02/09/2026
๐๐ฌ ๐๐๐ง๐ ๐ฎ๐๐ ๐ ๐๐ก๐๐ฉ๐๐ฌ ๐๐๐๐ง๐ญ๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐๐ฌ: ๐๐ญ๐ก ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ก๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐ฌ ๐๐๐ซ๐ญ๐ข๐๐ข๐ฉ๐๐ง๐ญ๐ฌ ๐๐จ ๐๐ก๐ข๐ง๐ค ๐๐ฅ๐จ๐๐๐ฅ
Continuing this year's edition of the ILMU International Lecture Series on Applied Linguistics, the University of Southeastern Philippines' (USeP) College of Arts and Sciences (CAS), through its Language Department and the Language Students' Society (LSS), celebrates another milestone with its 8th edition, conducted via Zoom on August 25, 2026. Three new scholars from Malaysia, Indonesia, and Russia gave meaningful insights that shape our ๐๐๐๐โor knowledge in Bahasa Sug, Indonesian, and Malaysian languagesโin understanding the essence of integrating one's culture and identity in communicating in English, allowing us to learn, connect, and keep the spirit of knowledge alive while adapting to the trends of globalization.
The event began with an opening prayer led by Von Angelo Dadapan, a Tagakaulo student, followed by the opening remarks by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nasirin Abdillah of Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia, who is also a Bahasa Melayu faculty member of the AB English Language program at USeP. In his welcome message, he acknowledged the presence of the distinguished lecturers and encouraged participants to listen attentively, ask questions, and make the most of the opportunity to engage with scholars from diverse cultural and academic backgrounds. He expressed his hope that the exchange would extend beyond itself, stating, โI hope that todayโs discussions will not end when this program concludes but will inspire further learning, research, and collaboration.โ Giving his message of support, Dr. Jacopo Castaldi, Senior Lecturer at Canterbury Christ Church University in the United Kingdom, reminded the audience that language is more than just a mere communication tool; rather, it constructs our identities and the way we relate to the world.
In the first part of the lecture, Dr. Haida Umiera Hashim of Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia, started her talk by posing a question to the audience, challenging them to ponder the idea of becoming glocal teachers who are capable of integrating cultural inclusivity, technology, and English as a medium of communication in instructional design altogether.
"If our students can speak English fluently, but cannot communicate respectfully across cultures, have we really prepared them for the global world?" Dr. Hashim asked.
Her lecture, titled "Globalization, Cultural Competence, and English Education", presented a case study on teaching Malaysian students about English through a storytelling of the Malaysian Siamese heritage. She imparted to participants the idea that becoming effective communicators of English does not equate to intelligence, fluency, and accuracy, because as English becomes global, it becomes a shared medium that unites people in a society that fosters cultural diversity. Moreover, she also encouraged everyone to take advantage of AI in designing teaching materials while becoming responsible users of the tool by verifying the answers given to them by ChatGPT and other similar AI platforms.
Additionally, Dr. Andi Asrifan of Universitas Negeri Makassar, Indonesia, supported the idea of incorporating local practices in teaching language to shape learners into critical thinkers. His lecture, titled "Decolonizing Language Learning: Power Dynamics and Social Justice in Critical Language Pedagogy," emphasized the necessity of inclusivity and equity as a means of decolonizing English language learning in classrooms by promoting contextualized multilingual learning and contesting the limiting, standardized approach constructed by the colonial language education systems.
"Decolonizing language learning means questioning established hierarchies and recognizing the local languages' experiences, and that the only system has educational value," he said.
Following a short break, Dr. Ekaterina Baklanova of the Institute of Asian and African Studies of Lomonosov Moscow State University, Russia, sparked participants' interest through her lecture titled "Language Contact Outcomes: The Case of Tagalog". Bringing the Tagalog language into the spotlight, Dr. Baklanova delivered a well-detailed presentation about how its contact with the Malay, Chinese Hokkien, Sanskrit, Arab, Kapampangan, Spanish, and English languages as early as the 9th century influenced the linguistic identity of the Philippines' national language through borrowing, affixation, Hispanization, gender copy, and code-switching processes.
"The intensive and continuous contact of Tagalog with several languages, both Asian and European or Western [languages], has made Tagalog rather permeable to new word elements, and those influences have much impact on the structure of language itself," she remarked.
As the program came to a close, Ms. Ashlee Jane S. Inso, outgoing president of the Language Studentsโ Society, delivered the synthesis and closing remarks, reflecting on the significance of viewing English language education and Applied Linguistics through both local and global perspectives. Drawing from the three lectures, she emphasized that learning English and engaging with the wider global community should not come at the expense of oneโs own language, culture, and identity. Instead, she underscored the importance of creating spaces where local voices and knowledge are recognized as part of a more inclusive and decolonized approach to education.
Moreover, she expressed her thanks to the esteemed lecturers, participants, instructors, and organizers for making the event possible throughout the past year under her term and hopes that the ILMU International Lecture Series will continue to grow and reach more learners and scholars, creating spaces for meaningful academic exchange and collaboration in the years to come. In closing, she returned to the very principle at the heart of ILMU: โDili lamang nga makakat-on kita, kundili nga magpaambit usab kita.โ (Not simply that we learn, but that we share what we have learned.) The event concluded with a closing prayer led by David Matthew Ng, a 4th-year Chinese student.
Indeed, language is not simply a way that we communicate things, but it also represents our shared worldview and identity as a society. While English dominates the world as the universal language, our local language defines who we are and how we think, helping us to understand the world around us in a way that each of us can relate to and ponder. Hence, it is important that we encourage others to be proud of our own language by preserving it until passed on to future generations, all while being open to interacting with people across the world. In doing so, we are reminded that learning a global language does not mean leaving our own language and identity behind. Rather, it gives us another means to share who we are with the world. As we continue to learn from languages and cultures beyond our own, may we also continue to value, preserve, and share what is uniquely ours.
๐ท๐๐
๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐-๐๐, ๐๐๐
๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐, ๐๐ ๐๐๐
๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐, ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐, ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐
๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐
๐๐๐๐๐.
(Continue learning, continue sharing, and continue giving voice to the stories, cultures, and ideas that deserve to be heard.)
Stay tuned as we return for more exciting conversations like this as the ILMU International Lecture Series returns this ๐๐๐ฉ๐ญ๐๐ฆ๐๐๐ซ ๐๐!
Article by: Erika Jane P. Roble
PubMat by: Kevin Alberca
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