Kitakyushu, Japan, November, 2006
Brainstorming Meeting held during JALT Conference (Kitakyushu,
Japan). As there was no quorum, no official business was handled.
Steve Brown, the president of JALT welcomed all representatives.
Stephen Ryan, representing (FEELTA) the host of the PAC 5 handed
over the chair to Suchada, representing (ThaiTESOL) the host of the
upcoming PAC 6.
All representatives and participants introduced themselves.
Before starting the meeting, JALT reminded all in attendance that the
meeting would serve as a brainstorming session in preparation for our
next meeting in Bangkok. Attendees were further reminded that no
official PAC business could be conducted at the meeting as we had not
established a quorum--ETA-ROC, and ELLTAS were not represented at the
meeting.
ThaiTESOL explained that, as a rule, meetings held at non-PAC
conferences may serve as a forum to discuss proposals but that all
formal decisions must be made during PAC Conference meetings under a
full quorum. JALT suggested that formal decisions could be made at any
meeting at which a quorum had been established. FEELTA suggested
further that decisions could also be made online through the PAC list.
PAC reps discussed the following issues:
1. PAC6/ThaiTESOL
Suchada updated PAC partners on PAC 6/ThaiTESOl conference
preparations.
2. AYF
Suchada informed the committee that the AYF team had allocated quotas
to reps from affiliates and major universities in Thailand. Details can
be found on ThaiTESOL's website.
KOTESOL, PALT, and the JALT2006 Asian Scholar Wu
Zongjie (China) expressed interest and were encouraged to follow up
with Kip Cates, Phil Chappell, and Sonthida Keyurawong about the
possiblity of participating.
3. Future PAC Conferences
Two proposals were made:
(PAC Partners should consider the following proposals and be ready to
discuss them at the upcoming meeting in Bangkok.)
3.1 the policy for the PAC members to decide on the future PAC
conference hosts. Once again, the possibility of a loose rotation
system was proposed. And
3.2 the possibility of organizing PAC annually.
Additionally.....
Prof. Wu Zongjie (China), JALT2006 Asian Scholar, expressed interest in
hosting a PAC conference in China as a forum for discussion about how
China-based language teachers might work collaboratively with current
members of the PAC community. However, since China is extremely large,
it may be impossible for China to select a sole representative
association to pursue PAC membership. In any case, a university--or
group of universities--could host a conference in China, which would
work as a catalyst to get the dialogue going among language teaching
professionals in China.
The representatives present agreed to include Prof Zongjie's proposal
in the PAC council's discussions of 3.1 and 3.2 above at PAC/Thailand
TESOL in Bangkok.
4. PALT and ELLTAS
PALT has signed reciprocal agreements with all PAC members except
ELLTAS. PAC partners are concerned whether ELLTAS is able to attend
meetings and participate in PAC activities. PAC should follow up on
this and continue to encourage the signing of a reciprocal agreement
between PALT and ELLTAS. Suchada will draft a letter to request a
clarification on ELLTAS's current situation and confirmation that
ELLTAS intends to participate as an active PAC partner.
In case PAC members cannot attend meetings, there is a mechanism for
the committee to discuss and vote on proposals online, through the PAC
list.
5. International forum
JALT reminded the group to attend the PAC discussion titled 'Our
International Community,' highlighting updates and stories from our PAC
partner associations in Korea, the Phillippines, Thailand, the Russian
Far East, and Japan..
The minutes were taken by Steven
Nishida, JALT Vice President. This version was last updated December 7,
2006.