On September 6th, 2024, Beijing time, Professor David Machin and Dr. Lili Zhang of the Institute of Corpus Studies and Applications (ICSA) of Shanghai International Studies University hosted an international online Symposium on English Language Textbooks.

Scholars included Ana Kuzmanović Jovanović and Jelena Filipović from the University of Belgrade, Serbia, Germán Canale from Universidad de la República, Uruguay, Ali Jalalian Daghigh and Sahar Rasoulikolamaki from University Malaya, Malaysia, Muhammad Afzaal from Shanghai International Studies University, China, Waqar Ali Shah from the University of Jyväskylä, Finland, Csilla Weninger from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Chris Smith from the Conestoga College Institute of Technology, Canada, Ufuk Keleş from Bahçeşehir University, Turkey and Bedrettin Yazan from the University of Texas, USA.  

Leading scholars from different time zones around the world got together to share ideas and start a network. The symposium was to compare shifts in ELT materials over the past decades and how these relate to changing priorities in education. The symposium has the aims of developing a wider international community of researchers in the field of textbooks and learning resources, as well as producing a journal special edition to present a state-of-the-art international comparison.