On May 24-25, 2019, Ho Chi Minh City Open University honourably hosted the 7^th OpenTESOL International Conference at 141 Nam Ky Khoi Nghia, Ward 6, District 3, Ho Chi Minh City. Under the theme "Innovation and Inspiration - Building the Future of Language Education", the conference called upon more than 250 attendees including scientists, managers, researchers, lecturers from Universities, training institutions at home and abroad, master students of TESOL and Applied Linguistics, and undergraduate students majoring in English Language Teacher EducationEnglish language Education.

The global integration trend is characterized by a gradual removal of barriers in geographical, social, political, educational aspects. It opens a new era on the global scale which positively affects all aspects and areas, trans-national trade exchange, inheritance and promotion of human kind’s essence, and especially the integration of advanced education systems, all aiming for the development and nurture of talents for every nation and the world as a whole. That, among other reasons, is why OpenTESOL was founded. Since its first launch by Ho Chi Ming City Open University in 2012, the conference has become an annual big event which staged the cooperation of the Graduate Training Faculty and Foreign Languages Faculty. OpenTESOL heads to domestic and foreign experts in the field of foreign language teaching, bringing professional development opportunities to about 200 teachers, lecturers, experts and researchers in Vietnam every year. Notably, OpenTESOL had its first proceedings published in 2016.

To renew its success, OpenTESOL this year (2019) took in 60 reports of international researchers and lecturers from: Sweden, Singapore, Indonesia, Philippines, Malaysia, Japan, England, etc., and a lot of academicians all around the country. The conference welcomed reputable scholars in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) as the key speakers: Professor Richmond Stroupe, Chairman of Japan Association for Language Teaching (JALT), Director of TESOL Master Program in International Language Education, Director of World Language Center, SOKA University, Japan; Professor John Macalister, Dean of School of Linguistics and Applied Language Studies (Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand); Dr. Renandya Willy Ardian, Administer of Teacher Voices: Professional Development, Senior Lecturer of Nanyang Technological University, Singapore; Assoc. Prof. Dr. Supong Tangkiengsirisin, Chairman of Thailand TESOL (Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages), Lecturer of Thammasat University, Thailand.

This year the conference seeks orientations for teachers and lecturers to develop creative teaching capabilities by themselves in the context of internationalization and digital technology advancement. A number of outstanding reports of high community value were cited, such as: Using virtual reality for developing language of autistic children; Using social network Facebook and Skype Live TV for developing the communication capacity of cultural exchange students in ASEAN community, developing translation-interpretation skills; Innovative skills to teach English in disadvantaged areas; Analysis of students' attitudes toward gender equality, and so on.

OpenTESOL 2019 International Conference closed with great success and promised a more original innovation in the future. Ho Chi Minh City Open University once again, in attempt to connect communities, broaden the horizon of knowledge and absorb the world’s educational elite, proved the power of education in aspects of integration and society.