ACLA2 - Events
Keynote Addresses in 2012
Professors Gillian Wigglesworth and Jane Simpson are both keynote speakers at the ACTA International TESOL conference "TESOL as a Global Trade – Ethics, Equity and Ecology", which will be held from the 3rd to 5th July 2012.
Information about this event is available at: www.astmanagement.com.au/acta12/keynotes.html
ALS workshop 2011
Summary
In December 2011, we ran a workshop through the Australian Linguistics Society (ALS) 42nd Annual Conference. The workshop was titled “Kids, Kriol(s) and Classrooms” and conveners were Sally Dixon (ANU) Jane Simpson (ANU) Gillian Wigglesworth (University of Melbourne) and Aidan Wilson (University of Melbourne).
Workshop details
With the Australian federal government commitment to 'close the gap' there has been greater interest at a political level in increasing the educational outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children. However, simultaneously, support for bilingual programs in NT schools is at an all-time low, and it is as yet unclear what the role of languages is to play in closing the gap on education for Indigenous children.
This workshop aims to bring together researchers whose work addresses issues critical to understanding language as a variable for Indigenous children in the classroom. The focus of this workshop is Indigenous children living in remote communities who speak traditional Indigenous language(s) and/or contact language(s); therefore, children for whom the classroom is a foreign language environment (i.e. where there are no or few other children speaking the 'target' Standard Australian English).
In light of the recent release of the national languages curriculum shaping paper ('Draft Shape of the Australian Curriculum: Languages'), and the continued problematic implementation of NAPLAN tests throughout remote Australia, it is urgent that research which addresses these issues be shared and discussed, so that we may continue to apply pressure for evidence-based policy making at every level of government.
General meeting information
See the Canberra Langfest Website for conference information: law.anu.edu.au/coast/events/langfest/conference.htm