Immersion Education:
Pathways to Bilingualism & Beyond

October 16–18, 2008
Crowne Plaza Riverfront
St. Paul, Minnesota

Featured Speakers

Fred Genesee, McGill University
Philip Hoare, Hong Kong Institute of Education
Kauanoe Kaman and Bill “Pila” Wilson, University of Hawai’i
Roy Lyster, McGill University
Myriam Met, National Foreign Language Center, University of Maryland

Language immersion education has emerged as a uniquely constituted, highly effective program model for launching students on the road to bilingualism, multilingualism and intercultural competence. School-based immersion programs follow a variety of paths, including one-way foreign language immersion, two-way bilingual immersion, and indigenous immersion for language and culture revitalization. While each pathway targets distinct socio-cultural contexts and educational needs, all are grounded in a set of core characteristics with a strong focus on subject matter learning as well as language development.

Under the leadership of two national centers in the U.S., CARLA (Center for Advanced Research on Language Acquisition, University of Minnesota) and CAL (Center for Applied Linguistics, Washington, D.C.), this third international conference on immersion education brings these pathways together to engage in meaningful dialogue and professional exchange across languages levels, learner audiences, program models and sociopolitical contexts.

CARLA and CAL are currently seeking proposals for papers, discussion sessions, and symposia on aspects of language immersion education related to four overarching conference themes:

Immersion Pedagogy
Culture and Identity
Policy and Advocacy
Program Design and Evaluation

In addition to basic, applied and evaluation research, conference organizers welcome a range of practitioner perspectives including immersion teachers, administrators, curriculum coordinators, parents and specialists who work in immersion programs. Papers, presentations, discussion sessions, and symposia may report on data-based research, theoretical and conceptual analyses, or best practices in language immersion classrooms.

The deadline for submission of proposals is February 15, 2008.

More information and on-line submission instructions can be found at:
http://www.carla.umn.edu/conferences/immersion2008/call.html

Questions? Email the planning committee at: immconf@umn.edu

University of California, Santa Barbara
April 25-27, 2008

Keynote Speaker: Professor Rod Ellis, Applied Language Studies and Linguistics, University of Auckland
On April 27th, Rod Ellis will also lead a half-day workshop

We invite submissions for presentations from scholars in all disciplines who are involved in research on second language learning and teaching. Please see the UC Consortium website for details concerning submission of abstracts http://uccllt.ucdavis.edu

FUNDING
Note to lecturers, faculty, and graduate students affiliated with the University of California: There will be limited funding provided by UCCLLT for travel and lodging expenses for both participants and attendees.

Mediating Multilingualism: Meanings and Modalities
University of Jyvaskyla, Finland June 2-5, 2008

Invited speakers:
Jan Blommaert (University of London / University of Jyvaskyla)
Diane Mavers (University of London)
Ben Rampton (University of London)
Steven Thorne (Pennsylvania State University)
Crispin Thurlow (University of Washington)

Deadline for abstracts: January 15, 2008 Guidelines for submission:
http://www.jyu.fi/hum/laitokset/kielet/conference2008/en

Description of the conference:

In today’s globalized world of mobilities and flows, multilingualism is increasingly an everyday phenomenon that people encounter and have to cope with in work, education, institutions, leisure time and media uses, for example. In these various contexts, multilingualism can be mediated not only by languages, but also by a range of other semiotic means such as genres discourses, styles, embodied action, and visuality.

At the same time multilingualism is a mediational system in itself, sustaining, but also mobilizing and reorganizing language user identities, relationships and possibilities for action and the relative values of languages. Multilingualism can thus have repercussions in terms of what resources and possibilities individuals and groups have to agency and participation.

The conference on Mediating Multilingualism approaches mediation and multilingualism from this double perspective: in its focus are the different ways and means for mediating multilingualism, as well as multilingualism as a mediational system. The aim is to shed light on the complexities of this relationship and to develop new ways of investigating and understanding the roles, meanings, and modalities of mediation
in multilingual settings. To this end, the conference aims at bringing together researchers, students, teachers and other practitioners who share an interest in exploring the interface between mediation and multilingualism as a particular linguistic, social, cultural and ideological contact zone where the meanings of languages, identities and relationships are reassessed and renegotiated.

The conference is organized at the University of Jyvaskyla as the 26th Summer School of Applied Language Studies. It will consist of invited keynote lectures, workshops, and paper sessions. The topics of the keynote lectures and workshop will be announced later.

Call for papers: Submissions are solicited for 20-min. papers and posters relating to the conference theme. Studies on any languages and disciplinary takes (e.g. sociolinguistics, linguistic anthropology, discourse studies, pragmatics, ethnography, and language learning and teaching) are welcome. The main working
language of the conference is English. Individual papers and posters can be presented in other languages, but no interpretation services are automatically provided by conference organization. Young scholars are encouraged to contribute; five postgraduate students from non-EU countries will be excused from paying the conference fee (applications to be included in the online registration form, to appear on the conference website).

Abstracts in English (max. 300 words) should be submitted via “submissions” on the conference website http://www.jyu.fi/hum/laitokset/kielet/conference2008/en The deadline for submissions is January 15, 2008.All submissions will be reviewed; notification of acceptance March 15, 2008.

