The 18th International Asian Conference of the Academy of Human Resource Development (Hanoi, Vietnam)

During November 5-8, 2019, I attended the 18th International Asian Conference of the Academy of Human Resource Development, in Hanoi, Vietnam. I presented my research paper entitled ‘The Transfer of Entrepreneurship Training in Myanmar: The Effect of Implementation Intention Intervention”. The objective of the study is to examine the effect of implementation intentions, a self-regulatory tool, as a posttraining intervention on the transfer of entrepreneurship training. Subjects are prospective entrepreneurs who attended ‘Start your own business’ training at a cooperative training center of Yangon University of Economics and UNESCO. The study proposes that generating implementation intentions leads participants to commit in activities to start a new business. In order words, it helps them to carry out higher training transfer than that which occurs without it. The four properties of emerging organizations, the founding activities at behaviors level was used as an indicator of the transfer of entrepreneurship training. The significance of this paper is bridging different theories and concepts (organizational emergence and self-regulatory) into transfer of training and empirically analyzes those in one case study.

The 18^th International Asian Conference of the Academy of Human Resources Development. Innovation and Evolution in the Digital Era. Hanoi, November 5-8, 2019

The official name of the conference was 18^th International Asian Conference of Academy of Human Resource Development which held at The Pullman Hotel, Viettel Academy, and Foreign Trade University, Hanoi on November 5-8, 2019. The conference organizer was The Foreign Trade University, Hanoi, Vietnam. The accepted papers that presented in several parallel sessions and delivered various themes in the area of human resource development (HRD) including the topics of national, regional, and international HRD, HRD and sustainable development, leadership development, workplace learning and training and development, career development, organizational development and performance, HRD and education. My accepted paper, “Employee engagement of young and highly educated employees: applying job demands and resources model”, was work-in-progress paper. I had some comments as well as Q&A from some participants like recommended articles to be cited and suggestions for future studies at the conference including the suggestions of methodology of the data analysis. From one of panel discussion session which topic related to publishing article, I as participants got many valuable insights related to the mechanism of publishing our journal article as this becomes one of the requirements of pursuing PhD degree in Hiroshima University. 
As stated in the title, the purpose of my research is to examine applicability of JD-R model for the young age individuals who have obtained higher education level, at least master’s level. Furthermore, the paper is expected to be able to fill the gap of employee engagement research by investigating types of job resources and demands which influence the engagement of young individuals with higher educational level. This study will collect data from distributing the questionnaires with the respondents will be the alumni of Indonesia endowment fund for education who already worked for either public or private sector. The data will be analyzed by some statistical methods including structured equation modelling (SEM) using the PLS-SEM.

Virtual Trade Shows (VTSs): A Systematic Literature Review 2019 Academy of Marketing Science Annual Conference, Vancouver, BC

2019 Academy of Marketing Science Annual Conference was held on May 29-31, 2019 at Vancouver, British Columbia in Canada. The presentation was based on one of the major topics from the development of marketing science focusing the virtual trade show. The presentation contained on several issues as mentioned below-

Virtual trade show (VTS) marketing has been growing as a major issue of interest from the last decade, attracting the businessmen, researcher, and publisher. However, this body of research has not been subject to systematic review. Accordingly, the purpose of the study is to highlight past assessment, present trends and to direct future research agenda within the VTS domain. The approach is taken as a literature review format. For this purpose, multiple databases were searched and 10 VTS articles were extracted. The extracted articles were carefully analyzed from the broader perspective and only four empirical studies were found in this field. The paper was aggregated into the following themes: i) preliminary discussion on VTS and comparison with physical trade show based on participation mode, activity stage, subject area and performance, ii) from the empirical findings, three categories of antecedents are identified, namely, website factors, market-orientation factors, firms’ motives. Also, direct as well as indirect consequences through mediators and with moderators are identified. All these are presented as an integrated framework, iii) based on the compendium of the antecedents and consequences of VTS literature the research focused on the limitations, implications and extends future research avenue. The findings suggest that future VTS research can exploit from the application of concepts and theories used in the physical trade show literature and offered by other disciplines that traditionally have not been examined in VTS. Future researcher could also focus on the development of technological aspect of VTS systems to overcome the limitation of unavailability of modern technology, low-quality website design, lack of timeliness and accuracy of information content, inability to measure effectiveness, virtual rudeness, lack of after service initiative and lack of synergies between human and electronic elements. Managers of VTS firm can identify the important technologies related to VTS on different stages (pre-show, at-show and post-post) and can imply convenient way to establish human interaction along with technological issues.

