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• BILINGUAL EARLY EDUCATION: Learning to speak to the world
• OUR SCHOOL: Camberwell Primary School
• THE TERTIARY SCENE: (5 items)
• ASIA LITERACY: (2 items)
• REFLECTIONS ON INTERNATIONAL MOTHER LANGUAGE DAY
• RESEARCH: (3 items)
• AUDIO RESOURCES: (3 items)
• CORRECTION: Letter to the Editor
• NEWS FROM HERE & THERE: (3 items)
• CONFERENCES: (25 items)
• ACSSO EMAIL NEWSLETTERS

BILINGUAL EARLY EDUCATION

Learning to speak to the world

Frances Stewart, Canberra Times, 14 March 2010

Australian children spend less time learning a foreign language in school than in any other OECD country, with the number of students studying languages other than English falling from 40% in the 1960s to just 13% today.

The figures don't reflect the multicultural nature of Australian society.  Almost 400 different languages are spoken in homes across the nation, according to the last Census, with Italian, Greek and Cantonese the most common.

And the proportion of speakers of Asian languages has increased significantly as more migrants arrive in Australia.  The number of Mandarin and Hindi speakers more than doubled in the decade leading up to the last Census.

The Australian National University’s Dr Mandy Scott, who has a PhD in linguistics and speaks several languages, says bi-lingual early childhood education is becoming increasingly popular: for both families that speak other languages and home, and English-speaking households.

“Canberra’s a pretty savvy place educationally and I think there’s a growing awareness among parents about the benefits of bilingual education,” she says.  “There’s growing numbers of mixed marriages and parents want children to experience both cultures; some parents want to maintain their native language – some have adopted children and want them to stay connected to their birth country – and some are choosing to reach their children languages like Mandarin because they see them as languages of the future.”

Canberra-based Association for Learning Mandarin in Australia has operated its Chinese Australian Early Childhood centre in south Canberra for 25 years.  President Dr Ian Maclean says Australians are “ill equipped to handle growing ties with Asian neighbours.  Australia is going to have to interact more broadly and deeply with China and other Chinese-speaking countries as the century unfolds,” he says.

One of the ways in which we might improve our Asia literacy and engagement is to begin speaking languages at an early age.”

Scott says growing numbers of English-speaking families are also exploring the opportunities offered by bi-lingual education.

“Many of the bi-lingual playgroups were originally set up for people who speak the language – but now they are being used by parents that don't speak the language,” she says. “There is a place in Canberra for language-based playgroups which focus on English-only families.  These are springing up in other cities across Australia as parents realise the value to young minds of being exposed to more than one language.”

One such playgroup is Brisbane-based Alpha Tykes, which will start sessions in Spanish, French and Italian for children aged between 18 months and 2 years at Narrabundah by the end of April.

Read more at http://www.languageseducation.com/stewart100314.pdf

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OUR SCHOOL

Bilingual Camberwell Primary School

Lingua Franca, ABC Radio, 20 March 2010

Camberwell Primary School, in Melbourne, is where the first English-French bilingual program in a government-run school began 20 years ago. It has since developed into a wholly bilingual school.

I'm talking this week to Helen Warnod, the principal of Camberwell Primary School, located in the deeply respectable, higher socio-economic suburb of Camberwell in Melbourne ... And it was quite unusual for Australia and in particular for a state school. How did it come about?

Helen Warnod: Really it came about because the principal at that time was very passionate about France, French language, all things French, loved cheese, loved French food, French clothes, and her vision really for the school at that time was to become a bi-national school. She was looking at creating a cooperative with the Victorian government and the French government. There is one already in Canberra, it's called Telopea Park. The vision was to create one here in Melbourne but that didn't eventuate, so in the end we went ahead without the governments....

Listen online and read the transcript: http://www.abc.net.au/rn/linguafranca/stories/2010/2850694.htm

Visit Camberwell Primary School website: http://www.camberwellps.vic.edu.au/

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THE TERTIARY SCENE

Language departments risk losing their essence

Bernard Lane, the Australian, 24 March 2010

"THERE'S nothing wrong with paring it down to just language acquisition, but it's not what a university does," says Peter Morgan, scholar of German. "It is what a language institute does."

