The Language Teacher
December 2000

Special Report on Korea TESOL2000

Joyce Cunningham



Korea TESOL2000 was held this year from September 30 to October 1st at Kyoungbuk National University in Taegu City, located approximately half way between Seoul and Pusan in South Korea. The conference theme was Casting the Net: Diversity in Language and Learning.

It was a friendly, exciting conference with about 750 teachers in attendance. It was presided over by Korea' s Outgoing President Han SangHo, Conference Chair and Incoming President Andrew Finch and Programme Chair Kirsten Reitan. Our very own Jane Hoelker, Korea TESOL International Liaison Chair, was present, and another very pleasant surprise was seeing Jill Robbins, JALT99 Conference Programme Chair, who wishes you all well and looks forward to seeing you at JALT2000. Internationally renowned plenary speakers included Dr. Richard Allwright (of the University of Lancaster, who spoke at JALT98), Dr. Leo Van Lier (of Monterey Institute of International Studies in California) and a special workshop was lead by Dr. Andy Curtis (who spoke at JALT99 and is now studying and writing in Ontario, Canada). Other dignitaries included Utebayeva Zaira from the Kazakhstan Institute of Management and her colleague Larissa Akihanova, an expert in Business English from Soros Language School in Kazakhstan. Galina Nickolaevna Lovtsevitch, the President of East Russian TESOL was there as well, and we hope that this will be the beginning of a deepening relationship between our three countries (as you may know, a group of JALTers, including Bill Balsamo and others, attended the East Russian conference last June).

The KoreaTESOL president referred to PAC3 and JALT and gave a glowing report before a packed plenary. During the conference, David McMurray, JALT National Treasurer and JALT2001 Conference Programme Chair, and I (as JALT representative) were hard at work contacting all our PAC (Pan Asian Consortium) supporters to invite them to the PAC3 and JALT2001 planning meetings in Shizuoka, as well as updating them about our conferences and encouraging them to attend the next combined event in Kitakyushu. PAC includes such national organizations as ThaiTESOL, ETA ROC (Taiwan), KoreaTESOL, and JALT, and receives support from TESOL International, IATEFL and TESL Canada. Outgoing KoreaTESOL President Han SangHo and KoreaTESOL Publications Chair Robert Dickey are giving a joint presentation at JALT2001, and we worked with them on such programming details as brainstorming an appropriate title for their presentation. David McMurray and I did lots of networking: making contacts, and discussing issues with professionals from around the world (some of whom are mentioned above), and JALT was on the lips of the main speakers and was referred to at the opening ceremony and other meetings. At least 20 JALT members were present and highly visible at KoreaTESOL, for many were presenting. I took over JALT material, (thanks Junko Fujio, JALT Central Office Supervisor for preparing this) and there was a JALT table, along with a CUE SIG and an AYF table to represent JALT well.

The PAC3/JALT2001 meeting got positive reactions from attendees: David announced that Chris Candlin and Anne Burns are doing a joint plenary. He pointed out that 25-minute slots are being planned for JALT2001 in the hope that more presenters will be able to give a paper (and thus, more paying attendees). It was also appreciated when it was pointed out that JALT2001 Programming is busy searching for low cost accommodation for our attendees outside of Japan. Kip Cates, with his talent for reaching out to people and getting them enthusiastic about his ideas on globalization, was there to chair the Asian Youth Forum meeting.

David and I were invited to several receptions and lunches, and each was a great opportunity to do a lot of building bridges between countries, and boost the image of JALT. The Call for Papers for JALT2001 was included in the conference handbag and the handbook contained a one-page announcement on PAC3 in Kitakyushu with encouragement to apply to present before January 15, 2001, plus another full page in the PAC Journal and encouragement to submit academic papers before November 30, 2000.

Social activities at the conference included a cocktail party on the first night for international guests and the conference organizing committees hosted by Hakmun Publishing and their President Kim Young-Chul greeted visitors with Banner Japan and their Director, Trevor Reynolds and Manager Chris Lovering. On the second night of the conference, there were Korean traditional music concerts organized by the Kyungpook University Department of Music and tasty Korean food to enjoy around town.

Both David and I wish to congratulate KoreaTESOL for a job well done. We especially want to thank our partner organization for the unfailing courtesy and kindness they extended to us during the conference. We hope that you will consider attending the next KoreaTESOL conference (to be held the first weekend in October in Seoul next year) to discover for yourselves Korean conference hospitality, good academic presentations, and interesting travel in another land.

This report has been about KoreaTESOL, but it is also about PAC3 at JALT2001, now being prepared for you. We encourage you to mark the dates November 22-25, 2001 in Kitakyushu on your calendar right now. Please join us there.

Reported by Joyce Cunningham

JALT National Programme Chair



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