geographical locations. Language acquisition takes place when receiving abundant compelling and comprehensible input. However, it is difficult to find Chinese language materials that are both high interest and low vocabulary.
Memorizing a thousand unique Chinese characters is a daunting task that can terrify any learner. Without like-minded peers and a Chinese aural, visual, and print-rich environment, learning Chinese could be tense. In this project, multimedia is utilized to create organic and rich Chinese language environments to make the acquisition of Chinese interesting and less intimidating.
In this study, we will share our research and practice on utilizing digital technology to provide students with interesting Chinese materials otherwise difficult to obtain for their Chinese development. The finding of this research demonstrates the potential of integrating language acquisition theories and technologies to help students develop language competency in the 21st century.
Bio
Dr. Christy Lao is an Associate Professor of Education at San Francisco State University and Principal Investigator and Director of several major federally funded projects. Dr. Lao teaches in the Chinese Bilingual Teaching Credential Program at SFSU with a focus on bilingual and biliteracy development and has published widely in the field of second language acquisition focusing on Chinese heritage learners. For the past 20 years, she has worked with Chinese bilingual schools and Chinese Immersion schools and teachers in San Francisco, New York City, Hong Kong, and China. Dr. Lao has developed the “Chinese Language Arts Standards K-5” and a Chinese Language Arts curriculum, K-5. Her recent international professional collaborations have included projects with (1) Centre for Advancement of Chinese Language Education and Research, The University of Hong Kong; and (2) Centre for Enhancing English Learning and Teaching, The Chinese University of Hong Kong. Her most recent book is Comprehensible and Compelling: The Causes and Effects of Free Voluntary Reading with Stephen Krashen and Sy-Ying Lee.
