𝐇𝐈𝐂𝐄𝐋𝐋𝐒 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟒 𝐃𝐚𝐲 𝟐 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐮𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐲

Following the success of the first day, the second and final day of the 3rd Hawaii International Conference on English Language and Literature Studies (HICELLS) began with the two-lecture morning program in Lantawan Hall, Mandaya Hotel with a dual online set-up, last May 16.

Prof. Erwin M. Faller, RPh, MSPharm, PhDEL, PhDPharm, FRIPharm, Director of Internalization and Linkages at San Pedro College, set things off with an introduction of the first plenary speaker, Dr. James McLellan of the University of Brunei Darussalam (UBD).

Speaking about “Code-switching, Language Alternation and Translanguaging: Multilingual Classrooms Compared and Contrasted with Multilingual Interactive Social Media,” Dr. McLellan shared with the mostly Filipino audience the distinctions between the widely used code-switching and language alternation.

“Filipinos are [among] the leading users of code-switching,” Dr. McLellan stated.

During his forum, Dr. McLellan described the methodology he used in his study, talked a little about code-switching in literature, and the culture of code meshing in UBD.

Prof. Roberto D. Cagas, MAPM, Coordinator, Theology and Philosophy Division at SPC, then took to the stage to introduce the second featured speaker, Dr. Nathanael Rudolph of Kindai University, Japan.

Dr. Rudolph gave an extensive lecture on “Attending to Being, Becoming, and Belonging in and Beyond (English) Language Education: Historical Trends, Current Issues, and Potential Trajectories,” which focused on minority indigenous groups and their national identity overlapping with their language use.

“You’re on the ground in your community but also engaging with the institutions, national standards, and national narratives of identity and how people are educated in Filipinoness. […] Personally, start with relationships in local communities. Listening, dialoguing, reflecting, revisiting conversations, exploring, modeling those things, incorporating in your classroom, writing, sharing, and connecting with people,” Dr. Rudoph said when asked about what language and literature teachers can do in the quest for indigeneity.

Four venues, Lantawan, Hari, Datu, and Sultan Halls, were reserved for the parallel sessions in the latter half of the morning, with sub-topics ranging from English Language Curriculum and Teaching Materials, Discourse and Society, Gender and Literature, and Applied Linguistics and English Language Education.