Call for proposals: Poster session, 2003 Northeast Conference - DEADLINE FOR PROPOSALS 1 DECEMBER

[McGinnis, Scott]

CALL FOR PARTICIPATION
POSTER SESSIONS
OUR FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY YEAR!

NECTFL - APRIL 10-13, 2003
Washington, DC

Full-time or part-time students enrolled in undergraduate or graduate
programs as well as pre-service and in-service teachers in
foreign/second/world languages at any institution of higher learning can
take part as presenters or participants.  Proposals for three types of
presentations are being solicited: (a) teacher action research, (b)
Master's
theses, and (c) doctoral dissertation field work.

All proposals should be submitted to NECTFL no later than December 1,
2002.
Guidelines are included below.

DIRECTIONS FOR THE PREPARATION OF POSTER SESSIONS FOR THE NORTHEAST
CONFERENCE ON THE TEACHING OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES

General Considerations

The poster format is a format intended to allow conference attendees to
display a variety of work, which can fit into this format.  This work
may
include research (in progress), pedagogical and/or methodological ideas,
or
any other information of interest to NECTFL attendees, which would be
best,
presented as a poster.  The following are some general notions about
posters, about poster sessions, and display:

.Plan to set up your display well before the time when your poster is to
be
displayed.  The conference program will indicate exactly where and when
your
poster will be presented.  During the specific time when posters will be
highlighted during the conference, the presenting author(s) should be
with
his/her poster and must be available throughout the session when posters
are
highlighted. The presenter should also be prepared to take down and
remove
the poster when stated in the conference program.

.Your materials should be mounted on thin poster paper or cardboard.
Avoid
the use of heavy board, which may be difficult to keep in position on
the
poster surface.  If it seems appropriate, it can be helpful to mount
conceptually related portions of your display on backgrounds of the same
color, as this will help viewers scan the display efficiently.

.The poster should be as self-explanatory as possible so that your main
job
is to supplement the information it contains.  Attendees at the
conference
should be able to understand the main points of your poster, even when
you
are not present to explain it. The poster format provides a mechanism
for
in-depth discussion of your material, but this is possible only if the
display includes enough information in itself.  It is strongly
recommended
that the presenter have available a number of copies of any explanatory
material to distribute to interested parties who wish further
information
about the poster.

.Keep in mind that your text and illustrations will be viewed from
distances
of more than three feet.  All lettering should be at least 3/8" high, 1"
for
more important information, and preferably in a bold font.

Arrangement of Materials

.The poster surface is usually made of cork and often measures 4' x 6'.
It
can be set up in either orientation.  Your material should fit into this
space, whether you use individual sheets of paper, banners, or other
sizes
of pages. Presenters are responsible for providing their own fasteners.

.Prepare a sign containing the paper title and authors' names and
affiliations.  This information should appear at the top of the poster.

.When working on the arrangement of your display, be aware that it is
preferable to align materials in columns rather than rows.  Audience
members
who are scanning posters have a much easier task if they can proceed
from
left to right, rather than having to skip around the display.

Finally, since the poster is a new format for the Northeast Conference,
we
are looking at many different ways it can be implemented for the
conference.
We are expecting social science/education types of posters involving
research and which should respect normal social science and educational
research norms.  We are also expecting posters showing pedagogical and
methodological innovations, whether in the classroom or not.  Those
posters
may not follow social science/education norms.  However, all posters
must
contain names of those producing them, adequate and interesting visual
material for attendees to understand the work on them, and adequate
copies
of any necessary additional material to explain the poster when the
presenter is not in attendance with the poster.

Since this is a new format for the Northeast Conference, we are also
ready
to consider any questions and comments potential presenters may have
about
this new format.  Please contact the Carlisle office with questions and
comments.