Morgan set out as a teacher in 1986, championed European studies at the University of Western Australia for 15 years, added several other languages to his beloved German along the way, and now is settling in as foundation professor of European studies at the University of Sydney.  He is animated in conversation, often enthusiastic - "The French courses here are to die for, the Arabic courses are to die for, they all are, they're fantastic" - but also apprehensive.

Across the country, he says, language departments are at risk of losing their essence: what sets them apart from an Alliance Francaise or a private college of languages.

"People who have got their PhDs and are studying history or literature in language departments are being obliged to teach so much language that they're virtually just becoming language teachers," he says.  "And the danger is that a university will say, `We don’t really see the point of paying a professor to teach beginners' language streams; that can be done better by a language instructor who's not doing research.' "

Language instruction is what institutes do and Morgan is quick to say they can do it very well indeed. His quarrel is not with external institutes but with the university administrators who fail to understand the distinctive task of a language department.

"At university level here in Australia we don't want to be just teaching the basics of language acquisition," he says. "We want to be turning out a certain number of people who in their given language have high levels of facility. And that involves a broad engagement with real questions of culture and language in that very intimate sense.

"This is all part of penetrating, understanding deeply the mind, the culture, the history of whatever language it is.  It takes serious engagement....

Read entire article: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/higher-education/language-departments-risk-losing-their-essence/story-e6frgcjx-1225844475822

Commentary on the article above: Letters to the Australian, 7 April 2010

Languages under stress

CONGRATULATIONS to Peter Morgan for the excellent article in the HES ("Language departments risk losing their essence," March 24). He expressed precisely the problems that befall languages departments in universities and he gave an excellent account of the joy and enrichment language learning can bring to students.

His article is particularly relevant for us at the University of Tasmania, where "multi-modal" online teaching has been introduced for French this year. Second and third-year students of French only have one face-to-face tutorial a week. This is in all likelihood far less face-to-face teaching than even a language institute, as defined by Morgan, would offer. I wonder if "the joy of language learning" can be maintained under such circumstances.

Eva Meidl, Hobart

Let’s not lose the language instruction for the culture

PETER Morgan says there's a danger universities will not see the point in paying a professor to teach beginners' language courses.  This isn't a danger; it's already a reality.

Few first-year language students will see the face of a professor. Instead, their classes are almost invariably taught by an army of casual tutors.  This is also because of the professors themselves who, like Morgan, seem to think the humdrum business of basic language teaching is beneath them.

But contrary to what Morgan or anybody else may think, language instruction is no simple task, and truly competent foreign language teachers are few and far between. Morgan's fear that language department academics will become "just" language teachers betrays an unnecessarily dismissive attitude towards language teaching.

Rather than being pared back to pure language instruction, the danger facing university language departments is in fact the opposite: that they will lose sight of their primary aim (improving the language skills of students, whatever their level) and become lost in the cultural side of things, overwhelming students with interesting subjects (German romanticism, Spanish cultural studies, French cinema and so on, all usually taught in English) that do nothing to improve the students' proficiency in the target language.

Morgan says: "It would be pretty deadly if I was just teaching second-year language acquisition" because "it's got nothing to do with my research".  Join the club. All academics find themselves teaching courses unrelated to their area of research interest. It's part of the job, and not a problem unique to academics in language departments.

Michael Andrews, Sutherland, NSW

Is this a false dichotomy?

IN his interview with the HES, Peter Morgan suggests that "it would be pretty deadly if I was just teaching second-year language acquisition. It's got nothing to do with my research . . . in German national identity."

I hope Morgan was misquoted. If not, I hope his second-year students don't read The Australian. And I hope that eventually he will overcome the false dichotomy - deadly if chatty language teaching over there, and serious research into culture over here - which the rest of us in language departments abandoned years ago.

It's entirely possible for language learning to incorporate cultural learning, and indeed it's a very poor language course that doesn't do so.

For example, it's entirely possible for a second-year language-acquisition course in German to include texts about German national identity. Admittedly, the texts need to be screened or edited for linguistic difficulty, but this doesn't require undue effort. In fact, a good place to look for texts of intermediate difficulty about German national identity may be poems such as the one Morgan quotes later in his interview.

