Professor Jack C. Richards has had an active career in the Asia Pacific region and is currently an honorary professor in the faculty of education at the University of Sydney, an honorary professor at the University of Auckland and an adjunct professor at Victoria University, Wellington and at RELC, Singapore. He is a frequent presenter worldwide and has written over 150 books and articles on language teaching as well as many widely used classroom texts such as the best-selling Interchange series (5th edition, Cambridge 2017). Recent publications are Curriculum Development in Language Teaching (2nd edition, Cambridge 2017); 50 Tips for Professional Development (Cambridge 2017): Key Issues in Language Teaching (Cambridge 2015:): Creativity In Language Teaching (with R. Jones, editors: Routledge 2015); Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching 3rd edition (with Ted Rodger, Cambridge 2014), and Language Learning Beyond the Classroom (with David Nunan, Editors, Routledge 2014). Jack Richards has active interests in music and arts, has extensive collections of decorative arts and in 2014 the Jack C Richards Decorative Arts Gallery was opened at the Tairawhiti Museum, Gisborne New Zealand. He supports a number of scholarships for musicians, artists and teachers. In 2011 he was awarded an honorary doctorate of literature by Victoria University, Wellington for his services to education and the arts and in 2014 received the Award for Patronage from the Arts Foundation of New Zealand.
website: www.professorjackrichards.com

Muhammad Haji Salleh is a poet, critic, editor and translator, in both Malay and English. He has published 14 collections of poems and thirty-odd books of criticism and translation, including Beyond the Archipelago and The Poetics of Malay Literature and has been awarded the Malaysian Literary Award and the Southeast Asian Literary Prize. He was named National Laureate of Malaysia (Sasterawan Negara), and in 2009 the National Scholar Award, for his contribution. He is now an emeritus professor with UniversitiSains Malaysia. Muhammad has taught in universities in Malaysia, Brunei, the Netherlands, the U.S. and Germany.At present Muhammad is an adjunct professor with ASWARA and a president of the Malaysian Oral Literature Association. He began writing in 1963 and has continuously composed poems, done translation and ethno-theoretical research. Since 2016 he has been translating the Sulalat al-Salatin and transcribing the oldest text of the Hikayat Hang Tuah.

Ivor Timmis is Reader in English Language Teaching at Leeds Beckett University, UK, where he teaches postgraduate ELT students. He has been involved in English Language Teaching for around 30 years as a teacher, teacher trainer/educator, materials writer and researcher. He is particularly interested in the description and teaching of spoken language and the ‘lexical dimension’ of language teaching. Conferences, workshops and projects have taken him to a number of different countries, including Indonesia and Malaysia. Outside work, he enjoys sport, especially football, which he still plays, and reading history.

Hywel Coleman is Life Fellow, University of Leeds and Honorary Senior Research Fellow, School of Education, University of Leeds, UK. He is also Trustee, Language and Development Conference Series www.langdevconferences.org. Hywel comes from the UK but he has lived in Indonesia for many years and holds permanent resident status. His Academic interests include: Indonesia: language, society and education; Language and development; Language planning and policy, particularly in education and particularly in developing countries; Language and employment. Apart from Indonesia and the UK Hywel has carried out research and teacher development activities and other professional activities in 30 countries in Africa, the Middle East and Asia. He was conferred the OBE (Order of the British Empire) ‘for services to education in Indonesia’. His books include:

Coleman, H. (ed.). 2017. Multilingualisms and Development. London: British Council.

http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/multilingualisms-development

Coleman, H. (ed.). 2015. Language and Social Cohesion in the Developing World. Colombo: British Council Sri Lanka and GIZ.

http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/language-social-cohesion-developing-world

Coleman, H. et al. 2013. The English Language in Francophone West Africa. London: British Council Senegal.

http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/english-language-francophone-west-africa

Antony John Kunnan is a language assessment specialist. His research interests are fairness of tests and testing practice, assessment literacy, research methods and statistics, ethics and standards, and language assessment policy. His most recent publications include a four-volume edited collection of 140 chapters titled The Companion to Language Assessment (Wiley, 2014), a four-volume set of 75 previously published papers titled Language Testing and Assessment (Routledge, 2014) and Talking about Language Assessment (Routledge, 2015). He was the founding editor of Language Assessment Quarterly (2003-2013) and the founding president of the Asian Association for Language Assessment. He has held academic and professorial appointments at universities in Bangalore, Ann Arbor, Los Angeles, Taichung, Hong Kong and Singapore. Currently, he is a research consultant at the Center for Linguistics and Applied Linguistics at Guangdong University of Foreign Studies in Guangzhou.

