maele.net

• Online TEFL, Teach Business English, Teach Young Learners – Diploma & Certificate Courses http://www.teflonlinecertification.com/

If you would like to advertise your conference/seminar here, please send info to maele.net@gmail.com
maele.net@gmail.com

2012

• The 5th International Independent Learning Association Conference, When: Thursday 30 August – Sunday 2 September 2012 Where: Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand. http://www.ila.net.nz/

2011

• Conference  at UIAM (April 22-24^th, 2011) http://www.iium.edu.my/ilc/?About_ILC_2011
• Conference at  UTM SPACE Title: 3^rd global advance in business communication conference and exhibition (GABC 2011). http://seminar.spaceutm.edu.my/gabc2011/
• First call for papers for the 10th European Conference on e-Learning (ECEL) being held at Brighton Business School, University of Brighton, UK  on the 10-11 November 2011. http://academic-conferences.org/ecel/ecel2011/ecel11-call-papers.htm

• The 9th Asia TEFL Conference will be held at the Hotel Seoul KyoYuk MunHwa HoeKan in Seoul, Korea, on July 27-29, 2011. The conference theme is “Teaching English in a Changing Asia: Challenges and Directions.” The deadline for the submission of presentation proposals is March 1, 2011. For more information about the 2011 conference, please visit the Asia TEFL website: http://www.asiatefl.org
• CALICO Annual Conference. Theme: “Mediated Learning Communities”. University of Victoria Canada 17-21 May, 2010 https://calico.org/page.php?id=3D468. Dateline 31 Oct 2010
• Solls-Intect 2011 PPBL-UKM
• 4th English Language Conference, UPSI 7 – 8  March 2011. Click here for info. Extended Abstract dateline:30 November 2010. http://www.upsi.edu.my/index.php/ms/halaman-utama/berita/531-4th-english-language-conference.html
• Online Conference:  February 22-24, 2011. Call For Virtual Participation. Proposals Due: November 30, 2010.
  www.aace/org/conf/gtime

2010

• AsiaCALL2010, International Conference, 29 November – 1 December 2010. Check http://asiatefl.org
• GloCALL, 1 – 3 December 2010, Le Meridian, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia, http://glocall.org
• The 8^th ASIA TEFL INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE, August 6- 8th, 2010, Thanh Guest House in Hanoi, Vietnam
• more to come...

Annual Conferences

MICELT

• http://www.micelt.com.my/

MELTA

• http://www.melta.org.my/modules/news/

SEEAIR

SOLLs.INTECT

• http://pkukmweb.ukm.my/~solls09/

This page lists publications related to language education, language teaching and learning, e-learning, and mobile learning, written by Malaysian English Language Educators. If you would like add any new related publications, please the info to maele.net@gmail.com. Thank you for your cooperation to share knowledge and information.

• Pintar Bahasa Inggeris melalui kaedah Green & Latin. (2010).  Kuala Lumpur: PTS Professional.
• Readings in online language learning & teaching (2008).  Bangi: PPA & e-learning Research Group, UKM
• Policy & Implementation of e-Learning in institutions of higher learning. (2008). Bangi:  PPA & e-Learning Research Group, UKM
• Pedagogi dan Pembangunan e-Pembelajaran di Institut Pengajian Tinggi. (2007). Bangi: PPA & e-Learning Research Group, UKM
• Online teaching and learning in ELT (2006). Bangi: PPA & e-Learning Research Group, UKM

MAELE invites Malaysian English Language Educators to place their information and specialization here for public reference. In academia, experts in certain areas are hunted by universities and schools for several reasons:

• key note speaker
• paper presenter
• trainer
• external examiner for thesis
• program examiner
• advisor
• forum panelist
• newspaper columnist
• editor
• speech writer
• drama/film/movie/documentary script writer

Please send your info to maele.net@gmail.com

• Name: …………..E-mail: ………..Website/Blog:………
• Academic Qualifications & Institutions: e.g. BA English (UM), MA ELS  (University of Alabama ), Ph.D. Education (University of Oxford)
• Specialization:

For non-native English language speakers in Malaysia, learning English as a second language is a great challenge. It is quite interesting to observe how English is learned in Malaysia. Before Malaysia’s Independence in 1957, the English language was considered as important as the national language, i.e. the Malay language. Most educated Malaysians were bilingual.

English remained as a Second language in Malaysia until 1975 when a new language policy was introduced in early 70s that the medium of instruction in all schools should be carried out in the Malay language. As a result, English became a subject course instead of being used across all subjects.

Following this turning point, a requirement for students to pass the English examination paper was also dropped off, and yet students could continue their education at high school level even if they failed their English paper.

For the next 20 years, English was perceived as a foreign language rather than a second language to the Malay language. Hence, the status of English language in Malaysia has declined since then. Later in response to economic recession in 1997 in Malaysia, the Malaysian government took a few drastic actions to reform the economy in Malaysia.

The needs for more graduates and k-workers who could speak English well and who are able to work in multinational companies were listed as important strategies. To meet such needs, the government reversed the English language policy in schools. Beginning 2003, the medium of instruction for Math and Science subjects started to be taught in English. It is no longer second to Bahasa Melayu but Second. The term “Second” carries a connotative meaning, i.e., important and survival.

