Approaches to conversation in language teaching are currently in a state of change, as is natural when any discipline is undergoing so much theoretical and procedural revision. One change may have taken place in recent conceptual frameworks within the field, which now view conversation as a much more complex phenomenon than was previously thought. The evolution of conversation in language teaching has gone from the communicative approach, whose main aim is to make learners engage in oral interaction fluently and creatively through the so-called communicative activities, to a more input-based approach which bears upon other academic domains such as conversation analysis, speech act theory, politeness, discourse analysis, context-theory, nonverbal communication, sociolinguistics, psycholinguistics, the grammar of spoken language, pragmatic phonology, psycholinguistics.

This International Symposium, organised by R&D project ADELEX (HUM2007-61766, Department of English, University of Granada), seeks to address some major concerns in the state of the art of the real nature of conversation in SLA/language teaching as well as examine the tension between “expressing oneself spontaneously” and “expressing oneself appropriately and correctly.” The integration of related disciplines to enlighten the complexity of oral interaction and its consequent classroom procedures would seem to be one way of moving forward and solving this dilemma. Moreover, a rigorous exploration of these related areas of study might contribute to a more comprehensive and interdisciplinary statement into the nature of conversational competence and, on the other hand, it attempts to discuss current research into the issues and problems that have arisen in learning and teaching conversation.

For this international event, we have invited a team of scholars with major achievements in high-level conversation studies and its practical applications, who will offer an update and address present trends and future issues.

Call for Papers

We welcome papers (of approximately 20 minutes) and poster presentations focusing on theoretical approaches and research studies in the field of conversation, especially those concerned with innovative teaching trends and the use of leading-edge technologies. The language of the Symposium will be English but presentations may be in English or Spanish. Abstracts should be 300 words maximum, excluding references (a maximum of 5).

Submissions should be sent to: Αυτή η διεύθυνση ηλεκτρονικού ταχυδρομείου προστατεύεται από τους αυτοματισμούς αποστολέων ανεπιθύμητων μηνυμάτων. Χρειάζεται να ενεργοποιήσετε τη JavaScript για να μπορέσετε να τη δείτε.

Important dates

Deadline for submissions of abstracts: 1st April, 2010.
Information of acceptance to authors: 15th April, 2010.

Deadline for registration:
Early bird registration: 30th April, 2010.
Late registration until fully booked.

Fees:
Student fee: 60 €
Early bird registration: 150 €
Late registration (until fully booked): 180 €

Universidad de Granada

Granada, España

26-28 de mayo de 2010

Αυτή η διεύθυνση ηλεκτρονικού ταχυδρομείου προστατεύεται από τους αυτοματισμούς αποστολέων ανεπιθύμητων μηνυμάτων. Χρειάζεται να ενεργοποιήσετε τη JavaScript για να μπορέσετε να τη δείτε.

www.ugr.es/~symposiumconversation