By Hadina Habil

We have been living in the pandemic era for more than a year, adjusting our lives to the new normal since the great lockdown on 18 March 2020. Since then, we have had many phases of lockdowns and semi lockdowns translated into MCO, EMCO, CMCO and back to MCM 2.0 and 3.0 with each a specific SOPs that we must follow.

In the context of education, academic activities continue online. All teaching and learning are conducted online. Zoom, Webex, Google Classroom and other online platforms become the site where teachers, students, educators, and practitioners meet in pursuit of learning.

Life goes on, and so do academic activities such as conferences, dialogues, workshops and webinars. These activities, which were conducted face-to-face before, are now planned and moved to online platforms.

Realising the uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic and how it is affecting lives in the new normal, the Malaysian Association of Applied Linguistics (MAAL) decided to organise its biennial conference, the Malaysian Association of Applied Linguistics International Conference (MAALIC) 2021, virtually via Zoom platform from 8-10 September 2021.

The recently concluded conference was a huge success looking at the number of participations, types of presentation and the interest it garnered from international speakers.

Getting serious online

MAALIC 2021 was organised in collaboration with Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR) and supported by many public and private universities in Malaysia such as Universiti Malaya, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, International Islamic University Malaysia, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Universiti Kuala Lumpur, Universiti Teknologi Petronas, City University, Kuala Lumpur, and SEGI University, Malaysia.

Another important supporter of MAALIC 2021 is Emerald Publishing.

The organising committee was headed by Prof Dr Shameem Rafik-Galea, the MAAL President who is also a professor at SEGI University. The academic staff from the above universities, who are MAAL executive members, formed the organising committee of the conference.

Given the MCO restrictions and the fact that the organising committee members are from geographically diverse locations, all meetings were conducted online via Zoom. The preparations started in March 2021 and the last month, August, saw a weekly meeting conducted to ensure a successful conference.

WhatsApp is another social media platform that has played an important part in planning for the conference. Chats on WhatsApp constitute the discussions otherwise taken place in face to face meeting.

An international conference like no other

The fundamental theme of the conference, which is ‘Applied Linguistics Research and Practices in a VUCA World: Embracing Digitalisation, Challenges and New Norms’, was discussed by the reputed keynote speakers, Professor Vijay Bhatia from Chinese University of Hong Kong, Associate Professor Dr Andrew Moody from University of Macau, Professor Lorna Carson from Trinity College Dublin, University College Dublin, and lastly, Dr Susanto Saman from Bandar Lampung University, Indonesia.

All the speakers were given the Zoom link for them to join the conference, and the participants were provided the link for the specific day once they registered for the conference.

The conference received papers from international and local presenters which were scheduled into several types of presentation. There were four keynote speakers, seven plenary speakers, four featured speakers, seven symposia, three featured panels including a MAAL featured panel with industry representatives, a special AILA ASEAN panel, eight e-poster presentations and 61 parallel papers including 13 from international presenters.

At least 35 local and a few international participants also signed up for the conference. Daily rates to join the conference also offered an option for those who could not join the whole duration of the three-day conference. A total of more than 110 people had participated in MAALIC 2021.

The highlight of the conference was the symposium by the International Association of Applied Linguistics (AILA) ASEAN speakers, and a Postgraduate Symposium by MAAL Young Researchers Outreach (MYRO).

AILA stands for the Association Internationale de Linguistique Appliquee in which MAAL is an affiliate. The AILA ASEAN panel was represented by speakers from each of the following ASEAN countries – Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines and Indonesia.

Rocking it online

The opening of the conference was officiated by the MAAL founder and the AILA president, Prof Dr Azirah Hashim from Universiti Malaya. Prof Azirah is the first Malaysian and Asian professor to be elected as AILA president.

The short and sweet opening session was accompanied by a gamelan pre-recorded performance by ASWARA students.

The lunch break from 1-2 pm for all the three days of the conference was accompanied by pre-recorded music highlighting a piano recital on Day 1, a cello recital and a medley of Jazz performance on Day 2, and song performance by Ecclesia Youth & Children’s Ensemble on Day 3.

The conference closing had the organising committee members singing the song of Rasa Sayang and Geylang Si Paku Geylang to the guitar played by Ashraf Ishak, the guest artist for the closing.

Despite the conference being held online, conference participants enjoyed the programme scheduled for them. This could be seen when many stayed online even after goodbyes were said.

As the saying goes, if something is worth doing, it is worth doing well. The MAAL organising committee has shown that with dedication, commitment and passion in advancing knowledge for the benefits of the community, life in the new norm does not have to be restricted and dull. Make use of the technology to enhance the quality of life in pursuit of excellence.

-- BERNAMA

Hadina Habil is an Associate Professor at Language Academy, Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Johor Bahru. She is one of MAAL executive members and also one of the MAALIC organising committee members.