25th Anniversary

SEAMEO REGIONAL LANGUAGE CENTRE

This year SEAMEO Regional Language Centre celebrates its 25th
Anniversary. 25 years ago the founding fathers of the Southeast
Asian Ministers of Education Organization in a far sighted
decision established the SEAMEO RELC in Singapore. The paramount
objective of the institution was the provision of advanced
training courses in language education for the language teachers
of the region. Throughout this period SEAMEO RELC conducted
regular training courses in Applied Linguistics in TESL/TEFL.
These courses enabled participants to upgrade themselves and to
obtain qualifications at the levels of certificate, diploma, M.A.
in Applied Linguistics degree and the degree of doctor of
philosophy. While changes have been made to the number of courses
available at the Centre as well as the number of scholarship
places, and the PhD programme has been discontinued, this
practice of SEAMEO countries identifying their key personnel or
potential key personnel for further development has continued to
this day.

By Thomas Khng

The flagship of the SEAMEO RELC advanced training courses has
been the Diploma in Applied Linguistics course which provides the
scholars with a good foundation in an integrated body of
knowledge about linguistics, curriculum development, language
testing and evaluation, language teaching methodology and
research methods. A good number of successful participants have
gone on to read for the M.A. in Applied Linguistics at the
Centre. Participants at this course come from all the SEAMEO
countries as well as from places across the sea like the African
States, Australia, the West Indies, Hong Kong and even Japan.
The certificate courses are of shorter duration and focus on
specific areas in language education such as language testing,
pragmatics, language curriculum design, the management of
language programmes, and so on. These address perceived important
areas identified by SEAMEO RELC professional staff in
consultation with the ministries of Education in the region. This
consultative practice has enabled the Centre to remain relevant
and effective in meeting the needs of member countries in the
area of language teaching. There are also other regular short
courses leading to a Certificate in TESOL and in the Teaching of
English for Business and Technology.
It can be seen that Language of Specific Purposes is a key
concern uppermost in RELC's scheme of things. It ensures that
English of Specific Purposes (ESP) receives close attention. One
striking feature in language education in the region has been the
increasing focus on ESP as the way to meet the language needs of
the diverse peoples of Southeast Asia whose mother tongue is not
English. The burgeoning economies of Southeast Asia have made it
imperative that the peoples of the region with their rich
cultural heritage and diversity of languages become effective
communicators in the English language. By a process of natural
selection the peoples of the region have chosen English as the
lingua franca to communicate with one another and with the rest
of the world. ESP in a multilingual and multi-cultural setting
like Southeast Asia has become the key to open the door to
development , progress, and commerce with the world at large.
SEAMEO RELC  as the regional language centre of the SEAMEO
countries occupies a pivotal position and is in a position to
offer the necessary training. It fulfils its mission in part
through its regular courses.

SEAMEO RELC PUBLICATIONS
Another aspect of SEAMEO RELC's role is the series of
publications it has brought out over the years. Through its
research efforts, the Centre publishes Occasional Papers,
Monographs, Anthologies, the RELC Journal and Guidelines to
provide language information both of a theoretical and of a
practical nature. Although SEAMEO RELC has a small staff, it has
managed to publish regularly covering a wide spectrum of language
concerns through collaboration with language specialists from all
over the world.

RELC REGIONAL SEMINARS
Another Centre activity that puts RELC on the map in the world of
Applied Linguistics and language teaching is the holding of the
RELC Annual Regional Seminars each April. These seminars bring
together leading researchers and practitioners in particular
aspects of language education. They enable practising teachers in
the SEAMEO region to listen to and interact with those at the
cutting edge in their areas of language education research . Some
600 scholars each year help make the seminars a rewarding and
enlightening experience. This year the theme of the seminar was
"Reading and Writing Research: Implications for Language
Education".