The 15^th International Conference on Wind Engineering (Beijing, China)

I had participated in the 15th International Conference on Wind Engineering (ICWE15) in Beijing, China, from 1st to 6th September 2019. As the main event of International Association for Wind Engineering (IAWE), the conference is currently held every four years and becomes the first ICWE in China by this year. I had the opportunity to have an oral presentation titled “Wind tunnel experiments on ventilation effect of void spaces for low-cost apartments in the tropics”. It has greatly expanded my horizons and deepened my understanding of the wind engineering research system.
As the economic growths, the middle-class now in tropical countries is on the rapid rise. The mid-high-rise apartment now is increasing. While a common double loaded design causes poor ventilation especially in leeward side of the apartment. Our research aims to determine optimum void design allowing sufficient cross-ventilation for indoor thermal comfort even in the leeward side in tropic low-cost housing by wind tunnel experiment. During the presentation I explained the design of tropical housing model and changes in experimental parameters as well as normalized results of wind velocity ratio and wind pressure. I received several important comments which inspired me a lot about the further study. Furthermore, I consulted and exchanged ideas with researchers of similar research topics, whose research greatly supplemented the blind spots of my knowledge. It’s my first time to attend an International conference. I am faithfully grateful to Graduate School for International Development and Cooperation and my Professor Kubota Tetsu for the generously financial support. I also would like to thank participants who collaborated on abstract writing as well as wind tunnel experiment for the patiently guidance and cooperation.

Transportation Research Board 2020 Annual Meeting (Washington, D.C.)

The Transportation Research Board (TRB) 99th Annual Meeting was held on January 12-16, 2020, at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center, in Washington, D.C. My paper, “Heterogenous Effects of Multitasking in Autonomous Vehicles on Residential Location Choice Behavior”, was peer reviewed by a TRB standing committee. Based on the peer review results, the committee accepted my presentation in a poster session.
The background of this study is that fully autonomous vehicles (AVs) allows users to take a multitasking behavior while traveling, potentially inducing longer travel since multitasking in AVs would generate a positive utility. In the long run, this may further induce residential relocation since the positive utility virtually reduces the value of time. Such influence may vary depending on whether the AV is used individually or with others (i.e., ride-sharing), as well as the type and amount of the multitasking activities carried out in the car. Therefore, this research examines the influence of type of AV (ride-sharing or individually-used) and the type and amount of in-vehicle multitasking activities on residential location choice behavior through a pivoted stated preference survey. The residential location choice behavior is represented by a panel binary mixed logit model. The paper confirmed that further urban sprawl could happen if individually-used AV becomes prevalent. Such negative impacts on urban form, however, would be substantially small when AV is introduced under ride-sharing scheme. It was also found that individuals who can conduct more multitasking behavior in an AV will accept longer travel regardless of type of AV (ride-sharing or individually-used), while individuals who can hardly perform in-car activities tend to resist additional commuting travel time.
Through a series of conference related events, I have gotten a variety of feedbacks from international researchers. Moreover, I found a lot of interesting studies and heightened my awareness of the future mobility at the conference.

The 4th Polish Congress of Mechanics (PCM) and The 23rd International Conference on Computer Methods in Mechanics (CMM) (Krakow)

　2019年9月8-12日にポーランドのクラクフで開催されたPCM-CMM2019に研究発表のために出席しました。第4回ポーランド力学会議（PCM）は、古典力学と量子力学、固体力学と流体力学、計算力学、応用数学と物理学、構造力学と工学のすべての分野における最新の研究を紹介します。第23回力学のコンピューター手法に関する国際会議（CMM）は、力学に基づく問題での数値計算法とその応用に特化した46年の歴史を持つ一連の会議で、計算力学の理論的背景と実用化を取り巻く新しいアイデアのプレゼンテーションとディスカッションのためのフォーラムです。
　私は、Włodzimierz Kurnik 教授, Utz von Wagner 教授 and Jerzy Warmiński 教授によって組織された MS20. Stability and Bifurcations in Machinery のセッションにおいて、「Finite Analysis for The Periodic Scissors Structure （周期シザーズ構造に特化した有限要素解析）」を発表しました。この研究発表では、ピン結合により回転角を2つ有するため、従来の有限要素解析では直接的に解を求めることのできないシザーズ構造を対象に、新たな解析手法を構築し、変位解析及び座屈解析を行ったものとなっています。シザーズ構造とは、2本の部材の真ん中をピン結合した1ユニットを、ユニットの左右でピン結合し、つなぎ合わせた構造体のことを指します。従来の有限要素解析で用いられてきた剛性方程式は部材の回転角1つに対してのみ解を求めることのできるものでしたが、剛性方程式の回転角に対応する剛性を2つに分け計算することにより本解析を実現することができました。また、その構築されたプログラムを用いて以下2つのことを検証いたしました。
・シザーズ構造に対し、どのような補強を行えばどの程度中央変位を減少させることができるか
・シザーズ構造に対し、どの程度の荷重で座屈し、どのような座屈モードをとるか
以上のことを研究するため、様々な条件下での構造解析を行い、発表しました。 私は今回初めて国際学会に参加させて頂きました。日本の学会ではすることのない、英語での発表や質疑応答などとても有意義なものとなりました。最後に本発表に多大なご支援を賜りました国際協力研究科藤原先生、工学研究科有尾先生、そして関係者の皆様に深く感謝いたし、一生に残る発表の機会を与えていただき心より御礼申し上げます。