Geoff Wilkes, Indooroopilly, Queensland

Welcome thoughts but possibly too late...

THE comments by Peter Morgan on the dire position of university language departments are most welcome. The tragedy is that for some individuals and institutions, they come far too late.

Many people employed in language departments, and friendly observers from other areas of the humanities, have been saying exactly the same things for the past 30 odd years, and in most cases, to no avail.

Such views were seen as unwelcome and rejected by a managerial culture that one distinguished professor, now an emeritus, memorably described as "crass anti-intellectual entrepreneurial pragmatism" and another emeritus from the same institution - more acerbically - as "Malice in Blunderland".

Many adult learners, ironically, will now find a more stimulating range of cultural offerings related to language learning, as well as enthusiastic and gifted teachers, in those very same language institutes once compared unfavourably with universities, as well as, in some instances, colleges of advanced education and universities of the third age!

There are some worrying signs that other areas in the humanities, which once may have seemed better able to withstand the onslaught of the CAIEP brigade (see above), are now also in their sights. I am glad that the University of Sydney, by appointing distinguished scholars such as Morgan, appears to be ready to resist that trend.

Ann Trindade, South Yarra, Victoria

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ASIA LITERACY

Asia Literacy Teachers’ Association of Australia

The Asia Literacy Teachers Association has been established with the purpose of advancing education in Australia through the promotion of Asia literacy across the curriculum and the evolution of Asia-engaged schools and their communities.

As the 21st century proceeds the countries of Asia are becoming increasingly and more visibly important to Australia, including such aspects as: trade, business interactions, employment, tourism, education, sources of immigration – and of social integration and inclusion.  It is therefore important that we prepare the young Australians of today for an Australian society that will interact more closely with Asia in a complex variety of ways throughout this century and beyond.

To help achieve this purpose, the Association will build leadership and community networks that support schools in accessing and providing the essential resources to become Asia-engaged schools.

Although Association leadership is primarily comprised of teachers committed to building Asia awareness across the curriculum, all members of the community are welcome to participate.

Association events planned for 2010 include:

• Asia Literacy Teacher PD: 27 June - 8 July, and 17 September to 1 October
• Students Links Programs: 27 June – 8 July, and 17 September to 1 October
• Language Immersion Program for Students: from November 2010 to January 2011.

Further details on these and other activities will be published on the Website: http://www.asialiteracy.org.au/Asia_Literacy.php

Strategic Collaboration & Partnership Fund: Round Two applications open!

DEEWR is pleased to advise you that on 22 March 2010 the Australian Government called for expressions of interest for high quality, strategic and collaborative projects to be supported under Round Two of the National Asian Languages and Studies in Schools Program’s (NALSSP) Strategic Collaboration and Partnership Fund (Partnership Fund).

A total of $9.36 million is available under the Partnership Fund, to be administered through three annual competitive funding rounds.

You are encouraged to consider submitting an expression of interest under Round Two of the Partnership Fund.

Please read the NALSSP Guidelines and the Round Two Information Pack available at www.deewr.gov.au/Schooling/NALSSP/Pages/StrategicCollaborationPartnershipFund.aspx before completing and submitting an expression of interest.

Expressions of interest must be submitted before 5.00 pm Australian Eastern Standard Time on Wednesday, 21 April 2010

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REFLECTIONS ON INTERNATIONAL MOTHER LANGUAGE DAY

Canberra’s International Mother Language Day event:

Raising Children in More than One Language

Mandy Scott

On Sunday 21 February there was barely a seat to spare in the 150 seat lecture theatre!  The ACT Minister for Multicultural Affairs, Joy Burch, spoke at the opening and the Shadow Minister, Steve Doszpot, joined us for a while and shared his own multilingual experiences as a migrant to Australia.

Most attendees were parents of young children – over 20 of whom, several babes in arms, were also present - and extremely well behaved!!  Constable Kenny Koala dropped in with the AFP Multicultural Liaison Team and was a great hit.

The panel discussion led by two parents and three teenage bilingual (in one case trilingual) young people was extremely informative and generated a lot of questions and comments from participants. During subsequent discussions and over afternoon tea, a great deal of valuable information was exchanged and great links were made.

