[EDLING:1032] Conference: Languages and Education in Africa

[Francis M. Hult]

by way of lg-policy...

Languages and Education in Africa 
Short Title: LEA 2006 


Date: 19-Jun-2006 - 22-Jun-2006 
Location: Oslo, Norway 
Contact: Jennifer Olson 
Contact Email: < click here to access email > 
Meeting URL: http://www.pfi.uio.no/konferanse/LEA2006/ 

Linguistic Field(s): Sociolinguistics 

Meeting Description:

This conference offers international and multidisciplinary perspectives on 
issues concerning languages and education in Africa. 


Languages and Education in Africa (LEA) 

We, the LEA group of researchers from the Faculty of Education and the Faculty 
of the Humanities from the University of Oslo, welcome you to an international 
conference linking researchers from the South and North who are addressing the 
wide range of themes found within languages and education in Africa. The 
conference was initiated in the spring of 2004 when five Norwegian NUFU project 
leaders from the University of Oslo - two from the Faculty of Education and 
three from the Faculty of Humanities - came together and discussed common 
interests related to languages and education. NUFU (the Norwegian Council of 
Universities Committee for Development Research and Education) sponsors 
projects aimed at cooperation between universities in Norway and in developing 
countries. The NUFU projects at the Faculty of Education cooperate with 
partners based in Tanzania, South Africa, Ethiopia, and Uganda; while the NUFU 
projects at the Faculty of Humanities cooperate with partners based in 
Zimbabwe, Ethiopia, and Mali. 

The purpose of such a conference is to underline the significance of language 
for learning in various educational settings from global and local 
perspectives. It will also provide an opportunity to present and learn from 
linguistic and educationally directed research in various countries and 
regions. Ongoing networks and projects will contribute substantially to the 
conference and utilize it both as an aim for their work and as a meeting place 
to exchange current research. In addition to active participation at the 
conference, the organizing committee's work is directed towards research 
projects, research publications, and other relevant outcomes. 

Conference themes include: 

Language policy 
Multilingualism 
Literacy in African languages 
Language as medium of instruction and as a subject 
Teacher training 
Educational materials 
Lexicography and lexicology 
Grammatical descriptions 
Standardization 
Sign language in an African context 
Language mastery, learning and mediat[ion]