Invited Speakers

Each year, JALT welcomes two speakers who represent the values, work, and vision of two teachers who served as leaders in our association: the Bill Balsamo Asian Scholar and the Kevin Cleary Invited Speaker.
Hà Phạm Việt – Bill Balsamo Asian Scholar
Ken Urano – Kevin Cleary Invited Speaker
See the complete list of previous Asian Scholars
Hà Phạm Việt
The Oxford English Academy (OEA Vietnam)
The CEFR in Vietnam: From adoption to adaptation
Bill Balsamo Asian Scholar
The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) was officially adopted as the national framework of reference for foreign language education in Vietnam in 2008 under Decision 1400/QĐ-TTG. This leads to the development of Vietnamese Competency Framework for English Language Teachers, major changes in national entry and exit requirements for English language competency at all education levels, curriculum, textbooks and criteria for recognition of national and international English proficiency tests.
The presentation, as an independent language policy review, discusses the efforts to adopt the CEFR and its underlying approaches in Vietnam between 2008 and 2015, its initial impacts on EL learning, teaching and assessment, challenges faced by the systems and its on-going process of adapting the CEFR into a localized version which can both reflects the Vietnamese context and international standards of English language teaching. The author also makes a number of recommendations on factors to be considered for the successful use of the CEFR in contexts similar to Vietnam.
Ms. Pham has a M.A. in Applied Linguistics from the University of Melbourne (2000) and a B.A. in Mandarin Chinese and English from the University of Social Science and Humanity (1996).
She is currently the Director of Studies for Oxford English Academy Vietnam. Since 2011, she, as an independent consultant for National Project of Foreign Languages 2020 (Ministry of Education and Training), has participated in a number of reforms in foreign language policies including strategies in foreign language teaching and assessment for the schooling system, the production of teacher training TV series on effective classroom assessment and the application of CEFR in Vietnam.
Ken Urano
Hokkai-Gakuen University
TBLT in Japan: In search of the middle ground
Kevin Cleary Invited Speaker
Task-based language teaching (TBLT) is not a new notion in Japan, with relevant books published and researchers and practitioners forming interest groups to share ideas and experiences. To the contrary, it seems that discussions about actual implementation of TBLT are still limited, and attempts to adopt a task-based curriculum are mostly, if not all, made by individual teachers, rather than language programs or schools.
Many of the discussions on the feasibility of TBLT in Japan have centered on secondary education, and it is often argued that TBLT is difficult to implement because of authorized textbooks that are mostly based on the structural syllabus and the existence of entrance examinations. However, there are few task-based English courses even in tertiary education in Japan, where there is no more entrance exam and teachers are free to choose their textbooks.
In this talk, I will first look into potential obstacles to TBLT in Japan, and then try to argue that some of the reasons against TBLT are based on misunderstandings. Finally, I will explore a landing site where people with different views on TBLT can agree with one another.
Ken Urano is a professor at the Faculty of Business Administration, Hokkai-Gakuen University in Sapporo, where he mainly teaches English to business students. He is also a visiting professor at the Graduate Program in Foreign Languages, Nagoya Gakuin University, where he supervises master’s students in English. His research interests include second language acquisition (SLA), especially acquisition of morphology and syntax, research methodology in SLA, task-based language teaching, English for specific purposes, and computer-assisted language learning.
JALT Conference Asian Scholars
Year Name Country (Sponsor) Presentation title
1988: Lu Liang-De, PR of China (Kobe Steel) Linguistic Theory and Classroom Reality
1990: Zakia Sarwar Pakistan, (Catena/Komiya Fund) Listening Skills for Large Classes
1990: Jayagowri Shivakumar, India (Catena/Komiya Fund) Teacher Growth by Strengthening Teacher Development Groups
1991: Valentina Mitina, Russia (Catena/Komiya Fund) Peace Education Through FLT in the USSR
1993: Tran van Phuoc and Le thi Huynh Trang, Vietnam (Catena/Komiya Fund) Language Teaching in Vietnam
1995: Liu Daoyi and Tang Dexin, PR of China Ten Years of the National Syllabus for College English: Searching for New Directions
1996: Souksamone Pathammavong and Vilavath Thephithuck, Laos (TLT)
1997: Lilia Maria F. Realubit, Philippines, Teaching English in the Philippines
1998: Hannah Danesvari Pillay, Malaysia (MELTA)
1999: Christianity Nur, Indonesia, Indonesia and its Language Teacher Associations Material Design and Development for Indonesian Learners
2000: In Lee, South Korea
2005: Chamroeun Koun, Cambodia, Students’ Beliefs About the Causes of Their Failure
2006: Wu Zongjie, PR of China, Exploratory Practice for Transforming Teachers’ Professional Discourse
2007: Arifa Rahman, Bangladesh, Training of Teachers in Rural Bangladesh Schools Discovering Grammar
2008: Tran Van Phouc, Vietnam, Is there an Interlingual Vietnamese-English? CLT in Vietnam Schools: Reality and Solutions
2009: Amihan April Mella-Alcazar, Philippines, Functional Literacy and Contextual Learning Theories
2010: Om Soryong, Cambodia, Using Humour: The Spice of Effective Teaching
2011: Milagros Laurel, Philippines, Of Leaves, Moons, & Grasshoppers
2012: Inggy Yuliani Pribady, Indonesia, The Genre-Based Approach to Teaching English
2013: Rubina Khan, Bangladesh, The BELTA Journey: Developments and Challenges
2014: Sonthida Keyuravong, Thailand, Technology and Communication Across Borders