Fairness of tests and testing in practice

While there is general consensus regarding the need to have fair tests and testing (see Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing ( AERA, APA, NCME, 1999, 2014), there are many examples of unfair, discriminatory, and non-inclusive practices. Such examples can be categorized into the following groups; lack of opportunity to learn what is going to be tested, biased content, raters and ratings, lack of accommodation to test takers with disability, standard setting that does not match the purpose of the assessment, and detrimental consequences of the assessment to washback in teaching-learning, and blatant unjust discrimination in public policy. The talk will discuss these practices with examples of language assessments from around the world.

Janeen Brian is an Australian, award-winning children’s author and poet with over 100 books published in both trade and educational publishing. She enjoys writing picture books, junior fiction, poetry and novels. Popular titles include Where does Thursday go?; That Boy, Jack; Meet Ned Kelly; Silly Galah!; and Silly Squid!; Our Village in the Sky; I’m a dirty dinosaur; I’m a hungry dinosaur and Where’s Jessie? Her latest books are Mrs Dog; Yong: the journey of an unworthy son; Meet Nellie Melba and Little Chicken chickabee. Many of her books have been translated and distributed worldwide while more than 200 stories, poems, plays and articles have been published in children’s magazines or anthologies. Janeen was the recipient of the 2012 Adelaide Festival of Literature Carclew Fellowship and has also received two May Gibbs’ Children’s Literature Trust Fellowships. Janeen is an Ambassador for both The Premier’s Reading Challenge and The Little Big Book Club. She loves reading, creating mosaics, aqua-aerobics, Yoga, singing in a choir, dancing, gardening, travelling, craft work, watching theatre and films and spending time with her family and friends. She lives in the seaside city of Glenelg, in Adelaide, South Australia with her husband. She has two daughters and four grandchildren.

www.janeenbrian.com

Phil Ball works as a consultantfor the Federation of Basque Schools, based in San Sebastián in Spain. He is a CLIL materials writer and teacher-trainer and has been closely involved with the award-winning Basque project, ‘Eleanitz’. He has been involved in several European-based CLIL projects, and has written a wide variety of CLIL-based textbooks for the Basque and Spanish socialscience and English language programmes. He co-designed the new ‘CLIL Essentials’ online course for the British Council and is the module leader on the MA CLIL degree for NILE in England. He is the co-author of the new book about CLIL, ‘Putting CLIL into Practice’ (Oxford University Press 2015) and his CLIL textbook seriesfor the Basque curriculum was nominated for the ELTONS Innovation Award in 2016. In his spare time he wrote ‘Morbo: The Story of Spanish Football’ which was nominated for the William Hill Sports Book of the Year in England. He also wrote the centenary history of Real Madrid and a weekly sports essay for ESPN for almost 15 years. He is also the author of the educational comedy ‘The Hapless Teacher’s Handbook’ (Ebury Press) which documents the trials and tribulations of being a young teacher in the English state system.

Ninot aziz is an award winning author and storyteller of many generations. Daughter of AbangTik, daughter of Chu Rahmah, daughter of Yang Chik, daughter of Bebunga. And daughter of Abdul Aziz son of TokMudaSalehuddin son of TokAwangPekan son of Tok Nik son of Tok Tunggal son of Tok Ghafur son of Tok Aji son of Tok Sabur Born in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia, Ninot aziz returned to Malaysia when she was six years old. She grew up in the idyllic village of Chenor, Pahang where she first encountered her grandfather's old Hikayat Books. Today, she is a PR Consultant with bzBee Consult Sdn Bhd and lives in Kuala Lumpur Malaysia. The writer firmly believes that Hikayat Melayu is for all Malaysians to enjoy as its background is rich and cosmopolitan in outlook. Ninot aziz writes in English to encourage wider readership locally and aspires to international acceptance and reach. Having presented papers at various universities locally and overseas on Malaysian legends and its importance, her award winning anthologies of hikayat and novels have found a loyal fan base in young adults. As a poet, Ninot aziz is an active member of the international poetry blogosphere in particular The Magpie Tales, Poets United and the dVerse Bar. Her poem "To Be Human' was selected to be included in the Poets United Anthology 'Thoughts That Breathe'. In 2015, her poems The Unknown Frontier, Quand Je Suis Avec Vous and The Icarus Quandary were included in the international publication Dverse Anthology. Books published : FROM THE WRITTEN STONE, HIKAYAT, SRIKANDI, NAGA, NIK, KIRANA and upcoming latest novel, SITI.

She won the Outstanding Female Storyteller 2012, British Awards for Storytelling Excellence (BASE) in October 2012. As one of the leading storytellers, Jan Blake has been performing worldwide for over twenty-five years. She has a well-earned reputation for dynamic and generous storytelling. As well as performing at all the major storytelling festivals both nationally and internationally, she works regularly with the British Council, leads storytelling workshops for emerging storytellers, and gives master classes for teachers, brands, and businesses.