The Organizing Committee:
Sirpa Leppanen, Paivi Pahta, Hannele Dufva, Sari Pietikainen,
Tarja Nikula, Sirkka Laihiala-Kankainen, Samu Kytola, Marianne
Toriseva, Tiina Virkkula, Satu Julin, Eeva Riipinen

Contact: multilingualism@jyu.fi
Paivi Pahta
Research Professor
Department of Languages
Finland Distinguished Professor project on Multilingualism
P.O. Box 35
40014 University of Jyvaskyla

Theme: Technology and Learning Pronunciation
Guest Editor: Debra M. Hardison

Technological advances have provided a range of tools to assist learners in the development of pronunciation skills in a variety of target languages. These tools include commercially available computer systems, web-based systems, and various software programs ranging from those requiring some specialized knowledge to ones suitable for the non-specialist. Research to date has suggested that computer-based visual displays of some areas of speech production such as pitch are user-friendly and valuable sources of feedback in the learning process. Increasingly, more individuals are able to avail themselves of computer-based tools to practice the sounds of a new language that may not exist in their immediate environment. As these technological innovations have appeared, questions have arisen as to their efficacy in promoting pronunciation skill development, and the ability to transfer this skill to the discourse level of speech in the natural language environment. The latter concern follows the recent developments in the broader field of language learning toward recognition of the need for learners to understand and utilize language in its naturally occurring contexts. This special issue of Language Learning & Technology seeks to provide a variety of perspectives on technology-supported pronunciation learning at the segmental, suprasegmental, and discourse levels in a variety of contexts.

Possible submissions include but are not limited to studies of the following:

* suprasegmental and/or segmental aspects of speech including rhythm and intonation, specific segmental challenges, measures of accent, etc.

* effectiveness of various technological tools in the improvement of L2 pronunciation such as commercially available products, automatic speech recognition systems, web-based tools, or other software options

* contribution of voice chat to improvement in pronunciation

* relationship between speech production and perception

* pronunciation learning in the larger discourse context

* technology-assisted pronunciation instruction for specific populations, e.g., international teaching assistants

* effective ways of integrating technology in various types of curricula

* learner-technology interface, i.e., ease of use, quality of feedback, etc.

* transfer of skills from focused computer-based activities to natural language use.

Please send an email of intent with a 250-word abstract by December 31, 2007, to llt-editors@hawaii.edu

CALICO with IALLT 2008 ANNUAL CONFERENCE

Bridging CALL Communities

Hosted by University of San Francisco, San Francisco, California
March 18-22

Pre-conference Workshops: Tuesday, March 18 – Wednesday, March 19
Courseware Showcase: Thursday, March 20
Presentation Sessions: Thursday, March 20 – Saturday, March 22

Use CALICO’s on-line proposal submission form at https://calico.org/conference

You will need to log-in as a member or register/make your own login on the site (”Register proposer”) and then will be given the link to submit a proposal.

DEADLINE FOR PROPOSALS: OCTOBER 31, 2007

All presenters must be current members of CALICO or IALLT by the time of the conference and are responsible for their own expenses, including registration fees.

CALICO and IALLT are professional organizations dedicated to the use of technology in foreign/second language learning and teaching. CALICO and IALLT bring together educators, administrators, materials developers, researchers, government representatives, vendors of hardware and software, and others interested in the field of computer-assisted language learning.

For more information or if you have questions or problems, contact–
Mrs. Esther Horn
CALICO Coordinator 512/245-1417 (phone)
214 Centennial Hall 512/245-9089 (fax)
601 University Drive http://calico.org

Don Tapscott, in his book Growing Up Digital (1998), coined the term “Net Generation” in reference to the group of young people who have grown up immersed in a digital- and internet-driven world. While the exact years of birth for those included in this generation is debated, the idea is that it includes those born between 1976 and 2001, being comprised, then, of some 88 million members. Others, in reference to these children of the Baby Boomers, have called them the N-Generation, the Y-Generation, or the Millennials. Certainly, there is no definitive agreement about the chronological composition, or labeling, of this group, but it is readily apparent that to reach and teach these individuals, traditional pedagogical techniques need to be revisited.

To that end, the editors are requesting submission of manuscripts for a monograph tentatively entitled: “World Language Teaching and Learning in the N-Generation: Issues and Perspectives.” This volume will focus on the research, practices, and professional interests/isssues of world language instructors, researchers, administrators, and language lab directors concerned with the teaching and learning of world languages at all levels of instruction. Manuscripts may include, but are not limited to, data-based research studies, policy essays, revised/new methodologies, curriculum studies, technological implementations and/or practical applications within the world language classroom. Contributors are invited to address issues such as the use of the internet, Ipods, Xpods, video streaming, e-mail, instant messaging, IM language, Telnet, wikis, cell phones, online or hybrid courses, etc. and how these are used in and/or affect world language teaching and learning. Deadline for submission is January 15, 2008.

Submit manuscripts in electronic form, either as Word or WordPerfect document (e-mail attachment or on diskette), or address questions, to:

Dr. Raquel Oxford
Curriculum and Instruction
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Milwaukee, WI 53201
phone: 414-229-5994
e-mail:roxford@uwm.edu

Dr. Jeffrey Oxford
Spanish and Portuguese
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Milwaukee, WI 53201
phone: 414-229-4257
e-mail: oxford@uwm.edu