Bandar Seri Begawan - The Brunei English Language Teachers' Association (BELTA), together with Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM), is to hold the Third International Conference on the Teaching and Learning of English in Asia (TLEiA Three) from November 18 to 20 at the Orchid Garden Hotel, in the Brunei capital.

The conference expects to attract presenters and participants from all over Asia and beyond, as it had in the previous two conferences.

At a time when national education systems are going through some of their most dramatic changes, a focus that seems to be universal is to keep teaching more up-to-date and as relevant as possible, an organising spokesperson said.

"As we near the end of the first decade in the new millennium, it is only apt to look back and reflect on the many changes the world of English Language Teaching and Learning the past nine years has brought us," she added.

The conference, themed "Embracing Change", aims to provide a comprehensive forum for academics and practitioners to exchange views and experiences on the changing educational landscape towards the continued development of an Asian perspective on English Language teaching and learning.

In particular, it will focus on important development issues relating to language theories and practices, teaching methodology, curriculum and materials development, assessment, Asian literature and ICT in English language education, language teachers' education, and the internationalisation of curriculum and pedagogy.

The keynote speaker of the conference is Dr Laura Huxford from Oxford University, UK, who has a wide experience in curricular design. She will be illustrating the changes both the UK and Brunei education systems have and are currently undergoing.

She has been instrumental in our Ministry of Education's drive towards improving literacy in Brunei's primary schools, working very closely with our Curriculum Development Department (CDD) and Department of Schools.

Dr Robin Attfield, a CfBT guest speaker, will be presenting a plenary paper focusing on change within education and some of the wider changes that are happening world-wide in education, particularly the place of English in the curriculum; public private partnerships; staff development; accountability; use of data; learning and teaching; student voice and leadership.

Dr Attfield is an experienced educator who has taught in primary, secondary and special education. He held two headships before becoming a school improvement officer/ adviser-inspector in two authorities and was promoted to senior adviser-inspector in a large local authority.

He was Assistant Director at the National College for School Leadership where he was responsible for a number of programmes including the mandatory qualification for headteachers. He now works mostly for CfBT as a consultant working mostly on international assignments or research.

Dr Noor Azam Orang Kaya Maha Bijaya Haji Othman, Senior Lecturer in Professional Communications & Linguistics, and Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences, Universiti Brunei Darussalam, will be presenting the second plenary paper entitled "Changing Linguistic Profile of Brunei: Notes for Language Education" in which he discusses the changing linguistic profile of Bruneians, the implications this recent development may have on language education in Brunei, and how we might embrace this change.

Dr Noor Azam was also Deputy Director of the Language Centre ofUBD, where he was directly involved in the design and revision of ESP and EAP courses for the whole university, as well as other languages.

Driven by personal interest and his background as a speaker of ethnic languages, his favourite area of work remains the indigenous languages of Brunei and their place in this increasingly modernised nation.

In this regard, he is currently involved in several major research projects: one involving the documentation of the Tutong language and corpus building; creating a digital and an online interactive Tutong-Malay-English dictionary; as well as a study of Bruneian youth perceptions of Culture. He has published and written extensively about these language issues in both Malay and English. He is currently compiling and co-editing a book containing chapters written by young Bruneians on language in Brunei.

Registration for the conference is currently open at CfBT's main office in Kiarong and will be open at Orchid Garden Hotel on Thursday, November 18, from 1pm to 4pm. For further information on the conference, email tleia3brunei@ gmail.com or visit the registration booth at Orchid Garden Hotel on November 18 at the times stated above.

The event is generously supported by the Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Foundation (Yayasan Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah), with further support from the Ministry of Education, Orchid Garden Hotel, CfBT Education Services (B) Sdn Bhd, Macmillan Publishers UK, Darussalam Holdings Sdn Bhd, Brunei Tourism Board, Nyuk Lian Printing Sdn Bhd, Azamteknik Sdn Bhd, Lee Signcrafts Sdn Bhd and Syarikat Rapiah. -- Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin

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