In her 29 years’ experience as a stage, film and TV actress, Pearlly has treaded the stage in Emily Gan’s beaded slippers for 23 of them. In the context of Malaysian English and Chinese theatre, Pearlly is perhaps best known for her body of work as this stage persona. Emily of Emerald Hill – this 30 year-old award-winning monologue written by Stella Kon, has taken Pearlly to Vancouver, Canada, in 2007 and Sydney, Australia in 2012. To-date, Pearlly’s public performances in EOEH stands at 165. Her acting credits are included in art films, feature films and local television as well.

Carolyn Graham is the creator of Jazz Chants. She has taught at Harvard University and New York Teachers College. She has created a delightful collection of chants, songs and poems that employ the natural language that children use. She is the author of numerous English language teaching books, mostly Jazz Chants and Let's Chant, published by Oxford University Press.

A teacher extraordinaire, is a legend in Malaysian theatre. An unqualified teacher without a Diploma of Education, he was awarded the 16th Pride of Workmanship Award by the Ipoh Rotary Club for excellence in and dedication to the teaching profession (2003). He won a scholarship to study speech and drama at the London School of Speech and Drama. His numerous productions of Shakespeare and West End musicals (1964-74) drew large appreciative audiences. He is the first person to direct Stella Kon's Emily of Emerald Hill. To-day it is regarded a classic and the best known and staged play in Malaysia and Singapore. His own production starring Pearlly Chua has been performed in major cities in the country, Singapore, Vancouver, Wollongong , Sydney and Guangzhou. He has written and directed Lady White, a re-telling of the Madam White Snake legend, Yap Ah Loy The Play, Refugee: Images (musical) which gained fame for the wrong reasons, Reunion (musical) and Kuala Lumpur Sentral( operetta). This year, Shakespeare's 400th Anniversary, he directs the original text Macbeth in Chinese Opera costumes and elements.

BREIS (breeze) is a dynamic Hip Hop lyricist based in the UK. His name stands for Brother Reaching Each Inner Soul. Growing up in both the UK and Nigeria has influenced BREIS' sound, which is a fusion of Hip Hop, Soul and Afro-beat. He confidently draws from his Nigerian musical heritage and also incorporates Yoruba and Pidgin English into some of his lyrics. He has performed at prestigious venues such as London's Jazz Cafe and Queen Elizabeth hall, Blue Note Tokyo in Japan and numerous festivals across Europe and Africa. "I believe my purpose is to inspire, educate and entertain people through my music" – BREIS. BREIS works in schools inspiring learners to use the English language creatively!

Past President of IATEFL and was given the ELTons Lifetime Achievement Award, 2012. He has worked for the British Council in Yugoslavia, Ghana, Italy, France, China, India, Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia as well as his native country UK. His publications include Resource Book for Teachers: Literature, Beyond Words, Sounds Interesting, Sounds Intriguing, Variations on a Theme, Drama Techniques in Language Learning, The Mind's Eye.

SubhanZein, PhD teaches at School of Education, the University of Queensland, Australia. His articles have appeared in Applied Linguistics Review, Professional Development in Education, Journal of Education for Teaching: International Research and Pedagogy, among others; while his co-edited volumes will be published by Routledge and Multilingual Matters. He is Editor-in-Chief of Language Education in Asia

David Reeve has been visiting Indonesia since 1969, as a diplomat, researcher, historian, visiting lecturer, project manager and language teacher. He has been involved in English and Indonesian language teaching for 43 years. He has lived in Indonesia for fifteen years, and worked at six Indonesian universities. He was a founding lecturer in the Australian Studies program at Universitas Indonesia in the 1980s. From 1997 to 1999 he worked in Yogyakarta resident director for the ACICIS program which takes Australian students to study in Indonesian universities. He has written on language teaching methodology, Indonesian history and politics, the Indonesian diaspora and Australian-Indonesian relations. David retired from his position at UNSW in July 2006 and is currently completing a biography of the Indonesian historian Ong Hok Ham

My name is Neil Creek. I am the proud father of two children; Oscar 19 and Harriet 13. My career in education has led me through many interesting paths from teaching in the classroom to being the head of schools. I am now out and into the wonderful world of Educational Advisory.

Beginning in UK, I have been lucky enough to have worked in many countries across the world and, to be perfectly honest, think that this will continue until my day of calling.

My communication and show skills are, what I consider to be my primary asset, having produced various events in a few countries, led marketing strategies and events, written a small number of articles and featured in TV Documentaries in Kazakhstan. As well as this I was the guest on Kazakh radio and have sung many opera and Neapolitan songs in many a forum. An audio book company also featured my talent as a voice teaching Kazakh and Russian children English language.

I am 53 and behave as if I am 23. I enjoy the limelight. I enjoy communicating.

