First International Conference on Foreign Language Learning and Teaching(FLLT 2009), Bangkok, Thailand , 16-17 October

The FLLT 2009 Conference intends to provide a forum for academics in the fields of foreign language learning and teaching to report theoretical and empirical developments in their areas of specialty and to exchange ideas through paper presentations and posters. The conference aims particularly to promote collaboration between researchers in foreign language learning and classroom practitioners, both of whom can significantly inform and enrich each other through dissemination of the their research findings. Papers from all theoretical frameworks are welcome. The language for paper and poster presentations is English. Abstracts will be reviewed for clarity of the theoretical framework and methodology, originality and significance, and overall presentation and organization. Each paper is allotted 20 minutes for the oral presentation and 10 minutes for questions. For posters, please consult the guidelines for poster submission.

The FLLT team says, “We welcome abstracts of approximately 300-450 words in any of the following areas:

• The Acquisition of Foreign Language Syntax/Phonology/Pragmatics/Syntax-Semantics Interface
• The Role of Input in SLA
• L2 Processing
• Functional Approaches to SLA
• Typological Universals and SLA
• Foreign Language Learning Strategies
• Foreign Language Skill Development
• Self-Access Learning/Autonomous Learners
• English for Specific Purposes
• The Application of English for Career Development
• Language Testing and Evaluation
• Teacher Education and Foreign Language Learning.”

Keynote speakers for the conference are:

• Prof. Anne Burns, Department of Linguistics, Macquarie University, Australia
• Prof. Gita Martohardjono, the City University of New York Graduate Center, USA
• Prof. Shelly Wong, President of TESOL (USA), George Mason University, USA
• Prof. John McRae, Language in Literature Studies, the University of Nottingham, UK.

For further details and pre-registration, please visit: http://www.fllt2009.org/

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International Conference on English Language &Literature Today, Amravati, Maharashtra, India, November 12-13

International Conference on English Language&Literature Today’09.The Two-Day Conference is for scholars,teachers&students of English,worldwide.

Organized by: Vidya Bharati College, Amravati.

Deadline for abstracts/proposals: 15 September 2009

For further details and pre-registration, please visit: http://www.vbmv.org/

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5th International Symposium on Teaching English at Tertriary Level, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, October 15-17

The 5th International Symposium on Teaching English at Tertriary Level is jointly organised by the Department of English, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University and the Department of Foreign Languages, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China. It aims to provide a platform for academics to discuss and review various issues related to teaching English at tertiary level.

The organising committee of the symposium is now accepting proposals for papers. The symposium welcomes papers related to teaching English at tertiary level. The conference language will be English.

Issues and questions that the symposium will address:

1. English for Academic/Specific Purposes
2. Curriculum/syllabus/materials development
3. English across the curriculum at tertiary level
4. Computer-mediated language education
5. Teaching and learning styles
6. Testing and assessment
7. Outcome-based language education
8. Transition from secondary to tertiary education

All presentations will be 30 minutes in length, including question time.

Your abstract should be a maximum of 250 words. Please include with your abstract: the title of your paper, your name, title, institution, e-mail address and mailing address.

Deadline for Submission: 31 July 2009 (Notices of acceptance will be sent by 5 September 2009.)

Publication: All presented papers will be considered for the Proceedings of the 5th International Symposium on Teaching English at Tertiary Level.

Registration Fee: The registration fee will be HK$800 for regular participants and HK$300 for students.

Send submissions to:

Ms Catherine Law
Department of English
The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Hong Kong
Tel: +(852) 2766 7529
Fax: +(852) 2333 6569
Email: egclaw@polyu.edu.hk

For further details and pre-registration, please visit: http://www.engl.polyu.edu.hk/events/5thISTETL.htm

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ELT in India Today and Tomorrow, Udaipur, India, November 5-6-7

The First International EFL ESL Conference will be held at in Udaipur in November 2009.

The aim of this conference is to bring together EFL practitioners from across the Globe to exchange views on a wide range of issues in ELT EFL ESL practice and research. Through this exchange, it is hoped that participants will gain better insights into the world of ELT EFL ESL and the challenges it faces. The Department of English, Janardan Rai Nagar Rajasthan Vidyapeeth University, Udaipur is the primary host. The Rajasthan Association of English Studies, India TESOL and Asian EFL Journal are proud to co-host this inaugural special event .

Keynote speakers will include:-

• Prof. Z.N. Patil
• Professor S. N. Joshi
• Professor R. P. Bhatnagar
• Dr. Paul Robertson
• Prof. Phyllis Chew
• Prof. Rod Ellis

Over 90 other presenters will present papers and workshops

Proposals (up to 350 words) for 30 minute presentations should be related to research and practice into EFL ESL teaching and the teaching of ESL EFL in Asian contexts or with Asian students. Papers are invited:-

Suggested topics are but not limited to:-

• The changing face of ELT in India
• Indian Englishes
• Cultural impact of teaching EFL students
• Teaching English in India
• Teaching teachers to teach EFL students
• Teaching English grammar to other EFL nations
• Workshops
• Poster sessions

Abstracts in English should be sent to asianefl@gmail.com by 31st September 2009 and should include the following information:

1. Author’s full name and title.
2. Author’s affiliation and address.
3. E-mail contact address.
4. Title of the paper
5. Abstract (up to 350 words)

Notification of acceptance will be given from August 31st onwards until all speakers positions (110) are filled.

