Welcoming Remarks
President of APSPBI
Assalamu Alaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh
Dear Esteemed Colleagues, Distinguished Guests, and Fellow Educators of the APSPBI Family. It is with profound honor, deep gratitude, and an overwhelming sense of pride that I welcome you to Jakarta for the International Conference and Annual Business Meeting (ICON ABM) 2026.
We gather today under circumstances that are far from ordinary. I am acutely aware that our nation and the global community are currently navigating turbulent waters. We are facing undeniable economic headwinds that demand our utmost adaptability. Furthermore, Mother Nature has severely tested our resolve. The heavy blankets of smoke from recent forest fires (karhutla) and the formidable logistical disruptions caused by the volcanic eruptions of Anak Krakatau have made the journey to our capital city incredibly challenging.
I know the extraordinary lengths, the delayed flights, the sheer exhaustion, and the unwavering determination it took for many of you to be seated in this hall today. Your presence here is not just a professional commitment; it is a profound testament to your unyielding dedication to the future of education in Indonesia. You have defied the odds to be here, and for that, I salute you.
This remarkable resilience perfectly embodies the very essence of our theme this year: “Humanizing English Language Education in the Age of AI.”
We stand at a crossroads where Artificial Intelligence is rapidly transforming our pedagogical landscapes. AI can generate flawless text, process infinite data, and automate our systems. However, as these recent trials have proven, technology cannot replicate the indomitable human spirit. AI does not know courage. It does not understand the grit required to travel through ash-filled skies, nor the profound empathy it takes to stand by our students and communities amidst economic uncertainty.
We bring that humanity to the classroom. Our shared struggles and our collective triumphs are the very soul of the education we impart. As we deliberate in our Annual Business Meeting and exchange insights during this conference, let us remember that our primary mission is to teach our students not merely how to interact with machines, but how to remain profoundly human—compassionate, critical, adaptable, and fiercely resilient in an unpredictable world.
Let this gathering in Jakarta be a beacon of our collective strength. Let us use this momentum to forge stronger institutional collaborations, design visionary curricula, and renew our solidarity as a unified association. We are not just surviving these challenges; we are leading through them.
Let our discussions be vigorous, our collaborations be deeply rooted, and our shared vision be brighter than any obstacle before us.
Welcome to Jakarta. Welcome to ICON ABM 2026. Together, let us shape a triumphant future for English Language Education!
Warmest regards,
Dr. Ummi Khaerati Syam, S.Pd., M.Pd.
President, Asosiasi Program Studi Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris (APSPBI)
PARALLEL ROOM-PRESENTER ONSITE
INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE 2026
BREAKOUT ROOM PRESENTER ONLINE
INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE 2026
Keynote and Invited Speakers Abstract
PLATFORMISING ENGLISH ASSESSMENT: AFFORDANCES, ALIGNMENT AND AGENCY
Dr. Esther Tong
Head of Division of Languages and Communication and Director of Centre for Pedagogic Research
College of Professional and Continuing Education, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
email: esther.tong@cpce-polyu.edu.hk
The digitalisation of higher education has transformed the infrastructures that underpin pedagogical innovation, curriculum design, and learning assessment. In the era of artificial intelligence (AI), language learning is increasingly mediated by hybrid intelligent ecosystems that combine digital platforms with integrated pedagogical practices. Growing concerns about validity, ethics, and equity have shifted the focus of language assessment from the evaluation of performance alone towards dynamic, authentic, and process-oriented approaches to assessment for and as learning. These developments challenge traditional formative assessment practices and call on language educators to reposition themselves as pedagogical designers capable of integrating platformised approaches to teaching, learning, and assessment. Within this digitally mediated ecosystem, frontline practitioners are increasingly required to redesign assessment as a socially situated practice of engagement and entanglement within hybrid intelligent, platform-enabled environments. This paper examines how platformisation creates new opportunities to enhance assessment feedback literacy, foster reciprocal agency, and strengthen assessment authenticity. Drawing on three technology-mediated assessment initiatives, it demonstrates how digital platforms can support a more integrated, learner-centred approach to language assessment.