A veteran of the UK music and poetry scenes, Paul Hullah is tenured Associate Professor of British Poetry and Culture at Meijigakuin University, Tokyo. Co-founder of Liberlit, an international conference forum for ‘Discussion and Defence of the Role of Literary Texts in the English Curriculum’ , he has published, presented, and performed internationally in literary studies, EFL, and multimedia poetics. His publications include14 textbooks for university-level English learners, including Rock UK: A Sociocultural History of British Popular Music (Cengage, 2013), the literary-critical monograph We Found Her Hidden: The Remarkable Poetry of Christina Rossetti (Partridge, 2016), and seven award-winning collections of his own poetry, most recentlyClimbable (Partridge, 2016). In 2013 he was a recipient of the Asia Pacific Brand Laureate International Personality Award for ‘paramount contribution to the cultivation of literature [that has] exceptionally restored the appreciation of poetry and contributed to the literary education of students in Asia.’

Dr. George Iber, received his Ph.D. in social foundations of education from The University of Iowa in 1992. Originally a High School English and Spanish teacher, he became interested in Teaching English as a Second Language through his students, many of whom were not native speakers of English. Throughout his twenty plus years of experience in higher education, his faculty responsibilities have taken him to Belize, Mexico, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Bahamas, Jamaica, Ecuador and Malaysia; as well as conferences in China, Indonesia, and Cambodia. He was a recipient of a State Department Senior English Language Fellowship and spent 10 months working with the Ministry of Education in Malaysia in 2013-2014.

Currently he is an Associate Professor at the University of Evansville, School of Education. His interests includeteacher training, teaching English to speakers of other languages,international education, and incorporating holistic teaching methods to create a healthier and more compassionate school system.

Susana Gonzalez Iber received her Bachelorsdegree from the University Autonomaof Mexico in Psychology and her Masters from Nova Southeastern University, Florida, in Spanish Language Education in 2002. Originally an Elementary school teacher, she became interested in Teaching Spanish and English as a Second Languageafter she moved to the United States and worked in classrooms where most of the students were not speakers of English. She opened a school in the Yucatan, Xipal, for young children. Throughout her more than 30 years teaching at different levels, she has taught in Mexico and the United States. She has instructed Spanish at the elementary, secondary and university level. She has also taught Spanish for special purposes, such as training for therapists in Anatomy and Physiology.

Currently she is a school teacher in a large secondary setting. Her interests includelanguage teaching, teacher training, teaching Spanish to speakers of other languages,international education, and incorporating holistic teaching methods to create aa effective classroom.

Dr. Tengku Sepora Tengku Mahadi is Professor in the School of Languages, Literacies and Translation, Universiti Sains Malaysia and Dean. She obtained her PhD in Legal Translation and M.A. in Translation from University of Surrey, UK and B.A. (Cum Laude) from Linfield College, USA. While her administrative experience covers over 12 years as Director and Dean of USM’s language centre and school, her academic experience includes successful supervision of 25 PhDs and 15 M.A. students, examination and Chair for PhD and M.A. theses and Viva Voce, designing and teaching of M.A. in Translation for Professionals, language services consultancy and as member in national language-related committees. Tengku Sepora was a member for the MUET committee when it was first introduced. Her areas of expertise and interests cover also the fields of English Language, LSP, Discourse Analysis, Applied Linguistics, and Cultural Studies to name a few. Her doctoral students come from Thailand, Indonesia, Jordan, Iran, Iraq, Yemen, Sudan, Comoros Island, Morocco, Mauritania, Oman, etc. Tengku Sepora has published widely with many journal articles and 5 books to date: Pedagogy and Curriculum Design (ed.2017), Integrating ICT Into Language Teaching and Learning (ed.) (2017), Corpora in Translation: A Practical Guide (2010), Textwise in Translation (2006) and Build Your English (2005).

In 1991, Ain Nadzimah Abdullah joined Universiti Putra Malaysia (when it was Universiti Pertanian Malaysia) as a Language Instructor and was later promoted to Lecturer (1995), Senior Lecturer (2004), Associate Professor (2009) and finally to Professor (2017). Earlier, from 1986 to 1991, she was an English language teacher at the MARA Junior Science College in Kuala Terengganu, Terengganu and MARA Junior Science College in Jasin, Melaka. Ain researches in the area of applied linguistics and sociolinguistics and has special interest in issues related to bilingualism, multilingualism, language contact, language planning and policy and English as a lingua franca.

Malachi Edwin Vethamani is a Malaysian-born Indian poet, writer, critic and professor. His most recent publication is his second volume of poems, ‘Life Happens’ (July 2017, Maya Press). His first volume of poems, ‘Complicated Lives’ (Maya Press, Kuala Lumpur) was published in 2016. His edited volume of Malaysian poems entitled ‘Malchin Testament: Malaysian Poems’ (Maya Press, Kuala Lumpur: 2017) covers a period of 60 years. In 2003, he edited a volume of poems for young adults entitled ‘In-Sights: Malaysian Poems’ (Maya Press, Kuala Lumpur). His poems have appeared in Anak Sastera (2017), Southeast Asian Review of English (2016), Asiatic: Journal of Language of Literature (Kuala Lumpur: 2015), Ghulam Sarwar Yousuf, (ed.) Asian Centre Anthology of Malaysian Poetry in English (Partridge Press, Singapore: 2014) and C.Y. Loh and I.K. Ong. (eds.) SKOOB Pacifica Anthology No. 1: Southeast Asia Writes Back! (London: 1996). He is Professor of Modern English Literature at the School of English, University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus. He published ‘A Bibliography of Malaysian Literature in English’ (Maya Press, Kuala Lumpur) in 2015. This is the first bibliography to trace literary publications in English by Malaysians, from the 1950s to 2014.