A Conference Proceedings edition will be published in early 2010 and for this purpose full papers should be submitted by October 30th 2009 to
asianefl@gmail.com

Enquiries concerning the conference should be directed to Dr. Robertson asianefl@gmail.com

Fees:

• Conference participation:
• Local presenters. 1,000 Indian Rupee
• International Speakers fees. U.S. $150
• Attendance 500 Rupees. Indian
• Attendance non India U.S.$60.00
• Membership in TESOL India (250 Rupees’s)

For further details and pre-registration, please visit: http://www.asian-efl-journal.com/Call-for-Papers-India-2009.php

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2009 ACTFL ANNUAL CONVENTION AND WORLD LANGUAGES EXPO, San Diego, California, November 20-22

Theme: Speaking Up for Languages… The Power of Many Voices

The Annual Convention and World Languages Expo of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) will be held Friday, November 20 through Sunday, November 22, 2009 in San Diego, CA with Pre-Convention Workshops scheduled on Thursday, November 19. The ACTFL Convention features over 500 educational sessions and events covering the whole spectrum of the foreign language profession. The entire selection of sessions is designed to provide attendees with an exciting array of sessions and events to further their knowledge and help them be better teachers or administrators. We welcome you to submit a proposal for consideration. When you login, please read carefully the Submission Guidelines before proceeding to complete your online submission.

The convention draws approximately 6,000 attendees and is the only national event bringing together all languages, levels and assignments within the profession. Please note: Presenters whose proposals are selected for presentation MUST be available to present any day during the Convention.

For further details and pre-registration, please visit: http://convention3.allacademic.com/one/actfl/actfl09/index.php?cmd=actfl09&id

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3rd Biennial International Conference on Task-Based Language Teaching, Lancaster University, 13-16 September

The first international TBLT conference was hosted in 2005 at the University of Leuven in Belgium and the second international conference on TBLT was hosted in 2007 at the University of Hawaii, Honolulu. As in the two previous conferences, we look forward to bringing together researchers and educators from around the world to share and learn from one another’s innovations and research in task-based language teaching.

Plenary Speakers

- Geoff Brindley (Macquarie University, Australia)

- Zoltán Dörnyei (University of Nottingham, UK)

- Bernard Mohan (University of British Columbia, Canada)

- Lourdes Ortega (University of Hawaii, USA)

Featured Colloquia

Convenors and colloquium themes:

- Folkert Kuiken & Ineke Vedder (University of Amsterdam) Theme: Tasks across the modalities

- Alison Mackey (Georgetown University, US): Theme: Tasks and the interaction hypothesis

- Virginia Samuda (Lancaster University, UK): Theme: Teachers’ uses of tasks in the classroom

The conference will be held in the university’s well-equipped conference suite. The nearby city of Lancaster has a distinguished historic castle and boasts several jewels of Georgian architecture. It is within 30 minutes of the Lake District, beloved of walkers, fell runners, rock climbers, painters, poets and writers. The campus is also close to a spectacular coastline stretching from Glasson Dock, a couple of miles away, through Morecambe Bay to the coast of the Southern Lakes, and also lies within easy reach of the Pennines and the Yorkshire Dales.

For further details and pre-registration, please visit: http://www.lancs.ac.uk/fass/events/tblt2009/index.htm

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THE FIRST INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON LANGUAGE AND LANGUAGE TEACHING (ICLLT-1), Padang, October 16 – 17

As a world-wide language, the great need for the teaching-learning of Ednglish as an L2 and/or an FL has been increasing significantly. However, the teaching-learning process of English as an FL in Indonesia has not been fairly successful yet. Natural, cultural, psychological, theoretical, and practical problems are still in crucial issues which need to be discussed seriously. In order to have significant success in the teaching-learning of English, professionalism in English Language Teaching (ELT) should be stimulated and promoted by means of various ways. Having conference on ELT is one way which can be held to obtain the intended professionalism.

Being inspired by the experiences in organizing and holding national and international seminars so far, the English Department of Faculty of Language Literature and Art, the State University of Padang would like to organize the scientific discussions and workshops into regular conferences which are labeled as Conference on Language and Language Teaching (CLLT). It is planned that CLLT is held annually in the level of national and international one with various focuses. In accordance with the planning, this is the first international level of CLLT, and this year it is focused on the English language teaching. This conference is held with the theme: “Promoting Professionalism in ELT”. Researchers, lecturers, teachers, or students of English are kindly invited to participate in this valuable conference.

Those who are interested in ELT may write paper(s) related to one of the following topics:

(1)   ICT-based ELT

(2)   Media in ELT

(3)   Curriculum and Material Development in ELT

(4)   Evaluation and Assessment in ELT

(5)   School-based Curriculum of ELT

(6)   English for Young Learners

(7)   Researches and Methods in ELT

(8)   English for Specific Purposes (ESP)

(9)   Literature in ELT

For further details and pre-registration, please visit: http://callhavid.wordpress.com/2009/05/31/international-conference-on-language-and-language-teaching/

16th Annual iEARN International Conference, Ifrane, July 19-25

iEARN is a non-profit network that supports over 25,000 teachers and 2 million youth in more than 125 countries to collaboratethrough a global telecommunications network on projects designed to make a difference in the world. Since 1988.

In July 2009, iEARN-Morocco (MEARN) will be hosting the 16th Annual iEARN International Conference and 13th Annual Youth Summit. This is a gathering open to all, which typically brings together teachers and students from over 70 countries. It builds upon previous conferences in Argentina (1994), Australia (1995), Hungary(1996), Spain (1997), USA (1998), Puerto Rico (1999), China (2000), South Africa (2001), Russia (2002), Japan(2003), Slovakia (2004), Senegal (2005), the Netherlands (2006), and Egypt (2007).