FROM CULTURAL SHARING TO INTERCULTURAL AWARENESS: EXPLORING STUDENTS’ INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATIVE COMPETENCE IN A VIRTUAL INTERCULTURAL EXCHANGE
Noni Agustina
English Language Education, Universitas Esa Unggul, Jakarta, Indonesia
email: noni@esaunggul.ac.id
In many EFL higher education contexts, students have limited opportunities to engage in meaningful intercultural interaction, making virtual intercultural exchange important as a pedagogical space where they can encounter cultural differences, negotiate meanings, and reflect on their own and others’ cultural assumptions. This study explores students’ experiences of intercultural learning and awareness through cultural sharing in a virtual intercultural exchange involving universities in Jakarta, Bali, Vietnam, the Philippines, Ecuador, and Costa Rica. Using narrative inquiry, this study involved 25 students who voluntarily participated in semi-structured interviews after joining the three-session exchange. Framed by Byram’s concept of intercultural communicative competence, the study focused on students’ intercultural attitudes, intercultural knowledge, skills of interpreting and relating, skills of discovery and interaction, and critical cultural awareness. The findings show that the exchange enabled students to move beyond cultural sharing toward deeper intercultural awareness. Students’ narratives revealed curiosity, openness, and willingness to listen before judging unfamiliar cultural practices. They also gained knowledge about cultural values, traditions, food, festivals, family life, communication styles, religion, and everyday practices. Through interaction, students compared cultural similarities and differences and recognized that cultural practices may differ in form but share similar underlying values. They also used active listening, questioning, clarification, online searching, and peer confirmation to understand unfamiliar cultural meanings. The study suggests that guided virtual cultural sharing can support students’ experiences of intercultural communicative competence in EFL higher education contexts.
Keywords: Virtual intercultural exchange; cultural sharing; intercultural awareness; intercultural communicative competence; narrative inquiry
DECOLONIZING ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING: RETHINKING PEDAGOGY AND THE USE OF AI
Ahmed Bashir
Professor, University of Dhaka, Bangladesh
President, Bangladesh English Language Teachers Association (BELTA)
email: abashir@du.ac.bd
English language teaching in many parts of the world is rooted in a colonial legacy that often marginalizes local languages and epistemologies in favour of Western linguistic norms and cultural values. Taking the case of Bangladesh, the talk argues for decolonizing ELT by re-examining the intersections of language, power, and pedagogy. The dominance of ‘native-speaker’ models and imported standardized curricula perpetuates linguistic hierarchies, affecting learners’ identities, self-worth, and access to equitable education. Through a postcolonial lens, this presentation critiques current ELT practices and the use of AI, which is often treated as a threat to education, as it introduces digital neo-colonialism and mechanized learning. While critiquing AI, the talk emphasizes ethical and critical AI literacy as a form of Freirean praxis. The talk also advocates for a shift towards culturally responsive pedagogy. In doing so, it calls for the promotion of critical awareness of linguistic hegemony, critical pedagogy, critical AI literacy, and integration of local languages, culture, literature, and knowledge systems into the curricula. Finally, the talk offers some strategies for stakeholders, including educators, policymakers, and curriculum designers, to transform ELT and AI into a decolonial, inclusive, and empowering tool in an EFL/ESL context.
CORPUS-ASSISTED REFLECTIVE PRACTICE FOR STEM LECTURER PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT IN THE EMI HIGHER EDUCATION CONTEXT
Dr. Angela Farrell
University of Limerick, Ireland
The presentation focuses on a Corpus-Based Reflective Practice (CBRP) approach for the professional development of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) lecturers transitioning to English Medium Instruction (EMI) in higher education. Globally, as well as in specific implementation contexts such as Algeria—where EMI policy was formally adopted in 2022—the transition faces systemic pedagogical challenges, including inadequate lecturer language skills, a lack of awareness regarding the dual role of content and language teaching, insufficient student language proficiency, and a reliance on traditional teacher-centered instruction. To overcome these obstacles, successful EMI requires a shift toward learner-centered teaching that promotes high classroom interaction to simultaneously support subject content acquisition and English language development. The CBRP approach facilitates this transition by utilizing corpus linguistics to heighten lecturers’ awareness of their interactional language patterns through evidence-based data. In a study involving a three-day workshop with 20 STEM lecturers in Algeria (CEFR B2 level), initial corpus findings revealed a dominance of lecturer talk and a lack of strategic questioning. Guided reflections on these data enabled participants to recognize their language usage and understand the crucial need for developing interactional strategic competence to enhance student engagement in the EMI classroom.