Professor Dr. Ambigapathy Pandian was appointed as a research Fellow at the National Higher Education Research Institute, Ministry of Education Malaysia in 2001. He has won international research grants including ones from Hong Kong and Australia. He is very well published, being the author and editor of more than 45 books and many articles featured in such prestigious journals as the Journal of Adolescent Reading and Journal of Communication and Education Australia. He is also acknowledged as one of the world thinkers in Literacy and has been an invited speaker at the Literacy Education Research Network (LERN) International Conference held annually in different parts of the world. He also sits on various International boards including as an Advisory Board member of James Cook University in Australia. Professor Ambigapathy Pandian was also the Head of the International Literacy Research Unit and founding Dean of the School of Languages, Literacies ad Translation (formerly, known as Centre for Languages and Translation, Universiti Sains Malaysia, where he was the Director). Currently, he is the Dean, Faculty of Language and communication, University Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas).

Ikhsanudin is the founding president of the English Language Teaching Materials (ELTeaM) association, an Indonesia-based international association for ELT materials developers, evaluators, and users. He has organized four international conferences on ELT and education, involving internationally recognized experts and practitioners. As an educator and researcher with 30 years of experience, he has presented his ideas and research findings on ELT and education in a number of European and Asian countries, and served as a visiting scholar and guest lecturer for online MA-ELT students at a university in Britain. At his campus (Universitas Tanjungpura in Pontianak – Indonesia) he has taught language skills, linguistics, curriculum and materials development, language teaching philosophy, and research methodologies for undrgraduate and postgraduate students at Universitas Tanjungpura. His research interest are language teaching and teaching materials. Currently, Ikhsanudin is developing an online forum for rural teachers in Indonesia and a number of local culture-based ELT materials. Besides teaching and conducting research, he also supervises a number of private higher education institutions, secondary schools, and elementary schools under Muhammadiyah organization in West Kalimantan.

Mohd Amin Din graduated from Portland State University, Oregon with an M.A. in English (TESOL). He taught in several MRSMs and was a Master teacher and former Deputy Director II (Languages) at the MARA Headquarters. He was involved in teacher training and his passion includes using songs in teaching. He also invented the game, “Grabble” in 2013.

Dr. Mallika Vasugi Govindarajoo was a secondary school teacher for 31 years and continues to enjoy working with students from all levels on creative language projects like drama, poetry and debates. She is also a columnist with The Star, a leading Malaysian daily and writes for the column, Teacher Talk. As a consultant and trainer for their Newspaper in Education (NIE) programme Mallika facilitates workshops and courses for both students and teachers throughout the country. Her field of interest is creative writing and some of her short stories have won national awards. Mallika has also participated and presented at creative writing conferences in different parts of Asia. At present she is involved with the national school transformation project for Trust schools.

Tamas Kiss works as an Associate Professor at Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University in Suzhou, China, where he teaches courses on the MA TESOL programme. He has been involved with language teacher education in Europe, the Middle East, South Asia, Latin America and South East Asia. He delivered one-off talks and directed two-week intensive workshops in more than 18 countries including Romania, Lithuania, Pakistan, Iraq, Hong Kong, Singapore, the Philippines, Germany, etc. by invitation of universities, language teacher organizations, cultural institutions, such as the British Council, or international publishing houses. His main research interests include language pedagogy, language teacher education, intercultural communication, the link between complex dynamic systems and education, and the role of culture in language teaching materials. One of his latest projects has been on creativity in language teaching which resulted in a co-authored book: Maley, A. & Kiss, T. (2017). Creativity and English Language Teaching: From inspiration to implementation. London: Palgrave Macmillan.

Brian Tomlinson has worked as a teacher, teacher trainer, curriculum developer, film extra, football coach and university academic in Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Nigeria, Oman, Singapore, UK, Vanuatu and Zambia, as well as giving presentations in over seventy countries. He is Founder and President of MATSDA (the international Materials Development Association), an Honorary Visiting Professor at the University of Liverpool, a Professor at the Shanghai International Studies University and a TESOL Professor at Anaheim University. He has over one hundred publications on materials development, language through literature, the teaching of reading, language awareness and teacher development, including Discover English (with Rod Bolitho), Openings, Materials Development in Language Teaching, Developing Materials for Language Teaching, Research for Materials Development in Language Learning (with Hitomi Masuhara), Applied Linguistics and Materials Development and SLA Theory and Materials Development for Language Learning. He has just co-authored with Hitomi Masuhara The Complete Guide to the Theory and Practice of Materials Development for Language Learning, which was published by Wiley in June 2017.

