Current Activities

6th Asia TEFL International Conference

The 6th Asia TEFL International Conference will be held in Bali 1 - 3 August 2008. The theme of the conference is 'Globalizing Asia: The Role of ELT'. Invited speakers include David Nunan (Hong Kong), Jack Richards (Australia), Jeremy Harmer (UK), Melani Budianta (Indonesia), Paul Nation (New Zealand), Rod Ellis (New Zealand) and Thomas Farrell (Canada).

For information on registration for the conference please visit the website

Official Opening of LAPIS ELTIS Surabaya Office

On Thursday 17th January 2008, the LAPIS ELTIS office at IAIN Sunan Ampel was officially opened. The event was attended by Dr. H Thoha Hamim, MA, Vice Rector for Academic Affairs; Prof Dr. Nursyam, MSI, Vice Rector for Finance; Denise Finney, LAPIS ELTIS Director, Drs. H. Misbahul Munir, M.Ag, Dean of the Adab Faculty, as well as the East Java ELTIS Master Trainers, guests from LAPIS PGMI and IALF Surabaya. After some welcome speeches, Pak Misbahul said a prayer to ‘Mohon Doa Restu’ for ELTIS and its activities, and Denise Finney, the ELTIS Director cut into the Nasi Tumpeng (Rice Cone) and offered a portion to the Deputy Rector for Finance as a symbol of the partnership between LAPIS ELTIS and IAIN Surabaya. The LAPIS ELTIS Surabaya office is located on the third floor of the Laboratory Building belonging to the Tarbiyah Faculty, next door to the Rectorate building. ELTIS occupies an Administration and Finance office, as well as a Trainers Preparation Room and a Self-Study area for MTs teachers undertaking training courses. ELTIS also has five dedicated classrooms in the Adab faculty, all with air-conditioning and audio-visual facilities.

Denise Finney, LAPIS ELTIS Director cutting the Nasi Tumpeng, accompanied by Drs. Sholikin, ELTIS Islamic Schools Adviser and Prof Dr. Nursyam, MSI, Vice Rector for Finance, IAIN Sunan Ampel

English for Medical Purposes offered at IALF Surabaya

IALF Surabaya now offers a new program in English for Medical Purposes. These courses have been developed in close co-operation with Dr Hafid from the Neurosurgery Department of RSUD Dr Soetomo and in response to requests from qualified doctors currently preparing for further studies in specialised areas of medicine. IALF staff Franky Henry and Philip Rees gave a presentation to a group of around 120 doctors at Dr Soetomo hospital last November and the response has been very encouraging.

The course is offered at three levels, Intermediate and Upper-intermediate and Advanced and aims primarily to assist students with Discussion Skills, Presentation Skills and Seminar Skills. Participating doctors will develop their English language proficiency to enable them to communicate more effectively during their studies and to gain maximum advantage from visiting consultants and specialists.

“We are fortunate that the RSUD Dr Soetomo program encourages us to upgrade our English skills. This will help us in our studies and give us opportunities to attend symposiums oveseas, present at seminars and hopefully write articles for medical journals. Once we start working again as doctors there'll be no more time to take a formal English course!” says Guido, a doctor currently working at the St Louisa Foundation in Kediri, who plans to join the EMP program on 14 January.

ICELT Closing Ceremony

General English Fun Walk

On Sunday 9 December around 200 General English students and IALF staff got up very, very early to meet at dawn at Pantai Matahari Terbit in Sanur for an IALF GE Fun Walk. And walk they did – through the sawah, down the road, across streams and back along the beach, looking forward to a breakfast of delicious sweetcorn. A morning of entertainment followed, provided by students themselves: at least 6 bands, including Chameleon and Reload, and 2 singers, while everyone enjoyed lunch under the trees. It was a great day, a mixture of exercise and entertainment, and GE students look forward to the next event in early 2008. I wonder what is in store …?

IALF Surabaya students organise ‘The Amazing Race’

IALF Surabaya students organised ‘The Amazing Race’ on World Aids Day to raise awareness of HIV/AIDS. The competition was held at Tunjungan Plaza, on 1 December 2007 and involved a treasure hunt with clues and answers related to HIV/AIDS which lead teams to participating stores.

Stop Discriminating, Start Educating’ was the message of the competition and IALF students (SP7A) organised the event as part of a class project hoping it would draw attention and persuade people to reconsider previously held attitudes towards sufferers of HIV/AIDS. All participants proudly wore a special edition C-59 HIV/AIDS t-shirt, and a red ribbon – the international symbol for HIV/AIDS awareness.

‘Get ready… set… go! And so the Amazing Race for World AIDS Day began. For a moment Tunjungan Plaza’s lower ground area was filled with shrieks, giggles and the sound of fast running footsteps. Within minutes, blurs of whites were seen on different levels of the mall, dashing in and out of stores. Our very dedicated photographers captured their progress, jogging along with the teams, snapping pictures of perspiring and sometimes, puzzled participants with a tricky clue in their midst.

Students of SP7A concocted the whole idea of blending social awareness with a footrace, and it worked. The buzz about the Race began early on and participants lined up to register, it was free for IALF students, and Rp. 20.000 for non-IALF participants.

The first team made it back to the finish line 2 hours after the race began, slowly the rest of the teams trickled in, huffing and puffing, turned in their pink score cards to the judges, and collapsed on the floor. ‘Kick Larry’, an indie band, contributed several songs to entertain them, and Bapak Sudiro Husodo from Bina Hati explained to them the ABCD of HIV/AIDS prevention.

The winner was SMAN 5 team, an all-girl, non-IALF team, their prize was Rp.500.000,- worth of Toko Gunung Agung vouchers.’
Elly Kurniawan – Committee