The multiple benefits for children of being raised in more than one language were emphasised again and again, and the great turnout of busy people on a Sunday afternoon shows the depth of interest in this area.  CMCF hopes that the energy and connections generated through this seminar will lead to future events and activities to support bilingualism in the ACT

Mandy Scott is Convenor of the Canberra Region Languages Forum.

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RESEARCH

Bilingual Babies: The Roots of Bilingualism in Newborns

Science Daily, Feb. 17, 2010 

It may not be obvious, but hearing two languages regularly during pregnancy puts infants on the road to bilingualism by birth. According to new findings in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, infants born to bilingual mothers (who spoke both languages regularly during pregnancy) exhibit different language preferences than infants born to mothers speaking only one language.

Psychological scientists Krista Byers-Heinlein and Janet F. Werker from the University of British Columbia along with Tracey Burns of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development in France wanted to investigate language preference and discrimination in newborns. Two groups of newborns were tested in these experiments: English monolinguals (whose mothers spoke only English during pregnancy) and Tagalog-English bilinguals (whose mothers spoke both Tagalog, a language spoken in the Philippines, and English regularly during pregnancy). The researchers employed a method known as "high-amplitude sucking-preference procedure" to study the infants' language preferences. This method capitalizes on the newborns' sucking reflex - increased sucking indicates interest in a stimulus. In the first experiment, infants heard 10 minutes of speech, with every minute alternating between English and Tagalog.

Results showed that English monolingual infants were more interested in English than Tagalog - they exhibited increased sucking behaviour when they heard English than when they heard Tagalog being spoken. However, bilingual infants had an equal preference for both English and Tagalog. These results suggest that prenatal bilingual exposure may affect infants' language preferences, preparing bilingual infants to listen to and learn about both of their native languages.

To learn two languages, bilingual newborns must also be able to keep their languages apart. To test if bilingual infants are able to discriminate between their two languages, infants listened to sentences being spoken in one of the languages until they lost interest. Then, they either heard sentences in the other language or heard sentences in the same language, but spoken by a different person. Infants exhibited increased sucking when they heard the other language being spoken. Their sucking did not increase if they heard additional sentences in the same language. These results suggest that bilingual infants, along with monolingual infants, are able to discriminate between the two languages, providing a mechanism from the first moments of life that helps ensure bilingual infants do not confuse their two languages.

Read entire article: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/02/100216142330.htm

Languages learning at Key Stage 2 - A longitudinal study: final report

UK Dept of Children, Schools & Family, January 2010

In 2006, The Open University, the University of Southampton and Canterbury Christ Church University were commissioned by the DCSF to conduct a three-year longitudinal study of languages learning at Key Stage 2 (KS2).

The qualitative study was designed to explore provision, practice and developments over three school years between 2006/07 and 2008/09 in a sample of primary schools and explore children’s achievement in oracy and literacy, as well as the possible broader cross-curricular impact of languages learning.

This research document reports on the findings and results of this study.

Download the full report (179 pp): http://publications.dcsf.gov.uk/eOrderingDownload/DCSF-RR198.pdf

Report Brief & Key Findings (7 pp): http://publications.dcsf.gov.uk/eOrderingDownload/DCSF-RB198.pdf

Bilingual Education, Immersion Found to Work Equally Well

Mary Ann Zehr, Education Week, 9 April 2010

In the first randomized-assignment study in which English-language learners were followed for as long as five years, researchers have found that Spanish-speaking children learn to read English equally well regardless of whether they are taught primarily in English or in both English and their native language.

The findings from the Centre for Research and Reform in Education at Johns Hopkins University may take some fuel out of the fire in the national debate over which is best for teaching children from immigrant families to read: English immersion or bilingual education.

“People have been fighting for years and years about the language of instruction, thinking that it was either terribly important to teach in English the whole time or terribly important to teach in Spanish and then English. Both groups were wrong,” said Robert E. Slavin, the director of the centre, in Baltimore, and one of the researchers. “The conclusion is that one way or another, kids work it out to about the same degree.”

