MALAYSIAN ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING ASSOCIATION

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

29TH MELTA INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE

MELTA Online 2021

23 - 25 July 2021

1
1.0 Background

The Malaysian English Language Teaching Association (MELTA) has been organising an
annual international conference for almost 30 years. Unfortunately, the 29 th MELTA
International Conference scheduled for June 2020 was postponed in compliance with the
Movement Control Order imposed in Malaysia to battle the COVID-19 pandemic. The
conference organizing committee has now decided that the conference will run online in July
2021.

Conference Theme:

Be Future Ready: Shaping New Understandings in the ELT landscape

Global developments due to the COVID-19 pandemic have heralded unprecedented

changes in the education landscape. This has forcibly redefined the roles of all education
stakeholders worldwide. Within a short period of time, classroom practitioners have had
to adapt to drastic changes and challenges in their normal practices. While digital
technologies have been enablers in the continuity of education, we cannot deny that poor
connectivity has exacerbated inequity in education. Education systems and institutions are
therefore constantly challenged to find better solutions for effective implementation.
Indeed, this is also the time to discuss long-term reform as we prepare for an indefinite
future. In the context of this scenario, we invite researchers, ELT stakeholders and
classroom practitioners to deliberate and discuss observations, experiences, and ideas on
these and other fundamental questions related to the English Language teaching and
learning landscape:

i. What can we learn from the disruptions in the English language teaching and
learning environment?

ii. What pedagogical shifts must we make to our practice to serve students’ learning
needs?

iii. How can we prepare ourselves and our students for this indefinite future?
MELTA is confident that the conference will promote the dissemination of ideas for ethical
and responsible professional practice among ELT stakeholders.

“The past, like the future, is indefinite and only exists as a spectrum of possibilities.”
Stephen Hawkings

The online format allows for a unique experience as conference delegates register for and
attend sessions which match their specific areas of interest. Registration will also allow
delegates free access to presentations by key speakers.

The ELT conference will run over 7 tracks and delegates can register for the tracks which
match their interests:

Track 1: Teacher Professional Development

Track 2: Pedagogy

Track 3: Assessment and Evaluation

Track 4: Literature

Track 5: Technology

Track 6: Creative Teacher Showcase & Creative Student Teacher Showcase (competition for
teachers and student teachers)

Track 7: Project-Based Learning in STREAM (competition for primary and secondary school
student presenters)

2.0 Conference Objectives

The main objectives of this conference are as follows:

 a. To provide an opportunity for researchers and classroom practitioners in the
field of English Language Education to share their work and encourage
greater engagement with peers
b. To provide students with a platform to showcase their projects in STREAM
(Science, Technology, Reading & wRiting, Engineering, Art and Mathematics)
through oral presentations using the English language
c. To provide a platform for English language teachers and student teachers to
showcase their creative solutions to challenges in English language teaching

3.0 Scope

The online conference invites delegates to deliberate on a range of themes related to English
Language Education. As MELTA conferences have always centre-staged English language
teachers, the conference recognises teacher and student-teacher presenters with special
awards as they showcase their innovations and successes. The conference also opens its
doors to student participation as competitions are held to encourage greater use of the
English language.

4.0 Participation

A Call for Papers will be put out inviting delegates to submit abstracts in one of the following
categories: (a) paper presenters (b) creative teacher showcase presenters (c) creative student
teacher showcase presenters.

In addition, students will also be invited to participate in oral presentations of STREAM

(Science, Technology, Reading, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics) projects where winning
teams will be recognised with the MELTA President PBL (Project-based Learning) awards.

In 2020, MELTA had over 1000 members and all members with active membership in 2021
will be eligible to discounted rates and special offers to participate in the conference. MELTA
will also receive invited speakers from its associate partners in several countries including
Japan, Korea, Thailand, the Philippines, India, Mongolia, Bangladesh, Brunei and Indonesia.
Information about the conference will be disseminated through MELTA’s website and official
Facebook page which has over 7000 followers. MELTA will also organise for information to be
disseminated through the Ministry of Education and Ministry of Higher Education Malaysia.
The organisers target the participation of 700 delegates.

