The EMI Resource Center and the Office of International Cooperation at National Chengchi University jointly organized an event featuring two lectures by Dr. Daron Benjamin Loo on March 8th. In the morning academic workshop, Dr. Loo explored the genre structure of academic papers through in-depth discussions and shared his rich experiences. He emphasized the importance of understanding genre structure and highlighted the need to cultivate students' genre awareness. Dr. Loo also pointed out that teachers can effectively introduce academic papers to students by discussing genre, facilitating a smooth integration into the writing process. This approach not only fosters students' appreciation for academic papers but also equips them to navigate academic articles in university classrooms, preparing them for their future academic careers.

Through detailed explanations and insightful experience sharing, the audience acquired a comprehensive understanding of the genre structure of academic papers. Furthermore, they gained deeper insights into the significance of teaching writing skills and developed a more profound understanding of English writing.

In the afternoon session, the speaker delivered a lecture titled "Some Research Considerations for Examining Discourse of Online Public Forums." Dr. Loo began by emphasizing that discourse analysis is a field that necessitates staying attuned to contemporary developments. Online forums, given their dynamic nature, serve as an ideal arena for research in this domain. Dr. Loo also underscored the varied dialogue techniques evident in online forums, emphasizing their role as democratic spaces for interaction and communication. These forums give rise to a new "normalized" discourse, deviating from conventional language usage norms. Furthermore, they provide opportunities for "multimodal" communication, incorporating elements such as emojis, emoticons, memes, and GIFs.

Nevertheless, ethical considerations must be carefully weighed when conducting discourse analysis of online forums. These considerations encompass issues such as the potential traceability of quoted posts, even if authors remain anonymous, the necessity of obtaining consent from forum participants, and the ambiguous benefits of scrutinizing online discourse. Despite these limitations, Dr. Loo provided insights into the selection of online public forums as a research focus, citing their dynamic nature and their ability to offer networked perspectives on the studied topics while breaking down traditional boundaries.

In conclusion, Dr. Loo discussed his own research on discourse analysis within online forums. This included a content analysis of recent threads on the Malaysian Low Yat online forum, examining discussions or inquiries about the legitimacy of vernacular schools in Malaysia. Dr. Loo also explored language use on the forum, presenting examples of translanguaging and discussing the feasibility of openly presenting diverse viewpoints facilitated by anonymity. Additionally, he touched upon the challenges associated with the analysis of multimodal data in this context.