The globalisation of the English language raises several questions about how to prepare English language learners in today’s globalised world. Leading scholars to call for a further paradigm shift. In this talk, I explore research in the field of Global Englishes that calls for new perspectives to ensure TESOL curricula match the new sociolinguistic landscape of the 21st century. I end with an examination of Global Englishes technological innovations and a new innovative online network.

As the use of digital technology continues to increase, the types of communicative competencies that are needed in this digital era are also evolving. Focusing on young people born after 2000 (whom I refer to as the “digital generation”), I address how they use digital technologies today and what kinds of communicative abilities are called for in this new era of advancing digital technology.

I wasn’t born an activist but damn near. My mother made sure our formal education was one that would prepare not only our minds but our souls for a society dominated by white supremacy and Eurocentricity, which intentionally or not, sublimated all non-whites. My mother enlisted me in an Afrocentric school and environment and set me on a path that eventually compelled me to teach what I had learned to young minds, and to share my ideas via activism, journalism, and publishing with the world at-large. I’ve been asked to share some of this journey with JALT so buckle up. I’m going to take you from my roots as a student at school on the forefront of the Pan-African / Black Power movement of the 70s (an earlier articulation of Black Lives Matters) in Brooklyn NY, through to utilizing activism and the media to end blackface in Japan. Along the way I had to live two lives, hardworking ALT by day, and, under a pseudonym only, author, activist, journalist, and sometimes TV talent. Trying to keep the two lives separate was a task and a half, until one incident stripped the fence away and my two lives collided.

Is the ‘privilege’ construct effective in Japan? Does the North American construct of white privilege translate to a Japanese context? Returning to Japan after living in the U.S. for 14 years, the speaker will discuss how her positionality shifted from being a racial minority to a racial majority in Japan, and how teaching courses on privilege awareness in Japan led her to important revelations and challenges, with implications for social justice education in Japan.

In this talk, I take stock of what we already know about language teacher emotions in terms of specific emotions felt as part of one’s practice, challenging moments experienced throughout one’s career, and positive psychology. I discuss how this knowledge can help us to better understand teachers and inform classroom practice. I then reflect on what we still potentially do not know about how language teacher emotions work and what possible new directions we can take within research and teacher education to address this important, yet neglected, side of teaching.

This plenary provides examples of promising practices used by teachers of young learners of English at the elementary school level in the United States. These practices draw on students’ backgrounds and experiences while also expanding their repertoires in the English language. The presenter demonstrates how these promising practices in literacy instruction foster linguistic, literate, and cultural multilingualism and describes ways in which teachers promote learning through language and learning about language.