33.3171, Calls: Applied Linguistics, Language Acquisition, Psycholinguistics/Germany
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LINGUIST List: Vol-33-3171. Wed Oct 19 2022. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.
Subject: 33.3171, Calls: Applied Linguistics, Language Acquisition, Psycholinguistics/Germany
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Editor for this issue: Everett Green <everett at linguistlist.org>
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Date: Wed, 19 Oct 2022 05:07:54
From: Christine Czinglar [christine.czinglar at uni-jena.de]
Subject: Language and Literacy Acquisition of Adults in the Context of Migration, Multilingualism and Second Language Learning
Full Title: Language and Literacy Acquisition of Adults in the Context of Migration, Multilingualism and Second Language Learning
Date: 16-Mar-2023 - 18-Mar-2023
Location: Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Germany
Contact Person: Franziska Förster
Meeting Email: tagung.elikasa at uni-jena.de
Linguistic Field(s): Applied Linguistics; Language Acquisition; Psycholinguistics
Call Deadline: 02-Nov-2022
Meeting Description:
Since the foundation of the international LESLLA network (Literacy Education
and Second Language Learning for Adults) in 2005, it has been clearly and
repeatedly stated that there is a strong need for empirical studies on second
language acquisition of adult migrants with low literacy skills and that the
amount of research devoted to this area is still limited (Lemke-Ghafir et al.
2021; Tarone & Bigelow 2012; Young-Scholten 2013; Young-Scholten & Naeb 2020).
Low-literate adult migrants differ significantly from other well-studied
groups of learners, e.g. children, adult L1 speakers and well-educated L2
learners. That is to say, in addition to the age factor, adults have to
communicate using an L2 in their everyday life already in early stages of its
acquisition and thus have completely different communicative needs than
children. Unlike L1 speakers with low literacy skills, adult L2 learners
cannot often rely on substantial oral competences in the L2. In contrast to
well-educated L2 learners, they often have poor reading and writing skills in
their first or heritage language(s) and therefore lack literacy-based learning
strategies, metalinguistic awareness, cognitive abilities such as working
memory and transferable literacy skills (Kurvers, van de Craats & Van Hout
2015; Tarone, Bigelow & Hansen 2009). In addition to age, multilingualism and
educational/literacy background, there are other factors that influence
language acquisition of adult refugees and migrants (Kurvers 2015).
Language acquisition of LESLLA learners in literacy and language courses is
much slower than that of other groups of learners (Kurvers, van de Craats &
Van Hout 2015; Carlsen 2017). On the didactic level, various approaches and
techniques have already been developed for literacy practice to meet the needs
of LESLLA learners (e.g. the contributions in Marschke 2022, Markov, Schramm &
Scheithauer 2015). Also, there are now scales for classifying basic literacy
skills at four levels below the A1 level of the GER (Council of Europe 2022;
Schramm 2021), which enable teachers to better assess and evaluate the
literacy level, but these are so far based on teachers' evaluations and not on
language acquisition data of this group of learners.
In order to develop instruments that can be used for a fair classroom
assessment of the learning progress of this group of learners (see e.g.,
Edeleva et al. 2022), we need more studies on the acquisition of different
target languages. For example, the instruments developed so far to investigate
language and writing acquisition in German are aimed at educated L2 learners,
low-literate L1 speakers or children. The applied methods, tasks or items are
often not suitable for LESLLA learners, or the instruments are not sensitive
enough to trace small-step developments or learning effects. In order to be
able to record a comprehensive spectrum of literal competences in the context
of multilingualism and multiliteracy, it is necessary to develop tools to
assess the literacy skills also in different first and heritage languages
(Lemke-Ghafir et al. 2021).
When investigating the development of adult migrants' second language
literacy, the focus should not be narrowed down to the basic technical skills
of reading and writing (Purcell-Gates, Jacobson & Degener 2004). Rather, it
must also be considered how LESLLA learners use their reading and writing
skills in different contexts (functional literacy), e.g. in everyday life, to
cope with communicative challenges and to pursue their goals in a society
shaped by literacy. The development of functional literacy as situated social
practice goes hand in hand with the acquisition of technical skills (Council
of Europe 2022: 19). Since literal activities are embedded in socio-cultural
contexts, they have to be captured using other methodical approaches.
Call for Papers:
Two international keynote speakers Bart Deygers (Ghent University, Belgien)
und Kristen Perry (University Kentucky, USA) will each be highlighting one of
these facets of literacy (assessment of technical skills and functional uses
of literacy).
The aim of the conference is to better understand language and literacy
acquisition of adult migrants with low literacy skills and to promote
scientific exchange and collaboration on this vulnerable learner group. The
conference is organized as part of the ongoing ELIKASA research project
(https://www.dafdaz.uni-jena.de/elikasa), in which we developed a set of
literacy assessment tools to measure basic literacy skills in L2 German and L1
Arabic, Dari-Farsi and Turkish. This set of instruments has been used to test
participants in 15 contrastive literacy courses of the KASA project
(https://kasa.giz.berlin). In a qualitative interview study focusing on
functional literacy, a selected group of 12 Arab participants report on the
literal challenges they encounter in their everyday life in Germany and the
strategies they apply to deal with these challenges (Czinglar et al. in
press).
Abstracts for papers on second language and literacy acquisition of this
target group from a technical or functional perspective are highly welcome.
Particular topics of interest include, but are not limited to:
- Second language and literacy acquisition
- Methods for exploring reading and writing skills
- Influencing factors on L2 literacy acquisition
- Assessment of literacy skills in the context of multilingualism
- Literal competences and literal practices
- Relationship between technical and functional literacy
Formal requirements of the abstract:
- Title of the abstract (max. 20 words)
- Length of the abstract (max. 300 words, excluding literature)
- Short biographies of all authors (max. 50 words each)
Please send your abstract in two formats (anonymous and non-anonymous incl.
short bios) no later than November 2nd, 2022 to the following e-mail address:
tagung.elikasa at uni-jena.de
All submissions will be anonymized before selection by the organizing
committee.
Important Dates:
September 30, 2022 Call for Papers
November 2, 2022 Abstract Submission Deadline
December 5, 2022 Notification of Acceptance
December 15, 2022 Registration for Participation in the Conference
January 4, 2022 Registration Deadline for all Speakers (e.g. Accomodation)
March 16 – 18, 2023 Conference in Jena, Germany
The conference will be held at the Friedrich Schiller University Jena from
March 16 to 18, 2023 in a hybrid format, i.e. presenters, organizers and other
people involved in ELIKASA onsite in Jena and a wider audience online. There
are no participation fees, but registration is obligatory. The conference is
financially supported by the Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) as a
part of the ELIKASA project (BMBF grant no. W146500).
Any further questions and inquiries can be addressed to the conference email:
tagung.elikasa at uni-jena.de
Organizing Committee
Christine Czinglar
Yousuf Aboamer, Zeynep Arslan, Gina Do Manh, Yulia Edeleva und Franziska
Förster
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