Dr. Hitomi Masuhara is Higher Education Academy Fellow, a lecturer in the University of Liverpool and Secretary of MATSDA (Materials Development Association). She has worked as a senior high school teacher and a university academic in Japan, Oman, Singapore, and UK for seven universities . She has won various awards including Fulbright, The British Council Scholar, Vice Chancellor Awards for Innovation. She has been involved in many international projects and given presentations and workshops in more than 40 countries including Malaysia. She has more than 50 publications, consisting of books, book chapters and articles. Her recent publications include ‘The complete guide to the theory and practice of materials development for language learning’ from Wiley (2017 co-authored with B. Tomlinson); ‘Practice and theory for materials development in L2 learning’ from Cambridge Scholars Publishing (2017 as the lead editor).

Saleh Al-Busaidi is an Associate Professor of English as a foreign language at the College of Education, Sultan Qaboos University (SQU), Sultanate of Oman. He served as the Director of the Language Centre at SQU (2010-2016). He currently teaches BA and MA courses and supervises and examines MA and PhD students at SQU and abroad. He received his BA in TEFL at Sultan Qaboos University in 1995, his MA in TEFL at the University of Exeter, UK in 1997, and his PhD in Curriculum Studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA in 2003. Saleh has participated in many national and international conferences and symposia. He has also published journal articles and books on areas related to English language teaching and learning. His main research interests are: learner autonomy, curriculum and material development, study/academic skills, academic readiness, language acquisition and program evaluation.

Piyachat Dhephasadin Na Ayudhaya is an English Language Lecturer and an acting director of International affairs. She finished her Master Degree in English Language Teaching from Assumption University, Thailand in 2003. She has been working as an English lecturer at Nakhon Ratchasima Rajabhat University since 2004. The courses she teaches are English for Secretary, Public Speaking in English and English Phonetics.

Dzeelfa Zainal Abidin currently teaches at the Academy of Language Studies in UiTM, Kuala Pilah. Among her interests are the small L, the stage and cat rescue. Dzeelfa is a theatre buff and she dabbles in the arts sometimes to keep herself sane. She was last seen dancing and singing in the Uda and Dara 2015 ensemble on the KLPAC stage.

Dr. Lee Su Kim’s ‘Manek Mischiefs: Of Patriarchs Playboys and Paramours’ ( 2017) completes her trilogy of short stories on the unique Peranakan community. Her debut collection, 'Kebaya Tales: Of Matriarchs, Maidens, Mistresses and Matchmakers' won First prize in the Popular-Star Readers’ Choice Awards 2011(Fiction). This was followed by 'Sarong Secrets: Of Love, Loss and Longing' in 2013. Su Kim has published ten books of fiction and non-fiction. Her first nonfiction work, Malaysian Flavours: Insights into Things Malaysian was based on her fortnightly column in 'The Star' a leading English newspaper. A bestseller, It has recently been reprinted by MPH in 2017. Her compilation of Malaysian English words, 'Manglish: Malaysian English at its Wackiest' uses a dose of humpur and is another bestseller. When pursuing her Doctorate in Education at the University of Houston, she wrote 'A Nyonya In Texas: Insights of a Straits Chinese Woman in the Lone Star State' highlighting the hilarious crosscultural encounters between east and west.
Dr Lee Su Kim was Associate Professor at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia where she lectured and published on language, culture and identity. She is the Founding President of the Peranakan Baba Nyonya Association of Kuala Lumpur & Selangor. She enjoys and shares cultural complexity beyond cuisine and sarong kebaya and is a frequent presenter of the rich diversity of being nyonya. She is now a fulltime writer, educationist and language consultant.

Vahid Nimehchisalem has been involved in English language teaching since 1994. He was a postdoctoral research fellow in the Faculty of Educational Studies, UPM in 2012 and a visiting research fellow in the Faculty of Languages and Linguistics, University of Malaya in 2013. Since 2014, he has been a senior lecturer in the Faculty of Modern Languages and Communication, Universiti Putra Malaysia. His areas of research interest include assessment and English language teaching material evaluation. Language assessment literacy of English language teachers in Malaysia is the main research project he is currently involved in. He is chief editor of the International Journal of Education and Literacy Studies, an editorial team member of the International Journal of Applied Linguistics and English Literature, and is a regular reviewer of articles submitted to Pertanika JSSH and a few other journals.
Emails: nimechie@gmail.com; vahid@upm.edu.my
Phone number: 0060-17 667 8715

Abstract
The current shifts in the educational policy outlined in the Malaysia Education Blueprint (MEB, 2013-2025) have turned the focus from one-shot summative evaluation to on-going formative assessment. This has led to shifts from centralized exams such as the Penilaian Menengah Rendah (PMR, Lower Secondary Assessment) to more localized, or so-called ‘School Based Assessment’ such as Pentaksiran Tingkatan 3 (PT3, Form 3 Assessment). Such shifts are in line with the current paradigms of assessment practiced in most developed countries; however, the challenge is whether the Malaysian school teachers are prepared for such a shift. In my presentation, I will share a brief review of what is happening in the area of Language Assessment Literacy (LAL) both globally and locally in the context of Malaysia. I will present the results of some on-going research projects and will conclude with a few recommendations for improving assessment literacy of teachers.

