The Faculty of Language and Literature Education (FPBS) at Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia (UPI) held an Expertise Socialization Forum for a Prospective Professor on Wednesday, 21 May 2025, at Auditorium B, 4th Floor, FPBS UPI Building. The event featured Dr. Wawan Gunawan, M.Ed., Ph.D., who delivered a scholarly presentation titled “Unlocking the Power of Language: Systemic Functional Linguistics-Informed Application in Education, Media Discourse, and Language Description.”
The session began at 2:00 PM WIB with an opening by the Vice Dean for Academic Affairs of FPBS UPI, followed by remarks from the Dean of FPBS and the Chairperson of the UPI Professorial Council. In their remarks, the leadership expressed full support for the professorship candidacy and emphasized the importance of academic contributions to the advancement of national education and scholarship.
In his presentation, Dr. Wawan elaborated on the application of Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL), highlighting its relevance in analyzing the relationship between language structures and meaning, and how language shapes social realities. By connecting SFL theory with real-world applications in classrooms and media contexts, he emphasized the transformative power of language in both education and public communication.
An engaging Q&A session followed, demonstrating strong interest among lecturers, students, and invited guests. The discussion covered topics such as the relevance of SFL in language education curricula, multiliteracy instruction, and the development of text-based learning media.
The event concluded with the reading of an official recommendation by Prof. Dr. Didi Suryadi, M.Ed., representing the UPI Professorial Council. The recommendation affirmed that the expertise socialization met academic standards and scholarly substance required for professorial candidacy.
This event not only played a crucial role in the functional academic promotion process but also served as an inspiring forum to broaden the academic community’s understanding of linguistics and its applications across various domains of life.