CFP: Conference on College English, National Chengchi University, Taiwan

The 3rd Conference on College English
Opportunities and Challenges for Teaching and Learning
National Chengchi University, Taipei, Taiwan
11th April 2009

Co-organizer: Language Teaching and Research Center, NCTU

National Chengchi University is proud to announce the 3rd Conference on College English, a stimulating and rewarding academic forum for the presentation and discussion of College English issues. Under the heading College English, we include such programs as Freshman English and Practical English, and indeed any program at a university or college, in which English is taught to non-native speakers.

This year, we are pleased to welcome an international keynote speaker, Dr. Paul Kei Matsuda (see the Call for Papers for details). It is hoped that researchers and teachers outside Taiwan will also take the opportunity to offer papers.

The conference has now become an annual institution, and this year it will build on the themes explored in the previous two conferences. In the first conference, topics included the role of College English as a General Education subject, and the concomitant expectation that we must go beyond the English teaching brief, and help our students to learn important life skills such as civic responsibility. Needed changes to College English curricula, due to the trend towards longer mandatory English programs at Taiwan universities, were also the subject of fruitful discussions. In 2008, the accent was again on the proliferation and growing importance of College English courses, and how innovative pedagogical research can support the changing expectations and needs of learners and other stakeholders.

This year’s conference theme, Opportunities and Challenges for Teaching and Learning, is intended to reflect an even broader focus for discussion and presentation. Contributions on specific aspects of teaching any of the four skills are just as welcome as papers on more holistic approaches. Other areas of interest include cross-cultural issues, motivating less enthusiastic students, and handling large student numbers, as well as curriculum and policy issues, which might include the use of 1L in the classroom, Needs Analysis, and learner assessment, to name a few. The use of technology in teaching, including of course Data-Driven Learning and the use of corpora, is another fruitful area. Here are some further suggested topics.