IAFOR > The Asian Conference on Language Learning (ACLL) > ACLL2019 > Speakers

Speakers

Keynote, Featured and Spotlight Speakers will provide a variety of perspectives from different academic and professional backgrounds. This page provides information about presenters. For details of presentations and other programming, please visit the Programme page.

Keynote Speakers

  • Sarah Mercer
    Sarah Mercer
    University of Graz, Austria
  • Phil Ball
    Phil Ball
    Author and Journalist
  • Keiko Sakui
    Keiko Sakui
    Kobe Shoin Women’s University, Japan
  • Masaya Mori
    Masaya Mori
    Rakuten Inc.

Featured Speakers

  • Mary Sengati-Zimba
    Mary Sengati-Zimba
    Zayed University, United Arab Emirates (UAE)
  • Jennie Roloff Rothman
    Jennie Roloff Rothman
    Kanda University of International Studies, Japan
  • Yasmin Dean
    Yasmin Dean
    Mount Royal University, Canada
  • Marco Koeder
    Marco Koeder
    J. Walter Thompson, Japan
  • Satoko Kato
    Satoko Kato
    Kanda University of International Studies (KUIS), Japan

Moderators

  • Jo Mynard
    Jo Mynard
    Kanda University of International Studies, Japan
  • Ted O’Neill
    Ted O’Neill
    Gakushuin University, Japan

Previous Speakers

View details of speakers at past ACLL conferences via the links below.

ACLL2018 ACLL2017 ACLL2016
ACLL2015 ACLL2014 ACLL2013
ACLL2012 ACAH2011
Sarah Mercer
University of Graz, Austria

Biography

Sarah Mercer is Professor of Foreign Language Teaching at the University of Graz, Austria, where she is Head of ELT methodology. Her research interests include all aspects of the psychology surrounding the foreign language learning experience, focusing in particular on self-concept, language teacher wellbeing, and positive psychology. She is the author, co-author and co-editor of several books in this area including, Towards an Understanding of Language Learner Self-Concept, Psychology for Language Learning, Multiple Perspectives on the Self’ in SLA, New Directions in Language Learning Psychology, Positive Psychology in SLA, Exploring Psychology for Language Teachers (Winner of the IH Ben Warren Prize), and Language Teacher Psychology. At present, she is Principal Investigator of two major funded research projects examining language teacher wellbeing. She works on the editorial board of various journals, was co-editor of the journal System for several years, is currently vice-president of the International Association for the Psychology of Language Learning (IAPLL), and serves as a consultant on several international projects. In 2018, she was awarded the Robert C Gardner Award for excellence in second language research by the International Association of Language and Social Psychology (IALSP).

Keynote Presentation (2019) | The Interdependence of Language Teacher and Learner Wellbeing

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Phil Ball
Author and Journalist

Biography

Phil Ball is an author and journalist, based in San Sebastián. His book about Spanish politics and football, Morbo: The Story of Spanish Football was recently voted into the 50 Greatest Sports Books of All Time by 442 Magazine and was nominated for the William Hill Sports Book of the Year in England. He wrote the first English-language history of Real Madrid ('White Storm') for the club’s centenary, and his weekly column on Spanish football culture, written for ESPN, ran uninterruptedly from 2001 to 2014.

He also works as an educational consultant for the Federation of Basque Schools and the University of the Basque Country (UPV). He is the co-author of the recent book about Content and Language Integrated Learning, Putting CLIL into Practice (Oxford University Press 2015), and his textbook series for the Basque competence-based curriculum was nominated for the ELTONS Innovation Award in London, in 2016. His comedy about education, 'The Hapless Teacher’s Handbook' (Ebury Press 2007) documents the trials and tribulations of being a young teacher in the English state system, and he is currently writing a work of fiction for children with a major UK publisher.