The study compares the academic performance in reading of ELLs who entered school in kindergarten and were randomly assigned to either “structured English immersion”—in which teachers give daily reading lessons only in English, except for occasional Spanish explanations—and transitional bilingual education, in which students are taught reading initially only in Spanish, with a transition to English starting as early as 1st grade and completed by 3rd grade.

Read entire article: http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2010/04/09/29bilingual_ep.h29.html?tkn=UUVFjEXbhaHGKXtvP%2F4H%2FMBgeVN2ubWCx%2BWB&cmp=clp-edweek

Access the full Report: http://www.edweek.org/media/bilingual_pdf.pdf

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AUDIO RESOURCES

Bons Mots

Lingua Franca, ABC Radio, 10 April 2010

Allow me to introduce Charles Bremner, Paris correspondent for The Times of London, on the phone here from the Cévennes mountains in Languedoc in the South of France, to talk about how just at the end of last month it was the 40th anniversary of the OIF (l'Organisation internationale de la Francophonie) which defends and promotes the French language around the world, and about the competition held by the French government called 'Francomots', inviting the people to submit their suggestions for French terms to replace some English-language ones that are being used, though actually they're mostly Americanisms I guess, five of them....

Listen online and read transcript: http://www.abc.net.au/rn/linguafranca/stories/2010/2868136.htm

Uyghur language

Typified as a minority tongue, spoken by a minority people in China, Uyghur is actually a significant world language although its standing has already been greatly diminished by severe limitations on its usage in the far-western region of Xinjiang in China.

...This week focusing on a language spoken in China's far west—the bit that has on its southern border the mountains of Tibet, to its southwest those of India and Pakistan, to its west a sliver of the high country of Afghanistan and Tajikistan and to its north and northeast those of Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan as well as a touch of Russia and Mongolia—what a setting!

And while the Uyghur language might be typified as a minority tongue spoken by a minority people in China, it is actually a significant world language, as the linguistic anthropologist Arienne Dwyer points out, though the standing of it has already been greatly diminished. The internet has been completely shut down in that part of China these past nine months, for example, so that there are concerns about the future abilities of Uyghurs to speak it well, or to use it expressively in the various arenas of society.

Listen online and download transcript: http://www.abc.net.au/rn/linguafranca/stories/2010/2856823.htm

Crazy about English

Lingua Franca, ABC Radio, 13 February 2010

In Lingua Franca this week, how learning English is regarded as essential for China's participation in the world and about a method of doing so known as 'English as a shouted language', 'crazy English', invented by a former engineering student there, a kind of a local hero actually, who lots (and I mean possibly millions) of tertiary students identify with because of the struggle he had learning the language of the 'long-noses'.

Dr Li Jingyan has researched the somewhat controversial 'crazy English' methodology, giving it the thumbs up. And she's met and interviewed its inventor, Li Yang, on a number of occasions, also making an in-depth study into how it's worked for a number of specific individuals, concluding that its amazing popularity all really comes back to how China is becoming more and more open these days.

Listen online and read transcript: http://www.abc.net.au/rn/linguafranca/stories/2010/2815678.htm

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CORRECTION

Letter to the Editor

Could I please correct an error in the report "Kerfuffle in Queensland"?  The Courier Mail editorial that it cited was wrong in saying that Nancy Viviani wrote the Queensland language education policy in the early 1990s.  It was, in fact, written by my late colleague, Glyn John, and myself.  Nancy Viviani's task was to draw up an implementation plan. 

At that time, I was Professor of Applied Linguistics and Director of the Centre for Applied Linguistics and Languages in Griffith University.  Glyn, a retired Queensland State High School Principal, was my Deputy.

Your sincerely,

David Ingram
Honorary Professorial Fellow, Faculty of Education, University of Melbourne.
12 February 2010

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NEWS FROM HERE & THERE

Western Australia: Heritage recognition for Quairading School

ABC News, Feb 22, 2010

The former Quairading state school has been added to the register of heritage places.

The single-room, timber-framed building was built in the early 1900s and has since been replaced by a new brick school opposite.

In 1915 during a period commonly associated with the segregation of Aboriginal people, local farmer John Kickett fought to have his children attend the Quairading school.

Mr. Kickett's campaign included years of lobbying Education Department officials, parliamentarians and gaining the support of the parents of non-Indigenous children.