6th International Conference on International Relations and Development (ICIRD) 2019

I participated in the 6th International Conference on International Relations and Development (ICIRD) at Mae Fah Luang University, Chiang Rai, Thailand, which was held during 22-23 November 2019.
I made a presentation during the second day of the Conference in the panel named "International Impact on Peace and Conflict," with the title "International Dimension of the Venezuelan Crisis: How does it Affect the Politics in the American Continent?"
My presentation focused on the international dimension of the Venezuelan socioeconomical and political crisis, presenting an analysis of the situation and its political consequences for the American continent. The worst economic crisis of Venezuela has produced generalized shortages of food and basic articles, hyperinflation and a humanitarian disaster. The last stage of the crisis has produced a presidential crisis, dividing the country and the international community. Such situation does not only represent a direct threat to livelihood of millions of Venezuelans, but also compromises regional efforts in development and cooperation and produces a potential risk for other countries. With this presentation I aimed to capture academic attention of Asian scholars on Latin American politics, answering to the question “how does the Venezuelan crisis affect the politics in the American continent?” The answer was provided from two perspectives: influence of international actors (specifically the United States and Colombia); and the political consequences for Latin America and South America. The methodologic approach made use of a chronological analysis of the stages of the crisis, actions of the Venezuelan government and the respective reactions of Colombia and the USA. The regional analysis was based on the interaction in regional international organizations. Two conclusions are remarkable: the importance of international factors for explaining the crisis and the preponderant role played by Venezuela in the reconfiguration of the regional balance of power.
This was my first International Conference in Asia and helped me to learn more about this fascinating continent, its problems and challenges. I would like to show my appreciation to this Graduate School, as well as the professors Yamane and Katayanagi for their unconditional support.

The 6th ICIRD 2019 at Mae Fah Luang University (Chiang Rai, Thailand)

I participated in the 6th ICIRD 2019 at Mae Fah Luang University (Chiang Rai) in Thailand on November 22 and 23 of 2019. The title of my presentation was: “In Distrust we Trust: Identity and Self-determination in Cherán, Mexico.” There is a trend to analyze the decline of trust towards traditional institutions. Global surveys suggest that distrust in institutions is a widespread phenomenon around the world. Policymakers and scholars examine the multiple reasons and ways to heal the broken trust in government and elites, leaving aside the importance of distrust. My presentation was about the role of identity and organized distrust in the indigenous community of Cherán, Mexico, a town hammered by organized crime. The Mexican State failed to protect the town, which in response took the arms on the 15 of April of 2011, against the criminal groups. What in the beginning was a self-defense movement became a political struggle to achieve the self-determination recognized by federal courts based on the Federal Constitution. The crisis led to a renascence of an identity narrative to cope with the threats of the organized crime. There is evidence that suggests an ongoing process of identity and political reconstruction in Cherán. After the expulsion of the criminal groups, identity discourses attempt to ensure the social cohesion and trust within the community. Thus, identity or sense of belonging to a group is the foundation of trust because of shared goals and worldviews. However, to keep its self-determination alive, Cherán practices an organized distrust in the everyday where every inhabitant can be a watchdog. To summarize, the town practices a counter-democracy understood as an enduring distrust to ensure the accountability of the governance structure. Organized distrust prevents the concentration of power by a few, but also it gives people the perception of shared power. The presentation explored the process by which Cherán practices an organized distrust to preserve its self-determination while a process of reconstruction of its identity continues.

A New Global Network: What’s Next of “The Turns” in International Relations and Development. The 6th ICIRD 2019 at Mae Fah Luang University. Thailand.