5.0 Tentative Programme

The tentative programme is as follows:

Friday, 23 July 2021

Time Event & Venue

8.00 a.m. – 8.30 a.m. Log in (Link will be provided)
8.30 a.m. - 9.00 a.m. Welcome Address (Open to all registered delegates)
9.00 a.m. - 9.45 a.m. Keynote (Open to all registered delegates)

10.00 a.m. – 12.30 p.m. Track 1 (Registration required)

Theme: Teacher Professional Development
Delegates enter and view presentations, engage with presenters
through video or chat mode.
2.00 p.m. – 3.00 p.m. Plenary 1 (Open to all registered delegates)

3.00 p.m. – 5.30 p.m. Track 2 (Registration required)

Theme: Pedagogy
Delegates enter and view presentations, engage with presenters
through video or chat mode.

Saturday, 24 July 2021

Time Event & Venue

8.00 a.m. – 8.30 a.m. Log in (Link will be provided)
8.30 a.m. - 9.30 a.m. Plenary 2 (Open to all registered delegates)
10.00 a.m. – 12.30 p.m. Track 3 (Registration required)
Theme: Assessment and Evaluation
Delegates enter and view presentations, engage with presenters
through video or chat mode.
2.00 p.m. – 3.00 p.m. Plenary 3 (Open to all registered delegates)

3.00 p.m. – 5.30 p.m. Track 4 (Registration required)

Theme: Literature
Delegates enter and view presentations, engage with presenters
through video or chat mode.
Track 6: Creative Teacher Showcase and Creative Student Teacher Showcase

Time Event & Venue

8.00 a.m. – 8.30 a.m. Log in (Link will be provided)
8.30 a.m. - 12.30 p.m. Presentations in CTS and CSTS categories
Delegates enter and view presentations, engage with presenters
through video or chat mode.
12.30 p.m. – 1.00 p.m. Announcement of winners

Track 7a: Oral presentation on STREAM projects (Primary)

Time Event & Venue

1.00 p.m. – 2.00 p.m. Log in (Link will be provided)
2.00 p.m. - 5.00 p.m. Presentations by students
Delegates enter and view presentations, engage with presenters
through video or chat mode.
5.00 p.m. – 5.30 p.m. Announcement of winners

Sunday, 24 July 2021

Time Event & Venue

8.00 a.m. – 8.30 a.m. Log in (Link will be provided)
8.30 a.m. - 9.30 a.m. Plenary 4 (Open to all registered delegates)
10.00 a.m. – 12.30 p.m. Track 5 (Registration required)
Theme: Technology
Delegates enter and view presentations, engage with presenters
through video or chat mode.
2.00 p.m. – 3.30 p.m. Forum (Open to all registered delegates)

3.30 p.m. – 4.00 p.m. Close

Track 7b: Oral presentation on STREAM projects (Secondary)

Time Event & Venue

8.30 a.m. – 9.00 a.m. Log in (Link will be provided)
9.00 a.m. - 1.00 p.m. Presentations by students
Delegates enter and view presentations, engage with presenters
through video or chat mode.
2.00 p.m. – 2.30 p.m. Announcement of winners
Presenters in tracks 1 to 6 will be invited to submit a 20-minute recorded PowerPoint
presentation. They must be present to address questions from delegates.

Presenters in tracks 7a and 7b will be invited to submit a 10-minute recorded PowerPoint

presentation (per team of 3 students). They must be present to address questions from
delegates.

6.0 Publications

Presenters (except track 7) will also have the option of submitting full papers to one of two
journals:

a. The English Teacher (listed in the ASEAN Citation Index)

b. The Malaysian Journal of ELT Research (listed in the Web of Science Emerging
Sources Citation Index)

7.0 MELTA PRESIDENT PROJECT-BASED LEARNING COMPETITION

Project-based learning (PBL) is essentially about students and their learning. Through PBL,
students take charge of their learning by making personal connection to real-world issues
and practices. It is a process that encourages students themselves to take initiative, solve
problems and communicate ideas. Students are engaged in deep learning that is
empowering and sustainable.