The Minister for Heritage, John Castrilli, says the school symbolises a wider movement by Aboriginal families to end segregated education in the first half of the 20th century.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/02/22/2826714.htm?site=indigenous&topic=latest

Lebanon: In polyglot Lebanon, one language falls behind: Arabic

AFP March 1, 2010

Lebanon, a tiny, vibrant Mediterranean country, prides itself on its polyglot society but for the country's youths native Arabic is not very "cool."  English and French often replace the local dialect in conversation, especially among the urban youth, and one organisation has launched a campaign to preserve Arabic in Lebanon.

"Arabic is still very much alive as a language, but young people are moving farther and farther away from it," said Suzanne Talhouk, who heads the organisation "Fael Ummer" (Imperative) which is running the campaign.  "Some of our youngsters are incapable of writing correctly in Arabic, and many university students we interviewed were not even able to recite the alphabet.”

On Thursday the Tunis-based Arab Organisation for Education, Culture and Science decided to set aside March 1 of each year to celebrate the Arabic language.

Talhouk insisted that Lebanon should invest in preserving the nation's cultural and literary heritage, as well as develop Arabic technological and scientific terms.  "Young people should feel that this beautiful language speaks to them too, that it is of their day and age," she said

Read entire article: http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/lifestyle/a/-/lifestyle/6868826/in-polyglot-lebanon-one-language-falls-behind-arabic/

USA: Does the No Child Left Behind Act promote monolingualism?

Rosemary Salomone, Education Week, 15 March 2010

Eight years into the No Child Left Behind Act, educators, researchers, and advocates remain locked in heated debate over the effects of the law’s testing and accountability mandates on students, many from immigrant homes where a language other than English is spoken. Remarkably lost in the crossfire are the equally serious implications for the nation and its competitive position internationally.

Two recently reported developments related to language instruction, set against rising multilingualism abroad, lend truth to that proposition. Together, they reveal that NCLB is an impediment to fostering bilingual skills and bicultural understandings, especially among the nation’s 12 million students from immigrant families, including the 5.1 million identified as English-language learners, as well as millions of English-dominant students who are economically disadvantaged.

Read entire article: http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2010/03/17/25salomone_ep.h29.html?tkn=ZLRF0Xox8atM4j7YWj8OVlUkcywLCT585oqO&print=1

Rosemary Salomone is the Kenneth Wang professor of Law at St. John's University School of Law, in New York City, and the author of True American: Language, Identity, and the Education of Immigrant Children (Harvard University Press, 2010).

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CONFERENCES

“Glocalisation of New Literacies”

International language for specific purposes seminar

4-5 May 2010: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Languages for specific purposes – English or any other – has been able to stimulate writings, research and discussion around the world, to equip students and others in public and private sectors with the language competency required to cater for demands in their specific fields.  This prompted the Departments of Modern Languages, Management and Human Resources Development to organise this conference to explore the usage, teaching and learning of language for specific purposes.
 
Further information: http://seminar.spaceutm.edu.my/lsp2010/index.html

'Victoria - the State of Languages?'

Modern Language Teachers' Association of Victoria – Annual Conference

Friday 14th May 2010 - Karsten's at CQ, 123 Queen Street, Melbourne

Further details will be published on the MLTAV website as they become available.

Contact:  Kerry O'Connor or Sue Gubbels at the MLTAV Office 
Email: info@mltav.asn.au Phone: (03) 9349 5759   Website:  www.mltav.asn.au

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Multilingualism & Creativity: Theory & Practice of Language Education

21-22 May 2010: Kaunas, Lithuania

This International conference will continue the aims of the previous Languages Teachers of Lithuania conferences – to rally around language teachers working in different educational institutions in Lithuania and abroad, professionals, stakeholders and language policy makers to discuss important issues in language learning, teaching and research to exchange ideas and view- points.

Further details of program etc: http://www.lkpa.uki.vu.lt/index.php?cid=7&lang=en

International Conference on Linguistics, Literature & Culture

1-2 June 2010: Penang, Malaysia

The new millennium has witnessed challenges changes and innovations under the banner of globalisationIn the area of language, a millennium reality that has become a global concern is the status of the English language as a “global language”. No longer the exclusive property of the British or the Americans, the English language has transcended borders and developed into new hybrids or “glocal” forms after negotiating the local languages and cultures.

