The PanSIG conference has always been a chance for special interest groups to come together to focus more intently on their individual needs and goals. Throughout the past two years, participants at our PanSIG forum have shared their experiences about coping with the pandemic, as well as changes and shifts in their bi/multilingual and bi/multicultural stories. This year, as we are finally back together face-to-face, we’d like to invite as many families and interested people as possible, of all ages and backgrounds, to participate in a casual round-table discussion. We’ll provide a brief explanation of the round-table process, topics cards to prompt discussion, and a “talking stone” to facilitate turn-taking. We look forward to sharing stories about how our language learning journeys have been reimagined, as well as any new directions we have been heading. Please join us!

Presenters will give examples of international online exchange using on-time and off-time methods. College or university students who study or learn a foreign language other than English, mainly on level A1-A2. The presentations will show what methods are used to keep students interested, curious and eager to interact and learn the language with their online partners in other countries. The presentations will be given in the original language while information in English or Japanese will be given either on the slides or in a verbal summary.

This forum for the Global Issues in Language Education (SIG) will present the experiences of three global educators on how how they pursued cross-border classroom connections with university's overseas during the pandemic. Mahboubeh Rakhshandehroo, Olaf Fors, and Paul Horness will describe the collaborative online learning projects they engaged in with the aim of inspiring other educators. Participants looking to build cross-border connections and utilize technology more effectively for communication will want to join this session, which will be live streamed.