Trips to ETA

Every year in mid-November I will take a trip to Taipei for the 3-day International ETA conference. I've attended the conference for years. Some of my colleagues also attend this conference once a year, but all of them attend the conference as presenters, not listeners like me. As a "professional" conference goer for all these years, I've learned and changed a lot. In the first few years, I went to as many workshops and lectures as I could for three full days. Then I changed my strategy by attending the so-called featured speakers' talks. A couple of years later, I found out I was not interested in some worldwide famous scholars as much as others. Then I stopped going to theirs. Three or four years ago I had another change--I told myself I would ask the presenter a question either in public or in private to challenge myself. After I tried a couple of times, I realized I could learn more about presenters themselves. For example, I questioned the reliability of one method that the presenter used. I doubted the outcome of that research because I had used the same method in my classes and that the result was not as "beautiful" as what the presenter claimed. Her answer was not satisfactory, but her attitude was even worse. Actually, I think the more challenging part about giving a lecture is not lecture itself but the part of Q & A. For me, how presenters deal with all the different questions proposed by experts or novices and how they interact with them can reveal something hidden--their personalities, their attitudes, and their character. Of all these big wigs, Michael Hoey is the one I have admired most. I attended his workshops in 2009. He was in his late 60s, but he made you feel as if he were young and enthusiastic. This British scholar had the charisma that the others didn't have--passion for the language. While listening to his description of the trip he and his wife took to South America, I knew I would be one of his fans forever.
As for this year's "treasure hunt", I found another pearl for myself--Patricia Duff, professor of the University of British Columbia. I was lucky to have a short conversation with her while both of us were waiting for her workshop to begin. By talking to her, I realized we were the same type of teachers--serious, sincere, organized, and hardworking. Oh, boy! I think I'm addicted to attending the ETA Conference. I think I'll continue my pilgrimage until I'm too old to think clearly!