The Faculty of Letters Universitas Muhammadiyah Purwokerto, for the tenth time, has successfully held an International Seminar entitled Conference on Teaching English as A Foreign Language (COTEFL) on Tuesday, July 13, 2021. The 10th COTEFL 2021, hosted by the Faculty of Letters, UMP, brought the grand theme of “Sustaining Distance learning in the Digital Era”. It was officially opened by the Rector of UMP, represented by Deputy Rector Ir. Aman Suyadi, M.P. as the Vice-Rector for Academic Affairs and Cooperation.
This year’s conference is different from previous years, considering the world conditions experiencing the Covid-19 pandemic. However, the pandemic did not prevent the forum from being held to convey knowledge and as a place to share current studies and best practices of English language teaching. Therefore, the committee organised the event virtually through the Zoom Video teleconferencing application. The number of participants from various elements of lecturers, teachers, undergraduate and postgraduate students as well as other academic practitioners, both from within the country and abroad (including Malaysia, the Philippines, New Zealand, Colombia and America), attended and were interested in the themes given by the presenters and speakers. It proved that the limitations and challenges caused by the pandemic has not diminished the participants’ enthusiasm to take part in this scientific activity. The majority of participants expressed satisfaction and hoped that similar scientific activities could be held again in the future with additional time for the presenters.
The conference invited speakers from five countries. The keynote speaker was Dr. Ali H. Al-Hoorie from Saudi Arabia. Meanwhile, the plenary sessions invited speakers from several universities, including from the home university. They were Dr. Seriaznita Binti Mat Said from University of Technology Malaysia, Malaysia, Asst. Prof. Maria Guapacha, Ph.D. from Universidad de Valle, Colombia, Prof. Yuko Uesugi from Eikei University of Hiroshima, Japan, along with three speakers representing Indonesia, Dr. Itje Chodijah, MA, Dr. Like Raskova Octoberlina, M.Ed from Maulana Malik Ibrahim State Islamic University and Titik Wahyuningsih, S.S., M.Hum. from Universitas Muhammadiyah Purwokerto.
The event, which was held on a full day long, also coincided with the 21st Anniversary of the Faculty of Letters UMP, marked by the book launching of Bahasa, Sastra, Budaya, dan Pandemi. The book presented comprehensive thoughts and discussions by the lecturers of the faculty related to the new phenomena in language to culture during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Faculty of Letters has consistently held the international conference since 2009. According to the chair of the committee, Sulasih Nurhayati SS, M. Hum., such regular forums may benefit the development of the educational sector since they provide rooms for lecturers, professionals, researchers, teachers, and students to share new perspectives and knowledge about educations, especially English language teaching. (Abe)
