18 delegates from Thailand’s Thammasat University, including Associate Professor Dr. Ms Pornsiri Singhapreecha of the Faculty of Linguistics and students visited Chuo University’s Tama Campus on May 9 for the second Chuo-TU Collaboration on Applied Linguistics and English Language Teaching.

The first joint poster session was held in February 2015 when Chuo’s Faculty of Letters Professor Shigenori Wakabayashi and his team of students visited Thammasat as a part of Chuo’s Global Studies overseas research program.

During the session this year, TU’s Assistant Professor Dr. Mr. Supaorn Phoocharoensil gave a lecture on “Moving Towards ELF: Daunting Challenges for English Teachers and Learners in Thailand”, and Chuo’s Professor Wakabayashi gave a lecture on “Why is Syntax Easier than Morphology in Second Language Acquisition?” Following the lectures, there was a joint poster presentation and undergraduate and graduate students from both universities actively participated in discussions on learning English as a second language. After the poster session, the guests enjoyed a Japanese drum performance by Chuo’s taiko club “Ko-ou” and then joined the banquet at G Square

Thammasat University is a partner school since 1985, and since then both universities have continued to build a strong relationship through various activities. Chuo has opened its overseas hub, the Chuo-Thammasat Collaboration Center in December 2014. Both universities are excited about their continuous interactive joint projects in the future.