Elizabeth, the Deputy Dean of the Centre for Language Studies, UTHM, teaches undergraduate ESP, postgraduate EAP and Research Methodology. As a PBL Master Trainer for the Ministry of Higher Education, Malaysia, Elizabeth has been involved in numerous training programmes, conferences and research projects. She has been the Article Editor and Reviewer for SAGE. Currently, she serves as the Cambridge English Observer for the CEFR Cascade training in Malaysia. She is a member of BAAL, IATEFL, Asia TEFL and MELTA. Her research interests include second language acquisition and use, classroom interaction, student-centred learning, independent learning and learner autonomy, Problem-Based Learning (PBL), attitude and motivation in language learning and ESL pedagogy in L2 development.

Anealka bt Aziz Hussin (PhD) is an Associate Professor at the Academy of Language Studies, Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) and currently heading the Department e-Learning Technology at the Institite of Neo Education (iNED), UiTM. She has been teaching for the past 20 years. She has a great interest in e-learning, e-content development and e-content evaluation. She has won several research and innovation awards for her work in the area. In her current role, she is the person in charge of blended learning (BL) initiatives at the university and activities related to the development e-learning materials for courseware, Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC) and Open Educational Resourceful (OER).

Dr Melor Md Yunus is an Associate Professor and Deputy Dean of Research and Innovation at the Faculty of Education, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. She is best known for establishing the integration of ICT in teaching and learning English as a Second Language research. She contributed to developing the PERMATApintar National Gifted Centre in Malaysia in 2009 and was appointed as the first Deputy Director of the centre. She is the first recipient of the National Higher Education e-Learning award (2014) for her contributions in Creativity (Blended Learning, Flipped Learning, and Problem-Based Learning). She is also in the Top 3 Cited Malaysian Researcher List in 2014 MRUN Report and she won UKM Best Teaching Award (Bitara Pendidik) in 2016. Recently, she was conferred upon the award of Distinguished Woman in Social Science 2017 for her contribution and achievement in the field of Teaching and Learning Innovation by Venus International Foundation. She is active in scholarly journal writing and publishing and has currently published more than 150 papers in various Citation-Indexed journals particularly SCOPUS. Her publications have been cited over 1300 times and she has an author h-index of 18. The recipient of more than 30 innovation awards, she is highly regarded among her peers in her field.

Siti Hamin Stapa is a Professor of Applied Linguistics from the Sustainability of Language Sciences Research Centre, Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. Her expertise is in second language writing. She has conducted research and published on the teaching and learning L2 writing, online L2 writing, contrastive rhetoric, genre analysis and L2 writing, computer-supported collaborative writing, language choice and writing in the social media. She is also active in community-based research and currently involved in Green Rose projects to create awareness on the effects on climate change among primary school children in Malaysia. She was also involved in another community project in introducing multilingual and multicultural issues among primary school children in Negeri Sembilan. She teaches Written Literacy at the graduate level and Research Methodology at the undergraduate level. She has been invited to speak at various conferences in Jordan, Indonesia, Japan and Australia.

Mahendran Maniam, obtained his Diploma inTeaching (TESL) from Penang Teachers’ Training College Malaysia in 1989, Bac. Ed. (TESL) Hons. from Putra University Malaysia in 2001, M.Ed. (TESL) Malaya University, Malaysia in 2004 and Ph. D. (TESL) from International Islamic University of Malaysia in 2009. Formerly English Language teacher, he taught in government and independent schools in many parts of Malaysia. He is currently attached to Sultan Idris Education University, Malaysia in the faculty of Languages and Communication as an Associate Professor. His research areas are mainly in Second language Acquisition and Picture Book writing. He has done extensive research in the field of mother tongue interference. He currently conducts research and supervises doctoral and masters students in a range of Second Language Acquisition and Interferences in Writing topics. He has also published many picture books meant for young learners. Dr. Mahendran Maniam is a member of Malaysian English Language Teaching Association (MELTA) and Asia TEFL. He also received Excellent Service award in 2015.