Conference Goals

To facilitate communication and develop partnership between educators and youth locally, regionally and globally.
To use communication technology in education to improve health and welfare among communities.
To improve skills for better quality in education.
To establish institutional links among all partners of education.
To strengthen understanding of people for better education .
To support E-learning and professional development.
To promote inter cultural dialogue
To develop and prospect Pedagogical contents in countries around the world
To share models for how educational telecommunications can be used to affect positive social, political and economic change, and address unmet human and environmental needs.
To share successful classroom project examples that make a meaningful difference, and ideas/models of curriculum/classroom learning enhancement.
To demonstrate and provide hands-on experience in leading technology.
To encourage cross-cultural understanding through the use of different languages in project work, making place for voices which are not usually heard, and exploring other ways of breaking down barriers.
To enlarge the iEARN community to expand its global community of educators and youth leaders using telecommunications.
To share innovative educational resources from different centres, countries and organizations.
To identify steps toward enhancing and sustaining on-line project participation.
To create environment for new collaborative project ideas to be developed, and enable participants to return home with specific action steps to create and/or expand educational telecommunications project work.
To build on the highly successful inaugural teachers and students’ previous meetings and conferences in different countries. Open to educators from outside the iEARN Network.
To discuss and demonstrate of the latest developments in educational practice utilising telecommunications and associated technology will be the key focus of the workshop sessions.

For further details and pre-registration, please visit: http://www.iearn2009.ma/spip.php?article214?lang=en

The 2009 Asia TEFLInternational Conference, Bangkok, Thailand, August 7-9

The Asia TEFL International Conference Committee is now accepting presentation proposals for its7th conference to be held in Bangkok, Thailand. The official language for the conference, including presentations and submissions, is English. Under the Conference theme of “Collaboration and Creativity in English Language Teaching and Learning in Asia,” proposals are being accepted in the following content areas:

Subtopics (Content Areas)

The Conference Organizing Committee invites abstracts and presentation proposals on the following subtopics (content areas):

• Approaches and Methodologies
• Curriculum / Materials
• Distance Education
• Education / Language Policy
• International / Intercultural Communication
• Language Acquisition
• Material Writing and Design
• Multiple Intelligences and Learning Styles
• Teacher Education
• Teaching Young Learners
• Testing, Assessment, and Evaluation
• The Use of IT in Language Teaching
• Using Local Literatures in English or translations for teaching English

Types of Presentations

Presentations may be made in one of four forms:

• Colloquium (60 min.): Panelists (and audience) participate in the discussion.
• Workshop (60.): Audience actively participates in the presentation.
• Demonstration (30 min.): Presenter shows a technique to the audience.
• Research Paper Presentation (30 min.): Presenter reports research and results.

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THE 19TH ANNUAL IATEFL-H CONFERENCE, BUDAPEST, 2-4 OCTOBER 2009

The organizing committee of the 19th annual IATEFL Hungary Conference cordially invites the members of IATEFL-Hungary and all English teachers around the world to take part in their annual conference in Budapest, 2-4 October 2009.

The title of the conference is: ‘Global skills for global needs: facing challenges in 21st century classrooms’

In our globalised world English is the language which reaches across cultures. Thus, language educators cannot ignore the many various contexts in which English is used, taught and learned when thinking about the pedagogical implications that govern everyday practice. We invite you to think together with us and explore the ramifications of English as the world language and to find solutions for possible tensions between global and local issues. Are schools ready for the challenge? Find out yourself.

Plenary speakers:

• Éva Illés
• Tamás Kiss
• Gordon Lewis
• Herbert Puchta

For further details and pre-registration, please visit: http://iatefl.hu/content.php?id=017701

Language Learning in Computer Mediated Communities (LLCMC) Conference, October 11-13, 2009

Once, computers were seen as thinking machines or electronic tutors. Now the computer has become one of many devices that people use to form virtual communities of all kinds. In the field of language education, computer mediated communication (CMC) enables students to interact with one another free of space and time constraints and to participate in communities of learning with their counterparts in the target culture. The Language Learning in Computer Mediated Communities (LLCMC) Conference explores the use of computers as a medium of communication in language learning communities.

Conference highlights:

- Plenary talk by Dr. Gilberte Furstenberg (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)

- Special panel showcasing online cultural exchanges based at the University of Hawai‘i

- Optional pre-conference event (free) – CULTURA: Web-based Intercultural Exchanges

Conference sponsors:

- National Foreign Language Resource Center (NFLRC)

- National Resource Center – East Asia (NRCEA)

- Center for Southeast Asian Studies (CSEAS)

For further details and pre-registration, please visit: http://nflrc.hawaii.edu/llcmc/index.html

2009 ACTFL ANNUAL CONVENTION AND WORLD LANGUAGES EXPO, San Diego, California, November 20-22

Submission Deadline: January 9th

Theme: Speaking Up for Languages… The Power of Many Voices

The Annual Convention and World Languages Expo of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) will be held Friday, November 20 through Sunday, November 22, 2009 in San Diego, CA with Pre-Convention Workshops scheduled on Thursday, November 19. The ACTFL Convention features over 500 educational sessions and events covering the whole spectrum of the foreign language profession. The entire selection of sessions is designed to provide attendees with an exciting array of sessions and events to further their knowledge and help them be better teachers or administrators. We welcome you to submit a proposal for consideration. When you login, please read carefully the Submission Guidelines before proceeding to complete your online submission.

The convention draws approximately 6,000 attendees and is the only national event bringing together all languages, levels and assignments within the profession. Please note: Presenters whose proposals are selected for presentation MUST be available to present any day during the Convention.