The ICIRD conference was an opportune time to present my master’s research paper entitled “Development Aggression in Panay: A study on the Impact of Dam Projects to the Tumandok Indigenous People in the Philippines”. The two-day conference, hosted by Mae Fah Luang University in Thailand, was participated by a number of experts in the development issues in Southeast Asia. Their familiarity on the topic of pathways of development, as well as the shifting political climate in the region, has proven vital in shaping the direction of my research. I was scheduled in the “Society in Search for Peace” panel during the second day of the conference where I shared the time with fellow Hiroshima University students that are all under the Development Science course. My presentation centered on how development projects initiated by the State and private companies in the Philippines are forms of development aggression. Through a case-study approach, I traced how dam projects on the island of Panay have negatively impacted the lives of the Tumandok indigenous community. Deceitful consent acquisition, the militarization of ancestral land, and misalignment in the definition of development between State actors and the Tumandok were the salient features that contribute to forms of development. Our panel discussant, a professor at Mahidol University, provided insightful comments on the nexus of dam development and indigenous rights given than a number of her advisees have also delved into this area. The feedback to my research was generally positive, and the suggested direction was to add more to my discussion on how development is viewed by indigenous groups and underscore the steps taken by the Tumandok in voicing their opposition. True to the panel’s theme of societies in search of peace, this research highlighted how indigenous communities are not passive recipients of development projects, but rather, they are one of the main stakeholders that should be integrated well in shaping and executing of development initiatives.

介護保険サービスから高齢者の「核家族化」への影響―農村地における要介護者自身の決断に着目―

　2019年11月2日に台湾大学で開催された「東アジア日本研究者協議会」第4回国際学術大会にて「介護保険サービスから高齢者の「核家族化」への影響―農村地における要介護者自身の決断に着目―」というテーマで発表しました。本発表は日本の高齢者介護に注目して、要介護者の選択行動に焦点をあて、在宅介護サービスを利用している高齢者への聞き取り調査を通じ、要介護者自身の観点から多様な介護サービスの存在が要介護者自身の世帯選択の決断にどう影響したか、特に在宅介護サービスを利用する時、ケアマネジャーの存在が高齢者の在宅介護サービの利用にどう影響を与えたかを明らかにしました。在宅介護の場合、１人で自宅介護の限界を感じた際、要介護者は家族との同居を考えず、優先的に介護施設や在宅介護サービを選択した。多様な介護サービスは元々家族の負担になりたくないという高齢者の思いをケアマネジャーを通じて現実に移しました。
　本大会にて、日本社会の変動や日本教育などの多様な分科会に参加して、日本、韓国、台湾から来られた研究者との交流ができ、学術だけではなく、研究者としての生き方について勉強しました。

Post-Fukushima Anti-Nuclear Civil Advocacy: Exploring Sociopolitical challenges in Japan and South Korea

I had a presentation at the 7th International Symposium on Environmental Sociology in East Asia (ISESEA) in Seoul, October 25-28, 2019. The symposium aimed to provide a platform for environmental sociologists and other social scientists to debate complex socio-ecological issues and sustainability transition, particularly from an East Asian perspective.

My presentation was titled `Post-Fukushima Anti-Nuclear Civil Advocacy: Exploring Sociopolitical challenges in Japan and South Korea`. The conference provided an intellectual environment where I met some eminent scholars in my field, discussed the current environmental issues, and got the opportunity in widening my network. It was also significant for me to have a presentation in the faculty I was affiliated with last year (Graduate School of Environmental Studies, Seoul National University).

Overall, I enjoyed all the discussions on nuclear issue, renewable energy alternatives, risk society related theories, climate change, and many others, which I believe the most crucial issues in the 21st century. I enjoyed being part of all. I would like to thank the IDEC for providing such a valuable opportunity for graduate students.

The 6th International Conference on International Relations and Development (Chiangrai, Thailand)

I attended the 6th International Conference on International Relations and Development hosted by the Mae Fah Luang University in Chiangrai, Thailand from 22-23 November 2019. The theme of the conference was “A new global network: What’s next of “the turns” in international relations and development.” I presented my paper “When mediation works: The role of third-parties in the Mindanao conflict” which sought to analyze the commitment problems encountered in the mediation of the Mindanao peace process from 1976 to 2014 and the role played by various third-parties mediating the conflict to ensure the credible commitment of the peace process parties. I was happy to have received favorable feedback from our panel discussant, as well as insights from the audience, especially one of the keynote speakers, Mr. Songsak Saicheua, former permanent representative of Thailand to the United Nations.

The keynote speeches for the two-day conference were nothing short of illuminating. Prof. Dr. Chaiwat Satha-Anand of Thamassat University introduced “aircraft of state” as a new metaphor to characterize the state in the 21st century, while Dr. Helena Varkkey of the University of Malaya discussed the state of transboundary haze in Southeast Asia, a complex environmental and political issue that affects the region.

The conference was a great opportunity to keep abreast of the state of scholarship in international relations and development studies.

