Event Date: 30th September 2021

Abstract:

Our life and work as ELT (English Language Teaching) educators have been changed significantly due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As we cope with the many pandemic disruptions and fight against Coronavirus fatigue, ELT educators must build confidence, skills, and strategies to face new challenges and continue our actions and innovations to be successful in the new realities that define our professional and social lives. To prepare ourselves and more importantly our students to stay competitive in the newly defined glocalized workforce in the 21st century and beyond, critical thinking skills have been recognized as one of the essential skills for the 21st century learning. In this presentation, the speaker will address the following questions: What are the skills that are needed for the 21st century and beyond? What is the role of critical thinking among those essential skills? How can schools and ELT educators help students fully utilize critical and creative thinking in learning and real-life applications? The speaker will share recent research and best practices in facilitating critical thinking in K-12 systems in North America and discuss relevant implications and adaptation strategies of such studies and practices for tertiary education in Paksitain and other contexts. She hopes the information and applicable strategies will help ELT educators broaden professional horizon and deepen our understanding of the role of critical thinking during challenging times.

About the Speaker:

Dr. Yilin Sun is a tenured professor who directs Faculty Development Programs at Seattle Colleges (USA). She is a former president of TESOL International Association (2014-15) and the founding president of MAAL (Macau Assn. for Applied Linguistics). Dr. Sun has extensive experience in teacher education and professional development. She has authored and coauthored books, book chapters, and journal articles. She is also serving as Chief Editor of the series Foreign Language Teacher Education and Development: Selected Works of Renowned TESOL Experts published by Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press. As a dedicated English Language Specialist, Dr. Sun has provided teacher training workshops in over 20 countries including Russia, Cambodia, Equador, Laos, Peru, and Thailand. In 2021, 30@30 Celebration of The English Language Specialist Program of U.S. Department of State recognized Yilin as one of a select group of thirty specialists who have made a lasting impact on the specialist program and on the TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) field since 1991. In 2017, Dr. Sun was invited to give a plenary talk at the 2017 SPELT International Conference in Karachi. Over the years, Dr. Sun has given over 80 keynote/plenary and featured presentations at international professional conferences.