For further details and pre-registration, please visit: http://convention3.allacademic.com/one/actfl/actfl09/index.php?cmd=actfl09&id

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Children’s Literature in Language Education, International Conference, Hildesheim University, Germany,   February 25-27, 2010

Hildesheim University and the Young Learner & Teenager SIG, IATEFL, are organising an exciting and innovative international TEFL conference on children’s literature which will cover a wide area in English language teaching, from the youngest learners to advanced language students. We are delighted to have secured plenary speakers of international renown for each one of the strands. We invite proposals for

PRESENTATIONS – which will be grouped into one of the following STRANDS 1, 2 AND 3, and WORKSHOPS/READINGS – by authors and storytellers in STRAND 4.

The International Conference Children’s Literature in Language Education – from Picture Books to Young Adult Fiction intends to disseminate information and provide a forum for the exchange of ideas and experiences on the power of literature for the young; approaches to children’s literature and young adult literature as a bridge to reading beyond school; gender considerations – the different attitudes of different readers – and the resulting consequences with regard to the canon of literary texts for EFL; and the debate around original children’s literature and graded readers.

For further details and pre-registration, please visit: http://www.childrenslit.de/

Supporting the advanced bilingual learner, St Marylebone school, Westminster

St Marylebone school, Westminster, is organising a conference jointly with the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust in order to help tackle communication as a barrier to learning.

In many London schools pupils new to English are increasingly well provided for, however, are the more advanced bilingual pupils being pushed and challenged? Is their English language acquisition reviewed and prioritised? Or are our bilingual pupils considered to no longer need support once their oral fluency reaches an acceptable level? Advanced Bilingual Learners do benefit from further support to help them achieve their true potential however without more information on how best to support, challenge and encourage them their needs will continue to go unnoticed. The conference will explore:

• Current research on providing for Advanced Bilingual Learners
• Issues in recognising and challenging Gifted and Talented EAL pupils
• Ways to develop your own school’s provision for Advanced Bilingual Learners

Speakers at the conference: Lynne Cameron is professor of Applied Linguistics at the Open University. She began her career teaching English in Tanzania with VSO and then in Bradford. After various kinds of teaching and teacher training, she moved into higher education, where she has carried out research into writing in English as an additional language. Her other research interest is in how people use metaphor. Ian Warwick is Senior Director of London Gifted and Talented and also Director of The REAL Project, a national project for the Department for Children, Schools and Families which works to improve the provision of G&T education for BME and EAL students. His chief areas of interest are urban education, disadvantaged and underachieving students, e learning, exceptional ability, critical thinking, professional development and the issues surrounding BME and EAL education. He is also a consultant editor for Gifted Education International and is a member of the Tower Group, an independent, worldwide think tank of G&T experts. For more information email eca@ssatrust.org.uk or download the flyer.

International Conference on Content Based Instruction (CLIL) for Young Learners: Breaking through Traditional Boundaries, Brazil, July 8-10

This conference has three main aims: to spread the idea of TEYL (Teaching English to Young Learners) through content; to provide a good forum for debate, information exchange, and dissemination of good practice for those who already use content-based instruction; and to contribute to the improvement of the level of TEYL in Brazil. The participants will include teachers from the private and public sectors, school coordinators, directors, and policy makers.

The structure of the conference will be a little different from what is generally done. There will be plenaries, workshops, and six-hour courses on relevant topics. Participants will choose their course as they register for the conference. We believe that these courses can contribute to the participants’ wider range of knowledge. Our intent is to make this event as fulfilling and memorable as possible, both professionally and personally.

Plenary Speakers

Dr. ROY LYSTER Roy Lyster is Professor of Second Language Education in the Department of Integrated Studies Education at McGill University in Canada. He has a PhD in Applied Linguistics as well as a B.Ed. and M.Ed. from the University of Toronto, and an MA from the Université de Paris VII. His research focuses primarily on immersion and content-based classrooms, including both observational and experimental studies of teacher-student interaction, form-focused instruction, and corrective feedback. He is past president of the Canadian Association of Applied Linguistics and author of Learning and Teaching Languages Through Content: A Counterbalanced Approach, published by Benjamins in 2007.

PEETER MEHISTO Has researched factors contributing to successful CLIL programme development, as well as potential barriers to the implementation of CLIL initiatives. Peeter Mehisto is the author of several textbooks, trainer of teachers and administrators, CLIL programme initiator and manager, as well as former CLIL educator. He has taught at the elementary, secondary and university levels and is the winner of several awards in education. He has extensive experience working with teachers in the classroom to support the implementation of best practice in CLIL methodology. He has also worked on the development of CLIL training materials, a major CLIL-related website, parent and other public relations materials and a handbook for teachers and administrators of immersion programmes. Peeter Mehisto is a frequent presenter at CLIL conferences.

Sandie Mourão Sandie Mourão is a freelance teacher, teacher trainer, consultant and materials designer based in Portugal. She specialises in pre-school and lower primary and is particularly interested in the use of free play and children’s literature to promote language acquisition. Sandie has presented widely in ELT conferences and also contributes to a number of ELT and academic journals. She has worked on writing projects with Scholastic USA, Mary Glasgow Scholastic, OUP and Macmillan Mexico. She is also co-author of the national guidelines for English in Portuguese primary education. At present she is completing a doctorate at the University of Aveiro in Portugal, her research involves investigating the role of picture book illustration in foreign language acquisition.

For further details and pre-registration, please visit: http://www.cbiintlconferenceyl.com.br/conference_information/

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Interactive Technologies and Games: Education, Health and Disability, Nottingham Trent University, October 27

Call for papers

The aim of the conference is to bring together academics and practitioners to showcase practice and to show how research ideas and outcomes can be mainstreamed. It will introduce a wider audience to key findings and products from research and will illustrate how practice feeds back into and informs research. Joint academic-practitioner papers are welcomed; the conference will create a forum for two-way communication between the academic and practitioner communities.