The 6th International Conference on International Relations and Development (ICIRD), 2019, Chiang Rai, Thailand

I had the opportunity to present my research titled “International Law Application to Refugees in South and South East Asia” in the 6th International Conference on International Relations and Development (ICIRD), 2019 which was held on 22nd and 23rd of November, 2019 in Mae Fah Luang University, Chiang Rai, Thailand.
This paper investigates the impact of the presence of refugees in neighboring countries of Myanmar, especially in Bangladesh, being a non-signatory party to the Refugee Convention of 1951 in light of existing International Human Rights and Humanitarian law. This research further examines the effectiveness of the response framework to guarantee rights of the refugees including non-refoulement that is in place and how such initiatives have been balanced without harming the sovereignty and integrity of the nation. Countries in Southeast Asia and South Asia is facing a refugee crisis with the mass refugee flows coming from Rakhine state of Myanmar. The terrain for refugees, asylum seekers and the stateless people in Southeast and South Asia is not readily manageable and cannot be acknowledged. This is a result of both lack of national legal relief and economic stagnation in most of these countries. In fact, some countries have issued regulatory guidelines to strict access to the region and access to asylum. In addition, there are also a number of facilitation issues. While the only direct applicable international instruments being the 1951 United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and the 1967 Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees, international humanitarian law also confers some responsibilities to the states concerning refugees. While most of the countries in this region are not being signatories to the 1951 Protocol to the Refugee Convention, do not have a legislative and administrative structure to deal with the refugee issue. As a result, all refugees are treated as irregular migrants, and in the absence of substantive engagement by the authorities, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and non-state actors such as Doctors without borders and Oxfam International have become the last options to undertake the burden of their international protection responsibilities.

International Conference on Social Science, Arts, Business and Education (Los Angles, California, USA)

   I attended the “International Conference on Social Science, Arts, Business and Education” from 7 to 8 July 2019 in SOFITEL Los Angles-California, USA. The organizer of the conference was the Ontario College for Research and Development. I presented my research entitled “Assessing the Critical Thinking Skills through Environmental Education: Perspectives Bangladesh” and got essential comments from the participants. It was such a great experience for me to improve my presentation skills as well as research. I have edited my data collection tools according to the instructions received from the audiences. The situation was quite different from Japan because most of the participants were from English speaking countries and there were a lot of questions and comments.

   It was a nice gathering of experts from different parts of the world and we shared our ideas during the social gathering and snack time. I enjoyed the presentation of my field and got some new research ideas. The venue was well prepared with all the materials for presentation organized. A certificate of presentation was also distributed after the presentation.

   The conference organizer provided the information about submitting the research article in their Journal named- “The Canadian International Journal of Social Science and Education”. There are opportunities to publish two papers without any cost for the conference participants. One of my articles titled “Environmental Contents Distribution in the Primary Level Textbooks of Bangladesh” have published in the journal.

   I strongly believe and hope that I can improve my research after joining these kinds of famous academic meetings. I am very much thankful to my academic supervisor for allowing and supporting me to attend the conference. The conference improved my confidence and motivation.

Discourse toward Revising Mathematics Curriculum in Indonesia from Six Universal Mathematical Activities’ Perspective

My name is Mulia Putra. Last year 2019, rom 6th – 7th November, I made a presentation in the 2nd International Conference on Elementary Education, Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia (UPI), Bandung. My article titled “Discourse toward Revising Mathematics Curriculum in Indonesia from Six Universal Mathematical Activities’ Perspective” presented there. it was one of the results after analyzing mathematics curriculum in Indonesia. This research aims to explore how cultural perspective engage in creating mathematics curriculum. To achieve the goal, six universal mathematical activities from Bishop (1991) were the key point. The six universal mathematical activities proposed by Bishop were counting, locating, measuring, designing, playing, and explaining. The importance to bring culture issue in mathematics curriculum because the structure of mathematics curriculum in Indonesia seem to be viewed mathematics is culture free. In fact, mathematics itself has its own culture. The resource of the research was mainly from intended curriculum of Competence Based Curriculum, School Based curriculum and 2013 Curriculum in Indonesia.
I made the presentation within 15 minutes which is a very short time presentation. From 15 minutes presentation, 10 minutes was given for presenting my research and the rest 5 minutes was for question and answers. However, within five minutes left, there is no question was risen by other participant in my group. I summed up my presentation as follow:
Through analysing and discussion above toward a syllabus from KBK (Competence Based Curriculum), KTSP (School Based Curriculum) and K 13 (Curriculum 2013) grade VII Junior Secondary School, we can sum up that that pattern in composing curriculum especially for one-decade mathematics curriculum is considering mathematics culture free and value less in the perspective on six universal mathematical activities. Moreover, the verb words which are provided in the syllabus did not guide the users to show that mathematics is a part of enculturation of surrounding environment.