The MELTA President PBL Award is set to recognise project-based learning activities that
showcase students’ learning beyond the classroom. The award of a certificate of
international standing and cash prizes is given to winners of the MELTA PBL competition.

Held in conjunction with the MELTA International Conference, students are given an
international platform to exhibit and present their projects.

Criteria
The competition is run in two categories:
i. Upper primary school students (ages 10 to 12), and
ii. Secondary school students (ages 13 and 17)

Each entry should fulfill the following criteria:

• A long-term project (3 weeks or more)
• Collaborative (groups of 3 students)
• Integrated with real-world issues and / or practices, or solving a real-world problem
 • Interdisciplinary - STREAM
• Multi-skills/21st century skills/Education 5.0 skills – highlighting communication
skills, collaboration within and outside the team, creative and critical thinking skills,
design thinking, innovation, technology/digital skills, financial and project
management skills.

Competition

Registration of each team must be completed by a teacher from the school. There are three
simple steps to follow.

Step 1: Prepare a proposal of 150-200 words using the guideline below. Your proposal
should be written in ONE paragraph.

Include a title not exceeding 10 words

In your proposal, highlight:

• What is the project about?
• What were the issues or driving questions you tried to solve (2-3)?
• What were the project goals?
• Why did you choose to do this project?
• Who were the people involved? How long did the project last?
• What have you learnt?

Step 2: The teacher needs to register each team by completing the form at
http://gg.gg/PBLregistration

Step 3: Once you receive a letter informing you that your proposal has been accepted for
presentation, you may begin preparing your PBL project video presentation.

GUIDELINES FOR YOUR RECORDED PRESENTATION

You will need to make a short video of between 9-10 minutes to talk about your project. All
three members must participate in the presentation and be visible in the recorded
presentation.

Your presentation will be judged based on the following:

• An introduction which provides the project details (Issues/ essential questions,

goals)

• A timeline of the project

• The financial planning (if applicable)

 • Information gathering (Survey form, social media posts, reflection journals, portfolio)

• Product details/Project Outcomes (What was the impact of your project to the
community? What knowledge and skills have you learnt?)

• Reflections (How do you feel about this project? Would you like to further this
project in future?)

• Excellent use of English in your presentation as you work together to present your
project in the video recording.

8.0 Conference Committee

The conference committee will be made up of MELTA members:

Chair Assoc. Prof. Dr Ramesh Nair
Deputy Chair Dr Cheah Swi Ee
Secretaries Dr Azleena Mohamad
Dr Puteri Rohani Megat Abdul Rahim
Committee Finance and Sponsorship
(*Head) Ms. Tam Lye Suan*
Ms. Lee Laysee Gregory
Dr Sivabala Naidu

Presenter and Participant Management

Dr Teh Pei Ling*
Ms. Szarmilaa Dewie Krishnan
Ms. Jane Chai En-Huey

Technical Support and Website

Management
Ms. Pamela Esther Devadason*
Mr. S. Thurairaja
Mr. Muhamad Khairi Fakhri Fazil

e-Programme Book
Dr Premalatha Nair*
Ms. Michelle Lim
Ms. Chandrakala Raman

Promotions and Publicity

Dr Paramaswari Jaganathan*
Dr Subarna Sivapalan

e-Proceedings
Dr Ilyana Jalaluddin*
Dr Laura Christ Dass
Track Chairs Track 1: Teacher Professional
Development
Dr Sharmini Siva Vikaraman
Track 2: Pedagogy
Dr Cheok Mei Lick
Track 3: Assessment and Evaluation
Dr Zubaidah Bibi Mobarak Ali
Track 4: Literature
Assoc. Prof. Dr Too Wei Keong
Track 5: Technology
Mr. Warid Mihat
Track 6: Creative Teacher Showcase
& Creative Student Teacher
Showcase
Assoc. Prof. Datin Dr Cynthia Doss
 Track 7: Project-Based Learning in
STREAM Competition (for school
student presenters)
Ms. Cheah Yet Thang

Contact Details:

Associate Professor Dr Ramesh Nair

President
Malaysian English Language Teaching Association
rameshnair6789@gmail.com