First circular

Download the symposium information here.

Download the full symposium programme here.

Download the workshop information here.

In cooperation with the Eurocall CorpusCALL and CMC SIGs, the Applied English Linguistics group at the University of Tübingen (Germany) is organising the CALL research symposium

Authenticating Language Learning:
Web Collaboration Meets Pedagogic Corpora

The ALL Symposium will take place from 17-19 February 2011 (Thursday-Saturday) at the English Department, University of Tübingen.

For the official ALL Symposium Moodle site for registration and abstract submission and for more information: click here

Theme of the Symposium

Against the backdrop of a 'socio-constructivist' approach, this event will focus on combining web collaboration and pedagogic applications of corpora in order to facilitate and strengthen authentication in language learning and teaching. Emphasis is thus on both content and communication-based learning activities and on how computer mediated communication (CMC) and corpus methodologies can be pedagogically integrated for generating innovative synergies. Promising contexts of pedagogic application include in particular content and language integrated learning (CLIL) and language learning for intercultural communication.

Our aim is to take stock of the current state of affairs in corpus and CMC-based language learning and teaching, to explore integrative pedagogic concepts and tasks, and to propose new research perspectives. Special attention will be given to the needs and purposes of 'young' researchers in the field.

The symposium will take the following structure:

Pathway lectures will introduce key topics in corpus and CMC-based language learning in order to provide a research context and orientation for the paper sessions and workshops

The pathway lectures will be delivered by
- Ana Frankenberg-Garcia, ISLA & Universidade Nova de Lisboa
  on: "Corpora and Language Learning"
- Bernd Rüschoff, University of Duisburg-Essen
  on: "Social Platforms, Computer Mediated Communication and Process-Oriented Language Learning on the Internet"
- Steven Thorne, University of Groningen & Portland State University
  on: "Mediation, Collaboration, and Second Language Development"

To read the full abstract, click on the title of the lecture.

Paper presentations and posters are welcome from participants to discuss their own research objectives, approaches and findings in this area

Workshops will offer hands-on practice in pedagogic corpus processing and web collaboration in relation to relevant research perspectives and methodologies. For more information about the workshops, click here.

A round table discussion will provide a synthesis of major insights and outlooks for future activities.

Profile of Participants

Participants should ideally be involved in research and practice in the field of CALL with an interest in pedagogic corpora and/or CMC-based language learning teaching. The symposium will be of particular interest to researchers and Ph.D. students who are working in this area. The symposium is open to researchers and practitioners from all these fields, inside and outside of English linguistics.

The language of the symposium is English, but we welcome contributions for all languages.

Call for Papers

We welcome proposals for 20-minute paper presentations (plus 20 minutes discussion) or posters focusing on using corpora and CMC to foster authentication in content and communication-based language learning and teaching.

Please submit a 300 word abstract (including a title) by 22 November 2010. Abstract submission is run through our A LL Symposium Moodle site. Please sign up for a free account there. This will lead you to the abstract submission and symposium registration areas.

Notifications of acceptance will be sent out during the week beginning 13 December 2010.

We also kindly ask you to send us a short bio and a thumbnail picture of you for the website (should your abstract be accepted).

Registration for the Symposium

Registration for the ALL Symposium is open until 12 February 2011 (for non-presenters; this includes full participation in the symposium including the workshops).

To register, please sign up on the ALL Moodle site. Click here to access the site.

Fees

An attendance fee of 65 Euro covers participation in the symposium as well as lunch (Thursday and Friday) and coffee breaks.
We also invite you to participate in the ALL Symposium buffet dinner on Friday, 18.2. An additional fee of €35 applies.

Organisation

This event is being organised in collaboration with EUROCALL, the European Association for Computer-Assisted Language Learning, and the European LLP projects "BACKBONE: Corpora for Content and Language Integrated Learning" and "icEurope: Intercultural Communication between English Language Classes in Europe".

The ALL Symposium Moodle site with details about the programme, registration, abstract submission, travel and accommodation is now active. Click here to access it.

Organising team

University of Tübingen, Applied English Linguistics (Germany)

Kurt Kohn, kurt.kohn(at)uni-tuebingen.de
Claudia Warth, claudia.warth(at)uni-tuebingen.de
Johannes Widmann, johannes.widmann(at)uni-tuebingen.de

Eurocall CorpusCALL SIG
Alex Boulton, alex.boulton(at)univ-nancy2.fr
CRAPEL-ATILF/CNRS, Nancy-Université (France)

Eurocall CMC SIG
Sarah Guth, sarah.guth(at)unipd.it
University of Padua (Italy)

Scientific committee:

Braun, Sabine (University of Surrey, Surrey, UK)
Dooly, Melinda (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain)
Hauck, Mirjam (The Open University, Milton Keynes, UK)
Major, Éva (Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary)
Meurers, Detmar (Universität Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany)
O’Dowd, Robert (Universidad de León, León, Spain)
Peréz-Paredes, Pascual (Universidad de Murcia, Murcia, Spain)
Thomas, James (Masarykova Univerzita, Brno, Czech Republic)