INSTITUTIONAL LINKAGES
In addition to conducting advanced training courses over the last
quarter of a century, SEAMEO RELC established linkages with
institutions of higher learning in SEAMEO  member countries as
well as those in Australia, Canada, and the United States in an
effort to create a synergy of intellectual activity to promote
the transfer of up-to-date information about language teaching in
a variety of ways. Through its application of strategic planning
principles, the Centre has become more fully convinced of the
need to forge links with institutions in the member countries to
ensure that more educators might benefit from what SEAMEO RELC
has to offer. SEAMEO RELC specialists reach out to institutions
in the region to conduct short term courses or present papers at
seminars, sustaining the Centre's aim of promoting activities
that intensify the multiplier effect. The principle of maximum
effectiveness is a touchstone regulating centre policy. This is
especially so in the case of the services the centre is able to
secure from language experts from Australia, Canada and the U.S.
whose expertise is available only in short durations which must
be optimized for greatest impact. These linkages are with leading
institutions in the region which are required to contribute in
part to the organization of the delivery system with the result
that this tripartite effort puts international experts in touch
with practising teachers in the field.
The most important outcome of these institutional linkages has
been the number of projects SEAMEO RELC has set up with
co-operating institutions throughout the region. For instance,
with Thailand SEAMEO RELC has a TEFL project resulting in
practical modules for the upgrading of secondary school teachers
to be delivered in the distance education mode. The materials
have been trialled in two sites in Thailand: at Chiangmai and at
Nakon Ratchasima. This project funded by CIDA is the joint effort
of Canadian institutions co-ordinated by York University English
Language Institute, SEAMEO RELC and the Ministry of Education of
Thailand.
In Indonesia, SEAMEO RELC is working on a project to develop a
proficiency test for pre-service teachers of English in
Indonesia. The test battery has been trialled in four teacher
training institutions in Indonesia and plans are underway to
develop another test to gauge the English language proficiency of
in -service teachers. The funding support is from AIDAB and
SEAMEO RELC is working closely with the Language Testing Centre
of Melbourne University as well as with IKIP Semarang to ensure
that these tests would be available for application throughout
Indonesia.
AIDAB funding is also supporting the Distance Education TEFL
Programme which SEAMEO RELC is developing in collaboration with
the Centre for Applied Linguistics at the University of South
Australia (CALUSA ). The co-operating Vietnamese institution is
the Hanoi University for Teachers of Foreign Languages (HUTFL).
Another AIDAB funded project is located in the Philippines where
we are working closely with De La Salle University and Macquarie
University of Australia to develop a handbook to assist teachers
in the production of teaching materials for their classroom use.
While published materials are available, there is nothing like a
teacher being able to develop his or her own materials to suit
the needs of his or her students.
SEAMEO RELC is also organising a series of symposia in the region
to meet identified needs of the Ministries of Education. This
August, SEAMEO RELC brought out Australian experts to Malaysia to
lead a symposium on Learner Training together with SEAMEO RELC
specialists. One symposium will be conducted in Singapore in
collaboration with the National Institute of Eduction and the
Ministry of Education. Another symposium will be conducted in
Brunei Darussalam on Process Writing in Schools. These symposia
are also funded by AIDAB.

RECENT TRENDS
In view of the rapid economic and social development in the
region, various countries of SEAMEO have established their own
institutions to provide their teachers with the necessary
qualifications to meet their national needs. Most SEAMEO
countries now have good teacher training institutions fully
equipped to provide basic qualificatory training. This advance in
the provision of a high level training is to be welcomed but it
has repercussions on the nature and type of training that SEAMEO
RELC as a regional centre should provide. This changing scenario
has also resulted in a change in the policy of donor countries
who now prefer to support joint projects.
SEAMEO RELC's new direction is now towards providing a range of
courses that are more role-specific. The Centre could provide the
following: training for academic planners, language testers and
programme evaluators; training for material designers and
developers; training for managers of language programmes;
training for inspectors of English; training for teacher
trainers; training for ESL/EFL specialists to provide training in
the distance eduction mode; training for media specialists in
language programme.
This would mean that future courses at the Centre are likely to
be shorter in duration and will cater to those in positions to
enhance the multiplier effect. The courses would also be more
intensive and interactive. Participants will present and share
learning experiences in seminars. This will reflect our
recognition of the need for greater learner autonomy.
Such a change in emphasis would address a regional trend towards
greater learner centredness in education. Greater emphasis will
be placed on task based courses which will have more real life
situations and will be more closely related to the actual use of
language in work places and the schools.

DISTANCE EDUCATION
A development that has caught up with SEAMEO RELC and indeed will
catch up with other institutions in the region is the need to
turn towards distance education as a major means of course
delivery. This will be a way to reach the largest number of
trainees in the cheapest manner. The region is vast and the
number to be trained is formidable. Distance education will
increase  in importance as the years go by and developments in
technology will enhance the effectiveness of this mode of course
delivery. From the trainees' point of view the convenience of
progressing at a pace suitable to them will be an added
advantage. SEAMEO RELC is rapidly gaining experience in drawing
up materials to be delivered in the distance education mode and
is confident that distance education will help it to achieve its
mission more effectively. Some of the centre's future projects
could also use distance education as their mode of delivery.

CONCLUSION
These shifts in the course offerings and project based activities
will not mean that classroom teachers will be neglected. Rather
a higher level of key personnel in language education will be
developed to pull the classroom teacher along. Language for
special purposes will be a corner stone since utility will be the
deciding factor in the choice of approaches. Language education
will remain the most important consideration for the countries in
the region in their march towards a higher quality of life and
the English language will be one highway in this quest for a long
time to come.