Keynote Presentation (2019) | CLIL – Consolidating Integration

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Keiko Sakui
Kobe Shoin Women’s University, Japan

Biography

Keiko Sakui, PhD is professor at Kobe Shoin Women’s University in Kobe, Japan. She has been an English language teacher, teacher trainer and researcher for more than 25 years and has worked in Japan, New Zealand and the United States. Her research interests extend to a wide variety of topics including understanding motivation, language teacher training, and the use of ICT in language classrooms. Keiko takes a hands-on research approach by immersing herself in educational settings: talking to teachers and other stakeholders and observing lessons so she can describe educational systems from multiple perspectives. Her most recent project, which is supported by a Japanese government grant, is to investigate English teaching in elementary schools. In a previous grant-supported project she explored different uses of ICT for language learning. She observed and interviewed university teachers and researchers in seven countries including Australia, Singapore, South Korea and the UK in order to develop an analytical framework for digital technology. This practical approach to research on ICT and language learning has led Keiko to experiment with creating her own online materials for teaching English grammar and various soft skills. In her free time, she also enjoys a variety of activities such as running, mountain walking and playing the piano.

Keynote Presentation (2019) | Gender, Race and Other Factors: Being a Member of Multiple Communities
Masaya Mori
Rakuten Inc.

Biography

Masaya Mori joined Rakuten Inc. in 2006 after previously working at Accenture. In his current positions as Rakuten Executive Director and Global Head of Rakuten Institute of Technology, he is in charge of making and implementing strategies of Artificial Intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT) and Big Data solutions, and manages seven institutes around the world. These research institutes have been developing robotics technologies, new AI marketing solutions, image recognition, voice recognition, natural language processing, machine translation, language learning solutions and so forth.

Since July 2017, he has served as the Director of Rakuten life Tech Lab, of Rakuten Life Insurance. He is also Director of the Database Society of Japan, Executive Member of the Japan Institute of Information Technology, Executive member of Nikkei BP IT Innovators, and Board member of the Steering Committee of the Ruby Association. In 2013, Mori was selected as one of the "40 Prodigies" by the Nikkei Sangyo Shimbun newspaper. In 2018, he spoke about Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) on behalf of Japan IT companies at the STI Forum, at the United Nations. He has authored books including The Complete Cloud Computing (co-authored, Nikkei BP) and Massive Change in the Web (Kindai-Sales Co).

Keynote Presentation (2019) | Transforming Passive TV Viewing into Language Learning with AI
Mary Sengati-Zimba
Zayed University, United Arab Emirates (UAE)

Biography

Mary Sengati-Zimba is an associate professor and Assistant Director of Public Services at the Library and Learning Commons, Zayed University in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE). Mary has over 30 years experience as an academic Librarian working with students in Tanzania, Australia and the UAE. Mary will discuss approaches to information literacy and supporting learners in accessing, selecting and using library resources in the UAE and elsewhere to support their assignments and learning. She will also give examples of how these skills build students to become lifelong learners applying skills they have earned in various context.

Featured Panel Presentation (2019) | Supporting Learners and Learning from Outside the Classroom: An Interdependent Multidisciplinary Approach
Jennie Roloff Rothman
Kanda University of International Studies, Japan

Biography

Jennie Roloff Rothman is a Principal Lecturer of Professional Development and Teacher Development in the English Language Institute at Kanda University of International Studies in Japan. She has more than a decade of involvement in the second language education academic community of Japan. She discusses what the ideal growth environment looks like as well as how to go about creating a situated system to support educators’ needs.

Featured Panel Presentation (2019) | Supporting Learners and Learning from Outside the Classroom: An Interdependent Multidisciplinary Approach
Yasmin Dean
Mount Royal University, Canada

Biography

Yasmin Dean is an Associate Professor of Social Work and the Chair of the Department of Child Studies and Social Work at Mount Royal University in Calgary, Canada. Yasmin has a counselling background and has coordinated student services in Canada and the UAE. She shares some of the challenges international students experience when they choose to study in Canada. Yasmin will also discuss the resources faculty and staff need to work effectively with international students.

Featured Panel Presentation (2019) | Supporting Learners and Learning from Outside the Classroom: An Interdependent Multidisciplinary Approach
Marco Koeder
J. Walter Thompson, Japan

Biography

Originally from Germany, Marco holds a Master Degree in Sociology from the University of Bamberg/Germany and is currently writing his PhD thesis on game-of-chance elements in games at the Graduate School of Asia-Pacific Studies (GSAPS) at Waseda University. He has already presented several papers on this topic at Asian, European and Global conferences of the International Telecommunications Society.

