[lg policy] calls: Linguistic Competences in Education and at Work

Sat Aug 8 15:21:25 UTC 2009

Linguistic Competences in Education and at Work

Date: 04-Feb-2010 - 06-Feb-2010
Location: Zurich, Switzerland
Contact Person: Aleksandra Gnach
Meeting Email: < click here to access email >
Web Site: http://www.zhsf-edu.ch/vals-asla

Linguistic Field(s): Applied Linguistics; Sociolinguistics

Call Deadline: 31-Aug-2009

Meeting Description:

Describing, modelling and optimising language competences has long
been a key domain of research in applied linguistics. Over the last
few years, the notion of language competence has been re-examined and
redefined under the influence of research in sociolinguistics,
language education, and, more largely, research on language use in
various settings. The focus has been on teaching and learning
(competence-oriented objectives, task-based teaching and learning),
assessment and programme evaluation as well as the professionalisation
of the language teaching field.

In the field of education, in particular, communicative and linguistic
competences are presented today as sets of key competences pupils or
students need to acquire. It comes as no surprise, therefore, that the
introduction of language standards has been on the political agenda,
starting at the lower grades of school.

Drawing on this interest in the notion of language competences in
education and in the workplace, the conference aims to stimulate
reflection and debate on the multiple transitions and transformations
at play: transitions from orality to literacy (for example, the
increasing role of writing in the workplace), transitions from one
register to another (from standard to non-standard, etc.), from
monolingual practices to multilingualism, from theory to practice,
from face-to-face exchanges to virtual interactions, from the
conceptualisation of the notion of competence to how it pans out in
actual situations, etc. In concrete terms, discussion is invited about
linguistically manifest transitions and transformations of competences
as they occur across contexts, across age and social groups, and
across school level and developmental stages: e.g. from primary to
secondary school, from high school to university or from
apprenticeships to the professional world. It is indeed during these
transitions that the competences developed become crucial to building
identities or accessing new resources.

Call for Papers:

In line with this thematic orientation, papers or panels will
contribute to one of the three tracks below, in addition to more
general contributions about language competence:

a) Transforming contexts and social changes: in this track, papers
will be concerned with the ways in which social and political changes
influence language competences and the ways in which they are used and
validated. How do language competences evolve in contemporary
societies? How do political and educational institutions integrate
these developments and attempt to influence them?

b) Changing individuals and transforming trajectories: in this track,
papers will be concerned with the transitions lived by participants at
the various stages of their biographical trajectories. How are
biographical changes and transitions affected by language competences?
How do learning trajectories, whether in the school context or
elsewhere, help build language competences?

c) Transforming concepts and methods: in this track, papers will
examine the changes undergone by the notion of competence, both on the
theoretical and the methodological level, in the field of applied
linguistics. After the founding debates in the 70s and the
implementation of communicative approaches to competences, what are
perceptible changes in the ways this notion is conceived and
discussed? How can we model the dynamic dimension of language
competences? Which tools should be developed to do so?

Panels and Papers:

Proposals are invited for papers and for panels (thematically
connected series of presentations).

Individual Papers:

30-minute slots for presentations (20 minutes for the paper, 5 minutes
for discussion and 5 minutes for the transition). All individual
papers are scheduled for Friday afternoon and Saturday morning, so
that they do not run in parallel with panels. Abstracts: 300 words
maximum.

Panels:

90-minute blocks, including 3 to 9 thematically or methodologically
connected papers, organised and led by a convenor. Panel abstracts:
500 words maximum.

Languages:

German, French, Italian and English are the official conference languages.

Paper Submissions:

Information concerning the submission of abstracts as well as
practical information concerning conference organisation (fees,
travel, etc.) may be obtained from the VALS-ASLA website
(www.vals-asla.ch). Please address any further questions to
aleksandra.gnachzhaw.ch

Deadlines:

The deadline for the submission of individual abstract or for panel
abstracts is August, 31st, 2009.

Publication:

A publication of selected contributions in the Bulletin VALS/ASLA is planned.

http://linguistlist.org/issues/20/20-2707.html

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