Round Table Discussion
"The Future of Teaching in the Digital Age: Opportunities and Challenges"
Among the issues to be discussed are utilising technology in teaching and learning, the impact of COVID-19 on online learning/teaching and the implications for teachers and leaners.
* These will be virtual sessions. The link for live streaming will be provided later.
Panelist
Dr Noor Azam Haji-Othman
Dr Noor Azam Haji-Othman is the Dean of Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at Universiti Brunei Darussalam (UBD), and Associate Professor of English Language and Linguistics where he teaches Communication and Media Studies. He was the Founding Director and former Visiting Professor at the UBD-FPT Global Centre in Da Nang, Vietnam (2017-2018). His research interests include sociolinguistics, language and identity, language and social policy, as well as interactions between languages in Brunei and bilingualism in relation to/ as a result of state policy on language, education and society. His previous research projects relating to Brunei include Language Use in Brunei, Ethnicity and Language, Language Documentation, Professional Communication in the Oil and Gas Industry, Youth Perception of Culture and the Arts in Brunei. He co-edited the book ‘The Use and Status of Language in Brunei Darussalam: A Kingdom of Unexpected Linguistic Diversity’ published by Springer in 2016, and has recently co-authored a paper in The Routledge International Handbook of Language Education Policy in Asia published in 2019.
Panelist
Dr Juliana Shak
Dr Juliana Shak is a lecturer in Language and Literacy Education at Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah Institute of Education, Universiti Brunei Darussalam. She has been involved in teacher education for more than 10 years in Brunei Darussalam. She received her D.Phil in Education from University of Oxford, MA from the University of Warwick and B.Ed. (Hons.) from Universiti Brunei Darussalam. Her research interests include language and literacy development in English as a Second Language, child second language learning and multilingualism in education. She is also interested in classroom interaction, particularly the role of language in learning. Her other area of interest is teacher education. Her most recent work focuses on how young bilingual learners use language to inter-think during peer collaboration.
Panelist
Dr Andrew Littlejohn
Dr Andrew Littlejohn is an Associate Professor of English Language Education and Deputy Dean (Research) at Universiti Brunei Darussalam. He specialises in materials design and school-based language teaching. Prior to this, he taught at universities and language institutes in Oman, the UK (London and Lancaster), Mexico, Bahrain, Netherlands, Sweden and Spain to name a few. He is a three-time winner of English-Speaking Union Awards at Buckingham Palace for his writings in ELT methodology. He has published articles and papers in numerous journals and edited collections, and is the author of many books (mainly published by Cambridge University Press) for a wide range of language teaching contexts and purposes. He is also the co-editor of a number of collections which include the Classroom decision-making: negotiation and process syllabuses in practice (CUP, 2000) and most recently, Innovation in Language Learning and Teaching (Routledge, 2020). He has been invited as plenary or keynote speaker in numerous international conferences in Australia, Bahrain, Brazil, Chile, China, Colombia, Ecuador, France, Italy, Mexico, Oman, Pakistan, Peru, Singapore, Spain, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, UAE, UK and Vietnam. Dr Littlejohn’s personal website contains many articles, papers and an A-Z language teaching materials for professionals, teachers and researchers to consult and download freely. Please visit www.AndrewLittlejohn.net
Panelist
Professor Dr. Ahmad Mazli Bin Muhammad
Professor Dr. Ahmad Mazli Bin Muhammad is the former Dean of Akademi Pengajian Bahasa, Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM). He obtained his Masters in Curriculum and Teaching at Michigan State University and his Ph.D in Assessment and Evaluation at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. He has been with UiTM for 30 years. His vast experience includes teaching and learning, curriculum design, delivery and assessment.
His current interests include curriculum evaluation as well as alignment of outcomes to assessments. He has given talks and provided consultancy especially in aligning outcomes to assessments. His involvement in the technical committee of the iCGPA initiative has helped UiTM in fine tuning academic curriculum at the university.
Professor Dr. Ahmad Mazli is also involved in research projects and innovation efforts. Currently, he is engaged in planning, policy and decision making for various initiatives at the faculty to uphold and upgrade the performance for six academic programmes (diploma, degree and post-graduate) as well as modern language courses.
Moderator
Dr Ishamina Athirah Muntassir (Gardiner)
Dr Ishamina Athirah Muntassir (Gardiner) is Lecturer of English Language and Communication Skills at the Language Centre, Universiti Brunei Darussalam. She has taught courses in phonetics and forensic linguistics, and is currently teaching Academic English at UBD and intensive English language programmes. Her research interests are in phonetics and phonology, pronunciation teaching, English as a Lingua Franca (ELF), Global Englishes, Asian Englishes, and English Medium Instruction (EMI) education. Her recent publications include papers in the Handbook of Asian Englishes (Wiley Blackwell), the Routledge Handbook of English as a Lingua Franca, the Routledge Handbook of Contemporary English Pronunciation, the Journal of International Phonetic Association, and Journal of Second Language Pronunciation, as well as chapters in several edited volumes on EMI, language assessment in the context ofGlobal Englishes, and English teacher education in Brunei. She is currently conducting research on Bruneian teachers’ attitudes towards ELF, and is involved in several research projects such as investigating teachers’ and learners’ perceptions of the language classroom together with AP Dr Andrew Littlejohnand Dr Sarah Boye of UBD, examining students’ perceptions on EMI in Brunei with the English Language team at the Language Centre UBD, as well as describing the phonetics of Malay with Professor David Deterding and Dr Najib Noorashid for Cambridge Elements.