AILA-Asean Webinar on “Re-thinking Applied Linguistics and Language Education in Multilingual ASEAN in Pandemic Times: The New Normal”

From left to right (Clockwise): Prof. Dr. Azirah (AILA-MAAL), Assoc. Prof. Dr Cordelia Mason (MAAL), Prof. Dr Low (SAAL), Assis Prof. Dr Eri Kurniawan (ALTI), Prof. Dr. Shameem Rafiq-Galea (MAAL), Prof. Emeritus Dr Suwilai Premsrirat (TAAL), Dr. Alejandro (LSP),  Assoc. Prof. Dr Singhanat Nomnian (TAAL)

REGISTRATION LINK: https://bit.ly/2Q224YL

Webinar Synopsis

COVID-19 has changed the way we live, work and learn forever. As the world moved into lockdown and populations around the world were confined to our homes, digital and virtual platforms for teaching and learning remained the mainstay of continuing our efforts at education. Yet, the challenges to continuing education during pandemic times have thrown up massive issues of inequity not least those that pertain to language policy, power and agency. The historical tensions between the dominance and role of English vis-a vis the other multilingual languages spoken in each SEA country has come to the fore. For example, much of the information available on the pandemic and on the public health response has been in both English and in the national language of the country, while less used and minority and indigenous languages have been neglected. The availability of accurate information is crucial not only for the public but also for health professionals and decision makers. As the example of the pandemic demonstrates, local languages will continue to lose ground to English in the absence of effective language policies. Unless governments in the region develop holistic and coherent language education policies, and find a way for regional languages to co-exist with English, it is inevitable that English will continue to increase its range at the expense of local and regional languages. In this panel, speakers will highlight what negotiating the new normal means in their country for Language education in multilingual ASEAN and more broadly, how it will force the scholarship and practice of Applied Linguistics to transform urgently to meet with the New Normal.

Speakers for Webinar

		Prof. Dr. Azirah Hashim (Moderator) Vice-President, AILA & Coordinator, AILA ASEAN
		Assoc. Prof. Dr. Cordelia Mason Malaysian Association of Applied Linguistics (MAAL)
		Assoc. Prof. Dr. Alejandro S. Bernardo Linguistic Society of the Philippines (LSP)
		Professor Low Ee Ling Singapore Association for Applied Linguistics (SAAL)
		Prof. Emeritus Dr. Suwilai Premsrirat Thai Association for Applied Linguistics (TAAL)
		Assoc.Prof. Dr. Singhanat Nomnian Thai Association for Applied Linguistics (TAAL)
		Prof. Dr. Shameem Rafik-Galea Malaysian Association of Applied Linguistics (MAAL)
		Dr. Eri Kurniawan Asosiasi Linguistik Terapan Indonesia (ALTI)

WEBINAR TOPICS and ABSTRACTS

Malaysian Association of Applied Linguistics (MAAL)

Multilingual needs and effective crisis management in Malaysia

Singapore Association of Applied Linguistics (SAAL)

Rethinking Language Teacher Education in Multilingual Singapore in Pandemic Times

Speakers’ Bios

Speakers’ Biodata can be found by clicking on their names in the column on the left.