SUDARSONO, PhD obtained his Master and PhD in linguistics from La Trobe University, Australia. He teaches in English Language Education Department, Tanjungpura University, Indonesia. Since 2012 he chairs Master’s Program of English Language Education. He teaches linguistic-based subjects like English Grammar, Introduction to Linguistics, Syntax, and Second Language Acquisition. His researches focus on grammar, error analysis, language acquisition, and language teaching. From 2009 to 2011 he taught in Universiti Malaya as a visiting lecturer. He heads Indonesia English Teachers Association (IETA) of West Kalimantan Chapter.

Emily Claypool serves as the International Program Coordinator for the Global Connections program at Clemson University’s Youth Learning Institute. Recently, Emily served as an English Language Fellow for the U.S. State Department, training pre-service English teachers at Burapha University and Mahasarakham University in Thailand. Other projects included English teacher training workshops, conferences, and summits throughout Southeast Asia. She has also collaborated on teacher mentorship projects with USAID in Myanmar and Thailand. Prior to her time in Thailand, Emily taught English to a variety of ages in the U.S. and China, developed curriculum for ESL classes, and coordinated study abroad and international student teaching experiences in China, Turkey, and North Africa.

Dr. Phuong Le has done her post-graduate education in Applied Linguistics and TESOL in Australia, US and UK. She is currently teaching American literature and intercultural communication at Phu Yen University, Vietnam. She has been an EFL teacher and teacher educator, teaching a wide range of subjects, mainly EFL and Communicative Language Teaching in Vietnam for 37 years in various teaching contexts. For the last 20 years, she has also been involved in helping the learners, both high school students and professionals, with IELTS exams. She has presented and published extensively both nationally and internationally on various EFL issues. Her current professional interests include learners’ creativity, critical thinking, intercultural communication and language assessment.

Seyed Ali Rezvani Kalajahi is a full time faculty member at the School of Foreign Languages in Turkish-German University, Istanbul, Turkey and he teaches EAP and ESP course. At the same time, he is a Post-doctoral visiting researcher at the Department of Foreign Language, Faculty of Education at Maltepe University, Istanbul where he is a principle investigator of a project granted by the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey. He obtained his PhD in Applied Linguistics from University Putra Malaysia and his Master’s degree is in English Language Teaching from Eastern Mediterranean University, Cyprus. He has BA in English Translation Studies from Tehran Islamic Azad University, Iran. He has taught Applied Linguistics courses in different universities around the world and published extensively in the field. By the same token, he has joined several conferences as a presenter, workshop conductor, and keynote speaker. Separately, he has engaged in academic and scholarly publication for the past eight years. Not only does he provide consultancy and help to regional and international journals, but also he works as an associate editor of Directory of Open Access Journals, UK and evaluates journals from middle eastern countries. Currently he is a managing of editor of two journals in the area of language and literature and linguistics established in Australia.

Shameem Rafik-Galea (PhD) is a Professor of Applied Linguistics at the Faculty of Social Sciences and Liberal Arts, UCSI University. She was previously a Professor with Universiti Putra Malaysia until her retirement. Her research interest is in the area of second language learning, language for specific purposes, discourse and communication in the workplace including medical discourse.

Professor (emeritus), Department of Pedagogical, Curricular and Professional Studies,University of Gothenburg, Sweden

Mats Oscarson has primarily conducted educational research involving, among other things, FL teaching methodology and the triennial national evaluations of foreign language achievement in the Swedish secondary and upper secondary school. His international professional experience also includes commissioned work for the Council of Europe, Strasbourg, including tasks in the Foreign languages projects, the European Language Portfolio guidance system, and in the development of the Common European Framework of Reference for languages (CEFR) standard. He has furthermore undertaken EU language assessment work involving diagnostic test development and learner self-assessment procedures.

Other activities include time spent as an invited Research Fellow at the National Foreign Language Center, Johns Hopkins University, Washington D.C., and teaching assignments in England, Portugal, Latvia, and Mozambique. The latter have involved organization of and participation in teacher training seminars and MA level courses in education. He has authored a range of language textbooks and teacher materials, and has been an Expert Member of the European Association for Language Testing and Assessment (EALTA) since 2005.

Dr. Anne Dragemark Oscarson is a senior lecturer at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden and works as a teacher educator at both the Department of Education and the Department of Languages and Literatures. She has a background as a language teacher and professional language tester. She holds a PhD in Subject Matter Education (Language Education) and her research interests include self-assessment of language (writing in particular) and other formative practices such as feedback.

Sasigaran Moneyam is the Director of Centre for Languages and General Studies (CEFLAGS), Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris (UPSI). He has obtained both bachelor and master degrees in the field of TESL from UPSI. He has many years of experience in teaching English at the tertiary level. He is the Project Leader for implementing Cambridge Accessible Tests (CATs) in public higher learning institutions in Malaysia. He is also the Project Leader for developing the online platform and the contents for Malaysia English Assessment (MEA). MEA is an initiative by the Malaysia Ministry of Higher Education in bringing together assessment resources from all public universities in Malaysia.