Special LEARN Workshop: Training and Empowering the Adult Learner and Language Professional

The Foreign Language Program Office (FLPO) of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), the National Cryptologic School (NCS), and The University of Texas at Austin are pleased to announce a Special LEARN (Language Education and Resource Network) Workshop to be held Tuesday, 25 September – Thursday, 27 September 2012, on the UT-Austin campus. The LEARN workshops provide language instructors and course developers from U.S. government-affiliated schools and institutions with a venue for information sharing and collaboration on foreign language instruction with their colleagues.

U.S. government and U.S. military language analysts and linguists are a diverse cadre of professionals. Some are graduates of the outstanding military language programs at DLIFLC. Some are products of in-house language training program at various USG agencies. Others are recruited from undergraduate and graduate programs at leading U.S. colleges and universities. Still others are recruited because they are educated native or heritage speakers of critical or less commonly taught languages. As diverse as this population is, it has two things in common: all are adult learners, and all are language professionals – translators, interpreters, transcribers, language analysts – people whose job it is to do the vital language work of the USG and U.S. military.

This Special LEARN Workshop is open to instructors and course developers of all languages from any USG–affiliated institution. As the theme suggests, the workshop is focused on issues of training, maintaining and enhancing the language skills and proficiency levels of USG and U.S. military language professionals, as well as on methods, technologies and resources that could empower them, as independent adult learners, to continue their professional development on their own.

The Steering Committee invites submission of proposals on topics relevant to the primary workshop theme “Training and Empowering the Adult Learner and Language Professional: Methodology, Technology, Resources.” Subthemes for presentations may include but are not limited to those listed below:

• Generational Differences in Second Language Instruction and Acquisition
• Technology-Assisted Language Instruction and Learning
• Distance, Blended, Hybrid and Mobile Language Instruction and Learning
• Disciplinary Approaches to Language Maintenance and Development
• Strategies for Autodidactic, Independent, and Learner-Driven Language Study
• Internet Resources for Language and Culture Study
• Language Immersions and Short In-Country Tours as Language Skill Boosters and Proficiency and Maintenance Vehicles
• High-Tech Games for Advanced Language Instruction and Learning
• Teaching Language through Culture to Adult Learners

Preference will be given to proposals with clearly defined applicability across a wide spectrum of languages.

All presentations and accompanying materials should be in English. Proposals may be for individual or joint presentations – limited to one co-presenter. Presentations will be strictly limited to 25 minutes, followed by a 5-minute question-and-answer session. All proposals must be submitted online by midnight EST on June 16, 2012 in the correct format. Proposal submission will be confirmed via an email automatically generated by system. Presenters will be notified by email of the Review Committee’s decision by July 20, 2012.

Proposals must be submitted in a print-ready, “final abstract” format... Use all punctuation, underlining, italics, etc. exactly as you want your proposal/abstract to be printed in the program guide. All proposals must be written in a third person format avoiding the use of “I” and “we.” All accepted proposals will be printed in the LEARN Workshop Program Guide as submitted during the Call for Proposals; however, the LEARN Review Committee reserves the right to edit if necessary.

Online Submission Guidelines

It is important that all requested information be provided when entering proposal in the online form.

TITLE: The topic should be relevant to the workshop theme and current concerns of the profession. Maximum length for title is 12 words.

CONTENT DESCRIPTION: The description must clearly align with the content of the proposal and be in final, publishable format, free of any errors. The online submission system automatically limits the content description to a maximum of 200 words.

METHODS OF DELIVERY: Required for all presentations.Please indicate here all technical requirements and needs for presentation, for example, Internet connectivity, speakers, etc.

SUBMISSION, REVIEW, ACCEPTANCE PROCESS

After a proposal is submitted, the primary presenter will receive an email confirmation containing login information. Presenters may log in and make edits or changes to their proposals until the submission deadline, June 16, 2012. Once the deadline passes, all submissions will be placed in “review” mode and will not be accessible for further editing. The reviewers will make their acceptance decision based on submissions found in the system on the closing date.

Limited travel funds are available to support accepted presenters to the 2012 Special LEARN Workshop at The University of Texas at Austin. All questions concerning this Call for Proposals should be directed to: Chair, Adult LEARN Steering Committee, Dr. Bogdan Sagatov at bbsagatov@gmail.com.