[EDLING:2437] CFP: JALT 2007

[Francis M Hult]

http://conferences.jalt.org/2007/

JALT 2007: The Japan Association for Language Teaching 33rd International Conference

November 22 - 25, 2007
National Olympics Memorial Youth Center
Tokyo, Japan

Deadline for submissions: April 27th, 2007

Conference Theme: "Challenging Assumptions: Looking In, Looking Out"

JALT is celebrating its 33rd International Conference this year. This event gives us an 
optimal opportunity to take another look at where we started and where we are going in 
language practice and research. Our field is relatively young yet it has been very 
productive in the last 30 years, as we have seen constant shifts in our understanding 
of how our students are learning their second/foreign language(s). In a nutshell, 
theories of second language acquisition and language pedagogy have developed to view 
language learning not as an individual, but more as a social phenomenon. This shift has 
enabled us to understand language learning more comprehensively, but at the same time 
our field today has become diverse and fragmented. 

How, then, can language teachers, administrators, and researchers make sense of this 
flux? Our Conference goal is to raise questions that challenge our understanding of how 
learning occurs, how we can plan our learning environment, and why we teach. More 
specifically, we will look at three layers of language learning: 

At the core and micro level, how does learning occur? Is it a one-way transmission of 
knowledge and skills delivered by an expert to a novice? Or is it a two-way 
interactional process? 
At a policy/institutional level, what are they to learn? Are we facilitating the 
process for language "learners" or language "users"? As professionals, do we assume 
that students learn the basics and move on to their own specific needs in their use of 
language? Do they all need to learn skills and knowledge of language before learning 
content? 
At a community level, why are we engaged in language teaching/learning? Are we 
responding to the needs of the community? Are we really globalizing our future 
citizens? 
As participants in JALT2007, let us be prepared to ask these questions. Language 
research will continue to change and shift; this Conference will provide us with some 
directions for how to approach research and the application of its findings for the 
next generation of JALT. 

Yuriko Kite, JALT2007 Conference Chair