English Linguistic Expo

Seated second row, from left: Siti Umaizah, Dr Khor, Dr Kok, Dr Alia, Foong and Dr Gerard with the organising committee, staff and visitors at the opening ceremony

It was an opportune platform for the Bachelor of Arts (Hons) English Language students to present and share their English linguistic knowledge at the “English Linguistic Expo 2017”, organised by the Department of Languages and Linguistics (DLL) of the Faculty of Arts and Social Science (FAS), held from 16 to 17 November 2017 at the Kampar Campus.

Present at the opening ceremony on 16 November 2017 were FAS Dean Dr Alia Azalea, Deputy Dean for Academic Development and Undergraduate Programmes Dr Khor Kheng Kia, Deputy Dean for R&D and Postgraduate Programmes Assoc Prof Dr Kok Jin Kuan, Department of Public Relations Head Pong Kok Shiong, DLL Head Siti Ummaizah binti Meor Musa, Head of Bachelor of Arts (Hons) English Language Programme Raphael Thoo Yi Xian, Head of PhD (Social Science) Programme Dr R. Gerard Sagaya Raj and Head of Master of Philosophy (Social Science) Programme Foong Soon Seng.

“English is one the widest spoken languages worldwide, with some speaking it as their native language, while others use it as a foreign language. Nevertheless, English language reigns supreme in many aspects of the world, from businesses to entertainment. Therefore it is important to learn linguistics in order to understand the mechanics of English language and to use it well,” said Dr Khor.

He added, “Merely knowing is not enough, but to understand it is the key to communication. With this expo, the public is able to learn how language functions and how it can be used for communication as well as to understand how alphabets form words that form sentences, which will then be used for communication. I hope you will have fun learning more about English linguistics.”

The expo was also well supported, with the presence of 90 students and eight teachers from Nan Hwa High School Sitiawan, SMK Methodist ACS Kampar, and SMJK Pei Yuan Kampar.

With the effort to introduce English as a second language to Malaysians and students, and to educate and expose school students in Kampar to English Linguistics, the expo was also aimed to create awareness on the importance of English Linguistics as well as to help eliminate the typical perception of English Linguistics graduates being seen as mobile dictionaries.

Apart from promoting UTAR English Language Programmes to secondary school students, the various booths set at the expo, consisted of topics on the history of English Language, English Phonetics and Phonology, English Morphology and Syntax, Structure and Grammar of English, Psycholinguistics, Semantics, Sociolinguistics, and Computer Assisted Language Learning, which benefited the visitors to understand better about English Linguistics, and provided a fun English learning environment to schools involved in Highly Immersive Programme (HIP).

DLL also hoped for the expo to be able to expose visitors to the increasingly important impact linguistics have on fields, such as psychology, philosophy, education, language teaching, sociology, anthropology, computer science and artificial intelligence.

Dr Khor delivering his welcome message

Special performances by Thoo and Bachelor of Arts (Hons) English Language student Wong Hin Phang 

Visitors participating in the various fun activities prepared at the booths