Compulsory and post-compulsory education is included within ‘education’. An emphasis will be placed on practical applications and guides to where currently available training resources and tools can be found and used.

A selection of papers will be published electronically in full, so presentations will be limited to 10 minutes for the key findings, with time for questions from the floor.

This is a cross-disciplinary conference which aims to give equal weight to the three themes to enable researchers and practitioners to learn from and cross-fertilise with other disciplines. Papers and exhibits which demonstrate adaption between the themes are particularly sought. It is not necessary to present a paper in order to exhibit.

It is hoped that Computers and Education will publish a special edition with selected papers from the conference in 2010.

Topics that will be covered by the conference, but not limited to, include:

Education

• Social and collaborative aspects of interactive technology
• Raising aspirations and achievement through interactive technologies and games-based learning
• Interactive learning tools and environments resources, e.g. Flash, podcasts, simulations, mobile games, Web 2.0 tool etc
• Implementation and ethical issues associated with games-based learning
• Learning theory, universal design and assessment in interactive technology-based learning
• Best practices in the use of interactive and innovative technologies for learning

Health

• GBL approaches to patient education
• Using contemporary games controllers to create new opportunities in health and rehabilitation applications (e.g., applications for Wii Fit, Wii Mote)
• GBL and virtual and enhanced environments for clinical assessment (e.g. after stroke)
• GBL and virtual environments for treatment (e.g. of phobias, ADHA, post-traumatic stress disorders, Amblyopia, etc
• ‘Modding’ for health
• Patient created content in serious games

Disability

• Approaches to making VE, computer and video games accessible by all
• Assistive technologies for people with disabilities and elderly people
• Practical applications of VE and serious games for the education of people with disabilities and elderly people (in e.g. work preparation, travel training)
• Location based services for navigation and reconnection of people with disabilities
• Art and music rehabilitation in 3D multisensory environments
• The engagement potential of serious games for young people at risk of social exclusion (e.g., offenders, those with learning disabilities)
• Design for All
• Including people with disabilities in the design of serious games, assistive technologies and VE.

Submissions
Those wishing to present papers should send abstracts, to a maximum of 500 words. For those hoping to exhibit, a 300-word (maximum) outline is required. The deadline for submissions is Friday 26 June, 2009 to be sent to, karen.krelle@ntu.ac.uk.

Final copies of accepted papers are required by Wednesday 30 September 2009.
There is a conference fee of £60 (concessions £30).

Important dates
Draft submission: 26 June 2009
Notice of paper acceptance: 31 July 2009
Final paper submission: 30 September 2009
Final Conference registration: 12 October 2009
Conference: 27 October 2009

For further details and pre-registration, please visit: http://www.ntu.ac.uk/cels/outreach/events/61435.html

NEW SOUNDS 2010: Sixth International Symposium on the Acquisition of Second Language Speech, Pozna?, Poland, May 1-3, 2010

We are happy to announce that the Sixth International Symposium on the Acquisition of Second Language Speech New Sounds 2010 will take place on 1-3 May 2010 in Pozna?, Poland. The Symposium will be organised by theSchool of English, Adam Mickiewicz University, Pozna? and will continue the tradition of the conferences on the acquisition of foreign language speech, organized originally by Allan James and Jonathan Leather.

The conference will cover a variety of themes related to the acquisition of a foreign language phonology, including among others:

· speech perception and speech production

· theories of acquisition of L2 phonology

· phonetics and phonology in SLA

· acquisition of second language phonotactics

· multilingualism and the acquisition of third language phonology

· the application of new technologies

· neuro- and psycholinguistic aspects of phonological acquisition.

Proposals of papers and posters related to the acquisition of second language speech are invited. The deadline for abstract submission is 1st December 2009. The submissions will be reviewed by our International Advisory Board. Invited plenary speakers are:

James Flege (University of Alabama at Birmingham, Professor Emeritus)
Allan James (University of Klagenfurt)
Martha Young-Scholten (Newcastle University).

Looking forward to seeing you in Pozna? in 2010!

New Sounds 2010 Organising Committee

Katarzyna Dziubalska-Ko?aczyk

Magdalena Wrembel

Ma?gorzata Kul

For further details and pre-registration, please visit:  http://ifa.amu.edu.pl/newsounds/

Second International Conference on the Development and Assessment of Intercultural Competence, Tucson, Arizona, January 29-31, 2010

Conference Theme: Aiming for “The Third Place:” Intercultural Competence through Foreign Language Teaching and Learning

Keynote Speaker: Claire Kramsch, Ph.D. – University of California, Berkeley

Claire Kramsch is Professor of German and Foreign Language Acquisition at the University of California, Berkeley, and Founding Director of the Berkeley Language Center. Among her many publications is an edited volume, Language Acquisition and Language Socialization: Ecological Perspectives (Advances in Applied Linguistics Series, Continuum International, 2003); most recently she completed a manuscript on The Multilingual Subject. Her awards include the ACTFL Nelson Brooks Award for the teaching of culture; the MLA Kenneth Mildenberger Prize for Outstanding Research in the teaching of foreign languages and literatures; the Goethe Medal; the MLA Distinguished Service Award; and a UC Berkeley Distinguished Teaching Award. Dr. Kramsch is past President of the American Association of Applied Linguistics, was co-editor of the journal Applied Linguistics and serves on CERCLL’s National Advisory Board.

