Philippines' top educators to hold language conference

MANILA, Philippines — Summer is an opportunity for teachers to recharge frayed bodies and minds. Summer, however, is also a chance for teachers to learn and acquire new skills and knowledge in time for the opening of classes in June.

It is a time for educators to update themselves of the latest developments in their field to ensure that what they are bringing to their classrooms is up to date and attuned to the times.

This is the reason why the Philippine Association for Language Teaching, Inc. (PALT) is hosting a language conference at CB Mall in Urdaneta City, Pangasinan on May 29 to 31.

The conference, with the theme “Aligning K to 12 and the New Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) General Education (GE) Content Standards and Strategies,” aims to help language teachers have a better grasp of content standards, so they can better prepare their classroom activities for the benefit of their students.

The conference, with Clint Richard Chua of Assumption Language College as conference convener, has invited a variety of speakers from different reputable universities and institutions here in the Philippines to talk about different interesting topics for language teachers and educators.

The keynote lecture of this three-day event is about the K to 12 Content and Performance Standards to be delivered by Jocelyn Andaya, the director of the Bureau of Curriculum Development of the Department of Education (DepEd) Central Office.

For teachers of Filipino, the lecture of Crisanta Flores, a commissioner of the Komisyon ng Wikan Filipino (KWF), will be of interest. She will be discussing the mission and the programs of the KWF that aim to strengthen primary to tertiary education in the country.

Brenda Corpuz, a DepEd curriculum consultant, will be sharing her expertise on language assessment, while Charles Lavin, an English Language Fellow from the US Embassy, will be talking about the use of games in an English classroom.

Other topics on language and language education that will be featured and tackled in this PALT event are: lecture demonstrations in teaching K to 12 and tertiary education; unwrapping of standards; use of ICT and action research for the 21st century classroom; growth and mindset for the K to 12 education reform; management of the junior-senior high school language curriculum; supervision of the language curriculum and the college/university teachers in 2018.

Among the other speakers and demonstrators for this national conference and convention are PALT President Marilu Madrunio (UST) Ma. Milagros Laurel (UP), Rosario Alonzo (UP), Ma. Lourdes Tayao (UP), Aurelio Vilbar (UP Cebu), Editha Atendido (DepEd Cavite), Bernadette Sumagui (DepEd Cavite), James Pedregosa (University of San Agustin) and Sarah Gonzales (UP Integrated School).

PALT, the oldest professional organization of language teachers in the country founded in 1960, is an affiliate of the Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) and the Pan-Asia Consortium of Language Teaching Societies (PAC). It primarily devotes itself to the promotion of excellence in language teaching, language education research and professional development not only in the teaching of English but also in the teaching of Filipino and other languages.

This PALT National Confab has memorandums both from the Department of Education (DepEd) and the Commission on Higher Education (CHED). Refer to PALT Pilipinas Facebook for more information.