Dr. Liontas honored at Asian-Pacific language conference

John Liontas, at left, receives his award.

Dr. John Liontas, of the Department of Language, Learning and Leadership at SUNY Fredonia, delivered a keynote address in Taiwan at the International Conference on Multimedia Language Education sponsored by the Asian-Pacific Association for Multimedia Assisted Language Learning (APAMALL) and Republic of China Multimedia English Learning and Instruction Association (ROCELIA) in November.

He was additionally appointed to two high level positions within APAMALL and honored as the recipient of its Researcher Award.

“I am deeply honored and humbled to have been selected for such esteemed recognition by the AMAPALL organization,” Dr. Liontas said. “The Asian-Pacific region is addressing important issues in multimedia education that need to be made even more salient than they currently are in professional literature, both here and abroad. I will do whatever I can to help them in this professional endeavor.”

Improving language instruction through the use of multimedia technology is the primary mission of APAMALL, an international organization with national associations in China, Korea, Taiwan, Japan, New Zealand, Australia and Singapore.

“From the Multimedia Classroom to the Multimedia World: Making the Transition” was the title of Dr. Liontas’ address at the three-day conference held at National Kaohsiung Normal University and I-Shou University, both in Kaohsiung City.

This year’s conference marked the third time in four years that Dr. Liontas, associate professor of TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) and TESOL program coordinator, has given presentations at APAMALL conferences. Since joining the SUNY Fredonia College of Education in 2005, Dr. Liontas has given keynote lectures in 2005 and 2006.

Dr. Liontas was also appointed vice president of APAMALL, marking the first time that a non-Asian researcher had been asked to serve on the organization’s executive committee.

As an officer of APAMALL, Dr. Liontas will contribute to efforts to strengthen the association’s role in the Asian-Pacific region as the leading advocate for more effective use and better understanding of multimedia-based instruction in language resource centers at all levels of education. His term will run through 2012.

APAMALL also honored Dr. Liontas with the honorary title of APAMALL Researcher for his many contributions to the association in the last four years. Since January 2007, Dr. Liontas has served as an International Advisory board member to the National English Test of Proficiency for All on the Web, a nationwide online test sanctioned and administered jointly by the Ministry of Education in Taiwan, APAMALL and National Kaohsiung Normal University.

Dr. Yuangshan Chuang, APAMALL president, praised Dr. Liontas for his “great expertise in applying and advancing multimedia language instruction and promoting human mutual understanding and collaboration” at the award presentation. Dr. Liontas is the first non-Asian researcher to receive this honor

Also at the conference, Dr. Liontas was named managing editor of the APAMALL Journal of Language Learning Technologies. In this new position, Dr. Liontas will be charged with transforming the association’s journal from print to electronic format. This conversion is viewed as a major step in the organization’s overall mission to promote multimedia-based instruction in language education and training programs.

He will be the first non-Asian language-learning technologies researcher to hold this editorial position.

Dr. Liontas brings extensive editorial experience to the APAMALL Journal. He currently serves as managing editor of “The Reading Matrix: An International Online Journal” in the United States and co-editor of “International Applied Linguistics Journal,” a publication based in China. Additionally, he served four years as chief editor and publisher of “The Crescent Newsletter,” the state newsletter for the South Carolina Foreign Language Teachers’ Association.

Currently, Dr. Liontas serves on the editorial boards of journals published in the United States, Italy, United Kingdom and Germany.

Dr. Liontas continues to be active in the fields of applied linguistics, second language acquisition and English as a Second/Foreign Language. He has delivered more than 200 keynote addresses, plenary speeches, presentations, lectures and workshops at local, state, national and international conferences in the United States and foreign countries. He has also published research articles and book chapters in peer-refereed national and international journals, in addition to scholarly books, reviews and special journal issues.