IASE 2019 Satellite Conference “Decision Making Based on Data”

While, the International Association of Statistics Education (IASE) represents a leading organization in the field of statistics education, worldwide, the 2019 Satellite Conference, which I have participated in, is organized by this association. Indeed, participating in the IASE conference was one of the greatest opportunities which I had during the year of 2019. Many prominent researchers and professors who are interested in statistics and statistics education all over the world have participated. On one hand, I have learned a lot through engaging with that professional community. On the other hand, very interesting hours I have spent through joining the conference's excursion, where we have visited many interesting places in Kuala Lumpur (i.e., Batu Caves, Twin Towers). Besides, enjoying the very delicious Malaysian traditional food. The whole experience was more than what I have expected before. I hope to have another chance to share my ideas with the IASE community.

The RIHED Southeast Asian Higher Education (SEA-HiED) Inter-Regional Research Symposium (Bangkok, Thailand)

I participated in the “RIHED Southeast Asian Higher Education (SEA-HiED) Inter-Regional Research Symposium”, 14th-15th November 2019, Bangkok, Thailand. The Symposium was organized as a part of the Regional Centre for Higher Education Development (RIHED)’s 60th Anniversary. It brought together new and experienced researchers, educators, administrators and interested participants from around the world to discuss, share and explore the current state and future directions of higher education. I did my oral presentation for 30 minutes, with 20 minutes for presentation and 10 minutes for Q&A, under the theme “Internationalization and Cross-Border Higher Education”. I investigated internationalization of higher education in Lao PDR with much emphasis on key rationales and strategies undertaken by four public universities for internationalization. The investigation was drawn upon the review of official documents such as policy papers, institutional strategic plans and annual reports published by Lao governmental agencies and universities. In addition to explore the topic in more depth, semi-structured interviews were qualitatively carried out with twenty-three institutional stakeholders, comprising vice-presidents, directors, faculty deans and academic staff. The result revealed that the ASEAN Community was a key external driver for internationalization practices in Lao higher education alongside the internal rationales, namely to keep pace with regional and international development, to enhance capacity-building and to promote the national identity. Many activities and initiatives were undertaken by universities forming part of a comprehensive strategy for internationalization. They are manifested in promotion of staff and student mobility, cultural exchanges, joint-curriculum development, research collaboration, staff’s qualification upgrading and professional development, and expansion of international linkage. To facilitate internationalization practices; the international office was established as the university’s central taskforce to develop international agendas and connect international stakeholders to foreign institutions abroad and vice versa. Despite their strong commitments to internationalization, practices are still fragmented and ad hoc because of no distinct plan for internationalization, heavy external reliance and lack of international recognition. Implications for future development are also discussed in this study. After the presentation, several questions were raised and discussed pertaining to my topic and issues similarly encountered by other countries. Such discussions motivate me to further research on internationalization and its impact on the aspects of quality higher education and employability of graduates.

International Conference on Early Childhood Care Education and Parenting 2019 (Bandung/ Indonesia)

International Conference on Early Childhood Care Education and Parenting 2019 was the first conference held by Southeast Asia Ministers of Education Organization Regional Centre Early Childhood Care Education and Parenting (SEAMEO CECCEP) from 17 – 18 October 2019 in Bandung, Indonesia. In this conference, many experts in the kindergarten field, including Professor Miwa from Hiroshima University as one of the keynote speakers, gathered and discussed the latest kindergarten issues around the world. In this opportunity, there were also researchers around the world who presented their studies about kindergartens education.
In this conference, I, a doctoral student from Graduate School for International Development and Cooperation (IDEC), Hiroshima University, who received IDEC's Financial Support towards International Conference Presentations, presented my paper about inclusive education in Indonesian kindergartens. My presentation title is "Implementing inclusive kindergartens in Indonesia: Benefits and Challenges." I emphasize that inclusive education is the government's effort in providing the right to a decent education for children who have various capabilities not only for regular students but also for students with special needs. The adjustment is aimed at bringing and maintaining a friendly environment and appreciating diversity. I believe that at the kindergarten level, the existence of inclusive education is often neglected since kindergarten is not one of the compulsory educational programs in Indonesia.
In fact, by using the systemic literature review method, my study has revealed that numerous kinds of literature have proven that implementing inclusive education in kindergarten gives significant benefits for all school members. On the other hand, of course, the implementation is then followed by the challenges. Those challenges can come from students themselves, teachers, school systems, and societies. I hope that the outcome of his study can provide a template to support access and equity for all children and a reference for implementing high-quality inclusive education at the kindergartens level in Indonesia.
Finally, I would like to thank my supervisors, Professor Kawai Norimune who has given me a chance to join the conference and Professor Chiaki Miwa who has supported me during the conference.

