CFP: Immersion Education: Pathways to Bilingualism and Beyond

Wed Jan 23 16:21:28 UTC 2008

http://www.carla.umn.edu/conferences/immersion2008/call.html

Call for Papers

Immersion Education: Pathways to Bilingualism and Beyond

A CARLA-CAL Conference Collaboration

October 16-18, 2008
Crowne Plaza - St. Paul Riverfront
St. Paul, Minnesota, USA

Conference Description

Language immersion education has emerged as a uniquely constituted, highly effective program model for launching students on the road to bilingualism, multilingualism and intercultural competence. School-based immersion programs follow a variety of paths, including one-way foreign language immersion, two-way bilingual immersion, and indigenous immersion for language and culture revitalization. While each pathway targets distinct socio-cultural contexts and educational needs, all are grounded in a set of core characteristics with a strong focus on subject matter learning as well as language development. (Conference organizers further define immersion program models based on the literature.)

Under the leadership of two national centers in the U.S., CARLA (Center for Advanced Research on Language Acquisition, University of Minnesota) and CAL (Center for Applied Linguistics, Washington, D.C.), this third international conference on immersion education brings these pathways together to engage in meaningful dialogue and professional exchange across languages, levels, learner audiences, program models and sociopolitical contexts.

Featured Speakers 

Fred Genesee, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
Philip Hoare, Hong Kong Institute of Education, Hong Kong
Kauanoe Kamana and Bill "Pila" Wilson, University of Hawai'i at Hilo, USA
Roy Lyster, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
Myriam Met, National Foreign Language Center, University of Maryland, USA

Conference Themes

CARLA and CAL are currently seeking proposals for papers, discussion sessions, and symposia on aspects of language immersion education related to four overarching conference themes: 

Immersion Pedagogy 

Culture and Identity 

Policy and Advocacy 

Program Design and Evaluation 

In addition to basic, applied and evaluation research, conference organizers welcome a range of practitioner perspectives including immersion teachers, administrators, curriculum coordinators, parents and specialists who work in immersion programs. Papers, presentations, discussion sessions, and symposia may report on data-based research, theoretical and conceptual analyses, or best practices in language immersion classrooms.

Types of Sessions

Symposia (2 hours): A symposium provides an opportunity for a group of individuals (typically three to five) to propose a specific issue or topic in the field of language immersion education and examine it from a variety of perspectives. Total presentation time is limited to one hour to ensure that the second hour of the session engages presenters and the audience in extended dialogue. 

Paper/Best Practice Sessions (1 hour): A paper involves a presentation on a topic related to one of the four themes. A Best Practice Session is an opportunity for teachers, administrators, program coordinators, and parents to present exemplary classroom and program practices that relate to the conference themes. Papers/Best Practice Sessions will include 45 minutes for presentation followed by 15 minutes of questions and discussion. 

Discussion Sessions (1 hour): Discussion Sessions address a topic best pursued through extended dialogue among participants. These sessions will begin with a short (10 minute) informal presentation; the remaining 50 minutes will be devoted to discussion moderated by the presenter/facilitator. 

Submission Guidelines

The deadline for submissions is February 15, 2008. 

You will need a 400-word (maximum) abstract of your paper, session, or symposium for submission as well as a 50-word summary for the printed program. 

For symposia or presentations with more than one presenter, please include the contact information for all presenters even though information regarding the proposal will only be sent to the first (lead) presenter listed. 

Lead presenters will be responsible for contacting all co-presenters with information concerning the conference and presentations. 

Audio/visual equipment: a data projector and screen will be provided in each room, and an overhead projector by prior request. Please note: Presenters will need to bring their own laptop, or pay for renting other requested items such as a TV/VCR or Internet access. 

Proposal Review

A team of reviewers will evaluate each submission based on pre-determined criteria, including scholarly/educational significance, theoretical orientation (if applicable), quality of research/practice, and manner of presentation. 

Immersion 2008 Conference
CARLA/University of Minnesota
619 Heller Hall
271 - 19th Avenue South
Minneapolis, MN 55455
612-626-8600
612-624-7514 (fax)
immconf at umn.edu

_______________________________________________
Edling mailing list
Edling at lists.sis.utsa.edu
https://lists.sis.utsa.edu/mailman/listinfo/edling
List Manager: Francis M. Hult