UPDATE

Please be informed that the proposal submission deadline
has been extended to September 15, 2010.  

The 31st Annual Thailand TESOL International Conference
 “Transforming the Language Classroom: Meeting the Needs of the Globalized World”  
          
January 21-22, 2011
The Empress Hotel, Chiang Mai, Thailand

Rationale

As teachers and educators, we are undeniably concerned with the welfare and progress of our students. Yet, while we may focus our efforts on the events of the classroom, events of the wider world continue apace. Digital technology, advances in communication, ever-growing trade, and the growing cross border reach of cultures are all apparent. In conjunction with this, the use of and need for English continue to grow. Indeed, we now commonly hear the terms English as an International Language, World Englishes, or English as a Lingua Franca bandied about. All these terms acknowledge the fact that both the users of English and the uses of English are changing. Native English speakers are no longer the owners or even the gatekeepers of the language.

Thailand TESOL 2011 conference will explore the impact of these changes at ground zero, namely, in the language classroom. How can language classrooms of the future address the changing role of the English language within the globalized world? What adjustments need to be made to ensure that students are truly being prepared for this changing world? And intriguingly, how can the globalization process including the changes in information technology, impact teaching methodology itself?  Such questions are unavoidable as teachers recognize the rapidly changing world around them. The 2011 conference is a chance to stop and take stock of how these changes have influenced classroom practice and how they may influence the classroom in years to come. The conference will enable participants to take a fresh look at both teaching practice and language needs, to ensure learners are well-equipped to succeed in the world of tomorrow.

Objectives

This international conference is organized annually so that participants will have opportunities to
1. update themselves with innovations in English language teaching,
2. learn from the work of leading educators, researchers, and teachers,
3. exchange ideas with fellow professionals from all sectors of ELT,
4. explore the latest ELT publications and services in a large exhibition involving almost a hundred of ELT-related exhibitors.

Participants

Approximately 800 presenters, educators, researchers, and instructors from thirty countries participate in this conference every year.

Format 

The presentation format consists of:  Plenary, featured presentations and concurrent academic presentations which include paper presentation, workshops, colloquium, publishers’ and poster presentations.  Thai teachers can choose to give their presentations in either English or in Thai. 

                                                                               
Proposals addressing the conference theme in relation to the following areas will receive first consideration
 

The presentations can be based on classroom projects, suggested lesson plans, action research or reports on classroom practice etc. All sessions except publishers’ presentations should be non-commercial: The presenters should not focus on publicity of one book.

The ThaiTESOL committee joined a welcoming reception in honor of the new Regional English Language Officer "Mr. Damon A. Anderson" at Dusit Thani Hotel on August 3, 2010.

Thailand TESOL New Focus May 2010 has been launched. Click READ MORE for interesting articles inside.

Proceedings of the Asia TEFL / Thai TESOL

International Conference

Creativity and Collaboration in English Language Teaching

August 7-9, 2009

The Imperial Queens Park Hotel, Bangkok, Thailand

Foreword from the Thai TESOL President

It is my pleasure to welcome you to the Proceedings of the Asia TEFL / ThaiTESOL Conference, Creativity and Collaboration in English Language Teaching, held in Bangkok in August of 2009.  Many of us look back at the conference itself as a wonderful example of creativity and collaboration.  Indeed, co-hosting the regional conference with Asia TEFL is an opportunity that we await with great anticipation.

This year’s proceedings are filled with practical tips and useful insights for teachers of English, and are international in scope.  For example, from Japan, Lyndon Small offers five adaptable exercises to assist EFL teachers in planning structured vocabulary exercises based on loan words.  In a bi-national effort between Malaysia and Thailand, Syaharom Addullah and Anurak Binnui focus on students who created business plans and made field trips to enhance communication and entrepreneurial skills.

If you are looking for easy-to-use activities, you will want to read William “Andy” Anderson’s “A Super Toolbox for Creative Teachers,” and “Fifty Pathways to Out-of-Class Language Learning, by A.K. Kripps.  Dr. Kantatip Sinhaneti also explores using local news broadcasts to strengthen listening skills, and provides a number of adaptable classroom tasks and worksheets.  Thomas Hoy offers creative exercises that stimulate and develop inner speech in EFL learners.

Thai university students are the focus in Supakorn Phoocharoensil and Damrong Attaprechakul’s papers.  Ajarn Supakorn examines challenges learners face with relative clauses in English, while Ajarn Damrong investigates students’ creative potential in regard to reading authentic letters about political unrest in Sri Lanka.  Kanjana Charttrakul explores collaborative Internet-based learning in Thai EFL classrooms, including the teacher’s role and students’ perceptions.

For the reflective teacher, Pisarn “Bee” Chamcharatsri looks at classroom observation as one way to gain deeper awareness and understanding of the classroom culture and of our performance as teachers. 

These are but a sample of the Proceedings, and I hope that all of them will offer useful insights into the creative and collaborative aspects of our unique and time-honored profession.  Enjoy!

I offer my sincere thanks to the Thai TESOL community for their efforts to make the conference and proceedings a success, and I look forward to the upcoming year in preparation for the 2011 conference in Chiang Mai.  Please join us!

Sincerely,

Ubon Sanpatchayapong

President, Thai TESOL

Inside the Black Box

By Khunying  Kasama Varavarn

Presented  at  the 30th Annual Thailand TESOL  International Conference on ELT in the Next Decade: Sharing, Caring and Daring
 

It is an honor to have been invited to speak in the Thailand TESOL International Symposium on the theme of “ ELT in the Next Decade: Sharing, Caring and Daring”.

I would like to congratulate Thailand TESOL for successfully organizing  international conferences for many consecutive years, illustrating English teachers’ commitments  to  professional development.

In this symposium, we would have the good opportunity to learn about the latest policy development and advancements in knowledge and technology relating to the teaching of English. Within recent years, the Thai government has devoted considerable efforts and financial supports for training of English teachers. It is a credit to all English teachers and the supporting agencies that the outcomes have been most gratifying. Because of your hard work, the government seems encouraged to continue providing the necessary supports. I am fully confidant that within the next few years, we shall witness marked improvement in English proficiency among Thai students and hopefully, their O-NET scores as well.

However, progress achieved in the past does not guarantee our success in the future. Having read Professor Michael Fullan’s book on “The  Six Secrets of Change”, I try to assess our current strategies in terms of his proposed conditions for successful transformation of a large scale educational system.

He begins by reminding us that even though we must focus on our customers, we must “love our employees” as well. If we apply  his recommendation to our child-centered approach to education, it means that we have to take good care of our teachers to insure that they are well motivated and well supported. They should have opportunities to improve their competencies and benefit from meaningful interaction with fellow teachers.

I have always taken pride in our efforts to assist our teachers from recruitment, training to career advancements, but coming to this symposium today and learning that many basic education teachers are unable to attend this important symposium due to lack of funds makes me wonder whether we have loved our teachers enough.

Professor Fullan further recommends that in order to bring about changes, we must help to “connect peer with purpose”, “build their capacity” , recognize that the most effective learning must be related to their work  and continuously develop our system in support of these changes.

I was most interested in his emphasis that “transparency must rule”,namely,we must open the “black box” of instruction to analyze what works and what does not works in order to help our teachers more effectively.