Description:

Intercultural competence is [the ability] “to see relationships between different cultures – both internal and external to a society – and to mediate, that is interpret each in terms of the other, either for themselves or for other people.” It also encompasses the ability to critically or analytically understand that one’s “own and other cultures’” perspective is culturally determined rather than natural.

-Michael Byram, Professor, University of Durham

Globalization, having brought individuals in contact with one another at an unprecedented scale, has also brought forth a general challenge to traditionally recognized boundaries of nation, language, race, gender, and class. The challenge moves in two directions simultaneously: on the one hand, distinctions that were unnoticeable before have been rendered visible, and in the opposite direction, similarities across traditional boundaries have been recognized. The end result in both cases is that boundaries of social practice are being re-negotiated, re-assessed, and re-considered. For those living within this rapidly changing social landscape, intercultural competence–as defined by Michael Byram above–is a necessary skill, and the cultivation of such intercultural individuals falls on the shoulders of today’s educators. They should provide students with opportunities to help them define and design for themselves their “third place” or “third culture,” a sphere of interculturality that enables language students to take an insider’s view as well as an outsider’s view on both their first and second cultures. It is this ability to find/establish/adopt this third place that is at the very core of intercultural competence.

The conference aims to bring researchers and practitioners across languages, levels and settings to discuss and share research, theory, and best practices and foster meaningful professional dialogue on issues related to Intercultural Competence teaching and learning.

Strands:

• Intercultural Competence and Theory
• Intercultural Competence and Classroom Instruction
• Making Intercultural Competence Instruction Possible
• Intercultural Competence and International Education
• Intercultural Competence and the Global World
• Intercultural Competence and Media Representation
• Intercultural Competence and Language Practice
• Assessing Intercultural Competence
• Critical Considerations of Intercultural Competence

Proposal Types: Proposals are being accepted for papers, posters, and pre-/post-conference workshops. Please see the Proposals page for full details.

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2nd English for Specific Purposes (ESP) Coference ,Hochschule (University of Applied Sciences) in Ulm, Germany, 26 September

Plenary Speaker: Thomas Haeckel, Cisco Systems Europe -

Register here: www.esp-conference.de

Do you teach specialist English? Would you like to know what’s new in your field? Have you thought of moving into specialist English teaching but are not sure how to or whether it is right for you?

This all day conference is aimed at teachers and trainers who already teach ESP or are thinking of expanding their knowledge and moving into specific areas of teaching.

This year we are offering a choice of 30 different professional workshops, presentations and company talks on topics such as law, medicine, the automotive industry, technical English, aviation, finance, law enforcement, telecommunication, and human resources as well as workshops addressing the skills and techniques required to teach ESP. The speakers are all experts in their fields and are coming from countries as far flung as France, Switzerland, Romania, England and the USA, as well as Germany.

There will also be presentations and exhibition stands from the key providers of English language teaching publications enabling you to get personal advice about the best course and examination materials for your lessons and training sessions.

Can you afford not to specialise?

Register here: www.esp-conference.de

Enquiries: paul.east@t-online.de

* This news was submitted by Paul East.

NEW SOUNDS 2010: Sixth International Symposium on the Acquisition of Second Language Speech,Poland, May 1-3 2003

We are happy to announce that the Sixth International Symposium on the Acquisition of Second Language Speech New Sounds 2010 will take place on 1-3 May 2010 in Pozna?, Poland. The Symposium will be organised by theSchool of English, Adam Mickiewicz University, Pozna? and will continue the tradition of the conferences on the acquisition of foreign language speech, organized originally by Allan James and Jonathan Leather.

The conference will cover a variety of themes related to the acquisition of a foreign language phonology, including among others:

- speech perception and speech production

- theories of acquisition of L2 phonology

- phonetics and phonology in SLA

- acquisition of second language phonotactics

- multilingualism and the acquisition of third language phonology

- the application of new technologies

- neuro- and psycholinguistic aspects of phonological acquisition.

Proposals of papers and posters related to the acquisition of second language speech are invited. The deadline for abstract submission is 1st December 2009. The submissions will be reviewed by our International Advisory Board. Invited plenary speakers are:
James Flege (University of Alabama at Birmingham, Professor Emeritus)
Allan James (University of Klagenfurt)
Martha Young-Scholten (Newcastle University).

Looking forward to seeing you in Pozna? in 2010!

New Sounds 2010 Organising Committee

Katarzyna Dziubalska-Ko?aczyk

Magdalena Wrembel

Ma?gorzata Kul

For further details and pre-registration, please visit: http://ifa.amu.edu.pl/newsounds/

Research Into Teaching with Whole class Interactive Technologies (RITWIT), An International Conference hosted at the University of Cambridge, June 29-30

he conference focuses on research into the pedagogy underlying use of innovative tools such as interactive whiteboards, visualisers, tablet PCs, remote input devices, voting systems, etc. How does their use facilitate or inhibit more effective whole class teaching and learning at school level? What are the implications for teacher development and educational policy?

The conference is for educational researchers, practitioners at all levels of experience (student teachers to senior leaders), teacher educators, advisers and consultants, inspectors and policymakers. Non-presenting delegates are very welcome.

Aims:

• To exchange ideas, debate and explore issues arising in depth; to illuminate some of the key challenges facing researchers, practitioners, school leaders and policymakers in this area
• To disseminate research findings and take stock of how use of whole class technologies have facilitated / inhibited teaching and learning
• To move forward our collective thinking in this area; to develop a future research agenda and ideas for improving practice
• To compare practice in different settings and countries and to set up national / internationalresearch and writing collaborations.
  

