National University of Malaysia visited Lancaster University

Vice-Chancellor and Senior Team from the National University of Malaysia visit Lancaster University

On the 6th February, University leadership were delighted to welcome a senior delegation from the Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) to celebrate singing of a Memorandum of Association between the two universities, which was signed during covid-19 travel restrictions.

The 2-day visit facilitated the final stages of setting up the INT298 module: International Summer School in TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other languages) with cultural component.

This is a collaborative initiative between the two universities for Lancaster undergraduate and postgraduate students interested in learning more about second language teaching methods and wishing to volunteer as teaching assistants in Malaysian secondary schools.

More information on this opportunity can be found on the Global Ask pages.

A meeting with the team from the Linguistics and English Language department provided the opportunity to brief the Lancaster team on UKM-SHAPE’s project and the development of an English language competency test for international students in Malaysia. Lancaster colleagues specialising in language testing have been invited to act as consultants on the project.

Further talks included discussions around future collaborative activity including research and continued work on developing a research plan that will help to monitor and evaluate quality and standards of UKM-SHAPE’s English language competency test.

Left to right (left-hand side photo): Professor Mark Stevenson, Cross-Faculty Associate Dean Global Engagement, Lancaster University; Professor Willem Hollmann, Interim Executive Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, Lancaster University; Professor Mohd Mahzan Awang, Dean of Faculty of Education, National University of Malaysia; Dr. Oksana Afitska, Director of Postgraduate Taught Programmes, Linguistics and English Language Department, Lancaster University; Professor Steve Bradley, Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Lancaster University; Professor Andy Schofield, Vice-Chancellor of Lancaster University; Professor Mohd Ekhwan Toriman, Vice-Chancellor of the National University of Malaysia; Professor Norazah Mohd Nordin, Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Networking, Industry & Community, National University of Malaysia; Professor Muhammad Hussin, Director of UKM Centre for Shaping Advanced and Professional Education (UKMSHAPE), National University of Malaysia; Ben Matthews, Associate Director Global Engagement, Lancaster University; Dr. Nur Ehsan Mohd Said, Coordinator for UKM-Lancaster University Partnership, Head of Undergraduate TESOL Programme, National University of Malaysia; Dr. Rosnah Md Sham, Project Manager for English Test, UKMSHAPE, National University of Malaysia.

The visit included meeting with colleagues from FASS departments: Department of Linguistics and English Language (Professor Luke Harding, Professor Tineke Brunfaut, Dr John Pill, Dr Oksana Afitska) and Department of Languages and Cultures (Dr Derek Hird and Dr Jocelin Zhou).

Meeting with FASS departments

There was a welcome and lunch with UKM Senior Team, hosted by the Department of Linguistics and English Language.

lunch

This was followed by dinner with UKM Senior team, hosted by Professor Simon Guy, Pro-Vice Chancellor Global (Digital, International, Sustainability).

dinner

The visit also included Lunch with UKM Senior team, hosted by Professor Andy Schofield, Vice-Chancellor of Lancaster University.

lunch

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