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Title: Investigation of children’s reading through eye-tracking research 
Abstract
Understanding the mental processes involved in reading is challenging because many interacting factors influence how individuals process text, and these factors are not easily measurable. Researchers continue to seek improved methods for examining reading processes, and eye-tracking (ET) technology has emerged as a valuable tool for investigating cognitive activity through the study of eye movements. Although ET has been used for over a century to explore human learning and has become prominent in reading research, studies focusing on young children remain limited. This gap is understandable, as traditional methods such as think-aloud protocols and in-depth interviews are difficult to apply when attempting to access children’s thoughts.
This presentation begins by reviewing eye-tracking research conducted with children in different parts of the world. It then provides a detailed discussion of a series of eye-tracking studies carried out with prereaders in Malaysia to investigate their responses to reading materials presented under various conditions: viewing a picture while listening to a matching narration, viewing a picture with a non-matching narration, viewing a picture without narration, and reading text accompanied only by a matching narration.
The children’s storytelling performance was also evaluated and examined alongside their eye-tracking data. Comparisons between findings from Western contexts and those from Malaysia are drawn to explore how factors such as ethnicity, language proficiency, gender, and family background influence prereaders’ eye movements and storytelling skills. Relevant theoretical frameworks are used to gain a deeper understanding of the cognitive processes that occur when children are exposed to these different conditions.

Bio
Dr. Siew Ming Thang is the President of PacCALL and Co-chair of the GLoCALL conference series. She previously served as Professor at HELP University and as Professor and Head of the School of Language Studies and Linguistics at the Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia.
Her research interests include Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL), Learner Autonomy, Motivation, Learning Technologies, and Eye-tracking Research. She has published extensively and serves on the editorial boards of several well-established journals in CALL and language education. In addition, she has delivered keynote and plenary addresses at numerous international conferences.
Her recent work has appeared in leading SSCI- and Scopus-indexed journals, including Computer Assisted Language Learning, Language and Education, The Asia-Pacific Education Researcher, Australasian Journal of Educational Technology, International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, International Journal of Computer-Assisted Language Learning and Teaching, GEMA Online Journal of Language Studies, and CALL-EJ.

Dr. Pham Thi Hong Nhung is the president of Hue University of Foreign Languages and International Studies in Hue City, Vietnam. She holds an MA and PhD in Applied Linguistics from the University of Queensland, Australia. With 28 years of experience training English language teachers in Vietnam, Dr. Pham has served as a plenary and invited speaker at various national and international conferences, both within Vietnam and abroad. As an active professional, Dr. Pham has published extensively in the areas of language teacher training, EFL teaching, intercultural communication, language teaching materials evaluation, and language classroom discourse. She has been appointed by the Vietnamese Ministry of Education and Training to chair many national committees responsible for English language textbook appraisal, developing national output standards for university and postgraduate foreign language programs, and evaluating professional development curricula for English language teachers.

Dr. Anh Viet Le is currently the Associate Dean (Teaching Operations) at the Australia Education Management Group (AEMG), where she plays a pivotal role in overseeing academic initiatives. Prior to joining AEMG, she served as the Associate Dean of Operations for the Higher Degree Department at Holmes Institute, where she also held key leadership roles as Academic Manager and Head of the Bachelor of Business program. Before her tenure at Holmes, Dr. Le dedicated 11 years to lecturing in the Business Administration Department at the Academy of Finance in Vietnam. Her academic career is distinguished by a strong focus on consumer behavior research, particularly in the context of tourism, festival management, event organization, and the integration of AI and the metaverse in tourism. She has made significant contributions to these fields through numerous publications.

She will present the keynote paper titled “Vegan Restaurants: An Exploratory Study of Factors Influencing Consumer Behavior.”

ABSTRACT
In today’s global marketplace, cross-cultural competence is a vital skill for professional success. Research shows that many failed international business deals stem not from poor planning or strategy, but from cross-cultural misunderstandings. In contrast, companies that invest in cross-cultural training consistently achieve greater collaboration and stronger outcomes. This dynamic and thought-provoking presentation introduces participants to the significance of understanding and appreciating differences in deep cultural values. Using Vietnam and the United States as an example, it explores key contrasts in perceptions of time, hierarchy, communication styles, and individualism. Framed by the Iceberg Model of Culture, the talk highlights how unseen cultural values can influence professional interactions far more than visible traits. Designed with English for Occupational Purposes educators in mind, the keynote emphasizes the importance of teaching cross-cultural communication and awareness in the classroom. Participants will leave with a deeper understanding of culture’s impact and practical steps for fostering cultural competence in their learners—and themselves.


BIO – DIETER BRUHN

Dieter Bruhn is a dynamic and passionate trainer, educator, entrepreneur, and cross-cultural expert with more than 30 years of global experience. Throughout his career, he has designed and delivered innovative educational and corporate training programs all over the world, and he has helped thousands of educators, entrepreneurs, and professionals enhance their performance. Known for his engaging style and practical, results-driven solutions, Dieter has spent much of the past four years leading impactful educational initiatives through the U.S. Embassy in Hanoi, supporting growth and innovation in diverse learning environments. His work also includes extensive research on the influence of culture and implicit bias in international business, further deepening his commitment to cross-cultural understanding and effective global communication.

Title: A short history of SLA: Where have we come from and where are we going?
Abstract
The study of how people learn languages has a long history but it became an identifiable sub-area of applied linguistics in the 1960s driven by two seminal papers (Corder, 1967; Selinker, 1970), which motivated intensive empirical enquiry. Early research focused on investigating the order and sequence of L2 acquisition, leading into work on variability in learner language and rethinking the role of the L1. Subsequently, researchers turned to the role of input and interaction, implicit and explicit learning, and the importance of consciousness in language learning. At this stage, SLA was predominantly a cognitive-interactionist enterprise directed at explaining how learners acquire grammar. However, the 1990s saw a social turn in SLA. There was greater emphasis on the social context of learning, on learners’ social identity, and on different aspects of language. Sociocultural SLA became a major influence at this time. More recently, the cognitive and social sides of SLA have come closer together through the investigation of learners’ complex dynamic systems.
As SLA has evolved, we can see a change in the reasons for investigating L2 acquisition. In the early phases SLA researchers were interested in improving language teaching. In the later phases. SLA has become less applied and more purely academic, directed at contributing to our understanding of language and the human mind. I will illustrate how this change has taken place through an analysis of the journals that publish SLA research and suggest that this is one reason why teachers have become increasingly sceptical of SLA as a useful source of information about pedagogy.


Bio
Rod Ellis is an Emeritus Distinguished Research Professor in Curtin University (Australia), an Emeritus Distinguished Professor of the University of Auckland, a fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand and in the top 1% of social and humanities scientists in the world. He has held teaching positions in universities in Zambia, UK, Japan, USA, New Zealand and Australia and has conducted talks and seminars throughout the world on second language acquisition and task-based language teaching.