The Reading Association of the Philippines (RAP) conducted an online conference entitled Enabling Learners through Language and Literacy whereas six of the participants were faculty members and Education graduate school students of West Visayas State University, July 22-24.

The faculty members are Mary June D. Pineda, Lorey F. Tanaleon, and Antoniette D. Cortez while GL John C. Haro, Abraham T. Vargas, and Mary Jane P. Arenga participated as students research presenters.

The event has aimed to share the research works and best practices that highlight the role of language and literacy in teaching and learning and during and beyond these challenging times.

The participants shared they had a one-hour roundtable discussion with the most number of participants in the session outnumbering the Arellano University and the University of Philippines-Diliman.

Among the plenary speakers are Dr. Jose Lalas, Director of Educational Justice at the University of Redlands, California who talked about reading instruction, theories, and research in higher education.

During his talk, Dr. Lalas has shared a quote from the statement of Duncheon & Relles, “School is not simply a place where students learn academic content and skills. . . . It is also a place where they develop a sense of what kind of people they are, where they belong in the world, what they are capable of and entitled to, and what they can expect in the future.” 

Aside from Dr. Lalas, Dr. Portia Padilla of the University of the Philippines, and Dr. Cynthia McDermott of Antioch University, USA, also ignited the online forum with their expertise in adolescent, and intermediate literacy respectively. – Jonar Dorado/CILPI