Academy of Language Studies, Universiti Teknologi MARA Kedah Branch strengthens its internationalisation agenda by organising an academic event in collaboration with the Language Centre, University Brunei Darussalam. The event was International Innovation in Teaching and Learning & Language Education Conference or i-InTeLEC 2021, which provided an academic platform comprising an innovation competition, a conference, a research workshop on publishing in high-impact journals, and a digital content competition for students.
i-InTeLEC 2021 commenced its work as early as February 2020 when both institutions met for their first meeting for the event on 11 February 2020 in University Brunei Darussalam. The Covid-19 pandemic did not deter the preparations for the event and it was finally held on 9 & 10 November 2021 via Google Meet and APB Kedah FB live. The event as a whole managed to garner more than 127 submissions for all its programmes. On 9 November & 10 November 2021, i-InTeLEC was joined by more than 150 participants both on Google Meet and also APB Kedah FB Live.
i-InTeLEC 2021 also featured Associate Professor Dr. Andrew Littlejohn from UBD as the keynote speaker. Other speakers who are experts in their fields included Dr. Noor Azam Haji Othman, Dr. Juliana Shak, Dr. Ishamina Atirah Muntassir-Gardiner from UBD, and also Professor Dr. Ahmad Mazli bin Muhammad, the former Dean of Academy of Language Studies, UiTM, were also invited to share their perspectives on the future of teaching in the digital age forum.
This event has succeeded in proving that international collaboration is still possible despite the travel restrictions imposed due to the pandemic. Both universities are also looking forward to fostering more academic activities for the benefit of the students and lecturers in the near future.