Recently, due to continuous strong protest against the use of English as a medium of instruction in Mathematics and Science by many prominent individuals and NGOs, the government reverted the policy that the teaching of Mathematics and Science will be in Bahasa Melayu beginning 2012. Here, English will become a second language again. To some students in rural or remote areas, English may be a third or foreign language.

English is considered “Second” when the target language is the language is needed in particular contexts. It means that a person has to master the language in order to survive in the given context. Therefore, a Malaysian who speaks the Malay language as his/her mother tongue has to master the English language in order to survive in an English speaking country or community or organization or company. He may have to speak English like native English speakers. In some private colleges and companies in Malaysia, English is “Second” to the students and workers respectively.

English is considered “second” when the target language is an added advantage to a person whose English is not his/her mother tongue. In other words, English is second to his/her mother tongue. He/she can still survive in a country or community or organization or company even if he doesn’t speak English like native.

English is considered “foreign” when the target language is not a must in any country or community or organization or company. In government agencies, English is foreign to most government servants.

In a nutshell, English may be “Second”, “second” or “foreign” to an individual, depending on the need and demand of it in his/her particular contexts. It doesn’t mean that a country is the only determinant in this issue.

Is it appropriate to teach English using other languages?

The best way to teach English is in English itself, not in Bahasa Melayu or any other mother tongue. The best way to master the language is to hear and see the target language as well as to make use of the target language everyday.

As teachers, we can’t expect our students to understand everything in English if they don’t speak English as their first language. What moView postre important is that they are exposed to the target language. They hear more words in that target language everyday. They use the target language everyday. If we subscribe to Monitor Theory in Second Language Acquisition, we should accept the fact that the best way to master a second language is through acquisition; language learning will complement the acquisition.

When we talk about language acquisition, we must “immerse” the students in the language; we should provide an “English” speaking environment so that these students will continuously gain rich inputs in the target language.

Obviously, the ideal thing to do is to let the students live a country where English is spoken as a mother tongue. Common observations show that those who stay in English speaking countries can master the target language faster and better. What if the students can’t afford to live in English speaking countries? Of course, the best thing to do is to create or provide that English speaking environment for them in this country. Therefore, teaching English in English is the best. The moment we teach English in other languages, we actually teach our students to be dependent learners. If fact, if we continue to teach English in other languages, we don’t TEACH them ENGLISH but we TEACH them ABOUT ENGLISH.

In language learning, there is a “silent period’ for some students. They hear the target language but are not ready to respond or produce the target language outputs. We can’t expect everyone to master the language immediately. Language acquisition is always developmental. So is language learning. Thus, continuous teaching English in English and providing rich inputs in English through fun, meaningful, and non-threatening activities will help them to acquire the target language gradually. Their linguistic competence will be improved as time passes by although their target language performance may not refect their proficiency at the beginning stage.

Does it mean we can’t use our mother tongue at all when we teach English? Yes we can but rarely.

Click to visit the following sites

Selected articles

• Computer Assisted Language Learning: An Introduction. http://www.ict4lt.org/en/warschauer.htm
• Information and Communications Technology for Language Teachers (ICT4Lt project)
• Technology-Enhanced Language Learning: Hype or Gold Mine? — by David Eastment
• CALL is not a Hammer (I-TESL-J) – by Judy F. Chen
• CALL: Its Scope and Limits — speech by Frank Berberich
• Computer-assisted Language Learning @ Chorus — by Jim Duber
• A Place to Start in Selecting Software – by Deborah Healey and Norman Johnson
• A Survey of Unanswered Questions in Computer Assisted Language Learning — by Philip Hubbard
• Authoring in CALL – links to authoring systems for CALL
• CALL Bibliography (up to 1997 )– by Mike Barlow
• Postgraduate Courses in CALL & TELL
• Computer assisted language learning: program structure and principles – Google Books Result Keith Cameron – 1989  Language Arts & Disciplines – 115 pages books.google.com.my/books?isbn=0893915602…

Other important sites

• http://www.edvista.com/claire/call.html
• http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/title~content=t716100697~db=all

Papers presented at seminars/conferences but  have not been published by Malaysian English Language Educators

2005-2010 only

• will be here soon

Papers published by Malaysian English Language Educators

2005-2010 only

• will be here soon

Why do teachers use blogs in education?

• http://www.adrianbruce.com/blogging/why_blog/why_blog_with_students.htm

Watch these videos

How to use blogs in our teaching?

• http://www.tltgroup.org/resources/blogs.htm
• http://www.teachersfirst.com/content/blog/blogbasics.cfm
• http://my-ecoach.com/online/webresourcelist.php?rlid=4992
• http://www.glencoe.com/sec/teachingtoday/educationupclose.phtml/47
• more to come…

Examples: current practices

• http://millersenglish10.blogspot.com/ 
• http://secondlanguagewriting.com/explorations/Archives/2006/Jun/HowtoUseBlogsintheClassr.html
• more to come…

More videos on blog