Asia Young Scholars Summit (Tianjin)

On May 17-19th, the Indonesia Student’s Association in the People’s Republic of China (PPI Tiongkok) organized the 1st Asia Young Scholars Summit 2019 (AYSS 2019). This was a scientific forum to discuss various current topics of study including Economics, Social, and Technology. The conference was open to international students, the especially Asian region, and 32 papers had been submitted. AYSS 2019 was held on the first day followed by a culture festival on the following day and Asia-Oceania Symposium on the last day. All of the activities took place at Tianjin University, China.
Each presenter got a maximum of 12 minutes for oral presentation including Question and Answer session. Before doing the presentation, the presenters were divided into several groups session based on their topics. The participants shared their thought and research results under the main theme entitled “Leveraging Region with Economy, Social, and Technology Collaboration” with broad topics but they were not limited to the following topics such as Business and Management, Science and Technology, Social Science, Medical and Medicine, and others.
My presentation was related to Social Science topics, especially education. As widely believed that one of the key drivers to improve the quality of education is teacher quality, then my paper focused on teacher quality-related things. I presented the paper about certified teachers’ perceptions of their competencies. These competencies consist of pedagogical, professional, personal, and social competency, which are crucial to be possessed by teachers to perform their professional tasks. This study focused on Vocational High School teachers who teach in Business and Management field study on one of the districts in Indonesia. The result showed that their perception of their competencies was very good. My presentation was ended by answering two questions from participants. At the end of the event, the committee of the conference gave the “Best Paper” appreciation for three papers. Mine was one of those three “Best Paper”.

L1 Transfer towards L2 Acquisition: A Study of Brebes Javanese Dialect towards English Vowels Pronounciation: Seminar Tahunan Linguistik (Annual Linguistics Conference) in UPI (Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia), Bandung, Indonesia

Seminar Tahunan Linguistik (Annual Linguistics Conference) was held in Universitas Pedidikan Indonesia (UPI), Bandung, Indonesia on June 29 – 30, 2019. It was an international linguistics conference jointly organized by the Linguistics Department of the School of Postgraduate Studies Indonesia University of Education, and the UPI Commissariat of Masyarakat Linguistik Indonesia, an Indonesian Linguistics Organization. The conference aims to provide space for national and international experts and practitioners who have a keen interest on language related phenomena to diseminate and share ideas related to current issues in the study of language (source: setali.event.upi.edu). At that conference, I presented my idea on the area of Second Language Acquisition. The title of my presentation was “L1 Transfer towards L2 Acquisition: A Study of Brebes Javanese Dialect towards English Vowels Pronounciation”. This study was conducted considering the phenomenon in which most of English learners may have an ability to pronounce English speech sounds properly and may have problems to pronounce them. One of the influential factors is the First Language (L1) interference as it is stated also by Ramelan (1999). He states that

The difficulty encountered by the student in learning a second language can be caused by the different elements between TL (target language) & NL (native language), the same sounds having different distributions, the same sounds between NL and TL but allophonic in TL, similar sounds between NL and TL with slightly different quality, or the same sounds between NL and TL when occurring in cluster.

Therefore, the study was conducted under the consideration that L1 may influence Second Language (L2) acquisition either positively or negatively. The aim is to investigate the influence of Brebes Javanese Dialect (BJD) towards students’ pronunciation of English vowels. The problem discussed in the study was “what are English vowels influenced by BJD?”. The subjects were the students in Senior High School 1 of Brebes, Central Java, Indonesia. There are 20 subjects. The object was English vowels pronounced by the students. The data were in the form of the students’ voice in reading an English text twice and some isolated words once. Besides, the other supporting data were collected through questionnaire, interview, and observation. The main result of the study revealed that [ɪ] English vowel is influenced negatively by BJD. Finally, this study concludes that L1 in this case BJD can give a negative influence towards L2 acquisition in this case students’ English vowels pronunciation.

Good Teacher, Qualified Teacher, and Professional Teacher: Facing the 21st Century Global Changes

