[MLE] Language Development Conference in Thailand Jul 1-3 ; call for papers

Dear MLE friends,
Below is the announcement of an excellent conference on MLE which is here in the region. Last time (2003?) there was quite a group from India participating and giving good papers. I trust that will work out this time again.
Regards,
Karsten

Karsten van Riezen
Education Consultant, SIL Int.
SIL, South Asia Group.
www.sil.org

From: Susan Malone [mailto:susan_malone@sil.org]
Sent: Wednesday, December 12, 2007 11:23 PM
To: …
Subject: Email announcement; call for papers--LD conference


Colleagues,  Below is the e-mail version of the announcement and call for papers for the Language Development conference.  Please send it to your mailing lists and encourage others to do the same.    Thanks!

ANNOUNCEMENT and CALL FOR PAPERS

The 2nd International Conference on
Language Development, Language Revitalization, and Multilingual Education
in Ethnolinguistic Communities
http://www.seameo.org/_ld2008/

Bangkok, Thailand
1-3 July 2008

PURPOSE OF THE CONFERENCE
  • Raise awareness about the purposes and benefits of mother tongue-based multilingual education (MT-Based MLE) programs;
  • Share information about good practices in language development, language revitalization and MT-Based MLE in ethnolinguistic communities, especially from people who are actively engaged in such programs;
  • Develop and expand networks of individuals and organizations engaged in these efforts.
CONFERENCE SPONSORS
  • SIL International
  • UNESCO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific
  • UNICEF East Asia and Pacific Regional Office (EAPRO)
  • Institute of Language and Culture for Rural Development, Mahidol University (Thailand)
  • South East Asian Ministers of Education Organization (SEAMEO)
  • CARE International
  • Save the Children UK
CALL FOR PAPERS
Interested scholars and practitioners are invited to submit abstracts for presentation at parallel sessions. Abstracts relating (but not limited) to the conference topics and subtopics below are welcome:

Revitalizing and/or maintaining languages and cultures
·         Role of non-dominant languages in society
·         Planning and implementing sustainable language maintenance and language revitalization programs

Developing and revising orthographies
·         Approaches to community-based orthography development
·         Issues in orthography revision

Language policies and language-in-education policies
·         Language policies in multilingual settings
·         Impact of language policies on non-dominant languages
·         Language-in-education policies that support or hinder MT-Based MLE

Mother Tongue-Based Multilingual Education 
·         Planning and implementing MT-Based MLE programs for children and adults
·         MT-Based MLE and gender equity
·         Dealing with multiple mother tongues in MLE classrooms
·         Developing teaching and learning materials, including graded reading materials, in multiple languages
·         Translating and adapting health and other information for use in formal and non-formal education and training
·         Teacher recruitment and training

Preserving intangible cultural heritage
·         Preserving traditional dance and music 
·         Preserving traditional history and literature, including women's narratives
·         Incorporating cultural knowledge and traditions into formal and non-formal education
·         Informal music education practices

Information and communication technology (ICT) that supports language development, language revitalization and MT-Based MLE
·         Using ICT to develop orthographies and dictionaries
·         ICT in multi-script languages

Research and evaluation studies of language maintenance, language revitalization and multilingual education programs
·         Principles and practices in research and evaluation of language revitalization and MT-Based MLE programs
·         Case study research of small-scale language revitalization and MLE programs
·         Longitudinal studies of MT-Based MLE programs
·         Community-centered / community-owned research and evaluation

Abstracts:
  • Maximum of 300 words (including the title and references)
  • Single-spaced
  • Times New Roman 12
  • Title, in bold, centered at the top of the page
  • Track in which your paper would be presented (topics in bold above)
  • Your name, country in which you work, organizational affiliation, title
  • Your e-mail address
Address to send abstracts:  langdevelbkk_info@sil.org
Deadline for submission: 1 March 2008
Final notification of acceptance:  15 March 2008

For information about plenary speakers, registration fees, and hotel accommodation, please go to the Conference website at: http://www.seameo.org/_ld2008/