AILA Tandem Initiative: Growing the ASEAN Network of Applied Linguistics

The MAAL-SAAL-TAAL initiative aims to intensify networking and collaboration between the Malaysian Association of Applied Linguistics (MAAL), the Singapore Association of Applied Linguistics (SAAL), the Thailand Association of Applied Linguistics (TAAL) – and future partners in the ASEAN region.

MAAL and SAAL have collaborated on a joint initiative since 2013. The associations convened symposia with speakers from each AILA national affiliate to present on a topic of common interest in applied linguistics. In 2018, the new Thailand Association of Applied Linguistics (TAAL) also participated in this activity in Kuala Lumpur where presenters spoke about trends in applied linguistics in their own country.  Subsequently, in 2019, MAAL and SAAL invited the Philippines association to participate as well.

This tandem initiative will continue with another joint symposium with the theme English and Multilingualism: ASEAN perspectives in Manila in December 2020. Representatives from the affiliates will also discuss an AILA ASEAN signature conference that will be hosted in rotation by the different affiliates. The initiative would welcome other ASEAN applied linguistics groups and may hopefully lead to a bigger joint ASEAN network of applied linguistics.
https://aila.info/tandem-asean/