On September 3rd - 4th, 2019, I joined in the 5th UAD TEFL International Conference as presenter. This conference was held in two days and taken place in Yogyakarta City, Indonesia. It invited eight keynote speakers who came from Hungaria, Australia, Malaysia, and Indonesia and attended by researchers, students, and teachers from some countries. In this occasion, I presented my paper which is entitled Good Teacher, Qualified Teacher, and Professional Teacher: Facing the 21st Century Global Changes. It talked about teacher problem in Indonesia especially on how to prepare the students to face the globalization in this 21st century. It is because global changes become the main countries among the world especially in the developing countries like Indonesia. In the globalization, young generations should meet the 21st century skill to be acquired in order to compete and being survive in their life. Those skills are including; basic skills (English skills e.g. spoken language, reading comprehension, writing; mathematic; science; economics; art and humanities; foreign language; and history) and applied skills (critical thinking/problem solving; oral and written communication; collaboration; diversity; technology utilization; leadership; innovation and creativity; lifelong learning; professionalism; and social responsibility. In relation to the education, the roles of teacher are very significant in helping the students to adapt 21st century global changes. Teacher is the role model for the students because the teacher directly engages in teaching and learning process. By this occasion, I shared and asked every body to consider the big influence of teacher toward the student. Regarding to that consideration, we need to understand about ‘good teacher’, ‘qualified teacher’, and ‘professional teacher’. Although these terms are familiar, we often fail to detect whether they are different or not. The importance to understand these terms are to determine what and how the teachers should be to improve the quality of education and prepare the students to face the real world especially in the globalization era. In the expectation, the teachers may take action whether they to drive themselves as a ‘good teacher’, ‘qualified teacher’, or ‘professional teacher’. In Indonesia context, in order to go along with educational development in the 21st global changes, the need of professional teacher can be considered as the main concern to improve the teacher quality as well as the educational quality.

The Fifth UAD TEFL International Conference, Yogyakarta, Indonesia

The study was proposed to be presented in UAD TEFL and composed of two authors by me as the first author. The author joined this conference because the author's research field was about Teaching English for Foreign Language (TEFL). Before being a master student in IDEC, the author was an English Teacher who was very interested in teaching English at every level of grade. The theme of The 5th UTIC was Technology, Literacy and Innovations in ELT: Issues and Concern and conducted by the English Education Department of Ahmad Dahlan University, Yogyakarta, on September 3-4, 2019. The conference invited eight keynote speakers who were coming from several countries (Australia, Malaysia, Hungary, and Indonesia).
The study took advantage of the international environment of IDEC which had so many students from various countries. The participants were seven IDEC students who were from Japan, Laos, Cambodia, Senegal, Mongolia, China, and Thailand. They were selected by their backgrounds as English teachers in their countries which were non-native English speaking countries. Therefore, the study was composed to answer two research questions: 1. What are the challenges of teaching English in non-native English speaking countries? 2. Is there any effort to overcome the challenges? If so, how do they overcome it?. Through interviewing them, the study found the challenges that faced by them which could be categorized into three not only the challenges, but also the efforts. The result indicated three main problems, including learning materials which did not cover students’ need, too big classroom size and school environment, and also students with low motivation. Some programs were conducted to overcome those challenges. For example, Japan had an Assistant Language Teacher (ALT) who came once a week to cooperate with the English teacher in each school. Then, Volunteer English Teacher (VET) program helped English Teachers in Laos. Lastly, Educational Government of Cambodia cooperated with the Australian Government to improve English education in Cambodia by developing a course book called English for Cambodia (EFC).

“The 6th International Conference on International Relations and Development (ICIRD) 2019” （タイ国、チェンラーイ県）での口頭発表を通して得た示唆

　2019年11月22日、23日にかけて、タイ国、チェンラーイ県にある国立大学、メーファールアン大学（Mae Fah Luang University）で開催された“The 6th International Conference on International Relations and Development (ICIRD) 2019” に参加させていただきました。以下、研究の概要と学会発表を通して得た示唆を簡単に述べようと思います。
　今回の発表で使用させていただいた「ネタ」は、筆者が広島大学教育学部教育学講座へ提出した卒業論文「タイ王国における学校管理職免許制度に関する研究―専門職基準の制度的意義に着目して―」の中核的内容を英語に翻訳したものでした。本研究では、とりわけ「専門職基準（Professional Standards: タイ語でมาตรฐานวิชาชีพマートラターン・ウィチャーチープという）」に着目し、免許制度との関係、すなわち高等教育機関における養成カリキュラムや教育省による課程認定基準との比較参照分析を行いました。研究成果としては、タイの学校管理職免許制度は専門職基準を養成カリキュラムの基準として運用しており、教育の地方分権化に耐えうる学校管理職の育成に一定程度寄与していることが看取されました。
　今回の国際学会における口頭発表は、筆者にとって次の二点を示唆として与えてくれたと考えています。第一に、専門外の研究者が多く参加すると思われる学会での発表では、より一般的な説明に落とし込んだ説明が望ましいということです。第二に、そのような学会ではジェネラルな質問内容が多くなる一方で、その質問の中にこそ学術研究の基礎的な視点が詰まっているということです。
　最後になりますが、今回筆者の国際学会発表を可能にしてくださった、国際協力研究科、広島大学基金の関係者の皆様に心より感謝申し上げます。