Campus Digest

Language Centre hosts International Conference on Language Teaching and Learning

Wednesday, 17 July 2024

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The Language Centre holds the International Conference on Language Teaching and Learning, themed “Engagement in the Digital Era”.
The conference brings together guests and speakers from higher education institutions around the world.
Guests and speakers interact during the conference.

The International Conference on Language Teaching and Learning, themed “Engagement in the Digital Era”, was held by the Language Centre on 17 and 18 June. 198 guests and presenters from higher education institutions in the Mainland, Hong Kong, Korea, Indonesia, Malaysia, Australia, the UK, and the US engaged in discussions on social, cognitive, behavioural, and affective dimensions of engagement in language teaching and learning.

The opening was officiated by Dr Albert Chau, Vice-President (Teaching and Learning), and Dr Cissy Li, Head of the Language Centre. In his welcome speech, Dr Chau said: “Technologies have created problems that cannot be solved by technologies alone. Humanities scholars should play a leading role in this debate on technological development.”

Dr Li utilised the symbolism of dandelion flowers to represent the widespread dissemination of knowledge and ideas, and invoked the spirit of John Dewey, an American philosopher and educator who believed that “education is not preparation for life; education is life itself.”

The conference featured six parallel sessions and 116 presentations. The keynote speeches were delivered by renowned scholars in language teaching and learning, including Professor Norbert Pachler, Pro-Vice-Provost (Quality and Standards) of University College London; Professor Rod Ellis, John Curtin Distinguished Professor of Curtin University; Professor Boping Yuan, Professor Emeritus in Chinese Language and Linguistics of the University of Cambridge; and Professor Glenn Stockwell, Professor of Applied Linguistics of Waseda University.

A special colloquium was held during the conference to honour Professor Bill Littlewood, Honorary Professor of HKBU, for his remarkable contributions to the field of language education. In his closing remarks, Dr Joshua Chan, Associate Head of the Language Centre, reflected on the wisdom of Lev Vygotsky, a Russian and Soviet psychologist, emphasising the significance of structured and spontaneous knowledge as the key to fostering knowledge exchange beyond this event.

Please click here for more information about the conference.