THURSDAY. OCTOBER 27, 1983
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NOTED EXPERT HEADS LANGUAGE INSTITUTE
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AN INTERNATIONALLY ACCLAIMED ENGLISH LANGUAGE EXPERT HAS BEEN APPOINTED TO HEAD THE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT'S INSTITUTE OF LANGUAGE IN EDUCATION. HE IS DR VERNER C. BICKLEY, FORMER DIRECTOR OF THE EAST-WEST CENTRE'S CULTURE LEARNING INSTITUTE IN HONOLULU.
DR BICKLEY FIRST VISITED HONG KONG IN 1965, AS A KEYNOTE SPEAKER AT AN ENGLISH CONFERENCE ORGANISED BY THE CHINESE UNIVERSITY OF HONG KONG, AND LATER VISITED THIS CITY ON A NUMBER OF OTHER OCCASIONS.
DR BICKLEY OBTAINED HIS FIRST DEGREE AND SUBSEQUENTLY HIS M.A. IN EDUCATION FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF WALES, AND HIS PH. D. FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF LONDON. THROUGHOUT HIS 30-YEAR CAREER HE HAS BEEN INVOLVED EITHER IN THE TEACHING OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE OR IN RELATED AREAS OF TRAINING AND RESEARCH.
DR BICKLEY STARTED HIS CAREER AS A TEACHER OF ENGLISH IN SINGAPORE IN 1951, AND IN 1954 HEADED THE DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH AT WHAT IS NOW THE INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION.
HE LATER JOINED THE BRITISH COUNCIL AND SERVED IN BURMA, INDONESIA AND JAPAN, SPECIALISING IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION. HE WAS AWARDED AN M.B.E. FOR HIS SERVICES IN 1964.
IN 1971 HE WAS APPOINTED DIRECTOR OF THE EAST-WEST CENTRE'S CULTURE LEARNING INSTITUTE IN HONOLULU, RESPONSIBLE FOR THE DESIGN AND ADMINISTRATION OF AN INTEGRATED MULTI-DISCIPLINARY RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME FOCUSING ON INTERNATIONAL, CROSS-CULTURAL RELATIONS. UNDER HIS DIRECTORSHIP, PROJECTS ON BILINGUAL EDUCATION, LANGUAGE POLICY AND PLANNING AND ENGLISH AS AN INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE WERE INITIATED.
IN 1981, HE TOOK LEAVE FROM THE CENTRE TO HELP SAUDI ARABIAN AIRLINES IMPROVE THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY OF THE IR EMPLOYEES AND TRAINEES. DURING THIS TIME, DR BICKLEY ADMINISTERED AN ENGLISH TRAINING PROGRAMME FOR THE AIRLINE'S 25 000 EMPLOYEES.
DR BICKLEY IS THE AUTHOR OF 15 BOOKS AND MANY ARTICLES AND PAPERS ON LANGUAGE, LANGUAGE EDUCATION AND CROSS-CULTURAL RELATIONS.
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