Presenters

1. Scott Thornbury - Plenary Speaker

The Secret History of Methods

I am regularly asked “What’s the latest method,” suggesting that the concept of method persists, despite recent attempts to bury it (“The method concept is dead!”).  Drawing on an extensive archive of language teaching textbooks, I will review the history of methods, and in so doing, will argue that the prescriptive concept of method is less useful than the descriptive concept of methodology, i.e., what teachers actually do, rather than what they are obliged to do.

I will also attempt to show that the history of methods is best...

10. International Conference Committee Chair

Sean O'Connor has been a member of KOTESOL for many years. He has served on the KOTESOL International Conference Committee (ICC) since 2001. For most of those years, he served as director of the Technical Team. His ICC service earned him an Outstanding Service Award from the ICC chair in 2013 and a President's Award in 2015. Sean served as co-chair on the 2016 ICC before moving up to the 2017 ICC chair position. Email: kotesol.chair.2017@gmail.com

10. Jun Liu - Featured Speaker (IC2013)

Jun Liu is a TESOL Professor for Anaheim University, as well as Associate Provost for International Initiatives, Senior International Officer, and Professor of Applied Linguistics at Georgia State University. He is a Presidential Fellow (2012-13) and member of the Professional Development Committee for AIEA. Dr. Liu has served as Past President of TESOL International, VP of ISCLT (International Society of Chinese Language Teaching), Senior Advisor for Hanban (Office of the Chinese Language Council International), and Director of the Confucius Institute / Assistant Vice...

11. International Conference Committee Co-chair

Rhea Metituk began her career teaching health education in an HIV/AIDS NGO in Africa. Since her “pivot Asia” move in 2002, she has been based in Seoul, Busan, Ulsan and now again in Seoul. She has an MA in rhetorical writing and digital media, and currently is at Myongju University. She is researching blended learning methods for teaching conversation. Her academic interests include rhetorical analysis: study of appeals in communication using pathos, ethos, and logos, as well as media literacy and using creativity in digital media. She has served as Busan-Gyeongnam Chapter president,...

12. Annamaria Pinter - Featured Speaker (IC2013)

Annamaria Pinter was trained as an English language teacher in Hungary at the Eotvos Lorand University in Budapest after studying linguistics and literature. She worked in Hungary for a number of years in a variety of contexts, including state primary and secondary schools, International House (IH) language schools and in a pre-service teacher training college. She completed her Masters and my PhD in ELT/Applied Linguistics at the Centre for Applied Linguistics at the University of Warwick, and is now an Associate Professor at the Centre, teaching on the Masters in ELT and...

12. Nominations and Elections Committee Chair

Anika Casem double-majored in English and speech communication, has a MA in communication studies, and a TESOL certificate. In the U.S., she taught public speaking at the university level and adult language learners at a local community college. Since joining KOTESOL, she has been a panel speaker at Ewha Womans University, presented at KOTESOL conferences, worked as a Zoom technical assistant for the online National Conference, attended chapter meetings, and acted as the Busan-Gyeongnam Chapter membership officer in 2020. She has been in South Korea since 2016 and currently teaches at...

13. Publications Committee Chair

Dr. David Shaffer is an early member of Korea TESOL and a long-term resident of Gwangju, where his career has been as a professor on the English Department Faculty at Chosun University. He holds a PhD in Linguistics (theoretical) but has done much of his recent research in applied linguistics and SLA, and in TESOL, in which he holds advanced certificates. In addition to research papers, Dr. Shaffer’s writings include books and articles on English teaching and learning as well as Korean language, culture, and poetry. Over the years, Dr. Shaffer has served as KOTESOL National Treasurer and...

14. Charles Browne - Featured Speaker (IC2013)

Charles Browne is Professor of Applied Linguistics and head of the EFL teacher training program at Meiji Gakuin University in Japan, and a well-known expert on English education in Asia. He received his Ed.D. from Temple University and is a specialist in CALL (Computer Assisted Language Learning) and Second Language Vocabulary Acquisition. Over the past 25 years that he has worked in Japan, Dr. Browne has published dozens of research articles and books, including “New Perspectives in CALL for Second Language Classrooms” (2004; co-edited with Sandra Fotos), and has authored a...

14. Membership Committee Chair

Lindsay Herron has been teaching at Gwangju National University of Education since 2008. Prior to that, she taught English on a Fulbright grant at a high school in Jeju-do. She has an MA in cinema studies (New York University, USA); an MSEd in literacy, culture, and language education (LCLE; Indiana University, USA); a graduate certificate in learning sciences, media, and technology (LSMT; Indiana University, USA); and a CELTA and CELTA-YL Extension. She is currently a doctoral candidate in LCLE (Indiana University, USA).

A lifetime member of KOTESOL, Lindsay is chair of the KOTESOL...

15. International Outreach Committee Chair

Allison Bill started her own second language learning at age five. She completed her BEd in elementary French education at the University of Ottawa and her MA TESL/TEFL at St. Michael’s College in Vermont (USA). She is currently studying for her EdD at Anaheim University. Allison has been president of Jeonju-North Jeolla Chapter and chair of the Korea TESOL International Conference (2006). She has taught FSL in Canada, and EFL in France and Korea. She is a native of Ottawa, Canada, has lived in Korea since 2000, and teaches at Jeonju University. Email: allison.bill1@gmail.com

16. IATEFL Young Learners & Teenagers Special Interest Group (SIG) (IC2013)

Hans Mol has worked as a teacher, teacher trainer, director of studies, producer, and author. He is coordinator of the Young Learners and Teenagers Special Interest Group (YLT-SIG) for IATEFL. He has written, co-authored, and contributed to many courses and resources for young learners, teens, young adults, and adults, for general English and specific purposes. He is published globally and regionally (see www.eflwriters.com); his publications include Real English, Take Shape, Shape Up, Next Stop, Way Ahead, Brainwave, New Inspiration, Realtime, All Right, iRead – New English...

16. Technologies Committee Chair

John Phillips is a long-time member of KOTESOL and a long-time chair of the Technologies Committee. He is presently an independent computer and network specialist, and has spent many years working for Fulbright Korea. John has also served on the technical team of many KOTESOL international conference committees.

17. Publicity Committee Chair

Position to be filled.

18. Research Committee Chair

Dr. Ju Seong Lee is an assistant professor and acting head of the Department of English Language Education at the Education University of Hong Kong. He is deeply committed to supporting underprivileged and marginalized groups and believes in promoting equity, informal and lifelong learning, and innovative teaching and research approaches in multilingual and multicultural environments. His research interests include CALL, IDLE (informal digital learning of English), innovative pedagogy with design thinking, and learners' emotions and well-being. Dr. Lee is a lifetime member of the Gwangju-...