Conference Themes

Three broad themes are characterised at the school, national and international levels, each with a number of suggested subthemes and questions to help exemplify it (see Call for Papers for details of themes and presentation formats). Presentation content is flexible within the broad headings:

1. Pedagogy and classroom activity
2. Developing practice
3. Learning from other settings

Keynote speakers

Mal Lee, Director of Schools Networking Consortium and Managing Director of EdDirect, Australia, will offer an international perspective on the challenges facing practitioners, school leaders and policymakers in integrating whole class interactive technologies.

Niel McLean, Executive Director – Institutional Workforce and Development & Learning and Teaching, Becta.

Karen Littleton, Professor of Psychology in Education at the University of Jyväskylä in Finland, is our Conference Discussant and will lead a session pulling together emerging themes and issues for subsequent discussion by all participants.

Sylvia Rojas-Drummond is unfortunately no longer able to join us as she has been asked to lead a major evaluation of an elementary school curriculum review in Mexico which will now occupy all of her time over the coming months.

See their profiles and abstracts on the Keynote Speakers page.

Conference Organisers:

Dr Sara Hennessy Lecturer in Teacher Development and Pedagogical Innovation, Cambridge.

Dr Steve Kennewell Senior Lecturer in Education, Swansea Metropolitan University.

For further details and pre-registration, please visit: http://www.educ.cam.ac.uk/events/conferences/ritwit/

First National Conference on Language, Discourse, and Pragmatics, Iran, January 27 ? 29, 2010

The organizing committee of the English department at Shahid Chamran University is pleased to announce the call for papers and workshops for the first National Conference on Language, Discourse, and Pragmatics in Iran, Ahvaz. See Topic Areas for themes and suggested topics of the conference. The aim of the conference is to explore the applicational potential of theories in the analysis of the creation and exchange of meaning between people in academic and non-academic contexts.

Conference date: Bahman 7 ? 9 (January 27 ? 29, 2010)

Deadline for abstract submission: Tir 30, 1388

Notification of acceptance: Shahrivar 30, 1388

Submission of complete article: Azar 30, 1388.

For further details and pre-registration, please visit: http://www.ldp2010.ir/

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The Handheld Learning Conference, October 5-7, London

The Handheld Learning Conference is the world’s leading event about learning using mobile and inexpensive access technologies, attended by more than 1,500 international delegates.

Lead speakers for 2009 include:

• Malcolm McLaren, Agent provocateur and artist
• James Paul Gee, Presidential Professor of Literacy Studies at Arizona State University
• Professor Elizabeth Hayes, Arizona State University
• Gordon Shukwit, Director of IT and Learning Technologies, Apple Inc
• John Davitt, International Learning Advocate, NewTools.org
• Tim Brighouse, Former Commissioner for London Schools
• Donald Clark, e-Learning Expert
• David Cavallo, Chief Learning Architect, MIT OLPC
• Tim Rylands, Teacher & Innovator

With many others soon to be announced.

Now in its fifth year the event has become the largest of it’s kind; bringing together thought leaders, innovators, practitioners, developers, policy and decision makers from the education, technology and entertainment sectors.

Over 3 stimulating days this group will demonstrate, debate and explore how mobile technologies such as phones, entertainment devices, GPS locators, and netbooks can be deployed to enable transformational improvements in learning across schools, home, further education, training and business.

This year’s theme is “Creativity, Innovation, Inclusion & Transformation” recognising that 2009 is the European year of creativity and innovation, and the value these elements have to learning, whilst identifying that real transformation will only occur following universal inclusion e.g. Home Access.

As always the conference will stage an excellent mix of inspirational talks from leading thinkers and practitioners, lively interactive debates, learners and practitioner showcases, special interest breakouts, networking and social sessions, plus an exhibition featuring the principle industry leaders.

Delegates will:

• Exchange ideas and learn about best practice
• Expand their professional network
• Debate new thinking on learning and teaching using low cost access technologies
• Review evidence of improved learner attainment
• Participate in the creation of a valuable online resource for policy makers, education professionals and the public
• Gain a clear understanding of how to positively embrace current and emerging technologies within their strategies for teaching and learning.

For further details and pre-registration, please visit: http://www.handheldlearning2009.com/

International Conference on Applied Linguistics, September 26-27, Tehran, Iran

The International Conference on Applied Linguistics: Developments, Challenges, and Promises will be held in Tehran ’s ( Iran )  Milad Tower Conference Hall on September 26-27, 2009. The conference aims at exploring some vital issues in applied linguistics that have shaped, and are still shaping the identity of the profession. Applied linguists from across the globe are invited to contribute to a lively debate that would include ideas from some of the prominent figures of the field.

Different themes will be explored in the course of the two-day conference: applied linguistics and its definitions; globalization and its impact on ELT; applied linguistics and English as the world’s lingua franca; post method era and teacher qualifications; research debates in applied linguistics ….

The keynote speakers for the conference are (alphabetically arranged):

- Professor Guy Cook, The Open University, London

- Professor Hossein Farhady, American University of Armenia

- Professor Alastair Pennycook, University of Technology, Sydney

- Professor Barbara Seidlhofer, University of Vienna

- Professor Henry Widdowson, University of Vienna

Pre-conference workshop (September 25):

Alternative assessment: Dr. Chirstine Coombe, Higher College of Technology, UAE

The deadline for abstract submission is June 14, 2009. Notification of acceptance will be sent by July 10. Early registration deadline is August 5; all the participants whose papers have been accepted must register before the deadline.

To submit an abstract, please visit the conference website at: www.appliedlinguistics.ir

For any queries, please contact Ramin Akbari at akbari_ram@yahoo.com.

