Bachok-Pasir Puteh Cluster TELL2 & Beyond: April 2018

It was my good kismet, I got to participate in the 1st Annual ASEAN English Language Teaching Conference- Maxamizing the Potential in ASEAN Diversities Through English. It occurred on the 15 -17 March, 2018. Melaka was the host site of the inauguratory event, it plans to rotate every year through all the ASEAN countries. Next year, it heads to Palembang. The event's main sponsors were University Putra Malaysia (UPM), Universitas Islam Negri (UIN), and the US Embassy KL.

This conference can trace its roots from an event last year in Jakarta. UIN, UPM, and US Embassy Jakarta sponsored the Indonesian Malaysian English Language Teaching conference. It was aptly named, "Breaking Boarders, Enriching the ELT Experience." The event took a regional approach to teaching English. It was the Geist of this event that birthed the ASEAN ELT Conference. You can check out the blog for reference ( click here IMELT blog ) Side-note: I ran into my fellow musketeers, Ma Vin and Ikhsanudin, in Jakarta and Melaka.

Glen Richards and US Ambassador Kamala Lakhdhir were the keynote speakers. A brief summary of their talks. Mr Richards took the audience through the last 40 years of English Teaching to the present day importance of core dimensions of teacher development, language proficiency, applications of pedagogic content knowledge, content knowledge, repertoire of teaching skills, expert teachers, conceptions of teaching, cultures of learning, developing one's sense of identity as a language teacher, and developing Learner Focus Teaching. He was a eloquent and succinct.

The US ambassador is originally from Brooklyn, NY and she began with background information about her career. She is a former English teacher herself, having taught in China and other places. She had been assigned to the Middle East and other Asian countries before coming to Malaysia. She spoke about an inspiring Malaysian Educator who is the top Polar research scientist in the country, Dr Siti Aisyah Alias. She concluded he talk telling us more or less, her impact as an ambassador is less and more short-lived than our long lasting and potentially life changing impacts we have as educators. It was a powerful message, given the source.

My co-presenter for the session was Maddam Farah, we were teammates previously in Langkawi and Sabah. Our presentation was a fast and furious hands-on session, the Giddy Game-Based Learning Lab. We had a 55 minutes session with about 75 minutes with material, lol. We met the afternoon of the presentation for the final huddle and we hatcheted excess material. We started our session early and ran a wee bit late. We were pleasantly surprised to have a packed room by the end of the presentation, standing room only. We began our session with a pre-toon, that projected only green due to a weak bulb in the projector, and brief introductions of ourselves. Madam Farah set the parameters for the session by explaining the differences between gamification and game-based learning. Next, I led a quick review and discussion on the benefits of game-based learning.

Since the theory portion of our presentation was over, it was time to roll up the sleeves and get busy. We split into 2 groups. Madam Farah facilitated one group (G1) and I facilitated the other one (G2). G1 had fun making and playing parts of speech cootie catchers. G2 had trail run with the Past Progressive Freeze Game. Like a healthy classroom, the conference room was buzzing with the hum of activity and participants milling about with interactions. The second round included G1 playing a Grammar Game on Contractions and Possessives (Their, They're, Its, It's, Your, You're). Participants were intrinsically motivated by the gamification technique of giving Apostrophe Badges as a reward. G2 was engaged with a Living Sentence task.

The clock was ticking, so we divided into 4 groups a played a round of digital version of Grammar Jeopardy. Even though are participants hailed from different parts of ASEAN countries, apparently Jeopardy was not a popular show and this was their exposure to the format of the game. Like any good designed game, it has all the mechanisms to elicit participation and competition, with low/no stakes for failure. The group quickly learned to give their answers in a form of a question, as per Alex Trebek's rules. The group found a useful tool for making grammar more fun and less dry in Jeopardy.

With the buzzer about to sound, we went into hyper-speed mode. I briefly recommended a few cool apps they can use in the classroom, or more importantly share with their learners who can use it outside of the classroom. Madam Farah wowed the participants with a demonstration of of Plickers. Time was up, we officially dismissed the participants with a positive firsthand experience to use digital and non-digital games in the classroom. All the resources presented were accessible via Google.Drive to the participants. The dynamic duo had left a mark that would travel back with the participants to various classrooms throughout the AESAN region. See you in Palembang 2019!