The new realities, changes and innovations provide the impetus for ICLLIC 2010. The conference hopes to convene academics, researchers and educators to deliberate and debate on emerging matters and approaches in Linguistics, Litera¬ture and Culture, particularly in Asia, as well as their implications on research, theory and pedagogy.

Further details: http://www.usm.my/icllic2010/

Who needs languages?

Micro & macro perspectives on language education policies

7 June 2010: Jyväskylä, Finland

The conference offers fresh outlooks on language education policy, acknowledging its multidisciplinary and multidimensional nature, and its social, cultural and economic dimensions.

• Where and by whom are language education policy decisions made, explicitly and/or implicitly?
• How do educational systems respond to challenges of multilingual societies?

Critical views will be presented in order to understand the current developments and challenges of language education from both micro and macro perspectives.

Further details: https://www.jyu.fi/hum/laitokset/solki/en/conference2010/index_html

(Re)-Constructing Multiculturalism - A Postgraduate Interdisciplinary Conference

24-25 June: Cardiff, Wales UK

The (Re)-Constructing Multiculturalism conference, organised and led by postgraduate students, aims to attract doctoral researchers from across a diverse range of disciplines including Anthropology, Architecture, Cultural Studies, English, History, Journalism, Modern Languages, Music, Philosophy, City and Regional Planning, Politics, Religious Studies, Sociology and Welsh.

Further information: http://www.cardiff.ac.uk/gradschools/gsh/gsh%20whats%20on/interdis%20events%20sem/Re-Constructing%20Multiculturalism%20Conference/reconmulti-cfa.html

Cutting Edges: Creativity in language teaching and teacher training

2-3 July 2010: Canterbury, Kent, UK

With the theme of creativity this international event will include:

• Innovation in course design and classroom practice
• Innovative approaches to teacher training & development
• Creative use of resources and materials for language learning

Further information: http://www.canterbury.ac.uk/arts-humanities/english-language-studies/LanguageStudiesConf.aspx

Annual Congress in Applied Linguistics

4-7 July: Brisbane, University of Queensland, St Lucia, Brisbane QLD

The Applied Linguistics Association of Australia (ALAA) is pleased to announce that their 35th Annual Congress will be held at the University of Queensland: with the theme “Local and global perspectives on future directions in applied linguistics”.

Further information: http://www.alaa2010congress.webs.com/

The Fifth Lancaster University Conference in Linguistics and English Language

5 July 2010: Lancaster, Lancashire, UK

This 1 day conference is designed to give linguistics postgraduates from all research areas an opportunity to present and discuss their research in an informal and intellectually stimulating setting.

Further information: http://www.lancs.ac.uk/fass/events/laelpgconference/index.htm

18th Biennial Conference of Asian Studies Association of Australia

5-8 July 2010: University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia

The Conference theme is Crises & Opportunities: Past, Present & Future. International participation is of course, most welcome.

Further information: http://www.adelaide.edu.au/asaa2010/

ACTA International TESOL Conference 2010:

Redefining TESOL for the 21st Century

7 July-10 August 2010: Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia

This is an international conference for researchers and teachers in the field of TESOL.  Conference strands include: pedagogy; assessment and evaluation; learners & learning; curriculum and policy.

Further information: http://www.astmanagement.com.au/ACTA10/

2010 Melbourne Conference on China:

Chinese Elites and their Rivals – Past, Present and Future

19-20 July 2010: University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

We welcome researchers, specialists, policy makers, policy advisers and educators working in anywhere in the world and in any area of China studies to come to the southern hemisphere to meet in Melbourne, the acknowledged capital of culture in Australia, to explore the various questions posed by the ongoing and rapid changes that have affected Chinese elite groups and their rivals in the past, the present and, most importantly, in the future.