Research Into Teaching with Whole class Interactive Technologies (RITWIT), June 29-30, Cambridge

The conference focuses on research into the pedagogy underlying use of innovative tools such as interactive whiteboards, visualisers, tablet PCs, remote input devices, voting systems, etc. How does their use facilitate or inhibit more effective whole class teaching and learning at school level? What are the implications for teacher development and educational policy?

The conference is for educational researchers, practitioners at all levels of experience (student teachers to senior leaders), teacher educators, advisers and consultants, inspectors and policymakers. Non-presenting delegates are very welcome.

Aims:

• To exchange ideas, debate and explore issues arising in depth; to illuminate some of the key challenges facing researchers, practitioners, school leaders and policymakers in this area
• To disseminate research findings and take stock of how use of whole class technologies have facilitated / inhibited teaching and learning
• To move forward our collective thinking in this area; to develop a future research agenda and ideas for improving practice
• To compare practice in different settings and countries and to set up national / internationalresearch and writing collaborations.

Mal Lee, Director of Schools Networking Consortium and Managing Director of EdDirect, Australia, will offer an international perspective on the challenges facing practitioners, school leaders and policymakers in integrating whole class interactive technologies.

Niel McLean, Executive Director – Institutional Workforce and Development & Learning and Teaching, Becta.

Karen Littleton, Professor of Psychology in Education at the University of Jyväskylä in Finland, is our Conference Discussant and will lead a session pulling together emerging themes and issues for subsequent discussion by all participants.

Sylvia Rojas-Drummond is unfortunately no longer able to join us as she has been asked to lead a major evaluation of an elementary school curriculum review in Mexico which will now occupy all of her time over the coming months.

See their profiles and abstracts on the Keynote Speakers page.

For further details and pre-registration, please visit: http://www.educ.cam.ac.uk/events/conferences/ritwit/

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Dr. Ranganayaki Srinivas has launched the ‘Webinar Course Just For You’ program. She designs each webinar on a specific topic based on participants’ needs.

Dr. Ranganayaki says, “What is the specific webinar course you are looking for? Post your questions on which I can conduct a webinar course specially for you. Vote for the questions submitted by others. I will conduct webinars on the most voted questions.

Please do not submit general questions. We are looking for specific questions that can be discussed in a 60-minute webinar session. You and 9 other people can participate in a webinar and discuss a very specific question for which you are trying to find the answer. ”

If you wish to have a webinar focusing English Language Teaching, please visit http://www.webinarreviews.org/webinar-request.html and submit your request.

About Dr. Ranganayaki Srinivas

Dr. Ranganayaki Srinivas, an ESL specialist, has been working online after VRS. She started with a teaching English site. She has been involved in projects with many online marketers. Webinars and web conferences appeal to her idea of distance learning and continuing education. Hence her latest projects have been related to gathering information about webinars, web meetings and web conferencing services.

Visit http://www.webinarreviews.org

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*** 2009 EUROCALL: New Trends in Computer Assisted Language Learning, Gandia, September 9-12 *** 

After 13 years EUROCALL returns to Valencia. Some of the more senior members of EUROCALL will recall the 1995 Conference which took place in September that year, hosted by the Department of Modern Languages. Although e-mail was only slowly emerging at the time, EUROCALL ‘95 was one of the first conferences in Spain to digitise and publish the abstracts of all the presentations on the web. An emerging world wide web that seemed revolutionary at the time. For anybody who might be nostalgic, the 1995 abstracts can still be accessed athttp://eurocall.webs.upv.es/euro95/home.htm. The proceedings of the ‘95 conference are also a valuable witness of what was prominent at the time in relation to CALL and TELL. Looking back we can see that some of the concerns in the mid nineties are still valid today, for example issues such as integrating CALL into the language curriculum, incorporating speech recognition tools into language courseware, parser analysers, interactive learning environments and so forth.

EUROCALL 2009 will also be hosted by the Universidad Politécnica de Valencia, but this time it will take place at the Higher Polytechnic School of Gandia, also known as the UPV Gandia Campus site. The Gandia campus is located in one of the most privileged Valencian regions known as “La Safor” where the Mediterranean Sea and a historical agricultural tradition meet. Well known for its wide golden beaches, Gandia is also historically renowned for its 14th Century Palacio Ducal, house to the Borgia family.

The 2009 EUROCALL conference will focus on New Trends in Computer Assisted Language Learning with a special emphasis on innovative ways of collaborating and working together in the advancement of language learning and teaching. The conference sub-themes are an example of the numerous branches that have grown out of the CALL tree and is an illustration, we think, of the roots that this area has planted in a collective will to actively contribute towards better understanding and improving language learning with the assistance of information and communications technologies. CALL researchers, developers and practitioners are therefore invited to submit proposals relating to any of the following subthemes which, we think, summarise current interests and concerns in CALL:

• Curriculum development for CALL
• Assessment, testing, feedback and guidance in CALL
• Pedagogical change in technology integration
• Catering for Less Widely Used and Taught Languages in CALL
• Research in new language learning environments
• Innovative e-learning solutions for languages
• Building national/international partnerships for networked language learning
• New role of writing as a tool for communication
• New developments in multimedia courseware design
• Networked language learning in adult education
• Learning Management Systems
• Mobile Learning
• Virtual Worlds
• Corpora
• CALL supported Content Integrated Language Learning (CLIL)
• Computer Mediated Communication (CMC)
• Computer Assisted Translation
• Formal and informal language learning

Different themes will be explored in the course of the two-day conference: applied linguistics and its definitions; globalization and its impact on ELT; applied linguistics and English as the world’s lingua franca; post method era and teacher qualifications; and research debates in applied linguistics.

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