In Germany he was one of the core members of I-D Media, a start-up that went IPO and became one of Europe's biggest digital agencies. He then moved to Tokyo to become the head of Cybermedia, a small digital strategy agency with a focus on the mobile platform. He then joined MRM//McCann Japan as the Digital Marketing Director. Marco is currently the Director of Digital Business for JWT Japan, one of the longest lasting ad agencies in the world.

Marco has been teaching eMarketing and Social Media Marketing for MBA students at the International University. He is also the co-author of Six Immutable Laws of Mobile Business, a business strategy guide published by Wiley in the US/Europe and Korea.

Featured Presentation (2019) | The Power of Randomness: Lessons from (Mobile) Gaming and Behavioral Economics
Satoko Kato
Kanda University of International Studies (KUIS), Japan

Biography

Satoko Kato is a Senior Education Coordinator/Lecturer, at the Research Institute for Learner Autonomy Education (RILAE), Kanda University of International Studies (KUIS), Japan. She is also a lecturer at the Graduate School of Language Sciences, KUIS, teaching “learner autonomy” and “teacher autonomy” as part of the MA TESOL program. She holds an MA in TESOL from Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, and holds a Ph.D. degree in Education and Learning Science from Hiroshima University. She has conducted over 3,800 advising sessions as a learning advisor in the past 12 years aimed at promoting learner autonomy. Her research interests are learner/teacher autonomy, advising in language learning, reflective dialogue, and mentoring in teacher/advisor education. She is also focusing on developing and implementing advisor education programs for learners and teachers, domestically and internationally. She has co-authored two books, Reflective dialogue: Advising in language learning (with Jo Mynard, published by Routledge NY, 2016), and Eigo Gakushu Techo: English Learning Planner (with Hisako Yamashita, published by KUIS press, 2012–2014).

Featured Panel Presentation (2019) | Supporting Learners and Learning from Outside the Classroom: An Interdependent Multidisciplinary Approach
Jo Mynard
Kanda University of International Studies, Japan

Biography

Dr Jo Mynard is a Professor and Director of the Self-Access Learning Centre (SALC) at Kanda University of International Studies (KUIS) in Japan. At KUIS, she advises language learners, and oversees academic support, research and the general direction of the SALC. She also teaches an undergraduate course on Effective Language Learning at KUIS and a graduate course on Learner Autonomy as part of the MA TESOL programme at the KUIS graduate school. She is a part-time faculty member on the Doctor of Education programme in TESOL at the University of Anaheim (USA), an occasional supervisor at the university of Birmingham (UK) on the MA TESOL programme, and an advisor to doctoral candidates at the Education and ICT programme at the Open University of Catalunya (Spain). She has co-edited four books. Two on learner autonomy (2011; 2014), and two on advising in language learning (2012). She recently co-authored a book (with Satoko Kato) on reflective dialogue / advising which was published by Routledge (New York) in August 2015. She has been the editor of SiSAL (Studies in Self-Access Learning) Journal –a peer review, open access publication– since 2010.

Featured Panel Presentation (2019) | Supporting Learners and Learning from Outside the Classroom: An Interdependent Multidisciplinary Approach

Previous ACLL Presentations

Featured Panel Presentation (2018) | Language Learning in a Time of Complexity and Change
Ted O’Neill
Gakushuin University, Japan

Biography

Ted O’Neill is a professor at Gakushuin University, Tokyo, in the Faculty of International Social Sciences. He previously taught at the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Tokyo Medical and Dental University and J. F. Oberlin University. Ted was co-editor of The Language Teacher for the Japan Association for Language Teaching (JALT) and later served on the JALT National Board of Directors as Director of Public Relations from 2012 to 2016. He received an MA in ESL and Bilingual Education from the University of Massachusetts/Boston, USA in 1996 and completed a postgraduate Certificate of Educational Technology and Information Literacy through the Graduate School of Education at the State University of New York in 2014. He is a part of a research group studying implementation of content-based language education and content and language integrated learning in East and Southeast Asia with the generous support of The Research Institute for Oriental Cul­tures at Gakushuin University.​

Ted O’Neill is a Vice-President (at large) of IAFOR. He is a member of the Educational Technology section of the International Academic Advisory Board.

Featured Panel Presentation (2019) | Supporting Learners and Learning from Outside the Classroom: An Interdependent Multidisciplinary Approach

Previous ACLL Presentations

Featured Panel Presentation (2018) | Language Learning in a Time of Complexity and Change