Languages and Cultures Network for Australian Universities, Sixth Biennial Colloquium: Decentring and diversifying languages and cultures

Languages and Cultures Network for Australian Universities (LCNAU)
Sixth Biennial Colloquium
Decentring and diversifying languages and cultures

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The unprecedented world events that have taken place over the last year have had a clearly disruptive impact on languages and cultures education and research. Without diminishing the personal losses and stresses that these events have triggered, we also acknowledge that they have given us an opportunity to question what we do, how we do it and why we do it.

As we continue to adjust to a new (ab)normal reality and to tackle the many challenges faced by an increasingly vulnerable education sector, we invite colleagues to consider critically how the disruption of what it means to teach and research in the field of languages and cultures has been enacted in their own contexts.

We welcome contributions that capture the wide range of theoretical, empirical and pedagogical strategies that may have helped colleagues face these challenging times. We are particularly interested in how de/re-centring strategies may have manifested and enhanced the diversification of our teaching and research practices to consider more accessible and inclusive approaches (taking into account questions of gender, race, social class, etc.).

CALL FOR PAPERS:  

The organisers are particularly keen to receive submissions on topics that address the colloquium theme “Decentring and diversifying languages and cultures"; however, papers covering other aspects of praxis and lines of inquiry relating to languages and cultures, particularly at the tertiary level, will also be considered. 

Here we present a list of critical, reflective questions intended as provocations that may guide the proposal
submission process:

• How can we reconcile the ongoing vulnerability of languages education in Australia (and the world)with the resilient nature of the profession?
• What political and policy-making strategies might help us address the specific challenges confronting languages and cultures in Australia and other predominantly Anglophone contexts?
• What would it take for languages and cultures education to present a united, across-sectors (primary,secondary and tertiary) stance in facing these challenges?
• Given the current impossibility of physical global mobility, how might we draw on local realities/virtualexchanges to enhance the intercultural language learning experiences of our students?
• What has been the role of digital technologies in helping us diversify our curriculum and pedagogicalapproaches? What is their role in a post-Covid educational context?
• How can current de- and re-centring of language teaching ideologies help create a learningenvironment that is more inclusive of other ways of knowing and being?
• How can current efforts to diversify/decolonise languages education ethically engage with the ongoing struggles of First Nation peoples? Is this even possible/feasible?
• How can we open up a dialogue between indigenous languages (pedagogical) ideologies and modern/foreign languages (pedagogical) ideologies?

Guidelines for the submission of proposals:
We will accept both individual/group presentations as well as panel/round table and poster proposals from scholars, practitioners, early career researchers and postgraduate students.

All submissions will be assessed through a double-blind peer-review process.

When submitting an abstract, please indicate its specific macro area among those listed below:
• Indigenous languages (teaching, learning, description, maintenance, revitalization, and use)
• Trans/multi/plurilingualism in Australia
• Study abroad and virtual mobility
• Digital technologies in teaching and learning languages and cultures
• Critical/decolonial/social justice orientations in language pedagogies
• Language ideologies
• Language policy (across sectors)
• Language and (teacher/learner) identity
• Language testing
• Language acquisition
• (De)motivation and language learning
• Translation and interpreting
• Studies in culture(s) (literature, art, history, etc.)

TYPES OF PRESENTATIONS:
1. Traditional presentations: All presentations will be limited to 20 minutes + 10 minutes for discussion. Abstracts of 250 words (in English).
2. Panel proposals: Submissions must include a panel title, a short introduction to the panel (200 words in English) and the abstract of the presentations (250 words each, in English). Panels will generally include 3-4 presenters (for a maximum allocated time of 90 minutes).
3. Round tables: Submissions must include a title and theme description (300 words in English) along with an outline of the program for the session with sets of questions designed as provocations for structured “live” discussion (for a maximum allocated time of 90 minutes – live discussions via Zoom will take place in breakout rooms). We envisage this format to include variations of the “traditional” round table so as to include “yarning circles” and other fora for discussing, sharing, and (co)-creating knowledges.
4. Poster presentations: Asynchronous sharing of posters via online platform with live discussion blocks of 1hr distributed across the program.

All proposals must be in English (to facilitate peer-review process). However, we welcome proposals for papers, panels and round table in languages other than English or indications that languages other than English will be encouraged in the panel and round table sessions.

Extended round submission due date by Friday 3 September 2021

Abstract submission link: http://linguistlist.org/easyabs/LCNAU2021 

If you have any queries, please contact the LCNAU 2021 Organising Committee via email lcnau2021@uq.edu.au

Colloquium registration

Key Dates: