PU inks partnership with ACELT
Panpacific University and the Ateneo Center for English Language Teaching (ACELT) officially inked partnership through a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) held on August 15, 2024, on the 6th Floor of the PCST Hall.
Dr. Donna Padilla-Taguiba, President of Panpacific University, Dr. Romeo Padilla Jr., Executive Vice President, and Dr. Cecilia A. Suarez, Executive Director of ACELT, served as signatories. This collaboration aims to enhance English language teaching practices of English teachers through a workshop scheduled on October 25 and 26, 2024. This will be open to all elementary and secondary English teachers and College Instructors in the country.
This partnership is a significant initiative of the Panpacific Language Center (PLC) and is an outcome of the university's recent benchmarking activity, reflecting the center’s commitment to advancing language education and pedagogical excellence.
The ceremony was attended by the management, faculty members, and selected interns from PU, along with Dr. Vicky Urbino-Calderon of ACELT. During the event, Dr. Cecilia A. Suarez delivered a talk on translanguaging, an educational approach that encourages the use of multiple languages in the classroom. She explained how translanguaging allows students to leverage their entire linguistic repertoire—such as using their home language alongside the target language—to enhance understanding and learning. This method is particularly effective in multilingual classrooms and promotes inclusivity by validating all of a student's language skills.
Following the signing ceremony, Dr. Suarez and Ms. Calderon, together with Mr. Marvin C. Sermonia, Jr., Lead for Panpacific Language Center, and Mr. Kristoffer John Panem, Lead for Internationalization, conducted an ocular inspection to check the facilities to be used for the upcoming workshop. This inspection emphasized the progress in educational cooperation and international exchange between the two institutions, marking a significant advancement in the partnership.