Further information: http://www.chinastudies.unimelb.edu.au/conferences/2010/index.php

Awareness Matters: Language, Culture, Literacy

25-28 July 2010: Kassel, Hesse, Germany

The program for this important international event will explore Language Awareness & Cultural Awareness in respect to:

• Language Learning & Teaching,
• the Use of Media,
• Literacy Development and
• Professional Literacy Development in diverse Workplaces

Further information: http://www.uni-kassel.de/hrz/db4/extern/ala2010/ct/

2010 International Conference on Japanese Language Education

31 July 2010: Taipei, Taiwan

This significant international forum explores research and perspectives on the teaching and learning of the Japanese language – in the context of Japanese culture and history.

Further details: http://icjle2010.nccu.edu.tw/main.php

ASLIA National Conference

27-29 August 2010: Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

The Australian Sign Language Interpreters Association invites colleagues from across Australia and around the world to this major event: exploring settings, interactions and best practice in interpreting.

Further details: http://www.asliaconference.org.au/

Languages for the 21st Century: Training, Impact and Influence

1-2 September 2010: Sheffield, United Kingdom

The conference aims to show-case new training provision, techniques, technologies, methodologies and research in language teaching, with an emphasis on the advanced or research-focussed learner.

Further details: http://www.llas.ac.uk/events/6142

Language Teaching in Increasingly Multilingual Environments:

From Research to Practice

16-18 September 2010: Warsaw, Poland

The aim of the conference is to provide a multilingual, international platform for exploration and exchange of research findings, perspectives, and experience in language teaching and language development in multilingual environments.

Further details: http://www.ils.uw.edu.pl/LTIME.html

The 6th ICTATLL (ICT in Analysis, Teaching, & Learning of Language) International Conference

21-23 September 2010: Kyoto, Japan

We welcome contributions dealing with all research areas including, but not limited to, applications of corpus linguistics and ICT for language analysis and teaching. Contributions reporting practical experience or theoretical perspectives are also invited. 20 minutes will be given for a presentation and 10 minutes for discussion. The working language of the conference is English.

Further information: http://www11.ocn.ne.jp/~iskwshin/ictatll.html

3rd International Online Language Conference (IOLC 2010)

23-24 September – online

This two-day event aims to provide a forum for practitioners, academics, experts and students to debate current international issues in the areas of languages teaching and learning

Further information: http://www.iolc2010.ioksp.com/

The Seventh Australian Conference of Celtic Studies

29 September-2 October: University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia

All celticists are warmly invited to participate in this event.  To be put on the mailing-list for the Conference please contact: aahlqvist@usyd.edu.au

Further information: http://www.arts.usyd.edu.au/celtic_studies/index.php?page=events

The 12th National Conference for Community Languages and ESOL

1-4 October 2010: Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand

CLESOL is a biennial conference of ESOL and community language teachers in Aotearoa / New Zealand and features participants from this country and overseas. 2010 keynote speakers include David Nunan, Merrill Swain and Pauline Gibbons etc.

Further details: http://www.clesol.org.nz/2010/home.html

6th International Postgraduate Conference in Translation and Interpreting

29-31 October 2010: Manchester, United Kingdom

The IPCITI series of events, organised collaboratively between the University of Edinburgh, Dublin City University, Heriot-Watt University and the University of Manchester, is intended to give young researchers an opportunity to share their research in a supportive environment among peers and to participate in a significant international networking event for postgraduates in T&I studies.

Further information: http://www.ipciti.org.uk/

AUSIT Biennial National Conference: Synergise

5-6 November: Fremantle, Western Australia

The Conference focus is on translating and interpreting professionals creating synergies with language service providers, academics, IT technicians, occupational health professionals, business advisors...

Further details: http://ausitconference.org/

MICFL 2010 Malaysia International Conference on Foreign Languages

1-2 December 2010: Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia

Organised by the faculty of modern languages & communication, the central theme will be languages and the construction of identity – taking in aspects of foreign teaching and learning, literature and culture.

Further information: http://www.fbmk.upm.edu.my/micfl2010/

Fourth Biennial Conference: Centre for Language Studies:

“Individual characteristics & subjective variables”

2-4 December 2010: National University of Singapore, Singapore

The Centre for Language Studies (CLS) of the National University of Singapore (NUS) organises a biennial international conference on foreign language teaching and learning.

Further information: http://www.fas.nus.edu.sg/cls/clasic2010/index.htm  

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